Writing this stuff down so that I'll remember it tomorrow...

          Lone Oak Vineyard 2010 CHARDONNAY Fruit fwd.  Light oak.  Good viscosity. Melony.  Stoney.  Subtle pineapple.  Almost banana. None of the tart green apple or deep butter from other ends of the spectrum. Subtle vanillin…but the good kind. Rich, without the buttery depth of too much malo. nice acid.  Warm weather […]

It’s been a while since my last post, so I figured now that I am done licking my wounds from losing my Crushpad contest, that now was as good a time as any to jump back in.   Today is the 3rd Thursday of November marks ‘Beaujolais Nouveau Day” here in the US. While it’s […]

Needless to say, I’ve been anxiously awaiting April 25th and the results of the Crushpad Challenge for 2 months now. After starting my day with a doctor appointment and a fun argument with my car insurance company, I was *very* excited when I saw the call from the 707 area code come in. Sadly, the […]

I’ll be honest…the thought of having the ability to make my own wine, brand it, market it, and hopefully provide the experience to people of ENJOYING that wine has been keeping me awake at night. So much so, that we took a trip up to Napa Valley this weekend to check out how the vines […]

As you all know by now, I am asking for your help (relentlessly).  Yes, make your little jokes, ha ha ha.  This time though, there is wine on the line…and that’s not funny. For those of you who don’t already know of Crushpad, they are a state of the art custom wine making facility.  They […]

During our trip home over the holidays recently, it was brought to my attention that I don’t really review wines that people can buy everywhere or that they are usually wines that the average person wouldn’t buy.  This is true, but it’s also intentional. There are countless wine blogs out there that will review the […]

Wines are marketed to us in many different ways – by varietal (grape type), by appellation (growing region), or by some other type of descriptor such as ‘Table Wine’, ‘Cuvee ____’, ‘Meritage’, and more. I’m generalizing here, but the point remains the same: wine names can be difficult to understand – especially when many of […]

I both love and hate Nickel & Nickel. I love them b/c their wines are truly worth the money – not something that you can say about many places. I also hate them b/c they charge what their wines are worth. Their average Cabernet is $95 – $140/bottle, and everything else from Syrah to Zinfandel […]

California is known for wine, and without question, Napa & Sonoma are the king and queen (respectively).  You won’t get much argument from me either, as this blog has clearly promoted.  However, there are MANY other niche wine growing areas here that can offer some amazing wines – especially when they focus on the correct […]

Anyone who knows me, knows that there is only one thing that I enjoy more than wine –  my family. However, I also truly love wine. I find everything about wine to be interesting – from growing to winemaking to wine tasting. My wife and two little girls are my whole world, and when combined, […]