Alto Adige, a wine producing region residing in the northernmost reaches of Italy, sitting just due east of the center, and producing a whopping <1% of the country’s wine production, a small, yet world-renowned region for wine production. The region is known for its Austrian influences not only…
Understanding Italy: Alto Adige
Residual Sugar in Wine
When you hear Residual Sugar in wine what do you think of? You may have heard the terms Bone Dry, Dry, Off-Dry, Sweet, and Very Sweet as descriptions for wines before. But what does it mean? In the wine world, sweetness is graded based upon grams per liter…
What is Inoculation?
To inoculate a wine is to add an active yeast culture to the must (juice) to activate fermentation. Winemakers choose certain known strains of yeasts to achieve desired results. You may have heard the term ‘native yeasts’ used in the wine world at some point on your journey. …
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…
Merlot, Merlot, Merlot…
Happy International Merlot Day! Here are 10 facts about Merlot you may (or may not) know: Merlot is the child of Cabernet Franc & Magdeleine Noire des Charentes, recent DNA testing has proven this where the grape’s full origins were unknown for many years. Merlot’s soft skin is…
Fumé Blanc?
Today marks a first for Cameron Hughes Wine: Fumé Blanc. So what, pray tell, is Fumé Blanc? In the 1800s Sauvignon Blanc was arriving in America and by 1960 was sadly degraded into a washed up, sweet, indistinguishable wine. Robert Mondavi decided it was time to refurbish the…
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…
Dormancy
What does wine dormancy and the winter season have in common? For those of us who celebrate daylight savings, it comes to an end this Sunday the 4th. Getting up in the mornings will be harder, and driving home from work will begin to occur under the blanket…
Calistoga AVA
Situated in the northernmost reaches of Napa Valley is the sub-appellation of Calistoga. Established in 2010, Calistoga is the home to the highest rate of steep slopes to valley floor of any AVA, meaning warm to hot days, cooler evenings, better drainage from the soils, and subsequently higher…
