A wine buying guide for the curious wine enthusiast.
Looking for something completely different? Here are some grape varieties and wines from around the world to consider to really shake up your drinking experience. Argentina Charbono is a relatively obscure French variety, but today it is much more widely grown in Argentina, as well as Napa Valley. It is often mistaken for the …
Disclaimer: I’ve been a member of the Clos Pegase wine club for years, so this post is hardly impartial. Clos Pegase was founded by Jan Shrem in 1983 on a 50-acre vineyard near Calistoga in Napa Valley. He was born in Colombia in 1930 to Jewish-Lebanese parents, and spent his childhood in Jerusalem and his …
In 1819 English missionaries first brought vines to New Zealand. For the next 150 years or so, most of the wine produced there was for local consumption. That began to change in 1973, when Sauvignon Blanc was planted in Marlborough. Within the next decade, the wines and the region became New Zealand’s most famous. Althogh …
Some winemakers and winery proprietors are born into the business. Some buy into the business. And some evolve into it. Greg LaFollette of Alquimista evolved quite successfully. He has been called a “vine whisperer,” a “cellar magician,” and a “tireless coaxer and protector of handcrafted wines.” He is one of Sonoma’s most revered winemakers, and …
Eric Flanagan did not come of age with a background in the wine business, or even farming. After graduating from college in 1985, he embarked on a banking career, which he pursued until 2013. His job during those years took him on journeys around the world. He had always had an interest in wine, …
From left to right: Lubanzi (photo courtesy of Lubanzi), Underwood (photo by Jules Davis), and Alloy (photo courtesy of Alloy) We’re all familiar with wine in glass bottles, and even boxes. but cans are gaining ground, particularly with Gen Zers and Millenials. When it comes to wine packaging, the glass bottle has been the primary …
In the tradition-bound world of wine, winemaking has, predictably, been dominated by men. For example, there are about 4,800 wineries in California, but only 10 percent have female lead winemakers. (When it comes to winery ownership, the number does jump up to about 19 percent, according to Woman Owned Wineries, a nationwide directory of …
Tony Lombardi was born into a family of small business owners, and grew up in Sonoma County. He graduated from Saint Mary’s College with a degree in Business Management. His first job in the wine business came in 1998 when he joined the hospitality team at Clos Du Bois Winery, located in Geyserville, California. From …
In 1973, newlyweds Mike and Mary Benziger drove west and permanently settled in Northern California. Seven years later, Mike and and his brother Bruno Benziger purchased the historic Wegener Ranch on Sonoma Mountain in Glen Ellen, California. Hearing the Sirens’ call of the Golden State, over the next six years the four remaining siblings — …
In my over forty years of drinking wine, I’ve had excellent bottles, bottles I’ve poured down the drain after drinking half a glass, and, mostly, everything in between. But over all of those years and thousands of wines, two have eluded me, my so-called “unicorn” wines. I first learned of the Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard …
Continue reading “Heitz Cellar Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon”
As you enter Sonoma county from the south on California 121, one of the first wineries you encounter is Cline Cellars, and there could hardly be a better introduction to the Carneros AVA. Even as a young teenager, Fred Cline learned to make wine from his grandfather, Valeriano Jacuzzi (yes, he of the hydrotherapy tub, …
Cheryl Indelicato is part of the third generation of the family that owns Delicato Family Vineyards. Delicato offers wines under such brands as Black Stallion, Bota Box, Gnarly Head, La Merika, Massimo, and others. Although born into the wine business, doing odd jobs at the winery as a little girl, her parents insisted that their …
Excellent Value at the Right Price Whites Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc La Crema Chardonnay Kendall Jackson Vintner’s Reserve Chardonnay (hugely popular) Yalumba Viognier Cline Viognier Sparklers Roederer Estate Sparkling Wine [California] (I prefer it to Roederer Champagne [France], which is twice the price) Cline Nancy’s Cuvee Sparkling Wine [California] Mionette Prosecco Treviso Brut [Italy] Nino …
Sanford Winery, the first such operation in Santa Barbara wine country, was established when the Sanford & Benedict vineyard was planted in 1971. Botanist Michael Benedict and his friend Richard Sanford were committed to finding a cool-climate location with just enough heat accumulation to ripen, but not over ripen, wine grapes. A place where they …
Ball of Confusion Let’s clear up some confusion right away. This column is about the Benziger Family Winery of Sonoma, not the Beringer winery of Napa. But people often make this mistake, as Chris Benziger can attest to. In the early 1980s, the Benziger family migrated west from White Plains, N.Y. to start a winery …