Kris Chislett

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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News, Pairings June 1, 2011

How to Evaluate a Food and Wine Pairing.

I think it should go without saying that everyone has a lifetime worth of experiences and knowledge relating to food tastes and characteristics; but most of us don’t necessarily pair wine with meals on a daily basis. As a result, it could be stated that the general population lacks a decent ability to match appropriate wines with particular foods. Because of this, we generally have a shortage of good advice that people can use in…

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Funny, News May 28, 2011

This Week In Wine – May 28th 2011

  English sparkling wine should be called Champagne, says Camilla English sparkling wine should be called Champagne, according to the Duchess of Cornwall. The quality of English fizz is so good the drink "is champagne" the Duchess declared, echoing what many in the English wine trade believe, but showing scant regard for complex and strict European food labeling laws. The Duchess’s comments came as she and the Prince of Wales toured the Denbies Wine Estate…

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Pairings May 27, 2011

The Mer Soleil Duo Paired with Coronation Chicken Salad with Mangoes and Almonds

Since today is/was #ChardonnayDay on Twitter, my day has been very much planned accordingly around the worlds most popular white grape. You’re forgiven if you aren’t yet clued in as to what #ChardonnayDay is actually all about; it’s new to me too! The event essentially revolves around Twitter, with wine drinkers throughout the Twitterverse (yes it’s a word) all gathering either online or at various organized meetups to drink and “tweet” tasting notes and opinions…

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Facts May 25, 2011

The Difference Between Chianti, Chianti Classico and Chianti Riserva

First-off, I don’t know where the above photo was taken, but once I find out I’m booking a plane ticket!!! So last night, I found myself hosting an informal wine class for a discerning group of tasters here in Jacksonville. The theme of the night was Tuscany, and so I decided to put a heavy emphasis on Chianti, as it goes without saying that it’s Italy’s most famous wine (possibly their most famous export). As…

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Funny May 24, 2011

The Silly Wine Tasting Notes Generator

Here’s something to help kill 5 minutes at work today! The Silly Tasting Notes Generator has been around on the Internet for a quite a while, and is perfect if you’ve ever fancied yourself as an aspiring wine connoisseur. Well maybe that’s a stretch for the use of this particular gadget, but it will certainly make for entertaining conversation at the dinner table! You can choose between Normal or Extra-Silly, and in a mere matter…

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