Archive for the ‘Culture and Wine’ Category
It occurred to me today that it's reasonable to claim that the American Wine Industry is better than the Ghanaian Palm Wine Industry. I know this not because I've tasted extensively through Ghanan Palm wines and found them lacking in comparison to the grape-based wines from America. No. I've come to this conclusion because I'm sure I've never seen this kind of headline in America: HEADLESS BODY DISCOVERED AT PALM WINE FACTORY The article explains: "The Breman Asikuma Police has…
Having lived both in Sonoma Valley and Napa Valley, I’ve developed some opinions and observations about these two very different but neighboring wine country locations. The visitor to the region should be aware of these differences if only to be prepared to appreciate each valley for its uniqueness 1. Napa Valley is a Wine Disneyland, while Sonoma Valley is a Wine Region No getting around this. Napa Valley is all wine all the time, while Sonoma Valley is all wine….
The California Department of Alcohol Beverage Control has finally brought to light the dirty little secret behind underage drinking in Sonoma Valley: SONOMA VALLEY MINORS ARE USING THE HIGH-END WINERY TASTING ROOMS TO GET THEIR DRINK ON. A recent decoy operation meant to the expose and stop the growing craze among Sonoma Valley minors of hanging out in winery tasting rooms and getting their drunk on before marauding over to the next boutique winery was directed and paid for by…
Can we trust that the reviews and ratings on the various wine reviewing peer sites are authentic and not paid for? This question stuck with me over the past few days after reading the New York Times front page story, "In a Race to Out-Rave, 5-Star Web Reviews Go for $5". The expose of paid for good reviews on sites like Amazon.com, Yelp and TripAdvisor began with this: "In tens of millions of reviews on Web sites like Amazon.com, Citysearch,…
Both the venerable Women for Winesense organization and my own wine industry involvement began exaclty 21 years ago in 1990. There is absolutely no connection between these two anniversaries. However, I was reminded of this coincidence as I was made aware of an important upcoming event here in Napa Valley hosted by Women For Winesense: "Wine On America's Table" set for Sunday, August 14th at the Fortunati Vineyards estate in Napa. Women for Winesense has always encouraged women in the…
