Sommelier Marnie Old and brewer Sam Calagione have a long-standing, friendly rivalry: She thinks wine is the best beverage to drink with food; he thinks it’s beer.
Original post by Craig Camp
Licensees are failing to maximise wine sales, according to research from the Wine and Spirit Trade Association (WSTA). The trade body said that there was “significant potential” to increase wine choice and profits in the UK’s pubs, bars and restaurants after polling 500 outlets.
Original post by Craig Camp
CANYON COUNTY — The Sawtooth Winery has been holding its Mother’s Day Wine Festival for so long that winemaker Brad Pintler’s own mom — who used to co-own the winery — has taken a break from attending.”Mom and Dad owned the winery with me and they came to about the first 15 years,” Pintler said. “I think Mom’s probably enjoying relaxing this year.”But for the rest of the family and a …
Original post by Craig Camp
The Glendale-Kirkwood Kiwanis will host its fourth annual fundraiser, “Spring into Summer!” a wine tasting event from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 16, at Grapevine Wines, 309 S. Kirkwood Road.
Original post by Craig Camp
The first estate grown bottle of wine produced from grapes grown in the Eagle foothills was uncorked Saturday afternoon.
Original post by Craig Camp
For only the second time in 18 years, Dr. C. Richard Daniel hosted a two-day “Wine Makers Open House” over the weekend at Daniel Vineyards in Crab Orchard.
Original post by Craig Camp
Much is being made of “The Wine Trials”, to be published this month by Fearless Critic Media , along with recent studies about consumer psychology that says we consumers are nothing but rubes and idiots when it comes to packaging and ads.
Original post by Craig Camp
THE world’s love affair with Australian wine may be over, with export figures showing an unexpected slump in sales, prompting the biggest shake-up to the export industry in more than a decade.
Original post by Craig Camp
Perhaps the best analysis of “The Billionaire’s Vinegar” comes from one of Will Smith’s partners in optioning the film rights. As he said: “For me, the movie is the unraveling of a mystery that comes down to a guy who punked the wine world.”
Original post by Craig Camp
Lodi has many great wineries. Let us help you plan your California Wine Tour to Lodi wineries with information on wineries, restaurants, and accomodations.
Original post by Tom Wark
Plan your own California Wine Tour with this guide to the California wineries, restaurants, and accommodations. Print free wine tasting coupons and winery maps for California wine regions.
Original post by Tom Wark
Screaming Eagle Snubs The Wine Trade - Vinography: A Wine Blog
In the above post Alder Yarrow tells a tale of the now famous Napa attitude. It must have been tough for the Screaming Eagle folks to spend time with the wine rabble. We should all remember that it is a privilege, not a right to drink their wines. However, what really stuck me in Alder’s post was this statement:
Forget the IQ test, here’s a new intelligence test. If you pay $700 for a bottle of a current vintage of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon you obviously skipped too many days of school. We’re in a golden age of wine quality: especially in this style. There is no shortage of high-quality. oaky, jammy red wines in the world these days. Anyone paying these prices for these wines is involved only in conspicuous consumption; not in being a wine connoisseur.
A quick look on Wine-searcher.com shows 2005 Screaming Eagle Cabernet going for $1600 and up a bottle. As they say, a fool and his money are easily parted. In my opinion you can set an arbitrary intelligence level of $100 a bottle for these cabernet based wines as there are just too many other wines on the market that are almost identical. Take a look at any of the wine rating guides and while you’ll always see wines like those listed above at the top of the pointy rankings, you will also see scattered among them wines of essentially equal ratings at a fraction of the price these wines command.
As a wine drinker you have to decide if you want to spend your money on the wine in the bottle or the label on it.
Tags: Napa, Cabernet Sauvignon, Screaming Eagle, Harlan Estate
Original post by Craig Camp
Plan your own Livermore Wine tour with highlights and recommendations from Cheers2Wine. Sample wine from great Livermore wineries.
Original post by Tom Wark
Use our direct wine links to access valuable information on other web sites.
Original post by Tom Wark
It was a strip joint, nothing more than a meat market. Places like this are always a bit sleazy no matter how elegant they pretend to be. I sat down at the bar almost expecting an invitation to a lap dance, but was handed a menu instead.
Such is the American steak house these days. I looked quite out of place in my Columbia Oregon garb surrounded by guys with gold chains and sport coats over their sport shirts, which were unbuttoned a bit too much, and shiny loafers. I got as close as I could to the TV and the baseball game, ordered my New York Strip medium rare and asked for the wine list. As my eyes raced down the list of big name California wines I realized that for these prices it may have been cheaper to go to a real strip joint and buy some “personal” attention than buy a decent bottle of wine at Morton’s. Who would have thought that illicit flesh could be cheaper than a bottle of Napa Cab and one-way-or-the-other a more memorable investment.
It didn’t take long before I understood that cabernet was out of the question for less than $100, so my eyes drifted to syrah and zinfandel. The selections from Ridge temped me, but they were 2005 vintage and I felt like keeping the enamel on my teeth. My eyes then focused on the vintages and there it was, 2001 Livingston Moffet, Mitchell Vineyard Syrah at a third or less of the cost of the least interesting cabernet sauvignon from much more recent vintages. Luckily for the next customer, I consumed this wine just in time as it is starting to dry out. The problem is that not having tasting the wine before, I can’t tell if the lack of fruit is the fault of the wine or the shipping and storage: I’m willing to bet it’s the latter. So I’ll give this wine the benefit of the doubt as all-in-all it had great appeal. The tannins were quite pronounced, but that was not a problem as my steak quickly absorbed them. It presented excellent balance with flavors that were wonderfully not a bit jammy, but loaded with rich earthy, meaty, smoky butcher shop characteristics. Given a fair chance I’d say this would be an excellent bottle of syrah. Too bad it wasn’t given a fair chance.
However, at a strip joint like Morton’s, no one cares about such details. My guess is this bottle was mistreated before they every received it. A summer or two in a hot Mid-Western warehouse or a day on a delivery truck on a hot August day will even rip the guts out of a robust syrah. However, at a strip joint no one is paying close attention to the quality of the wine. They only pay attention to paying a lot for it. The more you pay the better it must be.
I guess at all strip joints bigger is better.
Original post by Craig Camp
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Original post by Tom Wark
Lodi has many great wineries. Let us help you plan your California Wine Tour to Lodi wineries with information on wineries, restaurants, and accomodations.
Original post by Tom Wark
Highlights of a Lodi Wine Tour allow you to plan your visit to the Lodi Wine Country. Enjoy tasting wine at Lodi wineries.
Original post by Tom Wark
A Blog on Champagne, Wine and Food, by Peter LiemInteresting commentary on the concept and tradition of terroir.“The problem is that not enough tasters, whether professional oramateur, are equipped to recognize distinction of character. One of thedifficulties is that it’s far easier to identify technical quality thanquality of character, and often I feel that many people are too easilysatisfied with the former. Even the way that we taste is orientedlargely towards the identification of technical quality: blindcomparisons, sterile conditions, numerical scoring. On the other hand,we have not yet developed a system for identifying character, which isfar more difficult. One could even say that the idea of character,while ultimately identifiable, defies the whole concept ofsystemization.”
Original post by Craig Camp
Enjoy an Amador wine tour. Escape to the Sierra foothills and tour the Amador wineries. Taste great wines and relax in the scenic beauty and fresh mountain air.
Original post by Tom Wark
Learn about Dunbar House 1880, a Calaveras County bed and breakfast located in Murphys. Find out why Dunbar House is the top rated wine country accomodation in Calaveras County.
Original post by Tom Wark
According to the Wine Institute, sales of California wine reached another new height in 2007. Fueling this growth is America???s increasing taste for premium wine over the past decade.
In 2007, the total volume of wine sold in the United States was 457 million gallons, a 2% increase from 2006. The retail value of all wine sold in the U.S. rose even more sharply to $18.6 billion, a 6% increase.
“Strong consumer interest, along with growing retailer and restaurant support and more direct-to-consumer sales, is resulting in wider distribution and selection of California wines. The new California tourism TV advertising campaign is also raising consumer awareness of the state???s diverse wine regions, its talented families, and its outstanding wine and food offerings.” -Robert P. Koch, CEO of the Wine Institute
Although still a relatively small part of the market, direct sales grew a very substantial 7.4% in 2007. Over 90% of California wine is still distributed by wholesalers, but many wineries are successfully developing direct to consumer sales channels.
U.S. wine exports also hit a record high in 2007. Total volume rose 8.6% to 120 million gallons at a price of $951 million, a 12% increase. California Wine Country was responsible for 95% of the United States??? wine exports last year.
Original post by Calwineries.com Blog
Discover fine wines at the fantastic Temecula Wineries. Read reviews of the best temecula accommodations and best romantic restaurant. Learn about Temecula wineries and access links to each.
Original post by Tom Wark
Learn about Napa wedding locations in the California Wine Country. Winery weddings and other Napa wedding locations that will provide the romantic setting you want for your dream day wedding.
Original post by Tom Wark
Germany’s 2006 Rieslings are ripe and lovely thanks to slow global warming, but the capricious weather and accelerated harvest resulted in some unevenness in the wine quality compared with previous vintages. Most 2006s still display hallmark acidity and…
Original post by Tim
Connoisseurs of good food and wine can enjoy a week’s worth of fine meals and support a worthy cause at the same time at an inaugural food and wine festival in the Black Hills.
Original post by Tim
Art to accompany the 2008 Denison Arts & Wine Renaissance “Passport to Cognac” theme evening has been selected.
Original post by Tim
The new Gary’s Wine and Marketplace store in Wayne opened to the public at 2:36 p.m. Monday. Gary Fisch, the man behind the 24,000-square-foot wine and gourmet food emporium, and a guy who pays attention to the smallest details, noted the exact minute his third New Jersey store opened its doors.
Original post by Tim
People can expect “grape” fun at the Northeast Cincinnati Chamber’s annual Spring Wine Gala that raises money for scholarships.
Original post by Tim
Queensland Parliament has passed changes to the Wine Industry Act aimed at cutting red tape for wine producers.
Original post by Tim