Feb 18, 2010
My great Washington Wine Epiphany came a few years ago when I attended Wine & Spirits Magazine's Top 100 tasting in San Francisco. The tasting of top wineries W&S had encountered over the past year was set up by region—Germans over here, Italians over there, Australians in that corner, etc. The Washington wineries were on the top floor of the venue and I got to them last. Last is not where you want to be at a tasting. And yet,…
Jan 26, 2010
We get mail here at FERMENTATION. Often that mail is from good folks who just have questions that need answers. I'm always happy to oblige. For example, I recently received this email from a happy reader who obviously follows this blog: Tom: I want to know who made you the king of wine sales? If you don't like the three tier system and distributors then why don't you find another country where you can Flack for your shitty wineries and…
Jan 15, 2010
It seems absolutely clear that Naomi Brilliant is happier now that her wine brand, Roshambo, is dead. It seems too that Naomi's time confronting the wine business left her bitter. At least that's what I get from reading the Santa Rosa Press Democrat Article, "Roshambo Founder Shifts From Wine to Farming". The most fun, I mean real fun, I had working with a winery PR client was when I did a bit of work for Naomi Brilliant at Roshambo. I…
Jan 14, 2010
FERMENTATION is giving away a pair of tickets to the Saturday, January 30th Grand Tasting at the Zinfandel Festival in San Francisco. This is the granddaddy of Grand Tastings where you can sample the wines of more than 200 Zinfandel producers. If you've never been to the ZAP Tasting, well, then you've not fully lived a wine-lovers life. However, you are going to have to work to get your hands on these tickets. The first person to correctly answer the…
Jan 13, 2010
I have two pairs of tickets to the Saturday, January 30 Zinfandel Advocates & Producers GRAND TASTING in San Francisco. Who wants a pair? The first two people to identify the name and location of the vineyard outlined below get a pair of tickets to the ZAP Grand Tastign. Put your guess in the comments section. I think this is pretty easy for fans of Zinfandel. The tickets sell for $59 a piece. Why do you want to go to…