What's a WineWonk?

Wine Blogs by Popularity

Footer

Wine Blogs by Type

Footer

Wine Blogs by Wonk

Footer

Recent Blogs

Footer

Wine Articles by Blog

Footer
Write about Wine. Read about Life. WineWonks, the Wine Blog Community.

Dr Vino's wine blog    Friends

Paul Draper’s forty years and the making of Ridge Monte Bello

Date: Tue, Mar 9, 2010

Paul Draper is, without question, one of the world’s great winemakers. Even though he has every reason to be an egotistical blowhard, he remains humble and democratic in spirit, asking sincere questions of those around him and quick to point to his team as the reason for the winery’s success. It may sound absurd to [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Maryland wine shipping rides a wave of support–and pessimism

Date: Mon, Mar 8, 2010

Friday was a rare moment in the legislative sun for the subject of wine direct shipping in the Maryland, where, as we discussed, is a felony to ship wine. Consumers and wine industry experts gave testimony before a committee. Tom Wark, executive director of the Specialty Wine Retailers’ Association, who was there writes via email: [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Better know a wine law: Maryland!

Date: Fri, Mar 5, 2010

Maryland, the home of the Fightin’ Terps, threatens to turn its wine lovers into perps: The laws governing these five and a half million residents make it a felony to order wine online and have it shipped to their homes. To purchase wines, consumers residing Annapolis, Baltimore or along the Chesapeake must buy from a [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Wine trial vials, Chile, Grape Stories, class action – sipped and spit

Date: Fri, Mar 5, 2010

SPIT: volume (how vial!) Two companies have developed oxygen-free, trial-sized bottles, 50ml in size (1/15th of a normal bottle). The goal is to send samples more easily from wineries to consumers. But don’t try to share this bottle over candlelight with your romantic partner unless you want the evening to end before it starts. Perhaps the [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Is there an eco-certification premium but an eco-label discount?

Date: Tue, Mar 2, 2010

Why don’t green-minded vintners and vignerons always display their eco-friendly methods on the label? I’ve often asked why and replies generally come in the form of the producer’s desire to have the wine liked for the quality as opposed to the methodology per se. Or, where organic in spirit, a common reply has been a [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Chilean earthquake: wineries, tanks, bottles damaged or destroyed

Date: Sun, Feb 28, 2010

Tragedy struck Chile overnight on Friday in the form of a massive earthquake that has displaced two million people, severed north-south bridges in the narrow country, and killed hundreds of people (see coverage on nytimes.com). Chile has a large, export-oriented wine industry. Some of infrastructure, particularly in the regions of Maule and Rapel (including Colchagua), [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

From the annals of wine marketing…enzymes!

Date: Fri, Feb 26, 2010

We’re all snow-bound here in the northeast today. So rather than shoveling, kick back and check out the latest video from the annals of wine marketing! This one is from enzymes producer Novozymes and was sent in by site reader Damien. Here’s the video’s pitch on why winemakers should use enzymes: Major wineries produce large [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Chile, upmarket, downmarket, SF, yellow cards – sipped and spit

Date: Wed, Feb 24, 2010

SPIT: a move upmarket The Chilean wine industry attempted a concerted move upmarket a few years ago. But the strong peso and weak global economy have crushed those plans. To wit: exports were up a whopping 17.6% by volume last year but flat by value. [LA Times] SPIT: California bargains Mike Steinberger contemplates the puzzle of why [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Astor Wines says no to Styro, yes to plastic sleeves

Date: Tue, Feb 23, 2010

I got a few wines from Astor Wine & Spirits in Greenwich Village via UPS the other day. When I opened the box, there was no Styrofoam. There weren’t any cardboard inserts. Instead, each bottle was wrapped in an inflatable plastic sleeve. It was the first time I’d seen this. Styrofoam is popular with retailers and [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

BREAKING: Korean feast not impossible with wine!

Date: Mon, Feb 22, 2010

Not intimidated by the Herculean challenge of pairing wine and Korean food, I selected a range of wines for a Korean new year feast last week. The “impossibility” of the pairing centers on two things: 1) kimchi and spices and 2) a culture clash that came up in our previous discussion about whether wine (and [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Korean feast: impossible food-wine pairing?!?

Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2010

Tomorrow night I will be selecting the wine pairings for a Korean feast, getting in on the lunar new year action a few days late. Here’s a list of some items on the menu, from the hostess: Fried dumplings Chicken yakitori [japanese inspiration] Beef skewers (do you know bulgoki?) Squid/spicy sauce A variety of “jun” (pictured, right) which is [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Just heard: Jay McInerney will be the WSJ wine columnist…

Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2010

Jay McInerney, author of Bright Lights, Big City among other works of fiction, has been named WSJ wine columnist according to a tweet from Ray Isle, wine editor of Food & Wine magazine. McInerney wrote a monthly wine column at House & Garden until Condé Nast shuttered the magazine in 2007. His columns were compiled in [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Pinot evil: French court finds 12 guilty in Gallo faux pinot

Date: Thu, Feb 18, 2010

A French court found 12 executives guilty of selling the equivalent of 18 million bottles of cheaper wine as pinot noir. The buyer was California’s E&J Gallo for their Red Bicyclette brand, which sells for about $9 a bottle. AFP reports that generic red wines fetched 45 euros (about $62) per one hundred liters while [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post

Napa Valley struggles to escape “time warp”!

Date: Wed, Feb 17, 2010

“We have to upgrade everything! Get me Facebook and Twitter!” So says renowned Napa winemaker, Mike Grigich, age 87, in a story in today’s NYT dining section. The story elaborates on the difficult times of selling expensive wines from Napa and how wineries are struggling to adopt new sales techniques, including social media. It’s hard [...]

Read Full Wine Blog Post