There are so many different varieties of grapes out there in the real world. It is a shame we limit ourselves to the “big seven“, chardonnay, merlot, cabernet, pinot noir, zinfandel, sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio. For example did you know that in Spain they grow over 146 different varieties of grapes? Think of all the different fun flavor profiles that this allows you to experience.

Centuries ago there were no jet airplanes, no fax machines, no internet, no computers, no telephones. How is it that the human mind, one are of the world to another area of the world, came up with similar solutions to common problems. It amazes me when I think about our foods. A few curious oddities? The uniqueness and inventiveness […]

We had this amazing experience a couple of months ago. We were visiting wineries in Portugal. Portugal like Spain, Italy and France, has an amazing amount of wineries producing an amazing number of different varietals, many not known to us here in the United States. One of the wineries we were visiting was Vidigal in the town of […]

(Aperitif in French) The French call them aperitifs. The Italians, aperitivo. They are a delightful way to enjoy time with friends. The basic idea is the same as for what the iconic French chef at his eponymous restaurant often sends out to guests as a teaser before the appetizer – the amuse bouche. Amuse bouche […]

When I am out in the field making presentations to wine aficionados, it appears that questions about “twist off” closures (also known as “screw tops”) far out number questions on any other wine subject. There is almost never any winemaker dinner or tasting for the public where the question is not raised to wine professionals. […]

Veedercrest’s winemaking roots can be traced back 130 years to a family farm in the Friuli region of Italy, where the great grandparents of Ron Fenolio, Veedercrest’s proprietor, owned vineyards planted to Pinot Grigio and Merlot.    Ron’s early years were spent no his Nonno and Nonna’s farm in the eastern San Francisco Bay Area of […]

We kind of think that wines are a phenomenon of a post World War II environment.  But American’s have love wines going back centuries, in fact the founding fathers were great lovers of wine. America’s wine industry is probably traced back to Thomas Jefferson who went to France to select cuttings to plant at his […]

Winzerkeller Andau – The world of wine would be a far poorer place indeed, without the activities of cooperatives such as the Produtorri di Barbaresco, one of the world’s finest cooperatives in Barbaresco producing some of Piemonte’s finest red wines. And in Austria we can find a similar counterpart, the Winzkeller Andau. Winzkeller Andau was […]

Valle de Guadalupe By Ron Fenolio Having heard much about the Valle de Guadalupe and their newly emerging world class wines it had become a “bucket list item”. Everyone wants to visit Napa, Sonoma, Bordeaux, Burgundy, Tuscany or Piemonte, but who has the “southern side of the San Diego border” on their radar screens as […]

Every wine aficionado, wine maker, sommelier, event planner gets challenged from time with a difficult pairing.  How does anyone interested in food and wines set about planning when presented with very difficult pairings.   One of the most difficult set of pairings include those vegetables with a strong herbal taste – fennel, artichoke, asparagus, mint, etc.  […]