Where Have all the Malbecs gone album cover

Where Have All the Malbecs Gone?

San Francisco, CA.  2007. I was the Sommelier & General Manager at multi-year Wine Spectator list awarded, multi-year Michelin-starred Yabbies Coastal Kitchen on Polk St., between Vallejo & Green in the historic Russian Hill District – the restaurant where I actually met Cam for the first time as…

Street view of the town of Saint Helena California in wine country

St. Helena AVA

Welcome to beautiful St. Helena, located in the northern part of the Napa Valley, just north of Rutherford, south of Calistoga, and sandwiched between Spring Mountain to the west and Howell Mountain to the east. Home to over 80 wineries, the St. Helena AVA was blessed in the…

Still shot of Chardonnay splashing in slow motion

Chardonnay Desires…

Happy International Chardonnay Day! Let’s face it, the world is full of Chardonnay.  There isn’t a place on the globe that sells alcohol that it’s hard to find a Chardonnay. That said, not all of them are the greatest, but to each their own, and wine is subjective,…

Malbec wine vines in a row with a sign reading "Malbec"

It’s World Malbec Day!

To celebrate World Malbec Day, we thought we’d share some fun facts about Malbec! While we Americans have recently had Malbec become a part of the collective wine connoisseur consciousness, it has actually been popular in Argentina for over a century Malbec was originally used only for blending…

Two vineyard workers harvesting wine grapes

Understanding AVA: Estate

“Estate Wine” & “Estate Bottled” – two terms that you will come across frequently in the wine world.  What do they mean exactly? Estate Wine: Estate wine is reflective of wine made from vineyard sites owned, managed, or controlled by a winery that all fall in the same appellation. …

Sugar dunes with sugar crystals pouring down like sands through an hourglass

What is Chaptalization?

Developed by (and named for) French chemist Jean-Antoine-Claude Chaptal, chaptalization is the process of adding sugar to unfermented grape juice to increase the alcohol percentage post-fermentation.  The added sugar is consumed by the yeasts and converted into alcohol. Chaptalization as a process does not increase the sweetness of the…

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…

Malbec wine grape cluster hanging on the vine

Malbec Facts

If you didn’t know better, it would seem in the last decade a new varietal wine had been magically invented or finally discovered.  During the last American recession, a new standard for structured reds just magically appeared in the marketplace hailing from Argentina, and its name?  Malbec. The…

Modern wine production facility with stainless steel fermentation tanks

What is Carbonic Maceration?

Carbonic maceration is a process by which grapes are fermented in their skins in a carbon dioxide rich environment.  The weight of all the grapes crushes the juice from the lower areas of the tank that holds the grapes and gas, and undergoes a somewhat more conventional fermentation…

Ghost in a Haunted Winery

Haunted Wineries

As we move into the darker, colder days of fall, the leaves start falling from the trees, and the last of the grapes have long been harvested. We begin to think about Halloween, and what better way to get into the spirit of the season than to pour…