Our trip to Alsace could be done over a long layover, although it’s practically impossible since the nearest major airport is three hours away. Spent (mostly) eating and drinking, we also learned a ton about the people, their wines and the region. Here’s a glimpse into the 24 hours we were there. We had […]
A Google news search for El Nino’s effect on vineyards generates tens of pages of opinion articles speculating on if and how the big winter will contribute to the quality of the 2016 harvest. As always, the media is stirring up concern regarding the impact of heavy rainfall on grapevines in articles such as Eater’s, […]
Many wineries have already or are just about to make the biodynamic Preparation 500, where cow manure is packed into cow horns and buried in the soil through the winter. This Spring, the horn will be uncovered, its contents stirred into water to make a “tea” and then sprayed on the vineyards’ soil in the […]
Over 8,000 out of the 615,000 acres of wine grape vineyards are now farmed certified organic in California. All that fruit from those vineyards then produce organic wine, right? Wrong. This is one of the biggest disconnects in wine understanding, especially when it comes to marketing. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has very strict stipulations regarding […]
One of the more recent Guild of Sommeliers podcasts out takes a look into the practice of sustainability in wineries, what it requires from the growers and winemakers, and the outcomes of practicing it. One of the featured guests on the show said something to the effect of (and don’t quote me) if you’re shopping […]
Or lack thereof… In this post, we’ll explore what’s happening in California vineyards right now, bloom! Checking out the weather forecast last week ago, we noticed rain was scheduled for yesterday, Thursday. It wasn’t much but if it were, it could have left a powerful impact on the vines. Only several weeks ago, the vines started […]
And we’re not talking about your hot Saturday night date! Working my first crush in California, all the interns and winery staff wore pretty much the same thing: jeans in the morning and in the cellar, shorts and a t-shirt outside. Good boots, an occasional sweater for the early mornings and late nights. When it’s […]
Believe it or not, all of Napa Valley was dry farmed until the 1960s, when overhead irrigation systems were introduced. Just a few years later came the early stages of drip irrigation. Still, the benchmark classics of Napa Valley – BV, Inglenook, Martini and others, were farmed without irrigation for many years before then. How […]
The first thing to know for Chasing New Zealand Verasion is that harvest is in the spring, or is it fall? Ok let’s keep this universal and say ‘New Zealand’s wine harvest happens in or around February-May.’
Harvest in New Zealand, or anywhere in the southern hemisphere, is another way to get great experience and a different perspective, especially if you had worked harvest in the northern hemisphere exactly prior to that. Hopefully you’ve saved up enough money to travel and get to your destination, sold your car to afford your next plane ticket and you’re off to another adventure, new land, different wines, more great friends to make.
It’s the first week of March, 2010, midnight, my 14th hour of the day and the last day in the World of Pinot Noir office before the event starts tomorrow in Shell Beach. It will be the first of four days total, hosting over 12 individual events, 220 wineries, and expecting over 2000 guests. I’m looking at the […]
Johannes and I found ourselves in the middle of Napa on my birthday last weekend bickering over whether the mustard had always been there (me, the idealist) or rather planted (Johannes, the realist, but also the one with much more experience working in vineyards). Well, after some research, we determined we were both right.
Fall vineyard colors. Something about them makes you want to grab a bottle of red, put another log on the fire, grab a blanket and someone to get under it with…. No? Maybe just us. Yellows, oranges and browns are the tell-tale signal of fall. Each year, the bright, green reminiscent of spring and summer […]
© 2014 — Bottle Talks | Creativity done by Seecoding Team Theme by HB-Themes.