“Here’s one for you,” says Jim Summers – co-owner with his wife Beth of Summers Winery in Calistoga. “We produced what is probably the only ‘twice-bottled’ Charbono ever made.” That the small winery produces any Charbono is unique, since very few wineries – maybe a dozen or so in the State of California even work with this grape. But, the story is that Jim and Beth, new to the industry, were extremely happy about the vintage of 1996. The grapes were good. The harvest went well, and there was enough fruit to make about 350 cases of Charbono to sell in their brand-new tasting room.
Read the rest of this entry »

Always with the help of Jean-Michel Speicher, we review the last 10 vintages Alsace.
2004: After the extreme conditions encountered in 2003, on the vine-compensates. So after a mild winter and early spring sullen heat Returnees to fear that the new heat wave. But the rains from mid-June are back confidence, especially as yields ahead generous. Maturation will then continue normally through the many passages interspersed with rainy periods throughout the summer sun.
Read the rest of this entry »

As a good many winegrape growers have discovered, something good can come from the destruction of a vineyard by phylloxera. At Dry Creek Vineyard (3770 Lambert Bridge Rd., Healdsburg) the loss of an 8-1/2 acre vineyard adjacent to the employee parking lot marked an opportunity to try an idea shared by winery owner David Stare; his daughter, winery vice president, Kim Stare Wallace; her husband, winery general manager, Don Wallace; and vineyard manager Duff Bevill.
Read the rest of this entry »

How can you resist a wine called Beauzeaux? (Say it aloud.) There is such a wine, a member of the Beaulieu Vineyard Signet Collection – a small group of limited production wines which was introduced by Beaulieu Vineyards (Rutherford, CA) in 1995. The first Beauzeaux release was the 1996 vintage in spring 1998. The most recent, the 1999, was sent to market on April Fool’s day, though there is nothing foolish about the wine.
Read the rest of this entry »

Of learned experts looking at the cradle of wine quality decree said, without appeal, “beneath a sale price of € x – the figure varies depending on the weight of the media expert said – a wine is not worthy of being awarded the title of AOC. ” It has the merit of simplicity, it strikes simple minds but it is often silly. In fact the sale price to consumers has sometimes little correlation with the cost of wine.
Read the rest of this entry »

In September, 1999, when the J. Wine Company opened its tasting room, in what had formerly been Piper-Sonoma’s headquarters, owner Judy Jordan turned into reality her firm belief that no wine should be served without food. For visitors to the winery, accustomed to walking up to a bar, downing an ounce of this wine and that, and walking out again, the introduction of not just food, but dishes carefully created to enhance the wines produced by J, came as a distinct – though not unpleasant – surprise.
Read the rest of this entry »

It was in 1884 that Bartholomew Lagomarsino left Genoa, Italy and acquired about 30-acres of land on Piner Road, about a mile west of Fulton, CA where he began planting Zinfandel and Petite Sirah grapes. As the vines came into bearing, he built a winery, and as the vineyards matured he expanded the facility until he had the capability of making and storing 130,000 gallons of wine. Now, 115 years later, the vines are being tended by another Italian gentleman, Joe Battaglini, who is making wine in his small, modern winery, which was once a barn for stabling work horses, just across a patch of grass from Lagomarsino’s huge old winery.
Read the rest of this entry »

Even though Edward and Debbie Wallo had traveled and lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for several years, they had never visited Mendocino County until one day in 1988 when they went wine tasting in Yorkville (Population 25). When the heard that the property was being put up for sale the young couple took a giant step and became the new proprietors of the 110-acre piece of land that included 10 acres of organically farmed vineyard. Additional plantings since then have brought the vineyard acreage to a bit over 30.
Read the rest of this entry »

Idaho native, Charles Falk, has been selling a very enjoyable Blanc de Blancs Brut champagne under his Falconer label since 1992, without crushing a single grape or making a base cuvée. This entrepreneurial adventure had its beginning in Boston, where Charles had set his sights on a career in the legal profession.
Read the rest of this entry »

When a friend sends you a bottle of his new wine, with a note, “Let me know what you think of it,” you get a little shiver of apprehension. Of course, when the friend is Bill Anderson, winemaker for Chateau Julien in the Carmel Valley and you have been drinking Bill’s wines for years and enjoying every one, you know the new wine, the first ever release of Syrah from Chateau Julien, will be a beauty. It was accepted so well by the consuming public that the wine was sold out in 30 days. The 1999 vintage is disappearing nearly as quickly.

Read the rest of this entry »