More People, More Wine
One of the beautiful things about wine is that it is an infinite subject. You can never learn it all. And, if you could, as soon as you did, there would be more to learn. Wine will always be too big for us to get our arms and heads around. But that doesn’t stop a […]
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When we moved to California in 1996 my wine knowledge was in its infancy. My enthusiasm was growing but I didn’t know a whole lot. We weren’t in Alameda long before we heard about Rosenblum wines, which were made here in town. I know a good research opportunity when I see one, and wasted no […]
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If you had told me a year ago, or even six months, that I’d be excited about the growing potential of canned wine, I would have laughed and said I don’t think so. There’s a fair chance my tone of voice would have been condescending. Yes, I would have laughed. And, I would have been […]
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It hasn’t been that long since the canned wines from Drew Baker at Old Westminster Winery in Maryland surprised me in all sorts of good ways. But when I looked recently at the other samples he had sent, I was less than thrilled. He had offered to send a few bottles for me to try, […]
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While the weather in many parts of the country is beyond horrible right now, in not too many weeks we will be staring summer square in the face. We’ll start spending more time on the patio, in the backyard, at the beach, or around the pool. And we’re going to want something to drink. So, […]
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Do I contradict myself ? Very well then I contradict myself. (I am large, I contain multitudes.) – Walt Whitman You can call me a hypocrite if you’d like. I don’t care. Anyway, rules are made to be broken. At least that’s what the Catholic Church and the Boy Scouts taught me. For the past […]
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A few weekends ago the temperatures rose so high in the San Francisco Bay Area that if we had been able to bottle it we would now have enough heat to last us another 12 months. But if you listen to any of my family members or friends from back east, you’d think Thanksgiving was […]
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Three days is not enough time to even begin scratching the surface of all that is happening in the world of Soave wine. But, if you have only three days, you do the best you can. Here are a few photos from the attempt a number of writers, merchants, and industry executives made during Soave […]
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A few days ago I woke up with a single, glowing thought: I’m done. Enough is enough. Time to move on. In 2010 I prepared to switch careers from teaching high school to the amorphous, mysterious job of “something in wine.” I had told myself for several years that when my daughters graduated – they attended […]
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Let’s not waste time with explanations. Let’s just get going. After all, I’ve already wasted nine months pecking at this thing. Yeah, I know. During 2016 I attended a number of industry tastings, but three or four really struck me as special. After each of them I had the same reaction: people need to know […]
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THE GRAPE BELT 