We have met the new king of cool, and his name is Shane Finley.
He’s in a position in life where he could easily swagger in with attitude. As the associate winemaker at Kosta Browne, one of the hottest wines of the last five years, we would understand at least a little bit of pretention. He’s [...]
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This has been a tough year … first Robert Mondavi, then Sergio Zenato, and now Didier Dagueneau.
Mr. Dagueneau was killed in a plane crash yesterday in southwestern France. This was a man who put his personal style first and foremost, and invited the critics to crush him if they wish. They returned his offer with [...]
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The Twin Cities Fresh Taste Festival is happening this Sunday on Nicollet Island. A great celebration of organic, sustainable, and biodynamic wines with special guests from around the world.
Taste the ultimate in local fare, at the peak of the summer harvest season. Guest chefs will be discussing local ingredients, farms, co-ops, and farmers markets.
World Class [...]
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Paris brasseries and bistros pour thousands of glasses of Sancerre each year along with their “plateau de fruits de mers”. After all, what could be better with briny fresh oysters, cockles, crab claws, snails and shrimps? No doubt, this is why for the millions of tourists who have endured the brisk service of a [...]
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I just came across this article from Reuters about trying to exchange American dollars in Amsterdam. Keep this in mind if you are traveling to Europe at all this summer … there is a huge amount of uncertainty regarding the American currency and the days of easy dollar to euro in-person exchanges may be gone.
What [...]
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One of the hot topics in the wine world for the last three years has been the ‘globalization’ of flavor profile. We have all heard the stories and many have tasted the results … Pinot Noir that is more like Syrah, Cabernet from fill-in-the-blank that is loaded with hedonistic flavors, overt use of oak in [...]
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This past January I went to France motivated by the opportunity to find the newest and best emerging wine producers. I covered over 3,000 kilometers from Champagne all the down to Rousillon near the Spanish border in the span of ten days. I tasted with 114 producers and more than 1,000 wines. [...]
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Some of you know or remember Ryan Opaz. He was the manager of a local wine shop in the west metro of Minneapolis until a few years ago, when he and his wife decided out of the blue to pack up and move to Spain. Ah youth! They didn’t even speak Spanish [...]
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Minnesotans know what it’s like to be cold (especially after this last winter!). In many ways, we relish that first morning of beautiful frost covering the lawns and trees. But for California grape growers, frost is a four letter word … especially this year. Although weather for the past couple weeks in California has [...]
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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 [...]
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