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November 2006
A Good Reason to Be Crabby
Posted: 01:40 PM ET, November 30, 2006
It’s Dungeness crab season in the San Francisco Bay area and points north.
It’s an annual, seasonal treat for those of us who live here, since it’s easy to obtain these fresh, live crustaceans and cook them at home. You can find them in many seafood markets throughout the state and probably beyond. Read more
New Napa Winery Has All-Star Cast
Posted: 05:23 PM ET, November 29, 2006
Ovid (pronounced Ah-vid) is a spectacular new winery in Napa Valley's Pritchard Hill area, on a steep winding road that I’ve come to refer to as the Rodeo Drive of Napa.
This area, in the eastern hills overlooking Oakville, is home to several showcase estates, including Bryant Family, Chappellet, David Arthur, Colgin, Versant and, further up the road, Cloud View, yet another start-up. Read more
When Will the Wine Glut Disappear?
Posted: 10:03 AM ET, November 28, 2006
Yesterday a reporter for U.S. News & World Report called to discuss the global wine glut.
It was the kind of interview where you can spend hours answering a seemingly endless stream of questions. Read more
Chances to Taste Older Wines
Posted: 01:18 PM ET, November 24, 2006
Since I get many queries about tasting older wines, a couple of items that were brought to my attention this week are worth mentioning and passing along.
Beaulieu Vineyard is hosting a tasting of its library wines on Dec. 2 at the winery in Rutherford. Read more
That's Right, Women Are Smarter
Posted: 01:15 PM ET, November 21, 2006
Kevin Vogt’s assertion that women are better tasters than men certainly has merit.
I've tasted with most of the women he mentions, and hundreds of other professionals, and more often than not there's agreement about which wines are the best and which wines lack merit or taste or are flawed. Read more
Some Pinots Do Have Syrah
Posted: 01:19 PM ET, November 20, 2006
Lately, as Pinot Noir has become a hotter ticket, I’ve been asked if some vintners add a splash of Syrah to their Pinot cuvée.
The answer, according to a few winemakers I’ve talked with, is yes.
They say many of the lesser-priced Pinots—in the $15 and under category—do have a small amount of Syrah. Read more
The Thrill of Victory
Posted: 12:37 PM ET, November 17, 2006
Right now Brian Larky is on a plane, probably somewhere over the Atlantic, headed home from Tuscany, where part of his business is based.
When he gets back to his digs in Napa, he’s going to have a box full of e-mails and plenty of calls from his hundreds of new best friends. Read more
Our Oldest Reader Is Ready
Posted: 03:09 PM ET, November 16, 2006
When our Wine of the Year is announced tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. EST, one reader who won’t be glued to his computer screen is Tom Malloy.
Oh, that’s not because he’s disinterested. He’s been drinking and collecting wine for longer than most of us have been alive, by a long shot. Read more
Assessing Older Vintages Has Its Challenges
Posted: 12:36 PM ET, November 15, 2006
Yesterday, I tasted two flights of 1996 Cabernets as part of a series on older California wines.
Each year for the past 20 years, I’ve conducted retrospective tastings. It’s the only way to assess how the wines age, and it’s both instructive for me and useful for people who collect these wines. Read more
With Age Comes Beauty
Posted: 11:46 AM ET, November 14, 2006
Winemakers periodically send me older wines to show me how their wines are aging (which is usually a good thing) or, more diplomatically, to demonstrate what I missed the first time around.
And about one-third of the 5,000 or so wines that I taste each year are older wines, as opposed to new releases. Read more
A Cult-Wine Corkscrew Massacre
Posted: 02:17 PM ET, November 13, 2006
On Saturday, a friend invited me to a dinner party and mentioned some of her friends were, well, wine geeks.
No kidding.
Turns out her friends, nearly a dozen, were that and more. These folks knew how to shop for gourmet breads and cheeses, cook a savory mixed grill of tri-tips, shrimp and chicken on the barbie, set tables, buy wine, pull corks and wash dishes—sometimes seemingly all at the same time. Read more
Pajama Party Treats
Posted: 12:52 PM ET, November 10, 2006
If you’ve only got one bottle of a special wine, do you drink it or hold it?
I'm often asked that question, and I have a couple of thoughts that merit consideration the next time you’re facing that dilemma.
Once, just after I’d moved to Napa, a heatwave hit and I worried about my small cache of wines—each bottle was unique. Read more
A New Face in Napa Valley
Posted: 12:51 PM ET, November 09, 2006
On Monday, Kapcsandy Family Winery brought in the last of the grapes for 2006 from its State Lane Vineyard in Yountville, wrapping up its fourth harvest.
Earlier this year, I reviewed the winery’s debut wine, a rather oaky 2003 Cabernet-based red. Read more
Tasting Opus Alone and With Its Competitors
Posted: 09:57 AM ET, November 08, 2006
When I met with Opus One CEO David Pearson (see my previous post) and winemaker Michael Silacci, they had arranged for a select vertical of their wines.
I had also asked Pearson, partly in jest, if we could taste the wines blind with a few ringers. Read more
Opus One Looks Ahead
Posted: 09:54 AM ET, November 07, 2006
On opposite walls in David Pearson’s office are two imposing photos of wine legends. One is dead. One is still alive.
To Pearson’s right is a black-and-white photo of Baron Philippe de Rothschild. “His eyes follow you around the room,” says Pearson, the CEO of Opus One, acting as if it’s both reassuring and intimidating. Read more
On "A Cult Worth Joining"
Posted: 02:57 PM ET, November 03, 2006
If you get a chance, check out today’s Wall Street Journal and their wine columnists’ review of Napa’s cult Cabernets ("A Cult Worth Joining").
I enjoy reading Dorothy J. Gaiter’s and John Brecher’s weekly column, "Tastings," and today they report on their experience with Napa’s rarest and most expensive wines. Read more
Turley and Wetlaufer Scale Back
Posted: 08:43 PM ET, November 02, 2006
It’s the end of an era. Sort of. Maybe.
Two of the most influential winemakers of this era—the wife-and-husband team of winemaker Helen Turley and viticulturist John Wetlaufer—have cut their consulting business to one client. Read more
Is It a Twist or a Screw?
Posted: 11:40 AM ET, November 02, 2006
The other night at a rollicking party in Napa, a woman who works in the wine business approached me about alternative closures.
She works for a big company in the valley and they are tired of the hassles with corks.
She said she appreciated my taking a stand on . Read more
A Deal on Napa Cabernet
Posted: 01:05 PM ET, November 01, 2006
Cabernet drinkers, er, make that Napa Valley Cabernet drinkers, are frustrated a lot these days.
Too many high prices and hard-to-get wines is a common refrain I hear from readers.
So, just when you think that a luscious Napa Cabernet for $30 is an endangered species, along comes a pleasant surprise. Read more
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