Beaujolais News from Georges Dubœuf ~ Beautiful Grapes and Magnificent Vines
I’ve had communications with Georges Dubœuf’s wine company. I’ve had a very insightful phone interview with Franck. For two years in a row, I received a bottle of their Celebration of Beaujolais Day — Beaujolais Nouveau — each year with a very festive, very fun tie to celebrate. They’re so cool. Quintessential is their exclusive US […]
Rutherford Dust Brought Karen MacNeil Squarely Into My Headlights, Now Into Yours
Most of you know Karen MacNeil as the author of The Wine Bible. Please appreciate it took her 10 years to write this tome, and was without the luxury of the Internet for reading and research. She’s a walking wine encyclopedia, and you have a chance to get to know her a little bit better.
World’s Largest BYO Tradition is Coming to Russian River Valley
PHOTO: Andrey Cherkasov This wine and food event is going to be really delicious; and in the process, you’ll learn all about a Paulée Dinner. www.lapaulee.com/ ~ La Paulée is a series of events celebrating the wines and winemakers of Burgundy, alternating yearly between New York and San Francisco. The event takes its name from the traditional post-harvest […]
Napa Valley Vintner Stuart Smith Supporting “No On C” with a Blog Devoted to Preservation
Stuart Smith has gathered in depth background materials for “No On C and Napa County’s environment” at www.stopmeasurec.com. The Webpage opens with what’s most concerning for this measure: “Because Measure C was created in secret, the only public airing of the Measure has been mailings, street signs, ads and letters to our local newspapers. Even […]
Earth Day in Wine Country ~ You are what you eat AND DRINK
You are what you eat AND DRINK… Why have we missed stating the obvious DRINK part for so long? As you think about this question, consider where we’d be today, if – in the 60s – we would have chanted this concept, with “drink” also included. Then, our children would be further ahead in their […]
Geyserville Wine Country Series ~ Sculpture from Geyserville to Cloverdale ~ #1
Last fall, we moved to Geyserville. We hadn’t thought of it as moving to a senior community; but, in some ways, it really is conducive to a more mature living location. I have gray hair coming in, so that qualifies, right? Before living here full time, Geyserville was a place to visit for a few […]
The Terroir of the Petaluma Wind Gap
A few years ago, I was privately doing a lot of reading and writing about Green Valley of the Russian River Valley. Something that was a bit elusive for me was actually grasping exactly where the Petaluma Wind Gap originates. Everyone writes about it, but knowing exactly where it comes in is not as well […]
Wine Etiquette 101 ~ The 10 most important things to remember
I once wrote a story called Wine Country Casual, because people are so concerned, wanting to know the best thing to wear. We’re like that as people, aren’t we? It’s also one of my most clicked onto stories. Everyone wants to know what to wear. But, what about behavior? After we dress to fit in, […]
Bordeaux ~ Top 10 Things I Learned From Peter M. F. Sichel ~ partie seize
While reading Peter M. F. Sichel‘s book, The Secrets of My Life: Vintner, Prisoner, Soldier, Spy, I learned a lot about a lot… His Chapter 29, Becoming a Bordeaux Vintner was very important to me. I’ve been inspired by Millesima, a négociant company based in Bordeaux since 1983, to learn more about Bordeaux wines. Author […]
Tasting 101 Simplified for a Novice ~ Especially if you’re faced with teaching it
I was just asked by someone, who’s writing an article on tips of how to train your palate. He asked if I would be interested in sharing a tip for developing tasting chops.
