Terry Nozick Morgen McLaughlin, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Vintner’s Association, has what I consider to be one of the best jobs in the world, as well as one of the hardest. She is essentially an ambassador for the county’s five AVAs and the numerous, mostly small-production, family-owned wineries that strive for state, national, and international …
One of the things that wine geeks like myself relish is the ritual of opening a beautiful bottle of wine, popping the cork (or twisting off a cap more often these days), selecting a glass (will it be stemmed or stemless?), and then, the pour. It’s all just so elegant and rewarding. Unless, of course, …
The selection of Santa Barbara County as the setting for the 2014 Wine Blogger’s Conference offered me a great opportunity to learn even more about this AVA, which I love so much. What’s to love? Well, as I Tweeted (yes, I’m learning to do that!) while at the conference, “Who needs Italy, France and …
I’ve just returned from the 2014 Wine Blogger’s Conference (WBC 14) held in Santa Barbara County, just a car ride north of my home in Los Angeles, which included a one-day pre-conference excursion to Paso Robles wine country, a bit farther north. What I’m writing here is going to sound a lot like a paid …
La Mancha, Spain, is the setting for Cervantes’ character Don Quixote, who gallantly tilts at windmills in a seriocomic effort to revive the ancient art of chivalry. There’s another ancient art in La Mancha – winemaking – and there’s no doubt that it is undergoing a serious revival and is capturing the hearts of wine …
My local food market just upgraded its wine section – in response to the pending move next door of beverage giant Bev-Mo! – and now offers more choices, more unique offerings, and a large selection of wines in boxes! Gasp! Wine in a box? What is the world coming to, right? There is more than …
An East Coast friend was recently insisting that you just cannot get a good Pinot Noir from California, that Oregon was “the” place for it. In fact, he and his wife were planning a trip to Willamette Valley this year to experience the lovely Pinots at the source, in the cascading hills caressed by the …
Bordeaux wine brings to mind words like chateau, age-worthy, expensive, status symbol, and even elitist. Not exactly wine for the budget-minded consumer. Bolstering this view, the March 31, 2013 edition of Wine Spectator stated that “the 2010s were the most expensive Bordeaux vintage in history” upon release en premeur in spring 2011. En premeur is …
Part of my wine education is experiencing all aspects of the business, and pouring wine for consumers is something I had on my spit bucket list. Until last week, that is, when I got to pour at a really cool event, The Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure 2014, held March 29 and 30 in the historic and …
My studies for the WSET Diploma have begun and the wine geek in me finds the discussion of brett, malolactic fermentation, lees stirring, and reverse osmosis just fascinating. The average wine consumer need not concern themselves with such matters, but a true and deep understanding of wine production – from vineyard to glass – requires …