In early February an unprecedented gathering of approximately 200 producers of Barolo and Barbaresco arrived in New York City to present their 2016 and 2017 vintages to the trade. They gathered at Center415 in midtown Manhattan for a walk around-tasting that ran for five hours; a boon for tasters who for once had time on our side.
In northeastern Spain, Garnacha Blanca can predominately be found in the regions of Calatayud, Campo de Borja, Cariñena and Somontano but the Terra Alta PDO has the treasure trove with 1400 hectares of old vine Garnacha Blanca under vine. That amounts to one-third of the vines grown worldwide and growing as new plantings are on the rise.
Enjoy your free digital edition of the 2020 Slow Wine Guide.
When Sonoma’s La Crema Winery turned 40 last year, it celebrated the milestone with a unique exercise: Led by Dr. Henry “Hoby” Wedler, it was easily one of my top sensory experiences of 2019.
According to neuroscientist Camilla Arndal Andersen, how consumers describe the taste of food can be misleading largely due to inherent biases. Among the most problematic is the “courtesy bias,” which comes into play when people respond with what they see as a socially acceptable opinion that doesn’t accurately reflect how they feel. There’s also the “bias blind spot,” in which we think we’re less biased than others. In short, we’re biased about our biases.
Prolific video blogger and wine writer James Melendez tells me that this insightful interview is one of his most popular to date. Read it on his James the Wine Guy site – https://jamesthewineguy.wordpress.com/2019/08/20/james-the-wine-guy-interview-series-deborah-parker-wong-wine-opinion-leading-communicator-journalist-and-author/#comment-12859
As grape varieties go, it’s fair to say that Alicante Bouschet (Ahlee-KANT Boo-SHAY) is flashy in the vineyard. It’s one of the few—along with Chile’s Carménère and Campania’s Piedirosso— whose leaves turn a deep, brilliant shade as the growing cycle winds down.
The SOMM Journal’s Global Wine Editor, Deborah Parker Wong, DWSET (’09), recently hosted three professional mixers marking the 50th anniversary of the London-based Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET).
Parker Wong teamed up with three Sonoma wineries—Balletto
Vineyards, Sangiacomo Wines, and McEvoy Ranch—in welcoming WSET
alumni and students as well as members of the trade to taste and network
during Wine Education Week, held September 9–15. Three lucky attendees were awarded access to a Level 2 online certification course.
I’ll be teaching Wine 123: Causation and Detection of Wine Defects at Santa Rosa JC next semester (Spring 2020). Check out our video courtesy of the Distance Learning department’s Emily Hansen –
There’s little doubt this disruptive reinvention of the beverage category will impact wine and beverage alcohol consumption for a host of reasons. Among them is alcohol moderation or abstinence by younger consumers whose lifestyles already include frequent consumption of functional products. While beer and spirits producers have already found purchase in the category through brand extensions and acquisitions, wine producers don’t seem in any hurry to participate.
