Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category

Dec 16, 2004

A Hugely Good Bit of Blogging

Leave it to wine blogger Huge Johnson to offer the best wine blog post of the month. Mr. Huge deconstructs an article by Roger Voss on the suspect benefits of puting ingredient labeling on wine. My favorite part of the deconstruction comes when he address the suggestion that the amount of sugar in a wine should be disclosed: “It would be useful if one was trying to find a certain level of sweetness or dryness to match with a certain…

Dec 16, 2004

The “Un-Oaked” Trend is Upon Us

There appears to be a growing movement in California among winemakers and the media to champion wines that go light on (and in some cases eliminate) oak aging. One client has in fact introduced three different “unoaked” wines. A chardonnay, a sauvignon blanc and a Pinot Gris. Recently, the New York Times explored this movement in an article by Eric Asimov. In fact a number of California wineries are talking about and promoting their more fruit forward, leaner wines…mainly white….

Dec 15, 2004

The hypnotizing glow of Wine Country

So I’m in Napa Valley today and I turn up Soda Canyon Road. I’m on my way to meet with a client and a wine writer (one of the best). And it’s foggy. Not just foggy, it’s dense like a white wool shroud. I’m heading up Atlas Peak. About 4 miles up, around 1000 feet, the fog slips below me and the sun is bright like summer. It’s really a stunning thing to experience. It’s mood altering. There are other…

Dec 15, 2004

Coup for K&L Wine Shop in SF

I was browsing through wisewalletwine.com and came across a wine I didn’t know exist: 2002 Kalinda “Floodgate Vineyard” Pinot Noir. The Floodgate Vineyard is one of the best vineyards in Anderson Valley. It’s now owned by Duckhorn. I wasn’t aware they were selling any fruit. What’s really interesting is they sold their fruit to K&L, a wine shop in San Francisco. Kalinda is their own private label. Quite a coup for K&L…got to go try it. WiseWalletWine gave it their…

Dec 14, 2004

Kendall-Jackson: Wine Hero

I just finished off a 2000 Matanzas Creek Merlot and it reminded me of something: Kendall Jackson along with Jess Jackson is one of winedom’s true heroes. We did a lot of public relations work with Matanzas Creek in the 90s before it was purchased by Kendall-Jackson. They were the best clients I’ve ever had. Not only was the wine always fabulous, but the owners were too. Sandra and Bill MacIver were passionate about business, about wine and about the…