The Perfect Pairing for Smoked Turkey It’s time to prepare the feast for my favorite holiday. This year we are having a hickory smoked turkey so I’ve decided to serve a Gewurztraminer. A bit of sweetness is needed to stand up to the smokey flavor of the meat. Fetzer Gewurztraminer 2010 Tasting notes: Lovely golden [...]
Oprah’s Favorite Wine Being one of the world’s wealthiest people, Oprah can pretty much afford any wine she likes. Surprisingly, some of her favorite wines are produced by a boutique winery in Napa Valley. Blackbird Vineyards is a relative newcomer to Napa Valley – producing it’s first vintage in 2003. And, typical of the area, [...]
Paso Robles Zinfandel Opolo Vineyards was started by two wine lovers who lived next door to each other in Camarillo, CA. In 1999 Dave Nichols and Rick Quinn produced their first commercial crush under the Opolo label. Their first wines were Merlot, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Zinfandel, and Muscat Canelli. Opolo now has 270 acres [...]
It’s Not Just The Weather The 2010 growing season is now being called the worst-ever harvest. Sonoma seems to have gotten the worst of it. Because the fruit was on the vine longer than normal, and the rainy season has begun, a lot of the fruit has suffered from mold. Some vineyards have suffered 100 [...]
2010 Could Turn Out to be One of the Best California Vintages in Years It was touch and go in August and September when vineyards were reporting that grapes were not ripening due to the unusually cool summer. Growers were worried that leaving the fruit on the vine until October could be disastrous if the [...]
Continue reading about The Great Late California Grape Harvest
Boz Scaggs in Napa Valley One of my favorite singers is also a winemaker – who knew. A career that began with moderate success, Boz Scaggs hit the big time when he teamed up with Toto in 1976 to record the smash album Silk Degrees. Today, Scaggs is touring the US with Michael McDonald and [...]
The Summer That Wasn’t Here on the west coast of California we’ve had a cool summer. It happens every so often. I remember the summer of ’73 was cooler, yet. Anyway, we’ve been wondering how this will effect this year’s harvest. Growers will try to keep their fruit on the vine as long as possible [...]
2008 Kendall-Jackson Monterey County Riesling Vintner’s Reserve California State Fair Double Gold winner – Best of California Riesling! 98 Points. One of the few winners that is still available to buy. Tasting Notes: Aromas of honeydew and peach with hints of citrus and apple. Flavors of apricot, pear and orange blossoms with hints of pineapple. [...]
White Wines That Are Better with Age Usually when we think of wines that age well we most often think of cabernet sauvignon, Barolo, Brunello di Montelcino and fortified wines like Port and Madeira. But, there are white wines that are better with age. Red or white, there are certain conditions that allow some wines [...]
State Fair Medal Winners The California State Fair Commercial Wine Competition is the oldest and most prestigious wine competition in North America. Each year, thousands of California wines are entered into the competition for the chance to win one of many coveted awards from the State Fair’s panel of expert wine judges. After the competition, [...]
