Big news from our friends on Spring Mountain, Fantesca Winery. Former Screaming Eagle winemaker Heidi Barrett has joined Fantesca! To say this is big news is the understatement of the year, and congrats to Duane and Susan for landing Ms. Barrett!
Next week is Winefest in Minneapolis (which, amazingly, gets better and better every [...]
Filed under: California, Napa Valley | Leave a Comment »
I had the pleasure of sitting down and speaking with Louisa Rose, head winemaker of Yalumba in March 2008 (quite an honor, considering the harvest was coming in at that very moment). Louisa is arguably one of the top, if not the top, Viognier winemakers in the world today. In the world of [...]
Filed under: Australia, Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
I just got back from a wonderful week at VinItaly 2008. A few observations (more details at a later post):
VinItaly was better run than ever this year. Less chaotic and easier to get to on the business days.
The buzz around 2004 Barolo was evident (even Gary Vaynerchuk is in on the action). The [...]
Filed under: Italy | 1 Comment »
Allegrini, one of our favorite Italian producers, has decided to leave the Valpolicella Classico DOC, chosing instead to label their wine with simply the ‘Valpolicella’ label. This is not a casual move … the ‘classico’ designation carries weight and defines the wine as being from a far better region. So why did they [...]
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Before diving into this post, take at look at the wine list from The Slanted Door in San Francisco (arguably one of the better restaurants in that great city). They identify their organic and biodynamic selections with nice subtle icons. A moon, a star, etc.
The organic/sustainable/biodynamic issue is hot at the moment, and [...]
Filed under: Ideas - Restaurants, Ideas - Retail | Tagged: Biodynamic, Organic, Sustainable, winelist | Leave a Comment »
We’ve come across a fantastic post from Alder at Vinography on the 2005 Chateau Gaillard Saumur Rouge.
We love this wine dearly, and cannot add anything more to the great description he gives. My only wish is that more wines like this were in demand … this is a singularly distinctive wine that speaks of [...]
Filed under: France, Tasting notes | Leave a Comment »
“As a wine retailer/winebar/restaurant, do I need a website and how do I make good use of it?”
Before answering the questions, keep in mind I just read a local newspaper article saying that 85% of people who receive the yellow pages never open it and proceed to (illegally) throw it in the garbage. (Recycling [...]
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Yesterday we did a wonderful tasting of spring and summer selections. Chris Griese and I attacked the bottles to open them for the event and we realized something astounding: 15 of the 21 whites were finished with the Stelvin closure. There was a dramatic pause while we thought the same thing: what a [...]
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I had a great conversation today with a successful restaurant owner who has never priced a wine above $10 a glass, but was considering such a “…bold move! But do you think my customers will flee??”
His verbal handwringing was obvious.
Here’s a short list of what justifies a higher price for a glass of wine:
Good [...]
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