2011 Wine Highlights Part 2- Wine Community

When I launched WineZag in 2009, I did it under a founding motto of “wine is a lubricant for human connection that holds no bias.”  The essence of my wine appreciation has always transcended the juice, gravitating to the center of human bonding and relationships that are accelerated by shared wine experiences; either during dinner [...]

Cork Drive Features Sustainability Beyond the Vineyard

There are plenty campaigns and initiatives advocating sustainability in the vineyard.  What about at the other end of the wine chain?  We recycle glass bottles, but what about cork?  Wine closures make up 70% of the entire cork market, so a focus by wine drinkers on recycling and replanting cork trees could have a significant [...]

Palate Press Uncorks Swartland Revolution

Earlier this summer (winter in South Africa’s Swartland wine growing subregion) I had the chance to mix it up with the drivers of the Swartland Revolution; the winemakers.  Ever since I began to comprehend the unusually high authenticity and quality levels of the upstart region’s wines, I started sharing information about individual pieces of the [...]

Tempranillo Shows Range and Value in Rioja

Last month the Vibrant Rioja US tour rolled east from San Francisco to New York. Its campaign organizers staged grand tastings in both cities coupled with two smaller, invitation-only tasting seminars designed to showcase the widest possible range of Tempranillo treatment and expression.  It was fun showing up in my Big Apple home town, birthplace [...]

Sur Lie and Bottle Aged Muscadet in May

Years ago on a bright seventy degree afternoon, moments after tying off our boat in the Camargue’s picturesque Marseillan port, I fell in love with Muscadet and its Melon de Bourgogne grape lounging in a simple oyster restaurant’s tiny outdoor courtyard.  It was a magical few hours.  I was taken by the wine’s satiating freshness, crisp acidity, [...]

2008 Bordeaux Vintage Tasting

The Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux just rolled across America on a four city press and trade tour with more than one hundred different Chateau owners, representatives, and wines representing and promoting the 2008 vintage from thirteen different appellations.  Normally, for fun, context, and some learning I’ll pour two different vintages of the same [...]

Smart Pick For Global Champagne (Or Any Other) Day

Bringing the right Champagne to a party is always dicey and curious business for me. Picking bubbles for a gathering of wine and food writers creates new layers of complexity and anxiety.  When the occasion falls on the evening (tonight) of a global Champagne celebration that will connect tasters all around the world at their [...]

Week of WineZag: The Round World of Social Media and Wine Blogging

Wine blogging at WineZag and staying connected in its parallel social networks involves a time and energy commitment yielding grimaces of sympathetic pain and confusion from just about anyone I unveil the details of my dedication to. Except, of course, fellow bloggers and social media mavericks that live in the very round world of social [...]

Languedoc Tasting: Expressive Wines and Multiple Styles

Some things about the Languedoc just don’t seem very French at all.  Frontier lands, Spanish culinary influence, Gypsy lore, uncontrolled wine production, and more.  In a recent visit to the edge of the region’s northwest Mediterannean shoreline, Camargue, we reveled in almost unlimited sightings of wild white horse and pink flamingo from the comfort of [...]

Wine Helping to Save Angel Island

I am not sure where Vino Moda is heading over the long haul, but while they are focused on a wine event to help save Angel Island, they have my attention.  If you have never been to Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, and there is any danger of it being closed to visitors, I [...]

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