Almost 31 Days…

The title could well refer to the fact that I haven’t posted anything new for nearly a month. My apologies but for some reason I’m feeling like a short break from blogging is in order. It’s summer and all that. Besides, I got a new bicycle to replace the one that was stolen in May, [...]

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Building Community

Above: The new tools of the trade?
One of my favorite aspects about the wine, specialty cocktail and food business is that it builds communities, from casual tasting groups to communal neighborhood gardens. And this is one reason tools like blogging, twitter, Chowhound and (gasp) even Yelp are so well-suited to the food and wine world, [...]

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SF Street Food Meets Terroir

Or, Terroir, welcome to SF street food.

(Above: An empty taco truck lacking signage is parked in front of Chez Spencer)
Via Inside Scoop, one of the bestest, greatest things ever in the San Francisco Chronicle: Looks like plans are in the works for a Chez Spencer taco truck, erm, make that a frog truck, to park [...]

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Pic Post: VinItaly, ViniVeri & Verona

A picture is worth a thousand words. Or at least a glass or two of wine…

Above: An aerial shot of the Tuscan pavilion, always one of the most busy — and ostentatious — at VinItaly.

Above: Brunello producer Le Presi makes a new t-shirt each year for the fair. This year, the theme capitalized on Obama’s [...]

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The NPA – Keeping Winedrinkers Safe

I have a post up at Wine & Spirits that talks about the Natural Process Alliance, a new project from Kevin Kelley of Salinia Wine Company. Kelley has made a skin-fermented chardonnay and a pinot gris relying only on indigenous yeasts and without using any added sulfur dioxide. The wines are delicious although quite limited [...]

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Wino Photos are Fun

I’ve finally got a decent camera in my phone. Not that I’m abandoning my Nikon or anything, but this does mean more spontaneous pics to share. To wit:
Check out those tartrates!

Is it me, or is that a fingernail floating in the neck of this wine? The label *did* say that this wine was bottled unfiltered. [...]

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Native Yeasts and Reggae

(Above: One of my favorite Barolo producers, Giuseppe Rinaldi. Definitely old world, old school, right down to the groovy label.)
The title of this post refers to Thursday night’s unofficial theme at Terroir (sorry Luc, it was too good of a line not to use!); I had gone there to meet up with Joe Manekin, blogger [...]

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The Stinky Stuff, or More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About SO2

(Above: One of the nifty graphics that designer Michael Austin did to illustrate some of the ways that SO2 is used in winemaking. Overall, I think the Chronicle did a terrific job with the layout–Nice work, guys!)
A bit of shameless self-promotion, but I have a feature in today’s Wine section of the San Francisco Chronicle. [...]

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Book review: Real Wine, by Patrick Matthews

Real Wine was ahead of its time when it was first published in the year 2000. And by choosing to focus on a broad movement within the wine industry to return to more traditional methods of winemaking and viticulture (all valid and relevant issues today), it remains an important read for any serious and intellectually [...]

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Another Year…

Not much blogging going on here ’cause it’s my birthday today and I’ve had plenty of distractions, including a down home dinner at The Front Porch we had last night with friends. I brought along a bottle of Ridge’s 2000 Lytton Springs, which is about 80% zinfandel and 20% petite sirah, all from the Lytton [...]

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