June, 2011

Reviews June 14, 2011

D’Arenberg The Hermit Crab, Viognier / Marsanne, Adelaide – Australia 2009

Grapes 72% Viognier 28% Marsanne   Facts You’re excused if you haven’t seen this kind of blend before, Viognier and Marsanne are more commonly found blended together in the Southern Rhone region of France. D’Arenberg is certainly one of the most recognized wineries in Southern Australia. The company was established back in 1912 by Joseph Osborn after he purchased land in what has now become the McLaren Vale. Interesting thing to note is that Joseph…

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Funny, News June 11, 2011

The Foursquare Wino Badge

I don’t know if there are any avid FourSquare users reading this website, but I thought this might be of interest to you! Location-based social network service FourSquare recently announced their Wino badge, awarded to users after they “check-in” 3 times to what are  categorized as wine bars. A nice way of showing your friends what a discerning oenophile you are!   Now here’s the interesting part: I think I might have had a large…

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Reviews June 7, 2011

Di Majo Norante Sangiovese, Umbria – Italy

Grapes 100% Sangiovese [San-joe-vay-say] The name Sangiovese is thought to come from Sanguis Jovis or “Blood of Jove” (Jove being the Roman name for Jupiter), indicating that wines were made from Sangiovese grapes even back in Roman times. Facts Di Majo Norante Sangiovese has been an easy-drinking Italian go-to of mine for quite some time now. Considering how many bottles I’ve popped open over the last few years, I thought a review was warranted. If…

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News June 6, 2011

Thinking of Opening a Winery in Napa? You Should Probably Read this First…Part 4 of 4

Following on from yesterdays post, the following is part 4 of 4 of a post made by a friend of mine, Lucas Meeker – Assistant Winemaker at Meeker Vineyards in Sonoma. The post originally appeared on professional Q&A website Quora.com. The question Lucas answered was: What are some Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of Owning a Napa Winery? My annotations throughout the article appear in the form of: [Notes like this], and as always I’ve…

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News June 6, 2011

This Week In Wine – P.Diddy Teaches Wine Etiquette, $73k Champagne, VinPass and More!

    VinPass: Wine Lovers Can Now Check In A new social game called VinPass has just recently launched. It’s an application for wine lovers to "share wine reviews, win badges and earn real rewards. VinPass uses the ‘check-in’ paradigm popularized by location-based social network Foursquare and extended into other areas by the likes of GetGlue (entertainment) and Foodspotting (food). In a nutshell, you check-in to tasting a certain type of wine. If you write…

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News June 5, 2011

Thinking of Opening a Winery in Napa? You Should Probably Read this First…Part 3 of 4

Following on from yesterdays post, the following is part 3 of 4 of a post made by a friend of mine, Lucas Meeker – Assistant Winemaker at Meeker Vineyards in Sonoma. The post originally appeared on professional Q&A website Quora.com. The question Lucas answered was: What are some Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of Owning a Napa Winery? My annotations throughout the article appear in the form of: [Notes like this], and as always I’ve…

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Reviews June 5, 2011

Layer Cake Shiraz, South Australia 2009

Grapes 100% Shiraz Facts The popularity of Layer Cake really seems to have exploded over the last couple of years, and why wouldn’t it!?!? There’s picture of a delicious looking cake on the front label! People are suckers for good-looking wine labels (myself included). Layer Cake is a winemaking venture from Jayson Woodbridge (no connection to Woodbridge wine), who first first came onto the radar in 1998, with a little-known wine called Hundred Acre. He…

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News June 4, 2011

Thinking of Opening a Winery in Napa? You Should Probably Read this First…Part 2 of 4

Following on from yesterdays post, the following is part 2 of 4 of a post made by a friend of mine,  Lucas Meeker – Assistant Winemaker at Meeker Vineyards in Sonoma. The post originally appeared on professional Q&A website Quora.com. The question Lucas answered was: What are some Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of Owning a Napa Winery? My annotations throughout the article appear in the form of: [Notes like this], and as always I’ve…

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News June 3, 2011

Thinking of Opening a Winery in Napa? You Should Probably Read this First…

This is a slightly unusual post for me, but I should at least give you a short background on the following posts. This original article appeared on the Quora.com, an extremely useful and fairly new website devoted to questions and answers from people of all backgrounds on a vast array of topics. It’s kind of like Yahoo Answers, except the people answering the questions tend to be much more credible in their knowledge. Make sure…

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News June 3, 2011

Gary Vaynerchuk’s Daily Grape Feature – Azur, Rose Syrah, California 2009

This post is another feature from Gary Vaynerchuk’s Daily Grape wine newsletter. 2009 Azur Rose Syrah, California Varietal: 90% Syrah, 10% Semillon Gary’s explanation of the wine:  With spring in full-effect, it’s getting to be rosé season. Ladies, this will go great with all those outfits. And guys, don’t be afraid of the pink stuff! On a more serious note, there’s so much more out there than just that sweet, White Zin your Grandma used…

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News June 2, 2011

South African Wine Regions of Note

I don’t know about you, but I always seem to have a tendency to forget about South Africa. Not that the wines are bad, but they certainly have their high and low points…<cough>…Pinotage…<cough>…   I’m not just going to pick on Pinotage (a crossing between Pinot Noir and Cinsault), but I think it’s fairly obvious that South Africa had the big plan that it was going to become the grape that was finally going to…

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