Archive for the ‘Consider This Wine’ Category

Oct 17, 2011

Defining Audacious in the California Wine Industry

As reported by Dr. Vino, California’s Sea Smoke Cellars out of Santa Rita Hills has placed the following wording on six of their 2009 vintage labels and on one 2008 Sparkling Wine label: “CALIFORNIA GRAND CRU” This is, in my mind, the most audacious packaging move I’ve ever seen a California wine ever make. According to the good Dr., Sea Smoke explained its unique new labeling message by referencing a March 2008 blog post at the WineSpectator.com in which Jim…

Oct 10, 2011

You Don’t Know These Wines…Yet

I knew next to nothing about American grown Fiano, Montepulciano and Aglianico. And I'm willing to bet the vast majority not only of wine drinkers, but winemakers, know next to nothing about American grown Fiano, Montepulciano and Aglianico. This next-to-nothing-knowledge is part of what drove Arthur Przebinda to create three new websites: Enjoy FianoEnjoy MontepulcianoEnjoy Aglianico As Arthur puts it: "These sites are intended to connect passionate North American growers and winemakers with wine enthusiasts who may or may not…

Oct 7, 2011

Pinot On The River and the Great 2009 Pinot Vintage

By all accounts, the 2009 Pinot Noir vintage in California is spectacular. These wines are now largely in the market place or will be coming on the market soon. It's one of the things that makes me so excited about he upcoming Pinot On the River tasting on October 23 in Healdsburg, California. Of the 2009 California Pinot Noirs Jim Labue of the Wine Spectator wrote: "There is no such thing as a perfect vintage, but 2009 comes close to…

Oct 3, 2011

Let’s Crowd Source Winemaking Decisions

Here's something very interesting that could not have been done in the pre-digital age: Crowd Sourcing Winemaking Decisions. This is what Silversmith Vineyards, located in Mendocino County's Redwood Valley, is doing and it looks like a pretty cool project. Imagine outsourcing to your crowd decisions like: 1. What varietal to make2. When to pick?3. Pump over or punch down4. What type of yeast to use?5. When rackings of the wine should happen6. Should the wine be filtered and if so,…

Jun 24, 2011

The Big Fall and Big Rise of One Fine Grape

My first serious encounter with the Petite Sirah grape variety and the varietal wine that it is made into came when I was working public and media relations for historic Russian River Valley producer Foppiano Vineyards back in 1990. To this day, that encounter remains among the most interesting of my career. I knew very little about Petite Sirah except that there was very little Petite Sirah produced. At first glance it seemed like an archaic variety of grape, but…