Stephane Derenoncourt, deemed the “world’s hottest winemaker” by Wine Spectator last November, will release his 2007 Derenoncourt California wines at a dinner and fundraiser for Wine to Water at Las Vegas restaurant Twist by Pierre Gagnaire on March 3rd.
Wine to Water is an international aid organization that seeks to help the more than 1 billion people in the world who don’t have access to adequate or sanitary water, leading to water-related childhood deaths every 20 seconds.  To date, they have helped communities in …

One doesn’t need to drive far up Spring Mountain from Main Street Saint Helena before they reach a hidden property with beautiful formal gardens, majestic redwoods and bluebirds flying above. With its palatial Victorian home, Miravalle, one can imagine that the vast 845-acre estate looks very much like it did in the 19th century. Its earliest vineyards date back to 1873, while the Beringer Brothers planted their first vines there in 1882.
In such a natural setting adjacent to protected Napa Land Trust …

In a valley dominated by cabernet sauvignon vines, Robert Biale Vineyards is committed to zinfandel.  Zinfandel has been a way of life for this Napa Valley native.  Robert Biale’s grandparents Pietro and Christina moved to California from Northern Italy in the 1920’s and acquired property in Napa in 1937.  They planted zinfandel because it was popular at the time and being practical immigrants, appreciated the grape’s generous and consistent yields of 4-5 tons/acre.  They, and their son Aldo and wife Clementina, were farmers who grew vegetables, grapes, prunes and walnuts …

There are few grapes around the world that can be said to be a country’s ‘signature’ grape – those grapes that do so well and are so identified with a region they are rarely cultivated elsewhere on such a large scale.  For example, malbec from Argentina, carmenere from Chile or Pinotage from South Africa.  In the U.S., that grape is indisputably zinfandel whose full-bodied and fruity wines are so beloved.  In 2009, zinfandel accounted for 10.9% of the California crush by volume, making it the 2nd leading grape variety after chardonnay …

As one drives up Howell Mountain from the foggy Napa Valley floor, one quickly appreciates the attributes of cultivating vines on the mountain – it’s sunny.  And if you continue up – all the way up – you will reach an idyllic clearing with luminous sun, towering redwoods, and silence.  This is Black Sears.  
When owners Joyce Black and Jerre Sears acquired the property in 1979, it was planted with cabernet sauvignon and zinfandel vines.  For years, they farmed the vineyards and sold the fruit to some of Napa Valley’s most …

 One of the ways to really appreciate winemakers’ “passion” for wine is to gain some historical perspective, such as how Napa Valley vintners survived during the 13 years of Prohibition between 1920 and 1933.  The best-selling book When the Rivers Ran Red written by Vivienne Sosnowski chronicles this period through individual experiences, adding color to a period that most of us see as black and white.  The book is now in paperback ($16) and makes a great addition to the wine or history lover’s library. 
The story describes in the years leading up …

More than a century before Napa Valley became an official American Viticultural Area in 1981, the St. Helena Star wrote:  “If any grape growing region in California deserves to be called a well-defined district, it is Howell Mountain.”
For those of us who are used to Napa Valley’s easy traverses up Highway 29 or Silverado Trail, it’s difficult to imagine that in the 1870’s, hearty European immigrants were establishing homesteads 1,800 feet and above in the mountains high above Saint Helena, ascending on dirt roads and facing harsh winters.  But pioneers like Jean …

Had the chance to see Stephane Derenoncourt Friday night at Sweetie’s in San Francisco’s North Beach district.  The place was so Derenoncourt.  It’s a neighborhood bar in a residential area just south of Bay Street, where the counter is already packed on a Friday evening and patrons look up immediately when someone walks in to see if its a chum.  I strolled past the pool table and through the doors that said “no entry” and inside was a spacious room and garden beyond, with stylish guests already mingling around a table of Derenoncourt’s 07 Napa …

What distinguishes the great estates of the world is not just terroir but a long-term history of quality winemaking backed by considerable investment on the part of determined owners.  In naming his first wine in 1978 Rubicon, Francis Ford Coppola laid down his commitment to quality begun by his predecessors on this historic site in Rutherford.
Sea Captain Gustave Niebaum began the legacy in 1880 when he acquired Inglenook Vineyard on the Rutherford bench, a well-draining, alluvial fan at the foothills of the Mayacamas Mountains on the western side of the …

Among the “must visits” in the NapaValley is Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars in Stags Leap district.  Founder Warren Winiarski’s 1973 S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon bested Premiers Crus Classes Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Haut Brion in the now classic 1976 Paris tasting.  It was one of many seminal moments in NapaValley’s history that have brought renown to the region’s wines.

The history, the wines – so typical of Stags Leap district character - and the unique locale are worth the trip.  Many times I have driven north on the Silverado Trail and stared up at …