Taking the world one wine at a time.
Have you noticed my posts have been a little “sporadic” lately? ”No…I haven’t actually.”Well, you suck and you need to spend more time here then! “Yes, I was wondering what all that was about!!! I’ve been tearing my hair out!!! What’s happening?!?!?”Good to know you care! Don’t be concerned though! I’m not going anywhere…quite the opposite in fact! Here’s what’s been occupying my time over the last few months: Speaking Engagements Early next year I’ve…
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From the beginning of this year my wine teaching slowly began to skew “offline,” since I started instructing an 11 week wine class to culinary students at the local Art Institute. It’s certainly been a wake-up call for me. I never really thought teaching would ever be listed on my resume, and even though it’s only a part-time class, it’s really opened my eyes as to how wine drinkers palates evolve….but more importantly, how so…
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The next time you uncork a bottle of vino, you may want to revaluate throwing out the cork. At least, that’s how wine cork artist Conrad Engelhardt got his start! He decided that the humble wine cork deserved a “second lease on life” Engelhardt uses up-to 5,000 wine corks to create one of his masterpieces; which bearing in mind that he’s a fellow Brit, probably takes him at least…oh, I don’t know….about a week of…
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The Financialist published a story a couple of weeks ago that reminded me of an interview I had winemaker Lucas Meeker give me on this very subject, a little over a year ago. If you have any thoughts about opening your own winery, you need to read my four-part “Thinking of Opening a Winery in Napa? You Should Probably Read this First…” series. The Financialist story reads: Owning a vineyard is a common fantasy for…
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As reported by SFGate, French wine cooperative group Groupe Val d’Orbieu has stated that wine drinkers will soon face a shortage of mammoth proportions, around 1.3 billion bottles to be exact. I’m not too sure how they arrived at that number, but that’s what they say…The “shortage” comes after a drop in production in Italy, France and Spain, and vineyards across Europe suffered damage from winter dryness, a cold start to the season, hailstorms and…
Read MoreOk, so I’m a little late on this one! This is a news story from June, that seems to have slipped me by until now… Aussie winemaker Penfolds has unveiled what it says (correctly so) is the world’s most expensive bottle of plonk. The 2004 Kalimna Block 42 Cabernet Sauvignon, that the vineyard claims are from the oldest continuously producing vines in the world, will set you back a staggering $168,000 and comes completely encased…
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Tech trend analysis company Technomic has indicated in its recent Bartender Quarterly report that “serve-yourself” wine stations appear to be gaining significant momentum in wine bars/restaurants across the United States. One of their case studies, with diners at the Trifecta Grill in Winnetka, Illinois, showed wine drinkers were willing to spend more of their hard earned cash (often up-to $29 a glass) if they knew the wine had been stored in a WineStation, and therefore…
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Anyone can critique a wine list. Anyone. It’s easy, mainly for the reason that there are, to a certain extent, very few right and wrong answers. Ok, maybe that’s not entirely true! There are a few unofficial rules, but they obviously change according to the type of restaurant you’re dealing with. With that said, the next few photos are from my recent trip back to England, when I dined at a reputable Greek/Turkish restaurant in…
Read MoreMy most recent TV segment for the local Jacksonville CW17 TV show I Know Jax. The show airs every Saturday at 11pm, with my segment being every other week.
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I know there’s a lot of confusion surrounding exactly what constitutes an organic wine. Most people probably think they have a fair understanding of what it means to be organic, but in actuality its more complex than you would think! As you no-doubt already know, the growing of grapes is organic by design, but somewhere along the way wineries/grape growers lost their way. Of course you can’t tar all wineries with the same brush, and…
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22 people who were having the time of their lives aboard San Francisco Bay’s only “floating wine tasting room,” had to be rescued this last Friday from after the boat hit hit a spot of bother near Alcatraz Island, officials have stated. The 45-foot long “Neptune” started taking on water after an impact with an underwater shoal left a 1-foot hole in the side of the boat. The captain attempted to steer it to San…
Read MoreRally driver Petter Solberg clearly must be more of a beer drinker, as is shown in these two videos by his blatant disregard for the delicate grapes of Alsace! The Norwegian Solberg started the day in 4th place, narrowly missed spectators when he careened off the road on the opening stage, through a vineyard, over the same road again, into another vineyard and then for a grand finale he took out an electrical pylon….
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