Wine of the Week ~ From Croatia ~ Josić Ciconia Nigra Cuvée Superior 2013
PREFACE: THE HEART OF THE DEAL ~ THE WINERY: info is coming from the company’s own statements I can’t make up their history Nor am I to try THE SCIENCE OF THE DEAL ~ WINEMAKING THE SOUL OF THE DEAL ~ SAMPLE Imported by The Wine and More If you love wines and also enjoy […]
Consider Hyposmia ~ the aging palate
Probably not too many people in this lifetime want to admit that their palates are on the wane. No awards are given for fessing up, and it will definitely work in one’s disfavor, but I’ve always been one for telling it like it is, not like it isn’t… I’ve got to thank Dan Berger for […]
Bordeaux ~ Cabernet Franc, a Luscious Bordeaux Variety ~ partie sept
[Image of a Cabernet Franc leaf by Jo Diaz. All rights reserved.] Cabernet Franc is a delicious Vitis vinifera. It has luscious black fruit flavors and is the grape that gave Cabernet Sauvignon its color and body. (Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Frank are the parent grapes of Cabernet Sauvignon, if you didn’t know this already.) […]
Bordeaux ~ Getting to the Bottom of Left and Right Bank Soils ~ partie six
Continuing from last week’s Bordeaux ~ You Can Bank On It ~ partie six… This Earth Snapshot image is located on this Website: Sediments in the Gironde Estuary, France, and is of The Gironde Estuary, formed by the confluence of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers. I left soil for last, because its a serious, geological […]
Bordeaux ~ You Can Bank On It ~ partie cinq
In northern California, two well known appellations exist: Napa and Sonoma. They’re separated by a mountain range, the Mayacamas. (The Mayacamas Mountain name is thought to originally means “the howl of the mountain lion.” Lions still do exist on this range, you can be sure of that. I’ve seen my own and was wowed.) Sonoma […]
Wine of the Week ~ 2015 Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc from Chile
And you think that New Zealand has cornered the market on Sauvignon Blanc’s claw factor? Think again, friends. I just tasted a 2015 Casillero del Diablo Sauvignon Blanc from Chile, and it rivals anything I’ve tasted and really enjoyed from New Zealand, for instance. Also, I love the new bottles. Fun and so Millennial. Diablo… […]
My Story for Passion of Wine ~ Partie deux
Bordeaux Wine Grape Varieties [Cabernet Sauvignon leaf. Photo credit: Jo Diaz] It’s marvelous to hear people defend genetically modified plants as “it’s been happening in the wine world since forever.” This is a teachable moment. As I explore the world of Bordeaux this year, having received my inspiration from Millesima Cie, what I’m learning I’ll […]
Astrid Sirah ~ A not so distant cousin
Open letter to those of you who want to call Petite Sirah “a distant relative of Syrah…” Hello, You, Great story you’ve just written. In 2002, after a Petite Sirah symposium that I put on for Lou Foppiano, I started the wine grape advocacy group PS I Love You. The facts and figures you have […]
Why is Petite Sirah still so obscure, you might wonder?
I hear this wonderment all of the time about Petite Sirah… “Why is it still so obscure?” Well, one would think that it is. What it is, though, is a best kept secret, sort of like my grandfather’s blueberry patch. As a kid, we’d go blueberry picking, high up a mountainside in Wales, Maine. Even […]
When the Dust turns to Silk – 2011 Rutherford Cabernets
It was a beautiful summer’s day, when we all gathered to taste the 2011 Rutherford Cabernets, at Francis Ford Coppola’s Inglenook Winery. I need to immediately segue into the late 1990s. I was sitting on a panel for the American Wine Society in Cleveland, Ohio, I believe it was. I was invited to talk about […]
