by Mike Dunne | Jul 3, 2023 | Blog
Last month, a bunch of vintners from France’s Rhône Valley landed in San Francisco for a series of tastings and seminars. Most were from the valley’s southern reaches, though, curiously, none was from that area’s most esteemed appellation, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, perhaps...
by Mike Dunne | Jun 21, 2023 | Blog
Forty years after federal authorities designated Dry Creek Valley an American Viticultural Area, the appellation’s signature wine has emerged – Grenache! Balderdash, will protest Dry Creek Valley vintners who for decades have been saying that either Cabernet...
by Mike Dunne | Jun 13, 2023 | Blog
Aside from tankards raised riotously at Renaissance Faires, mead plays virtually no role on the American beverage scene. This is odd, given mead’s long history, its variety and versatility, its close and natural association with the charming industry and...
by Mike Dunne | Jun 6, 2023 | Blog
Like earthquake tremors more gentle nudge than jolting shove, vintners along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains are elevating their game and more assertively speaking up. One group dispatched a crew to hold a consumer tasting on planet Napa Valley....
by Mike Dunne | May 31, 2023 | Blog
What is orange wine and why does it agitate so many people? First, it isn’t made with oranges, though someone could. Rather, orange wine is a relatively new category of wine whose name is taken from the customary color of the wines, which can range from light amber...
by Mike Dunne | May 22, 2023 | Blog
We’re standing some 2000 feet up the sunrise slope of the Mayacamas Mountains. We’re looking east but mostly down, way down, scanning the green blocks of grapevines that form the flat and orderly quilt of Napa Valley. I ask Hal Barnett the whereabouts of the...
