December in Wine Country ~ Have a Look
[Paperwhite flowers are a typical December bloom. Photo by Jo Diaz.] The beginning of December – this season – has been beautiful weather wise and visually. I’m now in the Mayacamas Mountains, above the Alexander Valley floor. The views are spectacular… stunning, really. Perhaps this is why my devotion to blogging every day has waned […]
How Can We Require Mandatory Reading ~ A Perfect Score
A Perfect Score The Art, Soul, and Business of a 21st-Century Winery Craig and Katheryn Hall ~Hall Wines The world of wine is a fabulous world. It’s down home, gutsy, and warm. As I pack up my wine library, getting ready to ship it to another world with us, I pick up magazines that I’ve […]
The Charlemagne Connection, by Novelist R.M. Cartmel
If I were writing my own autobiography, I might have come up with this title, The Charlemagne Connection. Direct descendant of Charlemagne, including his first born Pepin the Short Pepin born from Charlemagne’s first wife, and heir to the throne This genealogy led to Kings of Scot Which lead to the Reverend William Blackstone, who […]
VIT 101 ~ 10 ~ Sour Grapes
WARNING: If you’re in the wine business, this is only VIT 101. This blog story has been created for people just learning about vineyards. Please judge accordingly. VIT 101 ~ Sour Grapes It all began with updating the cluster photograph for the VIT 101 story. This one right here. When I looked at it the […]
Seeing a value come to fruition ~ Suisun Valley
One of my greatest gifts in the wine business was to have the Suisun Valley Vintners and Grape Growers Association come to my doorstep, in September of 2003. We were told that the group had some government funds for the next seven years, and they wanted help to get Suisun onto the wine maps. Finding […]
VIT 101 ~ 7 ~ Cover Crops
WARNING: If you’re in the wine business, this is only VIT 101. This blog story has been created for people just learning about vineyards. Please judge accordingly. VIT 101: Cover Crops in a Vineyard Cover crops benefit a vineyard in a few ways. They begin by repelling harmful pests. By having a cover crop of […]
Understanding Macroclimate, Microclimate, Mesoclimate, and Canopy Climates
Image via Wikipedia For all of the words that are used in writing about a vineyard’s climate terroir, there are significant differences with each. If you don’t have the luxury of a viticulture class close by, or you’re just too busy to attend a class, here’s a good primer. Vit 101 brought some interesting concepts […]
On Average, one grape vine equals how much wine
The following are averages, because viticulturists ultimately decided how many plants there will be on one acre of land.
What goes into the planting of a vineyard, by Hugh Hamilton of McLaren Vale
What goes into the planting of a vineyard, by Hugh Hamilton of McLaren Vale, is worth our time. The planting of a vineyard is far from as simple as this video (below) makes it look. I got an Email from Hugh Hamilton Wines in the McLaren Vale of South Australia. Don’t we just love how an […]
Orentano Wine
Orentano wine… “Like sands through the hour glass, these are the days of our lives.” I write that, because I first thought, “The wife of anyone can so easily be the last on the list for the services of her husband (and vice versa), so many of the times…” You know how our minds start […]
