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Bruce Sanderson Decanted
Posted: November 1, 2006 By Bruce Sanderson
Reflecting on the California Wine Experience just over a week ago, I am amazed at the popularity of Pinot Noir. Not only did we have more California Pinots than at any previous Wine Experience, we added a handful from Oregon (7) for good measure.
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: October 31, 2006 By James Molesworth
You know you’re in France when under the table next to you, there’s a well-behaved, blond spaniel sitting there, giving you the sad eyes. Sorry pooch—you’re cute (and I love dogs) but this meal is mine.
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: October 31, 2006 By James Laube
What to do with a wine with only 99 cases? Well, this one I’m recommending. It’s the 2004 Native 9 Santa Maria Valley Rancho Ontiveros Vineyards Pinot Noir, and it’s a smooth, rich, supple charmer with sassafras and black cherry fruit that retails for $48.
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: October 31, 2006 By James Molesworth
Well, I finally made it. After nearly 24 hours of transit, thanks to a flight that took off nearly three hours late, which led to a missed train connection and an extra four-hour layover in the Charles de Gaulle TGV station.
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Brian Loring: Ramblings from Pinot Prison
Posted: October 31, 2006 By Brian Loring
After our post- Wine Experience discussion of optimal berry size during a cab ride ( discussed in my last blog post ), my fellow Pinot producer Adam Lee was primed for more discussions once we arrived at the Bubble Lounge and met wine directors David Mokha and Kevin Vogt.
Blogs
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: October 31, 2006 By James Suckling
I don’t like to bother people on their holiday, but I had to know what was going on with Château Pichon Longueville Lalande , following the various reports on a deal involving the property and the owners of Louis Roederer.
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Kevin Vogt: From the Floor
Posted: October 30, 2006 By Kevin Vogt
Wine would taste different in space, wouldn’t it? I started pondering this question when my boss, chef Emeril Lagasse, joined the team at NASA to be the first celebrity chef to produce a gourmet meal for astronauts in space.
Blogs
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Posted: October 30, 2006 By Harvey Steiman
Go Fish, the Napa Valley seafood restaurant that opened only last month, picked up an ace when it hired chef Victor Scargle to take over the kitchen. The chef since 2003 at Julia's Kitchen , the restaurant at Copia in Napa, Scargle starts the week after Thanksgiving.
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: October 30, 2006 By James Suckling
I spoke to Stefano Chioccioli over the weekend at home in Tuscany on the telephone. Stefano said he was exhausted from this year’s harvest in Italy. It was one of the longest in memory, lasting almost two months.
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: October 30, 2006 By James Laube
On Sunday, I rode my bike from my home in Napa to Yountville, which is about 10 miles north of Napa. It’s the tail end of harvest 2006 in Napa Valley and most parts of California, and the weather yesterday was perfect.
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: October 30, 2006 By James Molesworth
Well, I’m off to the Rhône again. This will be my fifth trip to the region since November 2004. It’s been a whirlwind since I started covering the Rhône, getting caught up with producers and vintages, all while the amount of new information and wines continues to grow.
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On Tour with Steven Page
Posted: October 27, 2006 By Steven Page
My bandmates and I have just started our current American tour, our first in nearly a year, and we’re all just getting used to the whole rigmarole again: sleeping in tiny, dark bunks while careening down the highway; eating meals backstage with our palates and digestive systems at the mercy of often uncaring caterers; figuring out where to hang our wet show clothes, and trying to find a flat surface on which to balance our laptops for music, e-mails and blogging.
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Posted: October 27, 2006 By Harvey Steiman
That wine surplus that had everyone in Australia in a dither? Mother Nature has delivered an answer. A series of severe spring frosts hit several key regions in South Australia and Victoria in the past week.
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Posted: October 27, 2006 By James Laube
I wondered about it. James Suckling blogged about it , too. And several people who tried the Screaming Eagle Cabernet -- including new owner Charles Banks and his winemaker, Andy Erickson -- at Friday’s Wine Experience seminar had the same impression: The wine didn’t have the richness and opulence it typically shows.
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: October 27, 2006 By James Suckling
The British wine market loves screw caps. This is mostly due to the dominance of supermarket chains such as Tesco and Sainsbury, which sell masses of wine with screw caps. Most of their wine is around $5 or $6 a bottle and is consumed immediately.
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Harvey Steiman At Large
Posted: October 26, 2006 By Harvey Steiman
Oregon has a deservedly solid reputation for Pinot Noir. It even does pretty well with Syrah in the southern and northeastern corners. But white wines? The scene gets iffier. Every year I plow through hundreds of Oregon wines, unearthing one red gem after another.
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Brian Loring: Ramblings from Pinot Prison
Posted: October 26, 2006 By Brian Loring
After Thursday night’s Grand Tasting at the Wine Experience , I went out for some bubbly with another Pinot producer, Adam Lee from Siduri. We grabbed a cab and headed over to the Bubble Lounge to meet David Mokha and my fellow blogger Kevin Vogt , who head up the wine programs at Emeril’s Miami Beach and Delmonico Steakhouse in Las Vegas, respectively.
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Stirring the Lees with James Molesworth
Posted: October 26, 2006 By James Molesworth
When I asked what was the longest you’d ever gone without buying some wine, I got some really hilarious answers. My colleague James Suckling mentioned he used to have his wine delivered when his wife was out, so he could sneak it into the house.
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James Suckling Uncorked
Posted: October 26, 2006 By James Suckling
I was thinking again today about the Grand Tasting during the California Wine Experience last week, and how some of the most interesting wines I tasted were Rhone blends, in particular the 2005 M5 from the Margerum Wine Company and the 2004 Esprit de Beaucastel from Tablas Creek Vineyard.
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Kevin Vogt: From the Floor
Posted: October 26, 2006 By Kevin Vogt
“Does that bottle need to be decanted?” This is one of the more frequent questions I get asked while at work. It seems as though everybody has a different criteria for when to decant a wine. Through experience, I’ve learned that there are basically three reasons to decant: If a wine has so much sediment in it that it would hamper your enjoyment of it; if it is so young and tight that it demands additional air to force it to open up; and, simply, if the customer requests it.
