Archive for the ‘Terroir’ Category
Never let it be said that Napa Valley Vintners association is not staffed with smart, well intentioned highly competent folks. The comment below by NVV Terry Hall demonstrates this fact. Hall offered this comment in a previous post on this blog concerning the controversy surrounding the pending application for a "Calistoga" American Viticultural Area (AVA) and the impact this new appellation might have on Calistoga Cellars, a winery that, if NVV gets its way, would be forced to either change…
I’m always somewhat gratified and curious when internal wine industry debates spill over into the general media and into the laps of the average consumer. Such is the case with this Reuters article examining Alice Feiring’s concerns for and criticisms of the 100 point rating system, the dominance of Robert Parker’s palate, the "internationalization" of wine styles and her view of the general shitty condition of most expensive California wines. I have a hard time stepping back and trying to…
I spent three years in Humboldt County, that (way) Northern California county best know for its world class dope. (I have a good story about Humboldt dope that comes toward the end of this post). I was there in the mid 1980s studying History at Humboldt State University. It was where I lived when I discovered my passion for wine. Yet the entire time I never once tasted a wine from Humboldt County. Now, it seems, there are enough local…
The assumption of the American Viticultural Area (appellation) program is that there is something unique about those areas that are granted AVA status—that there is something about Oakville, Anderson Valley, Finger Lakes and Green Valley that make them distinct. However, the subtext of this quasi-appellation program administered by the federal government and completely embraced by the American wine industry is that the wines the emerge from specifically designated American Viticultural Areas are themselves unique because they somehow contain identifiable characteristics…
Having reconciled myself to the idea that there is no such thing as an objective criteria for quality in any category of wine, I began deliberating on what I think we all must do to bring reason to our palate and preferences; to put our preferential house in order, so to speak. What I began looking for were other artistic (yes, artistic) creations that might serve as a model for my personal beliefs about wine quality. What I was looking…
