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, [...]
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 [...]
These Aren’t Mickey Mouse Wines Former professional football play and former CEO of The Walt Disney Company, Ron Miller spends his time at the Silverado Winery, and his ranch in Wyoming (The Lazy M Ranch) In the early 1970s, after a day trip to Napa Valley with her mom, Diane Miller found a vineyard in [...]
2007 Titus Napa Valley Zinfandel A good Napa Valley zinfandel usually costs around $45 to $50. Since we are all watching our pennies, we’ve been enjoying more affordable wines from Paso Robles and Lodi. Well, to my surprise, I found a great Napa Valley zin that I can highly recommend. The Titus Vineyards is a [...]
1998 Chimney Rock Dionysus Cabernet Sauvignon This is the time of year we go through the old wine celler and bring out some of the good stuff. I have been hording a few bottles of Chimney Rock Dionysus and decided to open one. This is one of the last wines produced by winemaker Doug Fletcher [...]
Some people just can’t give up their California cabs. Mike Steinberger of Slate Magazine is one of them. Glorious American Cabernets Posted Friday, Nov. 20, 2009 Cabernet sauvignon—and particularly the cabernet produced in California’s Napa Valley—is the signature American wine. When a Napa cab, the 1973 Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, beat out some leading French [...]
2007 Come Fly With Me Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon The inaugural release of the 2007 Sinatra Family Estates Cabernet Sauvignon is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon (90%), Cabernet Franc (7%) and Petit Verdot (3%). The estate is a 5 acre vineyard, just south of Calistoga in the northern crest of Napa Valley. Each vintage of [...]
