In Vino Veritas

It has been a little while since I last wrote. Which is a bummer, because I have had so many fun wine experiences lately. The problem is that I have just been enjoying them for myself. I went tasting in Napa on several different occasions, and hit up some faves like La Rochelle, Darioush, Honig, […]

You are in for a treat. This post comes from one of my favorite wine writers. He wrote this just for our enjoyment, so without further ado… Robert Vardanian’s first Weeklygrape article. Today we discuss a very specific and highly fantastic wine called… Williams & Humbert “Jalifa” Amontillado VORS Williams & Humbert is a large […]

Chloe’s fourth post here on the Weeklygrape is non other than Jura. A bit off the  beaten path, but infused with that Brit style that I find entertaining. Enjoy. As a Sommelier I am often asked by customers and clients about new wine trends and unique regions. As wine is such a vast subject, this […]

The other day some friends and I went up to Lompoc. Now I know what you’re thinking… Lompoc?, but they only have a prison and a military base. I went there for neither. I went for the relatively new phenomena, the Lompoc Wine Ghetto. As bizarre as it may seem, a group of wineries opened […]

Greetings and salutations. I am very proud to be posting Chloe’s third wine bloggy (she loves shortening words and adding a ‘y’ at the end. For example, if she is in a playful mood instead of Chablis she will say Shabby Shabs). For those of you just joining us on this wine journey, Chloe Dickson […]

Chloe’s second article is about England’s bubbles! Brilliant! On a recent visit back to the homeland I was pleasantly surprised to see the sheer amount of English Sparkling Wine available at shops and supermarkets. I’ve only been living outside of the UK for a year and a half, but in this short timeframe a wonderful […]

Hello, my fabulous readers. It is I, Jonathan Hood, and I would like to introduce you to your new favorite wine writer. Her name is Chloe Dickson and she is British. Now I know what you’re saying to yourself subvocally as you read this… British!?! Is she going to have a funny accent in her […]

What do Danny DeVito, Steve Martin, and Kyle Maclachlan have in common? Besides being really down to earth, easy going individuals, I’ve helped them all pick out wine recently. It’s fun having a surprise guest that you’ve admired for years randomly show up and interact with you. Kyle Maclachlan of Twin Peaks fame has his […]

I asked a good friend of mine to write something to share. He writes for Vice magazine, LA Weekly, and Buzz Feed among others. So without further ado… a little tidbit from Peter Holslin: I grabbed a bagel and a loaf of wheat bread and began my pilgrimage to the golden statue of Zeus. After […]

It was a day like any other. The sun came up as usual. The Earth was spinning near the equator at 465 meters per second like it does as it’s whipped around the galaxy. Americans drank another 400 million cups of coffee as they do every day. I woke up as I do most days, […]

I went paragliding between skyscrapers yesterday. It was late bordering on early. A few of us broke into the Arco tower in Downtown LA. That was a chore in and of itself, with two guys on security lookout, one relooping footage, one attending the locks, and the last of us sporting the gear. We reached […]

Disclaimer: there is only a little bit about wine in this one I was driving on the freeway today, as I do every day. Heh, that reminded of Pinky & the Brain… “What are we going to do tonight Brain? Same thing we do every night… try to take over the world!!!” So, I was […]

I’ve been asked how I choose what I write about, and my response is usually that I write about freedom, justice, life, and three legged pigeons… okaaaay, maybe not so much the first three. I have a hard time grasping the fact that anywhere up to a million people read what I write. I see […]

Life has been odd lately. I think I’m heading in one direction and then the earth heaves beneath my feet tossing me in another direction altogether. I thought for a short while that wine would be pushed to the back seat for the time being, and then out of the blue plans changed. I moved from […]

    Aging wine is a tricky practice. How many times have you been so enthralled with a wine when you went wine tasting that you bought a whole case, or maybe you just purchased a few bottles because the price ticket was exorbitant? This is kind of like when I tasted the 2003 Lazzarito vineyard […]

I overheard a woman last night talk about which kind of wines she liked. She said, “I like French wine, Spanish wine, Australian, Italian… pretty much anything but what we have here. I like my wine to be spicy or smooth.”   My first thought was please ‘don’t put Australia in the same category with […]

I went to Occidental over the weekend with the explicit goal of achieving waffle nirvana. How did this happen you ask? My cohort in crime and I beelined it to a restaurant called Howard Station Café. Actually the route was more like the path a kid with ADHD would take if you let him loose […]

I just finished my first length of schooling, and decided to take a vacation to Baja-California, Mexico. A bunch of us jumped in a truck loaded with clean water, snacks and some bubbly wine for when we arrived. We stopped off in Orange to break up the 13 hour drive. The next morning, we took […]

  Brad Pitt evidently owns a very large property in Provence, France (1200 acres to be precise, which is about a quarter of the size of San Francisco). He and his wife Angelina Jolie had been renting the property as a getaway for a few years until they finally purchased the property for $60 million. […]

The other day when California was hip deep in hot, I participated in a Facebook conversation about the weather. One of my friends made a comment that prompted this post. Here is a snippet of the conversation with the names changed. I picked the names out of a list because I can.   Lizzy – […]

  Last weekend a few of us rambled along the 101 up to the Santa Barbara winery trails. Our first stop was aptly named Santa Barbara Winery, and our wine pourer held no punches. My two favorites were their Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir. The Sauvignon Blanc was a 2012 from Santa Ynez Valley   […]

Last week I wrote about Toscana. This week I want to discuss the Italian wine region of Campania.     Campania is very southern, in fact only Basilicata and Calabria are further south on the mainland. Lazio is to the northeast, Molise to the north and Puglia to the northwest. Again I’m just going to […]

Imagine, if you will, hunting a tyrannosaurus rex with a Nerf gun. There you are sitting in a tree you climbed, scoping for the illusive T-Rex. There are myriad raptors in the jungle doing their thing, but you’re holding out for the big guy. After hours of waiting, a cacophony of sound erupts from the […]

Two of my classes are 5th level classes (meaning you should be graduating soon). In my last class we were told to get in groups of four or five for discussion. The professor then asked four questions. “In non-psychbabble, meaning just use your own words, answer the following… 1) How did Psychology come about?  2) […]

I took a mini-vacation last week, and I popped up to Sonoma County for some wine tasting. It was a glorious jaunt full of adventure, a cave with barrels, fluffy chairs, a bunch of giraffes and breathtaking views. D’Argenzio in Santa Rosa was the first winemaker we went to where Raymond D’Argenzio and his daughter […]

A friend of mine sent me a proposal for a restaurant. He wants me to look over it and give him my opinion.  I won’t go into detail on the project, because it hasn’t been pitched yet. However, the prospect of looking it over brings to mind all manner of tasks I’ve been presented in […]

Not too long ago, I was in Washington DC when a foot of snow crippled the government.       They declared a snow emergency, which meant that cabs could charge an extra $15 per ride, causing a 2-mile cab ride to end up at $35. Despite snowy obstacles, I arrived up at the Capitol […]

There’s just something about running until your legs don’t work anymore. So, time changed on Sunday. I’m not talking in an existential manner or anything. The cosmos shifted, dimensions coalesced and in spots of Newark pigeons walk backward… no, nothing like that. We were thrust forward an hour, unless you reside in Arizona, Hawaii, Puerto […]

  I went to a wine tasting last Wednesday. It was a blast. The Royal Wine Group and Herzog Wine Cellars put together their International Food & Wine Festival at the Hyatt Regency Central Plaza.     The event was all Kosher, and entailed a bevy of delicious food choices. There were tiny little bagels […]

(disclaimer: any run-on sentences in this post are intentional… others, maybe not so much, but this one yes. If you cannot handle reading run-on sentences try pinching a body part while reading this. It may help occupy the grammar pain center of your brain just enough to get you through it. I highly recommend attempting […]

I posted about a fashion show I was in a couple weeks ago. I finally have a bunch of photos for your viewing pleasure. I realize this isn’t entirely on topic with wine, but it was a fascinating romp that I wanted to share with you. The event was in Oakland at a place called […]

  I’m sitting at a café, surrounded by inane conversation: “When I look at this, I think: bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter. I look at you and say: ‘You don’t taste anything like you look!’” “I need that one.  Whatever that one is, I need that one.  Find out what that one is, ‘cause I need […]

I had an amazing experience this past weekend. I was a model in a fashion show. This fashion show was different than your usual fare. It was a blend of fire and metal and amazing. Here is a preview…     I just need more time to put all the pictures and videos together. Soooooooo, […]

Smack dab in the middle of the holidays and some people are lucky enough to have this time off. I was able to sleep in this morning, and then take a leisurely stroll to the coffee shop. I sat down with a peanut butter cookie my mother baked, a book on probabilities in everyday life, […]

Today I will write about wine, just wine, no minions or woolly mammoths. I won’t bend your ear with a chapter on Interpersonal Relationships, or how I got up at the butt crack of dawn to run for five hours. In fact, I am only going to talk about wines that are less than $10. […]

    The last few days were fun. Sharing wine and food with family and friends is a treat. I was given enough leftovers to feed a small army which is perfect because I’ve been planning on growing my own little minions. I bought the ‘instant minions’ box of instagrow minions. All you have to […]

The forming of the United States of America has a very dark past. There was a whole lot of war and bloodshed. Cultures and people were decimated. It’s something that tends to not be brought up or thought about because it can be painful. I’m an eighth Creek Native American, but I was raised without […]

Staring at a blank word document is both frustrating and exhilarating at the same time. It’s frustrating because it means I have yet to start my post, but it’s exhilarating because I am very curious as to what I’ll write. I know that based on my past history of results I will produce something, because […]

    Sometimes I approach the world of wine in a light and fluffy manner. I try desperately to engage everyone and to not alienate anyone. This is inherently impossible given the diverse nature of the human race, and the fact that I toe the line of what is dignified with my verbose, sometimes crass, […]

Last week I posted a wine journey written by my sister. Here is part two.   Despite the name Okanagan sounding like something Eskimo’s sleep in, and me being more North than I ever remember, the weather was quite perfect. It was warm enough for shorts during the sunny hours and sweater weather as soon […]

My sister is amazing. In addition to being amazing she loves wine and has a fun writing style. Naturally, I like to encourage both of those behaviors. This is her 3rd post here and I am very pleased to share it with you. The weekend prior to our scheduled vacation, my husband and I had […]

If you like big, fruit forward, easy drinking, affordable wines then look to Sicily (Sicilia), Italy. Back in the day, before Italy really started regulating wine, Sicily was doing some shady stuff. They would ferment wine in large quantities, and then pipe the wine directly from the tanks into tankers. These ships laden with big […]

I did something yesterday.. something pretty intense. I ran the Long Beach Marathon. Aside from the giant sea serpents, a kraken, and a few sand monsters it was a pretty tame race. Rumor has it that the first Marathon was when a Greek messenger ran from Marathon to Athens to proclaim victory over the Persians […]

Pythagoras proposed the Earth was round and not flat around 500 BC Copernicus told us the world was not the center of the universe in the mid-1500s. Galileo was condemned by the Catholic Church for defending Copernicus over one hundred years later. Anton van Leeuwenhoek gave us the gift of seeing microorganisms (thank him for […]

Well another birthday just happened. They say that time speeds up as you get older, but for me it has slowed down to a crawl. I don’t mind in the slightest. I just started my third quarter on my quest for a Masters degree. I have three more quarters of Psychology left before I switch […]

This is how it all began… I was waiting in line for a taco at a truck twenty minutes from my house.  It was the kind of taco that was so good you craved it even though its meat origins were suspect. Is this brain? tongue? Is it even cow? There was always a line, […]

I hitched a ride on an RV the size of Mt. Olympus. Okay, maybe it was only a 40 footer, but it went on for days. The omnibus was run by a group of fabulous Persians. One of these Persians had never been to the dirty little city that my quest for Joe was to […]

Let it begin with a chase..   I wrote about Western Grace Brandy in the post ‘That’s some damn fine brandy you’ve got there’. I got to talking with two of the WGB dudes (hope they don’t mind me shortening the name or calling them dudes). I just so happen to be going to a […]

I participated in a triathlon this past weekend. I trained for the biking and the running ad nauseum, but the swimming I only practiced about five times in a pool and a brief jaunt in the ocean off of Venice Beach.     It took place in Santa Cruz. 600 people got up at the […]

I’m hip deep in putting together a wine list for a restaurant in Los Angeles. Creating a wine list that is complex, intriguing, recognizable and cheap is a difficult task. There are so many other factors to consider. Are you playing to an audience that likes monkey labels? Do, they want ancient battle names like […]

For dinner I fixed salmon and asparagus with capers. I also ate split pea soup with a very complex, earthy, organic celery. I wanted a wine to go with the richness of the salmon, but I did not want it to overpower the delicate nature of fish. I decided to revisit one of my favorite […]

Usually I tell you about wine tastings after they have happened. That’s just mean, I know. “Hey look how much fun I had. You shoulda been there!” I talk about these wine tastings because I find wines that I want to share. This post however, is pre-tasting! It’s almost time for one of my favorite […]

  I went to the Craft Spirits Carnival in San Francisco a couple weeks ago, and for the second year in a row I had a blast. What is not to like about having hundreds of handcrafted elegant spirits under one roof. My friend and I were each given a glass with the logo from […]

When I was in my intro-sommelier course nearly a decade ago, one of the master sommeliers described a wine in an intriguing way. He said that every time he tried a certain varietal that he thought of a large hairy naked man sweating profusely and running through a field of roses getting cut by the […]

  What is Holzgeschmack? Besides being a fun sounding word? It is the German word for the character that a wooden (typically oak) barrel imparts upon wine. How much wood is too much? When wine makers go about creating their wine, they have to decide whether or not to use wood barrels when aging their […]

I had someone ask me today about the chemical composition of wine.     I responded with “Um… that is a very broad subject. Do you want to know about the acids found in wine (tartaric, citric, acetic, lactic or malic)? Or perhaps you wanted to know about the polyphenols that are broken down into […]

  Many years ago, my brother got married. A mutual friend put together the bachelor party, and he added an interesting twist. He manacled a ball and chain to my brother’s ankle that he was forced to carry around with him the entire night. He told my brother that the only way he could unlock […]

  Memory is a tricky (insert favorite expletive here). When I was a kid I used to crawl through secret passages in our house. There was a fire place in the backroom that I was able to get behind and I’d climb to the second floor. There’s only one problem with that memory. There was […]

I’m nearing the end of a class on human memory. A class that I have found absolutely fascinating. One thing I found incredibly helpful, is understanding how short term memory works, and how information gets put into long term memory. How many times have you had an idea or thought of something you needed to […]

The Sonoma Coast AVA (American Viticultural Area) is just North of San Francisco and has about 2000 acres of vineyard land. Aside from being  beautiful and home to Tomales Bay Oyster Company, the wine from here can be breathtaking. *side note: Tomales Bay Oyster Company = awesome. Sit on the bay and eat  seconds fresh […]

As fate would have it, the day I posted about Burgundy, I received  Wine Spectator’s review of the most recent Burgundy vintage. “For red Burgundy lovers, the 2010’s are wines of another era. They are reminiscent of wines from the 1970’s and 80’s, before the advent of warmer vintages and earlier harvests… The major differences […]

Some friends have a way of making things better. You get a call, your face lights up with joy and you think… Wow, how did you know I needed that? I want you to be that friend today. Call up a friend and share a smile. While we are on the subject of smiles. I’m […]

Last week I brought you a post that wasn’t even written by me. Well, this one isn’t either. This post is the second part, brought to you by my most excellent sister and fellow oenophile, Sara Hood-Herrera. Enjoy!   I received a postcard a month ago from Zena. No not the warrior princess, although that […]

I like different, random, exciting and unpredictableness. I try to bring that to my posts. Today I’m going to be different in fact I’m not even gonna be me… This post is brought to you by my most excellent sister and fellow oenophile, Sara Hood-Herrera. Enjoy!   One of the best things about growing up […]

Sulfites, tannins and GMO yeast.. Oh my! A couple of friends of mine have at different times asked me about wine headaches. What causes them? How can I find a wine that won’t give me a headache? The most common urban legend is that sulfites are to blame. There is the possibility that sulfites are […]

I cut coupons, cook food at home often, look for the cheapest prices, and try desperately to find quaffable wine that won’t break the bank. This post is going to be all about the latter. Here are a dozen wines that aim to please:     Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc – Viognier 2012     […]

Wine is a complicated animal. It’s like the motto for the game Othello… ‘A minute to learn, a lifetime to master’     Most people just find a grape or two they like and stick with those. Others change from one varietal to the next, yet don’t really understand why their tastes change. Some people […]

The pressure is tremendous. Finals, moving, taxes, job, flash grenades going off in your quiet residential neighborhood at 5am because the next door neighbors are cooking meth and getting raided by the cops, did I mention moving? Change can be good, it can be bad, or it can be a North Korean prison with bamboo […]

My last post didn’t include Ahsan because it was just too serious, so I decided to put it in a separate post all by itself. No wine just Ahsan. When we left Ahsan he had just hatched his brilliant plan, and his colleague Frank was getting supplies….   Ahsan greeted Frank at the door of […]

I read an article the other day. ‘Why do I write about wine?’ The author was defending himself against a comment someone put on his Facebook page. ‘Enough about wine. Real people are struggling in the world.’ I found the comment to be ridiculous and down right asinine, but the commenter was a respected friend […]

We left Ahsan talking with those strange members of a rogue communist party. He was just talking money. *side note: I have all manner of love for Karl Marx’s idea of communism, but I feel he, like Ayn Rand and others, base their ideal world on themselves. We currently don’t have 3 billion Karl Marx […]

  Ahsan Ali you might remember was a geneticist friend of mine. He’s the guy that cloned the wooly mammoth. Well I just found out he was eaten by crocodiles in Southern Florida. Or at least that’s what I was told.. This is exactly how I heard the story.. After the Wooly Mammoth fiasco Ahsan […]

Does wine glow in the dark? No, at least not unless the vintner adds some zinc sulfide and stronium aluminate, two elements commonly used in chemiluminescence.     Phew, I just had to get that out of the way. Now for something completely different. To screw cap or not to screw cap. It’s been many years […]

Well Valentine’s Day came and went. Love filled the air. In fact I’m sure it’s going to be wafting its way through the weekend.     In an effort to keep in tune with romance and emotion I will share a poem               melodic rhythm                         the never-ending ripples                   gloom bearing clouds […]

A couple of friends of mine had a bit of a dispute. One of these friends is a staunch loyalist from Essex, England, and the other a native to the Loire valley in France. The question was this.. Who created sparkling wine first? The Brits or the French? So? Which came first? The chicken or […]

I like to post about cheap decent wines for all those college students (me) and poor folk alike. Just because you consider asking the local bums for change before they ask you (maybe that’s just me) doesn’t mean you should have to suffer without your Top Ramen’s (6 for $.99 at Vons) wine pairing. I […]

  In the last post we took grapes from the vineyard all the way to what I like to call the yeasties (not a legit term.) There are various types of yeast to chose from that affect change on the wine in different ways.     Now they add the acid, if done at all. […]

Why should you learn about wine? I knew I wanted to learn about wine when I was 13. I was thinking about going into business as a career and thought well if I want to play the game I need to know about food, wine and coffee. First wine I tried was a warm Gallo […]

  Root structures on the vine. With any given vine the root structure is touted by the wine maker as the giver of Terroir. Terroir is a French word derived from the word terre ‘land’ and is used to describe the effect the ecosystem of an area has on the grapes and eventually the wine […]

When we last left Jeff he was sassing the teacher.. “Well, in the future pay more attention so I won’t have to repeat myself.”  This was the only rebuttal that Mr. Brobeck could come up with for what he perceived as gross insubordination.  Jeff shrugged and turned his attention back to his pen and began […]

The sunlight streamed in through the window laying across Jeff’s desk.  It was another boring Thursday.  Of course nearly any school day was boring as far as Jeff was concerned.  The pen he was holding cast a shadow on his Algebra book which drew his attention away from Mr. Brobeck, his Algebra teacher.  He was […]

Frank opened up the lid to the coffee maker, and found a fish. The fish was actually looking at him with its bug eyes and fishy lips going… well doing that fish kiss lip thing that they do. Frank immediately dropped the lid out of shock. He used the coffee maker every day and yet […]

Thanksgiving…   I’m thankful for wine, friends, and family, not necessarily in that order.   When you look back at past Thanksgivings can you differentiate from one or another? Do they all blend together into just ‘Thanksgiving?’   I propose a change to your yearly ritual of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pecan pie, meatball sandwiches, […]

That’s a riot. What’s a riot? The wine riot. Some wine tastings have a snooty air about them. The wine riot didn’t. No there weren’t any creatures being accosted by torch wielding villagers. People weren’t getting squished against a fence to enter a soccer game. This wasn’t that kind of a riot. It was more along […]

death is life life is the dream don the calacas for the skulls hold the passing and the rebirth write names on the sugared ones give gifts of toys and tequila adorn the graves with marigolds and candles and dance for those you loved Dia de los muertos…   The day of the dead. In Mexican […]

  She eased off the pressure she was applying on my earlobe with her teeth. “Ow”, I exclaimed half in pain and half out of mock alarm. This was the third time she’d come over to visit in the past two days and as much as I’ve been enjoying this new status of irresistibility, I’m […]

In the dark I ventured. I had awoken in a land more corporeal than where I’d fallen asleep. This place had an eerie glow about it. There were spirits everywhere and with these spirits came a price, albeit a reasonable one. It just so happened to be a carnival of spirits and libations. “Come thirsty, […]

“I would suggest you take prescribed medication” ..was the answer given Larry when he asked the psychiatrist what he should do about his problem. Larry found this response to be so disagreeable that he promptly left the doctor’s office even though there was still half a session to be had. With a somewhat more shuffley […]

So for my third birthday post I’d like to talk about me. You know scratch that. I talk about me all the time. Let’s talk about grilled cheese sandwiches.     I love grilled cheese sandwiches. I make them a little bit different than the American cheese and wonder bread route.   You will need […]

    I went back to school today for the first time (working toward a masters) in over a decade. While sitting in class I thought about how one’s views on various subjects change with exposure to new ideas, methods, examples or even due to  an association with someone who feels a certain way. My […]

Wine has a way of calming those of us who are easily excitable. When the day has been harsh, and you just want to take a break from the madness, wine is the answer. When I was a kid (not a baby goat, but a young child,) my friend’s mom told me the doctor prescribed […]

    This story contains, but is not limited to the following: a severed head, someone with amnesia, a micro-biologist discovering a way to clone frozen DNA, a clown with an identity crisis and a radiation leak at a military grade nuclear reactor.     I have been following the progress of various scientists for […]

The last two articles I posted were on the grandiose methods of Biodynamic farming. The impetus for these articles was a private tour and tasting at Benziger Family Winery. Their estate vineyards are done entirely using these methods. In some ways the labor needed to put together such an organic ecosystem is mind boggling, but […]

I’ve made a habit of talking positively in posts. I don’t want to be the guy that goes on rants all the time cause its his shtick. If I don’t like a wine I just leave it out. If a winery didn’t wow me I won’t write about it. There is so much negativity out […]

  Rudolf Steiner was a very interesting fellow. He had a knack for many things, and an intelligence that left many in awe. He also left behind a legacy. Biodynamic farming (although it wasn’t called that in 1924 when introduced) in the wine world has achieved more momentum then a falling potato. Considered to be […]

  I’ve seen Carlos Santana in concert many times. He has a way of communing with the cosmos when he is up on stage. There was an article in Guitar Player magazine that I took an excerpt from: “Fear only has one agenda—to negate your beauty and your truth. Ego only has one agenda—to create […]

Memorizing wine terms can be boring, but curiosity and the desire to fit in when discussing wine can overcome the predisposition one might have towards not memorizing the boring wine terms. Blind Tasting: When one tastes a wine without any knowledge of the wine (i.e. vintage, producer, varietal) Breathing: Adding oxygen to a wine through […]

I went to a Chinese restaurant the other day and had the most amazing meal. It was your basic fare of orange chicken, sweet and sour pork and some vegetable fried rice. The flavors were a whole lot more intense than I was used to, and I just had to know why. My conversation with […]

  Well I made a trip back to the Old Mint, only this time the hallway was transformed into a table for about one hundred people. It was d’Arenberg’s 100 year anniversary. A winery in Australia that has been family owned and operated since 1912. They spared no expense on showing those of us invited […]

I went to a wine tasting the other day. It took place in the Old Mint in San Francisco. The new mint currently resides on a hill about a mile away from the old which I’m sure is due to lack of security. It was one of the few buildings to survive the fire of […]

At the point in the wedding when the best man stands up and eloquently recants tales of past girl friends that didn’t work as his speech starts to slur and the groom starts to put an end to it. The toast is called for. The toast to end all toasts. If you were in charge […]

Whether its one of those first dates that gives you butterflies, sweaty palms and a penchant for speaking like an idiot, or that Friday date night you’ve been having for years. Ordering wine at a restaurant can be intimidating and stressful. The best thing to do is take the pressure off of you. If you […]

Wine can be so much more than just an accessory to a meal. It can also be a fun and zesty enterprise. In this post I wish to express how much more enjoyment one can have with their wine drinking hobby. First and foremost I can’t impress upon you enough how much trying different wines […]

    This question was asked of me a while back, and just for (explicative) and giggles I decided to answer I guess it could be a two parter. One way of thinking would be which varietal is typically vinified with the highest alcohol percentage thereby getting you both drunk enough to overcome social anxieties, […]

  I’ve compiled a short list with simple explanations for some facts that can impress people: What are the 5 red varietals allowed by French law in Bordeaux wine? Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec and a sixth almost never used varietal.. Carménère What two parent grapes gave way to Cabernet Sauvignon? Cabernet […]

This is my second installment of Wines on the cheap tip. I’ve had my years of affluence and my years of absolute poverty. Strangely enough some of the most relaxing, peaceful, blissed out times I’ve had were when I had only the change in my pocket to my name. I had one year when I […]

A few years ago I went to a restaurant called Dans le Noir?. This was a unique experience for so many reasons. The restaurant was in Paris on a little alley called Quincampoix not 50 yards from the Musée National d’Art Moderne. The premise was that the entire eating experience would be done without the […]

I was asked for the umpteenth time to recommend affordable good wine buys in every department. Or as it was put “Inexpensive tasty wines for the grad student! That can be found anywere?…say Texas :)” I decided to skip my usually playful banter and just go over a ton of wine that can be found […]

  There I was. In the dark. In my bed. I awoke with a shudder. There is something in the room with me. Fear grips me. I can sense it close. I can even hear its heart beat. Thump thump thump. I dare not move. Straining my eyes as if I will suddenly be able […]

    I was asked to teach a class two Sundays from now, and was trying to decide what I would go over. Where does one begin when just being introduced to wine? I asked myself a few questions that I asked when I first started. I’m going to tease you with answers now, but […]

Intrigue isn’t usually a word I would associate with wine tastings. I went to Paris not too long ago. I took a train for a day trip to Epernay, in the heart of Champagne, and then cabbed it to Ay to see Gosset (the oldest wine house in Champagne). I enjoyed the small town and […]

Drew told me the tasting was at three. I knew I had to get back to the house by at least 2:15 or I’d miss my ride to the tasting. I ended up wearing a gray fleece coat and suede brown pants. The car was screaming through traffic to make it on time. I dodged […]

Imagine if you will a warm summer night. The moon is missing, making the dark thicker then Papa Jones’s molasses barbecue sauce. A gang of fireflies pierce the void with a spattering of the tiniest suns. The breeze brings a mosquito that changes its meal ticket as soon as you blow cigar smoke in her […]

I’d like to continue talking about my favorite region in California. Santa Barbara I left off with Longoria. Mosby is another winery that we frequented. At Mosby they produce almost entirely Italian varietals, and do a great job of it.  William ‘Bill’ Mosby is an eccentric ex-dentist who made the switch back in ‘98 to […]

When I first started getting into wine I went to Santa Barbara area and tasted wine at many places repeatedly over the course of ten years. Every year we would go to some places religiously. Most of which are still my favorite California wineries to date. I often wonder how much nostalgia plays a part […]

I have an on going battle with a lot of wine geek friends of mine. I love Italian wine and talk about it often whereas they love everything else. Italian wine grows on you if you let it. Kind of like a jasmine vine if someone introduces it to you and tells you how amazing […]

Here I am writing on my birthday. I’ve begun consumption of an inexpensive Sauvignon Blanc, and started listening to  Tony Tribe “Red Red Wine.” Classic I can’t seem to collect my thoughts. Distracted by music and my mind keeps drifting to people I’m thankful for, so if this one is a bit divergent, self indulgent […]

    If Champagne cost less than $30. Then you bought it off the back of a truck alongside a pair of Folex wrist watches and a Juicy sweat suit that actually said Bouncy in a half circle rainbow from the left cheek to the right one. When you are in the torrid Sahara desert, […]

Why is it that sometimes when you taste a wine produced by a specific vintner it might taste fabulous. Then the next year it doesn’t float your boat. In fact the little cargo ship that carries your happy wine thoughts gets torpedoed by a U-boat. Just as you were laying on the deck chair reading […]

I shortened the title this second time around in an effort to be less ostentatious, but then I used the word ostentatious which in itself is ostentatious. From here on out I promise not to use the aforementioned really long word. Scouts honor. Ostentatious Damn. Okay so I lied. I couldn’t help myself. I wrote […]

Yeah I know.. It’s my longest title to date, but I don’t know any shorter way to put it. I’ve spoken many times about different practices in wine making that different states or countries observe. Knowing these laws and restrictions placed on wine makers by their governing body helps one identify what’s behind the label. […]

…so before I was so rudely interrupted by my glass of wine we were discussing tannins. Grape tannins are a bit more subtle and can often turn into bitterness if the wine maker is not careful. The key with tannin is to know your audience. If you want your wine to be drunk immediately upon […]

Acidity, Tannin, Weight and Balance There are so many components in how one experiences a wine. It’s not just whether the wine tastes good or bad, but more how the wine achieved the result it did. When I take a sip of wine to determine whether I like it or not. I like to reflect […]

I’ve talked on occasion about blending wine. What regions have what restrictions or styles, but I’d like to take some time to elaborate. I think I will start with Syrah and Viognier. I liken this blend to the Yin and the Yang. No two wines could be more opposite yet work so well together. “Yin […]

Bordeaux produces some great wines in many shades of red, white and sweet. I definitely think that devoting some time to explore these wines would be beneficial to broadening your palate, and quaffing wine is so rarely a chore.

I agree with the Italians on Barolo. It is the king, but calling Barabaresco the Queen I feel is incorrect. I think of Barbaresco more as the heart stealing vixen.

Syrah, Shiraz and Petite Sirah What’s the difference between these? Is Petite Sirah just a small Syrah? Is Shiraz any different from Syrah? When I first started learning about wine I was rather confused. it took me forever and a day to notice the fact that Petite Sirah had an I instead of a Y. […]

It was getting late, probably around 10:30pm when a friend of mine asked if I was going to the Chill tasting. Caught off guard I said “when?” Now till 1:30am was his response. I’d been to a few in the past, and they tend to be a hipper crowd with a DJ, food and great wine. So naturally I said yes.

It was at the St Francis Yacht club in San Francisco. A warm 65 degree early January day with a view to die for.

Located in the far west side of France, Beaujolais is a wine region in the region Burgundy in France. They use the ol’ style of wine making, and no I’m not talking about pruno like they make in prison.

Wine talks to you through taste, touch, sight and smell. Honestly it even talks to you audibly.

When I ask someone what kind of wine they like I tend to lead with a general question to help narrow the field. I first ask if they want red or white. If the answer is red I ask if their preference is light, medium or full bodied. I use this information to help narrow […]

This is the sixth year in a row that I’ve organized a non-traditional Thanksgiving. After the whole brine bag explosion debacle I didn’t have it in me to do turkey any more. I therefore have decreed that each year be a different nationality of food. The first year we did Chinese food complete with six […]

Thanksgiving. Each year nearly every single person in America celebrates this national holiday. Regardless of how it all started what remains is a day of friends and family. This often includes in-laws and friends of friends as well as those choice relatives who you can’t refuse, but can very nearly make a mess of everything. […]

Ah Sonoma… hot and hot with a touch of wine

I woke up this morning to the sound of turtles.

Don’t discount aged white wine. Its more difficult to achieve fabulous aged whites, but they are well worth the wait!

I find it odd that entirely by coincidence I am posting a blog about aging wine on my birthday…

I’ve talked about how different regions have different growing and vinifying styles, but not about what a wine maker can do to make the wines taste so different. Aside from where the grapes are grown having an effect on wine—the choices made once one has a set growing area can affect the wine enormously. With Chardonnay in particular, what the vintner does to a wine can have a drastic effect on what the wine tastes like.

Pairing food with wine has been a back and forth battle of–drink what you like and the food will follow or pairing is a delicate process of balancing the hints of fruit and terroir to the subtle spices and textures the dish you are eating provides. I say both are correct.

To take a step away from wines in general here is a wine blog about a new San Franciscan restaurant.

Sangria. Sangria is a way to make wine that you don’t like palatable and therefore alleviates any guilt you would garner as a result of dumping boring wine.

In my last blog I discussed how to improve your chances of finding a chardonnay that suits your tastes, without knowing any specific producers. One can get a feel for what a wine will taste like based on the standard growing and vinifying methods a particular region practices. Most regions are consistent in their style […]

There are so many times when I see someone looking at wines in a store with that lost look in their eyes. They are aimlessly searching in hopes that a wine will jump off the shelf and shout “I’m affordable, and have the exact flavor profile that you’ve been waiting for!” Except every time the […]