"I think we’ve lost our way a little since we’ve been making those jelly-jar blockbusters favored by many consumers. We know it too, but we are loath to admit it." Alan Goldfarb, St. Helena Star————————————————— Alan Goldfarb writes one of the most interesting wine columns in America. His columns are a supremely readable lot generated from his genuinely curious mind and reporter’s temperament as well as a real love of wine and a bit of the admonitions reminiscent of the…

The literary genre known as wine writing is a fairly robust one in America, and it has been for some time. Yet, for the plethora of books, magazines, newsletters, web sites, blogs and newspaper columns, it’s quite rate to come across an excellent writer whose work is both compelling and exceedingly well rendered. Paul Lukacs is one of those rarities. A professor of literature who made the jump into wine writing as most do, to get more involved in their…

Doing radio is like blogging….just really really sped up. If you care to you can catch me speed blogging today…twice, on two great local Sonoma Valley shows. At  1pm I’ll be doing my once per month stint on KSVY’s "Wine Biz 2.4. KSVY 91.3 is Sonoma Valley’s local radio station and has an amazingly eclectic collection of shows. Wine Biz 2.4 is hosted by "KAZ" of Kaz Winery here in Kenwood. Kaz is a natural entertainer and in possession of…

Last week I was able to recommend a superb new wine book. So, this will be the second week in a row in which I can highly recommend a new book on wine: "A Wine Journey Along the Russian River" by Steve Heimoff. Heimoff is the Senior Editor for Wine Enthusiast Magazine and has been for some time. I’ve known him for about 10 years or so. Whenever I’ve spoken with him or met him he always seemed intently focused…

Paul Lukacs is quickly becoming this generation’s most important chronicler of America’s wine heritage. His first wine book, "American Vintage: The Rise of American Wine", was an entertaining, well written and important expose of it’s subtitle. It won the prestigious James Beard Award for Best Wine & Spirits book in 2001. His newest book, "The Great Wines of America" will probably win that award also. On it’s face "The Great Wines of America" seems to take a stab at offering…