Suffice to say, if the French are there, so is wine. One of the strangest places to find grape wine, where it actually is made from that location, is Tahiti. The French Polynesian island produces a very, very, very small amount of wine, but it produces it nonetheless. …
Off The Beaten Path: Tahiti
Off The Beaten Path: Tunisia
In our previous Off The Beaten Path post, we spoke about Corsican wines and the multitude of influences that created the modern day scene there. If you noticed, there was one or two strange places to have brought winemaking influence to Corsica. One of which was Tunisia. Sadly,…
What is Terroir?
Terroir leaves no single word in the english language that can be translated. So what exactly is terroir? Terroir is a beautiful word to describe essentially the essence of a particular piece of land. More than just the piece of land itself, but also its climate and how…
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…
Decoded: Oregon Chardonnay
While Chardonnay takes a distant third place in plantings in Oregon (behind Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris), more interest, investment and development has continued to be behind growth and plantings of the grape to develop its market presence and the potential diversity of its stylings. Oregon Chardonnay runs…
Decoded: Eola-Amity Hills
While we’ve dedicated most of the month to decorating the Pinots from Oregon, Chardonnay is the third most grown grape in the Willamette Valley, and routinely compared to the Chardonnays of Burgundy – which can be credited to Robert Drouhin who “discovered” the potential of Oregon soil in…
Decoded: Chehalem Mountains
Last month saw the release of our Lot 627 Chehalem Mountains Pinot Noir, a sub appellation of the Willamette Valley in the northwestern reaches of the region. As always, Cam’s notes will speak well towards the wine, but let’s look deeper into the region itself. While Papa Pinot…
