I got a Vinturi recently, and thought it was kinda neat, but didn’t pay it too much attention. I was too caught up in the idea that I needed to decant a full bottle of wine into a fancy decanter in order to give it enough time to breathe so it tasted good. AND then, I was (well, ok, am) convinced that I need(ed) to have the right glasses for that wine. Ones made for that specific kind of wine. (OK, yes. I’m a Reidel fanboy. It seriously makes a difference. You want to know? Lemme know and I’ll see …read more

Brix26, a personalized wine recommendation service located in San Francisco at the crossroads of Napa and Sonoma. Created in 2005 by Peter Langenstein, Peter works
directly with many of California’s boutique wineries, obtaining the unique opportunity to taste hundreds of the finest varietals available. Brix26 clients are able to browse and purchase single wines or mixed cases on the website, and are encouraged to call or email Brix26 directly for one-on-one recommendations. Each bottle will be shipped directly to home or business, complete with customized tasting notes and the option for individual gift-wrapping.
Peter has put together some suggestions for wine lovers and …read more

I got an email from one of my favourite local PR girls, telling me to Go to Hell. My first thought was “uh, no, YOU go to hell!” and then I realized that a) she’s far too sweet to ever tell me that, and b) she was inviting me to a launch of the new Hellbent Wine.
Hellbent Wine is a new Australian Shiraz Cabernet created by Whitefish Group and winemaker Kevin O’Brien of Kangarilla Road Winery.
I have to say that for a $17 bottle of wine, Hellbent is damn good. The grapes are from the Southern Fleurieu region, and give …read more

I’m back from my whirlwind trip of the south (or the upper south as some referred to it as) with 100’s of pictures and more knowledge about the making of bourbon than I ever thought I’d need to know. Overall, it’s a pretty interesting process, and soon you’ll know all about it too!
While I’m getting my images processed and posts written, I came across something that I just had to share. There’s a team of (young) students at Rice University in Texas who are trying to create a beer that mimics some of the properties that make red wine the …read more

Wine.com, the #1 online wine retailer, says that Syrah (Shiraz) outsold Chardonnay for the first half of this year. They say that Syrah sales have grown 47% for the year to date, which is pretty impressive. The close red second is a Cab Sauv, which basically means that by outstripping Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah is pretty much the top-selling wine for the year so far. GO SHIRAZ!
It’s a little difficult to tell if those numbers are going to stand up nationally or not however. The press release goes onto say that:
“What you’d typically see in national wine consumption …read more

I had an opportunity to try both Seven Daughters Red & White wines recently.  At first, I was a little skeptical when I read that the wines are blends of seven different grapes, and then I remembered what Gary Vaynerchuk reminded me: trust your palate.
The Seven Daughters White Winemaker’s Blend is composed of seven distinct varietals including Riesling, Symphony, Chardonnay, Orange Muscat, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and French Colombard. Some sultry sweet scents of orange blossom, musk and melon danced around with the fresh flavours of lychee and tangerine.  My first sip was lovely, and it finished with a slightly …read more