Still basking in the glow of  the 22nd annual ZAP Zinfandel Festival at the Concourse in San Francisco, I realize I’m a Zin Head.  I mean, you know you’re a Zin Head …
… when you count down the days to the next ZAP Fest – in 2014
… when you can trace the path of Zinfandel from Croatia to Italy to Austria to Boston and finally, to the West Coast during the Gold Rush
You know you’re a Zin Head …
… when you think the Zinfandel balloons at the Concourse are cute
… …

I had the opportunity recently to select the Chablis wines for a series of media events here in San Francisco and the Napa Valley, and it helped me focus on why now is a great time to buy these wines, namely:  1), the availability of a string of great vintages and 2), demand for Burgundy in the US is at an all-time high while producer stocks are relatively low.
Chablis wines have generally become more attractive in recent years, not only in price, but in taste.  Yes, they’ve always been food …

In October, the Culinary Institute of America graduated its largest baccalaureate class ever but all you have to do is look around to see that more and more young people are pursuing serious careers in the food and wine industry.  The most ambitious invest in the best schools like the CIA or commit to years of grueling study and tasting to achieve the coveted Master Sommelier title.  To get to the top though, these young turks need every advantage they can get through perseverance, productivity and being the best tasters …

Until recently, I believed the creation of a new foundation Languedoc appellation effective 2008 with its less onerous production requirements would cause a gradual shift of Vin de Pays (or country wines) from the common table wines category into the controlled appellation of origin system*.  I mean, it’s a source of pride for regions like Bordeaux or Burgundy to say that just about 100%  of their wines are AOP wines, right?  Not the case in the Languedoc.
The regional Vin de Pays, now called IGP**, is stronger than ever having joined …

Gerard Bertrand clarified to me that in his opinion, grape varieties are tertiary to the character of the wine, after terroir and climate, which meant don’t get hung up on Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre (aka GSM) blends.  Being a son of Corbieres, he would defend the quality of the often maligned Carignan which grows widely here on very old and dry-farmed vines.  It is so expressive of this dry and rugged southern appellation – as it is for all the appellations on both sides of the Pyrenees such as Priorat …

 Americans love the clean, crisp and fruity Pinot Grigios from Northern Italy.  They’re a great value and it’s really hard to find a bad bottle in the bunch.  So when I opened a bottle recently and took a sip, expecting to taste the refreshing but predictable wine, I almost fell off my chair.  I immediately grabbed the bottle to take a closer look at the region and producer.  The wine I tasted from Attems was completely different than any other Pinot Grigio I’d had from northern Italy with exquisite weight, …

When I have the opportunity to meet winemakers from the Languedoc, I grab it because there is no wine region in France that is as dynamic and more misunderstood as the Languedoc.  The tasting I attended at the SF Yacht Club recently was hosted by Gerard Bertrand, a tall, tan and rugged-looking man that one would think  would better represent Nice or St. Tropez instead of the Languedoc, but he is indeed a son of Corbieres and Georges, who was one of the first generation of winemakers in the 20th …

As Americans become more ‘green’ and support local food, we honor those on this Earth Day weekend who help farmers, nurserymen, chefs and home gardeners grow their crops.  Yesterday, on Earth Day, I met Maya Shiroyama and Jim Ryugo, owners of Kitazawa Seed Co., two Bay Area heroes of the local food movement.  I say heroes because they rescued the seed company that by 2000 was struggling financially and would have closed were it not for their taking over the business.  And they did so not to make money since …

In a new study published February 21, 2012 ahead of print in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory, University of California, Davis and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service revealed a new transgenic approach to blocking infection by Xylella Fastidiosa (Xf), the insidious bacteria that can cause major harm to commercially important California crops such as grapes, citrus and almonds.
The strain of Xf that impacts grapevines is deadly Pierce’s Disease, which chokes the vine by blocking the xylem, the water-conducting tissue in the …

The production of high quality Douro reds is a relatively young endeavor, given impetus when the law requiring Ports to be aged downriver in coastal Vila Nova de Gaia – an expense favoring the larger shippers – was lifted in 1986.  This broke down some of the financial barriers for smaller growers and investors to make their own wine in the Douro Valley, and it favored dry wines over Port.  As Christian Seeley of Quinta da Romaneira explained, the lead time to become a new Port brand is long because …