Founded in 1772 by Philippe Clicquot-Muiron. Philippe’s son, François Clicquot, married Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin in 1798 and died in 1805, leaving his widow (veuve in French) in control of a company involved in banking, wool trading, and Champagne production. She became the first woman to take over a Champagne house. The 1811 comet vintage of Veuve […]

Everyone seems to remember when wines like Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes du Rhône could be had for a song. It was a time when Bordeaux and Burgundy were stealing the limelight and getting all the attention. But, that all changed in the 1990s, especially with the 1998 vintage, when the quality began to climb and pricing […]

Apparently, ‘all roads lead to cheese,’ at least it did so for identical twins, Michael and Charlie Kalish. Michael Kalish began his food career in commercial beekeeping in Santa Barbara County and got his first taste of wine and cheese while working for a cheese shop and joining a wine crush in Healdsburg, California. He […]

Almost inexplicably, wine people will try to compare the qualities of California pinot noir with that of Burgundy. It seems innocent enough to refer to a pinot from the New World as “Burgundian,” however the two regions are literally world’s apart, and comparisons are always wanting. And yet, there are innumerable winemakers, nee vignerons, attempting […]

Getting back to our occasional focus on spirits, we now take a look at absinthe, an anise-flavored spirit derived from botanicals, together with green anise, sweet fennel, and other medicinal and culinary herbs. Absinthe traditionally has a natural green color and is commonly referred to in historical literature as “la fée verte” (the green fairy). […]

After years of apprenticing in wineries in Oregon and California, owner/winemaker Vincent Fritzsche launched Vincent Wine Company in 2009 to make Pinot Noir in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, adding Chardonnay and Pinot Blanc soon thereafter. Vincent intends to be all about low-input wine making, working with several sustainably-farmed vineyards around the Willamette Valley to produce small […]

Founded in Beaune in 1880, Joseph Drouhin was an enterprising young man who came from the Chablis region at the age of 22, and settled in Beaune. His son Maurice succeeded him and began to establish a vineyard domaine for the House, purchasing land in some outstanding appellations such as Clos des Mouches and Clos […]

Ventisquero began making wine in 2000. With estate-owned vineyards in Chile’s major wine producing areas: Coastal Maipo, Casablanca, Leyda and Colchagua, along with extensive research into Chile’s terroir, Viña Ventisquero seeks to produce high quality wines and consistently made wines. The winery is led by a young, creative team of entrepreneurs who are creating distinctive, […]

Part 2 of a seminar from the 2016 World of Pinot Noir that takes us through Burgundy’s famed Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits regions. In a “March Madness” motif, moderator Don Kinnan has attendees taste the wines blind, one region against the other. So, join us as we listen to Don Kinnan give […]

In Part 1 of this seminar from the 2016 World of Pinot Noir, Don Kinnan takes us on a taste test through Burgundy’s famed Côte de Beaune and Côte de Nuits regions, “March Madness style with one region pitted against the other. Which region will be the seminar’s favorites? Who cares. It’s ALL Burgundy! So, […]

Straddling the corners of four appellations in the Vaucluse area of southeastern France, Chêne Blue made a bold decision deciding to step outside of the AOC system in order to achieve their goal of producing high quality wines. With a southern latitude, in line with Gigondas, and high altitude (more northern and similar to Condrieu), […]

There has been a lot of hype about how the 2015 vintage has been stupendous for the Riesling grape. Never before have the stars aligned so perfectly as in 2015. Yes, yes, we’ve heard all of this hoopla before. But, all kidding aside, the word on the street, the boulevard, and the highway is that […]

Whether it’s steaks, ribs or burgers, in the world of fine cuts of meat, the name Flannery has been a leader in the field. Bryan Flannery Sr., established Bryans Quality Meats within an independent grocery store on California Street in San Francisco in 1963. Still in operation and run by sons Peter and Terry, Bryans […]

Castello Monaci is located in Puglia’s Salento region, on the “heel of the boot” that is Italy. In this emerging region, Castello Monaci is a benchmark producer crafting wines with the unique characters of Southern Italy’s indigenous grapes Primitivo, Negroamaro and Malvasia Nera. The region of Puglia is drenched in the most intense sunlight in […]

Adam Lee and Dianna Novy left their native Texas and moved to the Sonoma County wine country. They spent years working at small, family-owned wineries and using any and all free time learning everything they could about growing grapes and making wine. They made their first Siduri Pinot Noir—named for the Babylonian Goddess of wine—in […]

Located in the north of Montalcino, the Le Chiuse estate lies on the north-east hillside of Montosoli, at about 300 meters elevation, and includes a total of 7ha of vineyards all planted to Sangiovese Grosso. Le Chiuse played a key role in the vineyard holdings of the legendary Biondi-Santi family since the late 18th Century […]

This seminar from the 2016 World of Pinot Noir features the winemakers from five New Zealand estates discussing the topography, geography, and growing conditions in some of the different regions of New Zealand – Waipara Valley, Central Otago, North Canterbury, and Marlborough. Join us as we listen to Sara Schneider of Sunset Magazine monitor this […]

Each year, about this time, the Bordelais begin releasing the prices for the latest or current vintage, thus offering the wine for sale as “futures.” This is usually the optimum time to buy the wine at its lowest price – with some caveats of course. First, the wine won’t be released or delivered for another […]

“It was just two of us, we didn’t know what we were getting into.” So begins the “Stories” section on the Kosta Browne website – and, probably the most understated of all winery start-up declarations. Today, as any competent pinophile knows, Kosta Browne is one of the most envied AND revered pinot producers in California. […]

In 1883, with no prior knowledge of wine, much less wine growing, Irish immigrant James Concannon decided to plant a vineyard in the Livermore Valley, south of San Francisco. Importing Cabernet vines from Bordeaux’s Château Margaux, plans called for making sacramental wines, something that would see the family operation through the lean years of prohibition. […]

Rapitalà, which translates to “Beautiful Garden of God”, lies between the towns of Camporeale and Alcamo, in the northwest corner of Sicily. In 1968, French count, Hugues Bernard de la Gatinais, married Gigi Guarrasi, a descendant of a great family from Palermo. Together, they embarked on the renovation of the cellars and vineyards of the […]

Most people are familiar with distilled spirits such as vodka, gin, rum, and the like. However, there is a customary spirit from China that you may not be familiar with – Baijiu. Traditionally, baijiu was used to celebrate important events and welcome newcomers. Today, baijiu is a symbol for diplomacy and a way to celebrate […]

Located in the rolling hills of the coastal region of Mendocino County, Anderson Valley is about two hours north of San Francisco. The valley is about 16 miles long, ranging from less than 1/2 mile to about 1-1/2 miles wide, and is home to a unique group of vineyards and wineries working in Region 1 […]

Tokaji is the world’s original sweet white wine. Historically the wine and the region were called Tokay or even Tokai in English but the wine is more correctly referred to as Tokaji and the region as Tokaj. The Tokaji wine region also has the distinction of being the first in Europe to be classified. At […]

It may seem like a long out-of-the-way journey from Massachusetts to France to California, but that’s what Tony Arcudi did. Arcudi spent 20 years working in computer-related fields, first as a missile navigation engineer aboard Navy submarines and later as a product manager for IBM. The transition from that to winemaker—working with wine greats such […]