Archive for the ‘Wine News’ Category

Mar 17, 2005

America’s Original Cult Wine Hits 50

Stony Hill Vineyard on Spring Mountain in Napa Valley is celebrating its 50th anniversary. This alone is notable, yet not remarkable. What is remarkable is that Stony Hill has created a true cult following over the years by sticking to a style of Chardonnay that is rarely seen any more: crisp, fruit forward, long aging, un-oaked. A few years back, taken completely by this Chardonnay after having tasted a 15 year old example that was stunning, I set out on…

Mar 15, 2005

The Winegrowing Season Has Begun

It’s budbreak time in most of California vineyards. It’ marks the beginning of the growing season, which is both exciting for the winemaker and the source of much dread as the potential for severe frost damage now exists. Yet budbreak is also a great time to hang out in wine country. It’s often difficult for visitors to wine country to look at a vineyard and discern much difference from one vineyard to the next. Bud break makes that easier. Different…

Mar 7, 2005

Gimmicky Wine for Women…Hooorah!

I don’t mind gimmicks, as long as they are good gimmicks. Rainier Wines out of Washington seems to have come up with a decent idea for a Gimmick Wine: Mad Housewife. To quote from the press release announcing the new brand: The company spent nearly a year conducting nationwide testing panels to let women design and create wines that they would buy regularly.  Utilizing extensive testing in 10 metropolitan markets and comprehensive Internet surveys of hundreds of target women, Rainier…

Mar 1, 2005

Pinot/Carneros Pioneer is Back

Once a pioneer, always a pioneer. Francis Mahoney is back with a new winery: Mahoney Vineyards. Mahoney is perhaps the man most responsible for getting American Pinot Noir vintners to think about the impact of clones, those genetic variations of grape varieties that can the same variety to produce grapes of significantly different character. Mahoney founded Carneros Creek Winery in 1972. Along with Walter Schug and others, Mahoney was a strong, early proponent of the Carneros appellation. But he was…

Feb 14, 2005

Sorry, No Free Champagne

I’m not even sure what to make of this. Certainly it’s the first wine-related email scam/fraud I’ve ever heard of. There is an email being forwarded around the Internet that promises free Veuve Clicquot Champagne for all those who continue to forward the message to ten others. The email reads:   Greetings Champagne Lovers!! Send this message to 10 people, with a copy to [email protected] Veuve Clicquot France will contact you in order to deliver you a case of champagne…