A Return To My Roots at ZAP
It’s been four years since I’ve attended the Zinfandel Advocates and Producers (ZAP) Grand Tasting in San Francisco. But this year I will be making the pilgrimage once again due to the fortuitous timing of a speaking engagement and business trip. ZAP is not only a place to taste an amazing cross section of wines made from...
Can A Wine Blogger Make A Living Blogging?
One of my predictions from 2010, as yet unrealized, is that a wine blogger would figure out a financial model that would make our efforts more than just a labor of love. Fellow blogger Joe Roberts at 1WineDude is blazing the trail on this at the moment but Tyler Colman, who blogs as Dr. Vino,...
Wine Blogging Wednesday Returns February 16; Spanish Theme
It’s been a long time since I’ve participated in Wine Blogging Wednesday, the monthly, worldwide virtual wine tasting started in 2004 by Lenn Thompson of the New York Cork Report blog. In fact it’s been over 2 years since I took part in WBW 52. But the event carried on for several more months until...
Cork’d Is Dead; Does Anyone Care?
It’s been a long time since I’ve blogged about Wine 2.0, the term used to describe the intersection of wine and Web 2.0. But I guess it’s time for a gut check as Cork’d chairman Gary Vaynerchuk announces the gradual wind-down of the site after 4 years of operation. Gary purchased Cork’d a couple years...
Are American Wines Too Clean?
Dan Berger is one of the bedrocks of wine writing. In fact, he is one of the few that remain from my formative years when I discovered wine in the 1980′s and he wrote for the Los Angeles Times. So Mr. Berger’s opinion on wine carries a lot of weight with me. So I was...
6,100 Year Old Winery Discovered In Armenia
Wine is an ancient beverage. So old that it existed before modern man walked the earth. All that is required to make wine comes from the vineyard. Basically grapes and the native yeast on it’s skin that turns the sugar in the berries to wine. It seems like magic or the hand of the Creator...
How Do You Say ‘Sideways’ In Japanese?
By way of Dr. Vino’s blog I was informed about the Japanese remake of Sideways. Apparently set in Napa Valley the film has more obvious product placement than in the American original. The following clip looks like there is a serious side to the remake but check out the source link and watch the wacky...
I Comment On Someone Else’s Comments About My Comments On My Own Predictions
Steve Heimoff’s blog is one I read everyday. As the West Coast editor and critic for Wine Enthusiast magazine, his industry insider experience brings an important point of view and legitimacy to the wine blogosphere. I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Heimoff, and even sharing some wine at the first WIne Bloggers Conference, but...
‘The Nose’ Just Might Be A Wine TV Concept That Works
I’m about two-thirds of my way though Rex Pickett’s sequel to Sideways called Vertical (yes, a review is forthcoming). While the book is an apt successor to it’s wildly successful predecessor, I don’t think we will see as much of an impact on the wine industry, or Pinot Noir in particular, this time even if they...
Wine Industry Cautiously Optimistic About 2011
Just because I’ve sworn off making annual predictions does not mean such will cease to appear here. The folks at Wine Business Monthly have rounded up industry sentiment and call for the, “…resurgence of restaurant wine business” (although in very low single digits), “value wines” advancing in market penetration, and a continuation of trends from...
Does Wine Make You Monogamous?
It’s always entertaining when mainstream media quote academic papers and extrapolate findings in sensational headlines. So I was intrigued when I happened upon such a write up recently entitled: Women or Wine? Monogamy and Alcohol. In this case, however, this is the title of a working paper by economists Mara Squicciarini and Jo Swinnen from University of Leuven. Noting that...
