Sampling English Wine at London’s Wine Pantry
Last month during a family vacation, we spent a few days in London and as we tend to do when we’re traveling, we made a point to seek out some interesting wine. Oftentimes that includes searching for local wines – even in the most unlikely places, like across the pond in Ireland. No matter where...
Pinot Days Chicago Tasting Brings a Waits-Mast Customer to Tears
We had an incredible time participating in Pinot Days Chicago on Saturday. It was our 4th time pouring at the event, and as in previous years, it was great to catch up with old friends and fans of Waits-Mast Family Cellars. Each year has been memorable, in 2008 we met some folks who have become...
Waits-Mast Pouring at 2011 Pinot Days Chicago
It’s hard to believe that our first public wine tasting happened 4 years ago at Pinot Days Chicago. I vividly remember setting up our table and anxiously awaiting customers. As one of the newest labels at the event in 2008, we weren’t sure that people would even stop by the Waits-Mast table. Our fears were...
2011 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival Recap: Part 2 – The Grand Tasting
Although billboards across the land had warned of impending doom on May 21, 2011; what was utmost in our minds on that date was the 14th Annual Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival’s Grand Tasting at Goldeneye Vineyards. This was our 3rd year pouring at the grand tasting and we couldn’t have been happier to be...
2011 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival Recap: Part 1 – Technical Conference and BBQ
I clearly remember being at a wine event back in 2005, several months before we starting making wine, and snickering when during a Q&A session someone inquired about the name of the particular forest in France that a barrel was crafted from. To me, it seemed to be an extreme example of wine geekery and...
“Tastes Like Fall in a Glass”: Pinot Days Chicago 2010
After a cold summer and fall in San Francisco, it was a treat to fly into Chicago last week during their fall heat wave. The 70 degree temperatures when we arrived were a lovely welcome and were perhaps indicative of what a great weekend we had in store for us. This was our 3rd time...
2010 Vineyard Profile: Oppenlander Vineyard, Mendocino County
After crafting such a delicious wine with Oppenlander Vineyard fruit in 2009, we feel very lucky to be working with them again this year. Brian first got turned on to the vineyard last year, after tasting pinot noir crafted by Phillips Hill and Baxter from Oppenlander fruit. Owned by the Shandel family, Oppenlander Vineyard is...
Wine Tasting at Candia Vineyards in New Hampshire
We’re not necessarily fans of the well-trodden paths in wine country, so whenever we travel we try to find out-of-the-way wineries in places that aren’t necessarily on the radar of most oenophile tourists. Last summer the challenge was to find vineyards and wineries in Ireland, and against all odds we succeeded in tracking down a...
2010 Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival Recap: Part 1- Technical Conference and BBQ
Wow. What a great weekend we had in Anderson Valley for the 13th Annual Anderson Valley Pinot Noir Festival. We’ve been going to the festival off and on since 2002. The first three years that we went, we attended the Technical Conference, winemaker dinners, and the Sunday winery Open Houses. The Technical Conference has always...
Irish Wine Travel, Part 1: Our Visit to Lusca Vineyards in Ireland
This Sunday we’ll be celebrating our Irish heritage at the event, When Irish Wines are Smiling, up in Rutherford. Although it’s billed as an Irish wine tasting, the wine being poured is from U.S. winemakers of Irish descent. There’s a long tradition of Irish emigrants (known as “wine geese“) starting up wine making ventures all...
New Wine Documentary “Blood into Wine” Chronicles Arizona Winery with Rocker Roots
When I scanned the schedule for the annual Noise Pop music festival in San Francisco I was surprised to see that amid all of the film festival events, there was a screening of Blood into Wine, a documentary about winemaking. As I read more about it, I was even more intrigued since it tells the...
Waits-Mast Family Cellars Featured in Local NBC News Story about Urban Winemakers
Last night we were excited to be featured in a news story, “Urban Vintners Uncork the Stigma of Fine Wine” on NBC Bay Area TV (KNTV, Channel 11 in San Francisco) about urban winemakers. In the segment we talk about what it’s like to make wine in the city of San Francisco. Also included in...
