There has been much buzz on the new bill, HR 5034, introduced by Congress on April 15.  Essentially what the bill does is cease all direct shipping from wineries, distilleries and breweries to consumers.  Do you belong to a winery’s “wine of the month” club?   Do you order online directly from your favorite distiller or winery?  Well, this might all be coming to a halt. If you want to read through the entire article,...

I was recently invited by good friend Denise to collaborate on “Everyday Vs. Sommelier,” a new article in TUSK Magazine.  Each month a group of her friends will choose two wines under $20, and will write their reviews.  Then, I’ll give my professional review of the same wines.  Check out the May 2010 issue to see how the reviews match...

It’s that time of year!  On the third Thursday of November, Beaujolais Nouveau is released.  While it’s not a huge deal in the US, it is a big celebration in France.  It marks the end of harvest, and the coming of a new growing season.  There’s only a short period of time where winemakers get to rest between vintages, as soon it will be time to head back into the vineyards, and begin vineyard maintenance once...

In my search for great wines, I find that many second labels and “negociant” style bottlings often contain top notch juice from very prestigious vineyards.  But since the vineyard owners usually like to keep the source under wraps, this is usually difficult to determine unless you have some inside information. I did a little digging, and have come up with some possible vineyard sites that may go into Twitter’s...

That’s right, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has started a new project– Twitter Wine.  The project, dubbed “The Fledgling Initiative,” will benefit the non-profit group Room To Read.  The Room To Read organization focuses on helping stamp out illiteracy by providing education opportunities to children worldwide. 2009 will be the first vintage released, scheduled for bottling in August 2010.  There will be a...

The “Gloria Fire” is one of the most recent, and started just east of Soledad, in Salinas Valley.  Seems like fingers are pointing at Estancia Winery (owned by Constellation) as the cause.  Wineries often use “bird bombs” to scare off hungry birds that eat the ripening grapes.  Unlike the safer “bird cannons,” these bombs are fired by a hand held gun, and explode in the air.  While the cannons give...