Apr 27, 2006
How long does it take for a new grape growing region to establish a reputation for it’s wines? It can take quite a while or no time at all, because this kind of development is not dependent on the passage of time. It is dependent on the quality and quantity of fine wines from the region. Marin County, one county south of Sonoma, is attempting to build a reputation for its wines and primarily for it’s Pinot Noir. Over the…
Apr 25, 2006
It is becoming more and more difficult to keep track of the number of Pinot Noir Festivals that take place each year. There are at least four of them in California alone. And given the surge in Pinot’s popularity as well as the number of new Pinot producers, we expect that they all will sell out. However, one Festival, by all accounts, is the one you really should consider attending: PINOT ON THE RIVER, October 27-29, Russian River Valley This…
Apr 14, 2006
Two good posts in a row over at Wine Sediments. Yesterday Mark Fisher, the editor of the group blog to which I also contribute, took on the notion of wine ratings and how they are offered in complete disregard for any acknowledgment of terroir and source. He’s also concerned that it is very unlikely that a review of 100,000 case bottling of a wine can’t really offer the reader any expectation that in buying the wine it will have any…
Apr 11, 2006
It strikes me that the Monterey region in central California is perhaps one of the most perfectly situated "wine country" destinations in all of California. If all goes well down in that neck of the woods, the county will be helping out the wine industry, and wine lovers, by creating a "wine corridor" that encourages modest development of wine and wine tourism related business up and down the valley. The proposal for the Wine Corridor comes as Monterey is considering…
Apr 10, 2006
You rarely see wine used as a blunt instrument. The stuff is just too satisfying to relegate to the status of expendable weapon. Yet, this is what is apparently happening in Russia where that country is using wine as a weapon in a political disagreement with the former Soviet States of Moldavia and Georgia. Beginning on May 1, Russia will ban importation of all Moldavian and Georgian wine. These two country each send over 80% of their wine production to…