Posts for "Miscellaneous" Category
Rhone Rangers – What Would You Do ??!?!?
I am proud to say that I have recently been asked to sit on the Board of Directors for Rhone Rangers, the preeminent organization for Rhone varieties produced in the US. I am honored and humbled by the invitation, but above all, I am psyched to lend an ‘alternative’ voice to the leadership of this Read more…
Decorum on the Web – What’s So Tough to Understand?!??!?
I am simply amazed at the lack of decorum some have shown recently on blogs and on bulletin boards that I frequent. The fact that it is becoming commonplace to go well beyond ‘constructive criticism’ and get downright nasty is just a sign of how far this medium still has to go . . . Read more…
When Is a Wine Considered ‘Manipulated’?!?
What in the heck am I talking about? Can it be that wine is not simply an all-natural alcoholic beverage that is the result of no human intervention whatsoever?!?!?!? Many wineries obviously want you to think that this is the case! When reading ads or perusing websites of many wineries, their message is that their Read more…
When 30 Brix May Still Not Be High Enough . . . .
Brix is a measure of sugar levels in grapes in the wine industry. It roughly translates as follows: a grape sample showing a reading of 20 brix means that that sample has approximately 200 grams of sugar per liter of solution . . .or almost 2 lbs. of sugar per gallon! Yikes! It also means Read more…
Fist-A-Cuffs in the Tasting Room!
A few weeks back, I walked into our tasting room to find 4 customers arguing with each other. I stayed back and listened as best as I could to try to understand what was going on, and this is what I heard . . . No.1: I smell citrus and spice from this wine. No. Read more…
Finding the Right Match . . .
There are many many books, blogs, and articles written every year about matching wine with food. There have been a handful of scientific studies on the matter as well (See Hildegarde Heyman’s study from UC Davis a few years back debunking wine and cheese pairings).
Our Comfort Zones . . .or Thinking Outside the Box . . .
All of us have a ‘comfort zone’ in many aspects of our lives. For some, it’s with our finances, avoiding ‘risky’ ventures at all costs. For some, it’s their clothes, knowing what they like and avoiding ‘new’ or ‘trendy’ pants or shirts.
Transparency in the Cyber Wine World . . .
As many of you know, I actively post and share my thoughts on wine and other things on many wine boards across the Net. I really enjoy doing so and feel it is a great way for me to not only share my knowledge but increase my knowledge by interacting with those that either a) Read more…
Closure on Closure
As those of you who have met me know, I like to talk . . . a lot! And I really enjoy talking about wine – all aspects of it, including ‘technical’ stuff . . . . I try not to get too much into the ‘science’ of it because I start seeing people ‘fade Read more…
The Waiting is the Hardest Part . . .
Tom Petty is a great songwriter, and I think often of this one particular title – it fits my life to a ‘t’. I am very impatient in general and have had to ‘learn’ patience over the past decade – first by becoming a father to three young children (!) and then by working in Read more…
