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California wine is making a splash in Hong Kong

Right now about 250 California wine brands are being swirled, sniffed and sipped at the Vinexpo Asia Pacific trade show in Hong Kong, which runs through Thursday. The trade show attracts vital sippers -- more than 15,000 key trade visitors in Asia.

By | May 29th, 2012|1 Comment

The Costco wine/toilet paper debacle

By now you’ve probably heard the provocative remarks that has caused a stir in Wine Country, but if you haven’t here’s the back story: Annette Alvarez-Peters, Costco's principal wine buyer, was recently interviewed in a CNBC special, "The Costco Craze: Inside the Warehouse Giant,” and here’s the exchange that has wine-lovers fired up: Alvarez-Peters: "Is (wine) more special than clothing, is it more special than televisions? I don't think so." CNBC's Carl Quintanilla: "Certainly it's different than toilet paper? Or different that tin foil?" Alvarez-Peters: "Why?" Quintanilla: "Because it's personal." Alvarez-Peters: "People can look at it that way. But at the end of the day, it's just a beverage."

By | May 11th, 2012|1 Comment

Guinness World Record wine toast?

This just in. History in the making … There’s an attempt for a Guinness World Record for the longest relay wine toast and it’s labeled “The Napa Valley Wine Wave.” The event will take place at Charles Krug Winery Oct. 7.

By | May 2nd, 2012|1 Comment

Inside secret for coastal sippers

While the locals would prefer to keep this hush, hush, the most striking (and undiscovered) route to the ocean is the stretch on Coleman Valley Road between Occidental and Bodega Bay. This is by far the most scenic  route to the bay, with sheep, cows and the occasional llama before [...]

By | April 18th, 2012|0 Comments

Do people with tattoos drink more?

Do people with tattoos drink more? People with tattoos drink more than the tattoo-less, according to a new study from France.

By | April 18th, 2012|3 Comments

Wine noir for film buffs

It’s the opening day of the 15th annual Sonoma International Film Festival and there are a couple of “not to be missed” films for wine-lovers. They include “Harvest” and “Portrait of a Winemaker: John Williams of Frog’s Leap.”

By | April 11th, 2012|1 Comment

What up Bachelor? Can love age like a good cabernet?

Ben Flajnik said he would speak to me on one condition – "if it’s a wine-related question." So I asked the winemaker of the brand Envolve what he liked about winemaking. “I was a brewer to begin, but winemaking happens once a year,” Flajnik said. “You never know if it’s [...]

By | March 14th, 2012|2 Comments

Peculiar wine glasses at barrel tasting?

Several vintners say there were no altercations at last weekend’s Wine Road Barrel Tasting but there were some interesting sightings. Bruce Cousins, co-vintner of Armida Winery in Headsburg noticed some suspicious-looking glassware on Saturday. “When people came out of the limo buses with wine glasses, the substance inside had a peculiar foamy top,” he said with a laugh.

By | March 5th, 2012|2 Comments

Mother Nature, can you postpone bud break?

Bud break is typically the middle of March, but vintners are hoping it’s later this year. Vintners say they’re worried frost will kill the buds and that the secondary buds that push out could pare the crop down by half. For the uninitiated bud break is the beginning of the [...]

By | February 27th, 2012|2 Comments

Nick & Nora would go for this

The cocktail-loving duo in "The Thin Man" would no doubt volunteer to be tasters tomorrow night at the Spoonbar Lounge's Second Annual Golden Barspoon Encanto Pisco Competition.

By | February 21st, 2012|1 Comment