Super Tuscans are wines made in Tuscany, outside of the well known Chianti and lesser known Tuscan regions per DOC guidelines. In the 1970s winemakers wanted to experiment with blending Sangiovese (the main regional variety) with the noble grapes of Bordeaux (and in a few cases Syrah from…
Understanding Italy: Super Tuscans
Cabernet Franc
Happy Cabernet Franc Day! And it couldn’t be at a better time of the year. Nothing sounds better than cozying up by the fireplace with a delicious glass of Cab Franc to help keep you warm. Cabernet Franc in the new world has an association with big heavy…
Why Napa Valley?
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…
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…
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…
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…
