Archive for the ‘Wine Education’ Category
You see a lot of events in Wine Country that seem utterly the same. The reason they seem that way is because they probably are. But, before we get our panties in a bunch about sameness, it’s important to realize that some formats for celebrations and events just work. And they work well. The Charitable Wine Auction is a perfect example. It works like this: 1. There is an organization that needs to raise funds to operate2. One or two…
I find myself, every day, becoming more and more anamoured with Sauvignon Blanc. And this goes for well aged Sauvignon Blanc too (let’s not get carried away: well aged usually means 6-10 years old) I was surprised to learn that of all the mainstream varietals, Sauvignon Blanc is one of the few that has never attained a perfect score from Robert Parker. I can’t speculate why this would be other than, simply, he’s never tasted a perfect example. I don’t…
The Associated Press’ Michelle Locke has written a story about Biodynamic farming of wine grapes in the United States focusing on Benziger Winery in Sonoma Valley and Quivera in Dry Creek Valley. It’s very much like other Biodynamic-centered articles in which the personalities at the center of the story claim to have had great success with the system, yet prefer to either discount the somewhat loony alchemical aspects of the practice or speculate that these practices "must be doing something"…
The cork manufacturers of the world are pretty smart, visionary folk. Early on, when the first alternative closures for wine hit the market in response to too many wines gone bad due to tainted corks, cork manufacturers when on a promotional crusade to keep corks relevant. I learned today of what must be their greatest coup yet in their battled to maintain their closure market dominance: They’ve simply found a way to keep the market all to themselves. A press…
On occasion Roger Dial of Appellation America shoots off an e-mail to their mailing list. They are very often very interesting missives. Todays was particularly enlightening and held one particular statement of great importance and foresight. In general, Roger is arguing that understanding what makes America’s appellations, and the wines that come from them, unique is of critical importance to the American wine culture. But the very last paragraph of his communique reads like this: The fact that so much…
