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Archive for the ‘winemaking’ Category

The New Ancient Anfora

Posted in wine and technology, winemaking on May 17, 2009 | 7 Comments »

I found myself in Sonoma County last week where I finally got to see one of the so-called ‘egg fermenters’ firsthand. Cast from concrete and inspired by the clay anfora vessels used in ancient winemaking practices (and most famously these days by Josko Gravner), the purpose of the egg is to maintain a steady temperature [...]

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The NPA – Keeping Winedrinkers Safe

Posted in natural wine, san francisco, wine, winemaking, tagged , , , on March 27, 2009 | 2 Comments »

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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Drink Champagne All the Time

Posted in music, wine, winemaking, tagged , , , , , , on February 12, 2009 | 3 Comments »

But especially for dessert…
This was the lesson from dinner the other night when we made swift use of some new kitchen toys (birthday presents: all the tools necessary to make western and central European style dumplings, be they ravioli, gnocchi, maultaschen or spätzle). After a hefty stick-to-your-gut feast of potato gnocchi with a wild mushroom [...]

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From Deep in the Archive: Harvest 2003

Posted in wine, winemaking, tagged , , , , , on October 1, 2008 | 1 Comment »

Five years ago I worked the vintage in the mountains above St. Helena in the Napa Valley. At the time I started something resembling a blog, which in the end was updated oh, I don’t know, about three times, maybe four. To all you winemakers and cellar rats with blogs, I don’t know how you [...]

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

Posted in natural wine, wine, winemaking, tagged , , , on August 22, 2008 | 3 Comments »

(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

Posted in natural wine, wine industry, winemaking, tagged , , , on February 4, 2008 | 1 Comment »

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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Shake it Up

Posted in music, rants, wine, winemaking on December 7, 2007 | Leave a Comment »

Ray Isle linked today to a rather odd little video produced by the people behind Mollydooker, a newish and apparently popular winery from Australia. I’ve not had the wines myself, so I can’t really comment on how they taste. The video, however, speaks well enough for itself:

Fascinating! Weird!
Okay, so maybe they’ve [...]

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