Greg Walter, editor and publisher of the Pinot Noir Report, notes in his latest issue that nationwide sales of Pinot Noir were up 22% for the week ending January 15 compared to the same four weeks last year. "The Sideways Effect" is the cause of this dramatic uptick, according to Greg. This uptick should continue as the film has only recently achieved broader distribution.

How is this not a reason for despair? According to Cyril Penn , Editor of Wine Business Monthly and contributing writer to the San Francisco Chronicle 8.5% or one in every 12 bottles entered into the 2004 Macquarie Bank Sydney Royal Wine Show were corked…Contaminated by trichloroanisole, or TCA. While TCA can get into a wine without the help of a cork, it is the cork that is the culprit in the vast majority of cases. 8.5%??? Everytime studies like…

It’s not enough that Riedel has convinced me that their glassware is the best in the business. Now they can keep an eye on where I’m using their glassware. When Riedel named Sonoma’s Wine Country Party & Events here their West Coast rental distributor they did so in large part because Wine Country Party utilizes GPS technology to track where their delivery trucks and what’s in them. It’s a web-based system that allows Riedel in Austria to track where their…

Tragic, but…. "The hollow boxes with blinking lights are worthless. But there is nothing phony about Barton Watson’s corporate wine cellar. Harlan Estate Cabernet Sauvignon valued at $1,354 a bottle. Joseph Phelps Insignia Red worth $450. Grace Family Cabernet at $895….   In the hours before his suicide, Watson spoke of his fondness for expensive wine. He called a Kent County Sheriff’s Department dispatcher to tell authorities he planned to shoot himself, then bragged about his assets, including the $700…