It is Pennsylvania Wine Month, a state where no matter your location, you are within a 1 hour drive of a winery. The state boasts over 200 wineries and an annual production of 1 million+ gallons of wine. Recently wines from the state have seen international recognition by winning…
Pennsylvania Wine Month
Sonoma Cabernet
When it comes to California Cabernet Sauvignon, it is true that Napa Valley is King. Between the sheer amount of plantings, savvy marketers, big names, and the “Judgement of Paris” Napa will long hold the bulk of the market value for California Cab. But with a similar Mediterranean…
What is Pinotage?
Pinotage is a portmanteau of Pinot Noir and Hermitage (Cinsault). Pinotage is an actual cross between the two grapes as well, created in 1925. Pinotage was created in South Africa. But what is Pinotage really? The story of Pinotage is one of a grape almost lost to history…
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…
Riedel Stemware Tasting Seminar Recap
At the end of last month, our whole staff had the pleasure of attending the Riedel tasting seminar at Dutton-Goldfield Winery in Sebastopol, CA. We enjoyed their Riesling, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Syrah out of proper and improper stemware (complete with Lindt chocolates for pairing – more on…
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…
Wine Folly: The Essential Guide to Wine by Madeline Puckette & Justin Hammack
Buy this book. Seriously. Unless you are one of the 250 or so master sommeliers on this planet, there is a place in your life for this book. This essential guide is perfect for novices and intermediates alike. The pages of this book come alive with illustrations, colors,…
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…
