Nigerian Wine Spam?

A friend forwarded me this email, which might just be the work of Nigerian email scammers. Evidently the turmoil in the financial world — and perhaps an increased awareness of both personal finances and email scams — has forced the scammers into a new game. Either that, or this whole wine fraud thing is really [...]

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Che, Syrah?

California syrah is in a strange place these days, and it’s no secret in the trade that the wine remains a difficult item to sell. With a few exceptions, this is generally true for both spicy, vibrant syrah from California’s cooler coastal climates, as it is for the jammy, sweeter versions grown in warmer spots.
Yet [...]

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Cleaning House

Tasting a lot of wine can lead to a sense of being easily distrated. Earlier this week, between tasting Gavi, various Langhe rossi and Barolo, I popped into the back of the office to chat with our art department — all of whom were too busy to deal with me.
Poking around in their accumulated vinous [...]

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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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Late Night Bling, or I *Heart* SF

(Above: I started my Friday with a michelada at Nopalito, which is Tecate mixed with tomato, chili de arbol, salt and lime. Yeah, it’s good.)
This post is going up late because I’ve been sick all week. For the record, summer colds suck. And no, I don’t use Zicam.
After gorging ourselves senseless with the Third Degree [...]

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It’s Good to be Home

Spent this past Saturday — a gloriously sunny afternoon — in Dolores Park enjoying a picnic and a bottle of 1990 Savennières-Roche aux Moines from Domaine aux Moines while playing cards and getting the first sunburn of the year. Lovely wine, although feeling a little soft and worn at the edges, so drink up.
It’s good [...]

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A Tale of Two Vineyards

(Above: Old-ass vines at Old Hill Ranch in Sonoma Valley)
Apologies for not posting regularly but these have been busy weeks. Thought I’d get a few posts up while in New York last week but all I could manage was the 140 characters on Twitter. So there’s that if you’re curious.
This post comes to mind after [...]

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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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Big Bottles

What can I say? I’m a bit of a size-queen when it comes to magnums (or bigger) of wine.
Large-format bottles age better than 750s, the greater volume making for subtle and slow aging thanks in part to a low ratio of oxygen to wine. Perhaps hindering the desire to age your magnum is the fact [...]

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