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...
by Mike Dunne | May 4, 2023 | Blog
Back-to-back wine competitions in Petaluma and Angels Camp last week provided both surprise and affirmation, as competitions are inclined to do. One day it was the Sonoma-Marin Fair’s North of the Gate Wine Competition in Petaluma, which draws entries from most of...
by Mike Dunne | May 2, 2023 | Blog
Napa Valley, the nation’s most gilded wine enclave, also is the most conspicuously gerrymandered, a viticultural district drawn not so much to represent geography and culture as politics, especially the marketing party. In contrast to the traditional standards of...
by Mike Dunne | Apr 25, 2023 | Blog
Jeff Runquist, Mike Roser, take a bow. Saturday, they reaffirmed their stature as two of Amador County’s more accomplished winemakers. At the Amador County Fair commercial wine competition in Plymouth, which drew about 300 entries, they were...
