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Winelover Winery Visits Task Force Report: The Site Visit
Previous posts in this series have described the Formulation of the Winery Visits Task Force and the Winelover Preparation for the Winery Visit. Todays post deals with the mechanics of the visit and...
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Book review: But First, Champagne
When David White's But First, Champagne (Skyhorse Publishing, 2016) was first announced, I did not have a pressing desire to acquire it. I know David tangentially through his blog and have always...
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Mt Etna Wine Estates: Marco de Grazia's Tenuta Delle Terre Nere
In reviewing my past year's writings on Mt Etna wines,ClimateLandscapes and SoilsEstatesBarone di VillagrandeCantina BenantiFrank CornelissenConversations with Frank Cornelissentwo gaps became readily...
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The significance of Contrade in Etna wine production and labeling
The Etna DOC, brought into being by a 1968 Decree, was the first of its type in Sicily and it established wine and labeling requirements as follows:Etna DOC Rosso -- to be made from the indigenous...
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Pre-Phylloxera vines and albarello training in Mt Etna viticulture
In a recent Mt. Etna wine masterclass held in London, Ian D'Agata pronounced that a combination of three factors contribute to the "special" nature of the region's wines: (i) an alpine climate in a...
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Premiere Napa Valley 2017: First-Day activities
Premiere Napa Valley (PNV) is the Napa Valley Vintners annual, invitation-only, barrel auction for wine retailers, wholesalers, restaurateurs, and members of the press. Auction proceeds go towards the...
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Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard: History, configuration, and vineyard management
When my good friend Adam Chilvers of Orlando-based online retailer Wine on the Way invited me to accompany his PNV 2017 group on a tour of the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard -- said tour to be led by...
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Walking the Beckstoffer To Kalon Vineyard with Andy Beckstoffer and Tor...
According to Esther Mobley of the San Francisco Chronicle:Andy Beckstoffer is a legend in California wine ... The grape grower owns what is certainly California's most famous, and probably most...
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Eisele Vineyard (Calistoga, Napa Valley): A timeline
Wednesday of Premiere Napa Valley (PNV) week signals the official start, from my perspective, of the Hunt for the Auction Lot beginning with the tasting of the 20-case lots. This particular event was...
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The vineyard and wines of Eisele Vineyard (Calistoga, Napa Valley)
The quality of the Araujo wines, and the repute of the estate, was of such that Artemis Domaines (owners of Chateau Latour and Chateau Grillet, among other labels), made the trip across the ocean and,...
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In search of a 2017 Premiere Napa Valley (#PNV) auction lot
After our visit to Eisele Vineyard, we headed over to the Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch for the tasting of the Premiere Napa Valley (PNV) 20-case lots, the first official all-hands tasting of the 2017...
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The MacDonald Vineyard: A missing piece of the To-Kalon Vineyard story
As part of his support of my efforts to tell the full story of Oakville's To-Kalon Vineyard, Tor Kenward (Tor Kenward Family Wines) put me in touch with Alex and Graeme MacDonald, sibling proprietors...
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MacDonald Vineyard: Site and practices combine for an excellent...
A 43-acre plot of the historic To-Kalon Vineyard was purchased in 1954 from the Stelling estate by Mrs. Hedwig Detert, Greatgrandmother to the generation currently growing grapes on that selfsame...
View ArticleWalking the tightrope between oxidation and reduction in white wine...
In this series I will be examining the winemaker's challenge in navigating between the twin evils of reduction and oxidation, both faults but both having potentially desirable characteristics close to...
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Walking the tightrope between oxidation and reduction in white wine...
Reduction is the other side of the oxidation/reduction coin. When elemental oxygen combines with wine compounds, it can take a pair of electrons from the compound. The compound losing the electrons is...
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An architecture for the production of reductive white wines
Traditionally, wine has been made in an oxidative style. But, beginning in the 1950s and 1960s, grape growers and winemakers began to employ new tools to attain specific "stylistic and qualitative...
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Hyperoxidation: White winemaking jujitsu
According to dictionary.com, jujitsu (or jiujitsu) is "a method developed in Japan of defending oneself without the use of weapons by using the strength and weight of an adversary to disable...
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The major Etna DOC grape varieties
The Etna DOC has established the following wine and labeling requirements:Etna DOC Rosso -- to be made from the indigenous varieties Nerello Mascalese (> 80%) and Nerello Cappuccio (< 20%) plus...
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Salvo Foti, the pillar of tradition in Mt Etna winegrowing
For most of it lengthy vinous history, the Mt Etna region has utilized the albarello training system as the foundation of its viticultural regime. This system reigned supreme until growers turned to...
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Aeris Vineyard: An Etna joint venture between Salvo Foti and Kevin Harvey of...
A visit with Salvo Foti was the first thing on our Saturday morning agenda so Brandon picked me up in Linguaglossa bright and early in the morning for our trip out to our meeting point at Vigna...
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