Archive for the ‘Events’ Category
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…
It is a truism that to understand where we are, one must understand where we were. For folks who wonder just how the American system of alcohol control and regulation became the protectionist racket it currently is and how wholesaler middlemen in every state came to control which laws and regulations are enacted, you could do much worse than watching Ken Burns' new three part documentary, "Prohibition". The first installment of "Prohibition" aired last night and undertook to explain the…
WHAT WAS THE NAME OF THE FIRST COMMERCIAL WINERY BUILT IN THE LODI REGION AND WHAT YEAR WAS IT BUILT? The first person to answer this question correctly will receive two tickets to LODI'S TREASURE ISLAND WINE FEST taking place Saturday, October 8, 2011, 1pm – 5pm, at the Pavilion By The Bay on Treasure Island in the middle of the San Francisco Bay (very cool setting!!) The folks organaizing the event were kind enough to send me two tickets…
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…
Evaluating and assigning (or not) medals to roughly 80 young cabernets and syrahs, over a period of roughly an hour and a half is not hard work. However, to do it well requires certain abilities. I leaned this again this week after returning to wine competition judging after about 6 or 7 years away. I was in Long Beach helping to judge the Long Beach Grand Cru, a well established wine competition run by Dan Berger and benefiting the Legal…
