Archive for the ‘Wine Education’ Category
This last Saturday, wine grape growers in Northern California got a taste of the underside of risk. Morning sprinkles provided a window into what could happen if a harvest already 3 weeks behind schedule is further effected by early spring rains and/or cool weather. These grapegrowers really didn't need to be reminded of the risk they take by betting on Mother Nature. They know already that planting grapes in a climate meant to bring them to maturity slowly, rather than…
Hello, my name is Tom Wark and I'm a binge drinker. I think I'm also a binge candy eater. It's also likely that I'm a binge golfer, but I can't find any support groups or studies to confirm these latter two problems. Binge drinking is, according to the Center for Desease Control: "a pattern of drinking that brings a person’s blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08 grams percent or above. This typically happens when men consume 5 or more drinks,…
The Top Ten Words of the 2011 Napa Harvest In my super -un-scientific, un-official, survey of growers, winemakers, owners and finance types in Napa Valley, here are the Top Ten words I hear associated with the 2011 Napa Valley Harvest (in no particular order). 1. Sauvignon Blanc 2. Cold 3. Shatter 4. Short 5. November 6. Picking-Crews 7. 20.1 Brix 8. Labor 9. Delicious 10. Late The average highs and lows for Saint Helena in the middle of Napa Valley…
Insight and education and entertainment does result from exploring the expertise of authorities in any given field. But sometimes, simply questioning the authority on more mundane matters can also deliver insight…and surprises. The "Questioning Authority" interview series on FERMENTATION is meant to do just that: Provide insight and surprises…and maybe entertain a little. Questioning Authority:THE JANCIS ROBINSON EDITION Job Description?Feeding the monster that is JancisRobinson.com mainly Profession other than current you'd like to claim?Travel agent manquée First Act as The Queen of…
———————————————————————————— When I entered the wine business in 1990 at the PR firm of Gracelyn and Associations, Gerald Asher was an "A" Writer. It was the term we gave to those writers and journalists that carried weight or an audience. As the wine writer for the esteemed Gourmet Magazine, Mr. Asher carried both. More important than anything else when I joined the fraternity of flacks was to learn as much as I could about the wine writing world. Not…
