Cooked Grapes ~ Here’s what they’re looking like from my zin vine
addthis_url = ‘http%3A%2F%2Fwww.wine-blog.org%2Findex.php%2F2010%2F09%2F01%2Fcooked-grapes-heres-what-theyre-looking-like-from-my-zin-vine%2F’; addthis_title = ‘Cooked+Grapes+%7E+Here%26%238217%3Bs+what+they%26%238217%3Bre+looking+like+from+my+zin+vine’; addthis_pub = ”;
Thoughts on an Obscure AVA ~ Suisun Valley’s Emergence
I’m currently writing about an obscure American Viticultural Area, called Suisun Valley. Many years ago, Rick Wood (who lives in Fairfield, California) had a dream to preserve some of Solano Country’s most rustic and precious farmland. That bucolic region is called Suisun Valley. Rick’s dream to save this area for generations to come would provide [...]
American Viticultural Area (AVA) ~ How Suisun Valley Got Its Name
Working with the Suisun Valley AVA, I’ve wondered more than once how Suisun Valley got its original name. My duties have been to tell everyone what’s going on in the valley today; however, always in the background has been that question. I’ve heard snippets about Native Americans, but nothing that was really sticking with me. [...]
The Earliest History of Grape Growing in Suisun Valley
[Image courtesy of Gary Mangels] Mae Fisher Purcell wrote for the Eighteenth Anniversary Edition And All County Chamber of Commerce Atlas of Solano County, Information-Section 4-1935, in a story entitled, “Claus Mangels Renowned Solano Winery and Notable Estate is Beauty Spot of Suisun Valley: When Omar Khayyam, poet-tentmaker, wrote in his immortal Rubalyat the lines… [...]
The Non-Summer of 2010
Here we sit in August, waiting for the heat. Actually, we also waited for spring to kick in, and thought that “at least summer will come around, and warm things up a bit.” Well, were we ever wrong. I can’t remember the last time I woke up in the morning, and the sun was actually [...]
2010 Petite Sirah Symposium is a Continuing Success
The Petite Sirah Symposium began in 2002, and was sponsored by Foppiano Vineyards. Louis Foppiano had had a meeting of Petite Sirah growers and producers prior to 2002, and he asked me to create a current PS Symposium. It proved to be very successful, and those annual meetings continued at Foppiano until 2007. At that [...]
Suisun Valley’s Climate is Revealed Through a Study of Terra Spase
As I read writers stating that the climate of Suisun Valley is warmer than Napa’s, I’m reminded of the many hours I sat in on a study being conducted by Dr. Paul Skinner of Terra Spase and Vineyard Investigations, of Napa Valley. I was also there to read the final report, interpret it, write a [...]
