Napa Valley Cabernet is synonymous with quality, luxury, scores, and of course, the subsequent price tags. But what makes the wines from Napa Valley command such a market presence? What actually makes Napa Valley wines so special? Let’s skip over the portion of history where its wines were…
Why Napa Valley?
Red Mountain AVA
Red Mountain is the smallest AVA in the state of Washington, hovering around 1600 hectares (~4,000 acres), with around 240 hectares cultivated for winemaking purposes. A sub-appellation of the Yakima Valley AVA (which in turn resides within the greater Columbia Valley AVA), Red Mountain’s unique geographical location allows…
Virginia Wine Month
Let’s talk a little about the history of wine in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Settlers in Jamestown had such high hopes for Virginia to become a large source for British wine consumption that a law was signed into effect in 1619 requiring each male settler to plant and…
CA Zinfandel
Prior to 1998, CA Zinfandel was the most widely planted grape in the state. Post-prohibition many common people believed it to be a native California grape until DNA testing results came in (and an assist from a little information filled invention called ‘the internet’) showing it to be…
CA Wine: The Earliest Days
California wine is well-known globally. A long, rich history is the backbone of the operation. Although much of the global stance got it’s footing post-prohibition, European immigrants long before modern winemakers saw gold in the soils and climate of modern-day CA. Although the official birthdate of California wine…
Missouri Wine
It’s Missouri Wine Month, in addition to what seems like every-other-state-you-can-think-of’s wine month. We kid, we kid…actually, it is a honor to be able to look into the history and immigration that led to the creation of what once was the largest producing wine state in the union…
California’s Native Grape
It’s California Wine Month! What better way to celebrate than to kick it off by learning about California’s native grape. It is a common misunderstanding that Zinfandel is the native California grape. In fact, Zinfandel is actually Primitivo from Italy – or wait… is Primitivo Zinfandel from California? …
North Carolina Wine Month
Sadly shadowed and run alongside California Wine Month is a month dedicated to the wines of North Carolina. North Carolina has hundreds of years of grape growing history, and in the mid-19th century, boasted 25 wineries and dominated the national market in the US until post-civil war times…
Wine? In Illinois!?
Happy Illinois Wine Month! Yes. It’s actually a thing, and it should be. Illinois has their first documented winery and vineyard planting dating back to 1851 and by 1880 had over 660 acres planted with 40 operating fine wine cellars. The story of Illinois wine is a story…
