Sep 18, 2006
So here’s what I wanted to know: What prompts you to buy a wine you’ve never had before given only the information on the bottle? The answer? In general, you told me that the producer and the varietal hold equal sway over your purchasing decisions. When asked "In general, and all else being equal, what is the most important factor in your decision to buy a wine you’ve never tried previously," 33% said producer and 31% said varietal. The price…
Sep 14, 2006
The governing body in France that grants appellation status to wine growing regions has added 4 new appellations to the over 400 that currently are recognized in France. There are apparently some who are quite unhappy about this further carving up of France’s vineyard lands:“France’s wine industry often operates at different speeds with little co-ordination or coherence,” said Jean Clavel, head of the Coteaux Languedoc AOC region. “This decision by INAO is the fruit of 10 years of work by…
Sep 5, 2006
——————————————————————————————————————————–TAKE THE "WHY DID YOU BUY THAT WINE" SURVEY. CLICK HERE——————————————————————————————————————————– Milla Handley is one of those folk who helped define an appellation. She’s been producing wines from the Anderson Valley since the early 80s. Between her, Ted Bennett at Navarro, the Husches and the Lazy Creek folk you’ve got a collection of people that together created the wines that convinced numerous others that Anderson Valley could be a promised land. Over at Appellation America, Thom Elkjer has an interview…
Aug 15, 2006
Came across a fascinating article by Susanne Johnston in the Summit Daily News. Ms. Johnston is a retailer and seems to know here wine. At one point in the article on the subject of "terroir" she translates this french word into English as "Placeness". A brilliant description and one I’ve not heard before to describe those characteristics in a wine that are the result of the natural environment in which that grapes were grown. Yet toward the end of the…
Aug 11, 2006
Last week Eric Asimov of the New York Times visited Bucklin’s Old Hill Ranch here in Glen Ellen. Eric drove up the gravel road in a black Dodge Magnum rental that looked ominously like a hearse. I thought he might be there to bury us. It was one of those beautiful days in Glen Ellen where the afternoon temperature is about 92 there’s a slight breeze coming up the valley from the North and it was pretty quiet all around….