This past Thursday, I had the distinct pleasure of having lunch with Barossa winemaker Rolf Binder.  It’s always a bit unnerving to meet someone you don’t know for lunch, knowing full well that they are going to pour you six different glasses of wine – that they made – and be very interested to see your reaction. But Rolf’s an Aussie. A Hungarian Aussie. So we ate burgers and fries (and dessert!), tasted some seriously interesting wines, and had a blast.  Look at his picture! He’s just as laid back and cool as he appears. Rolf’s parents purchased the Veritas property in the 1950s, a Barossa property of about one hundred acres.  Apparently Rolf was playing around with grapes by the age of four, and after stints at school and at other properties he became the red winemaker at Veritas. Not to be outdone, Rolf’s sister Christa is known as [...]

Historically, the barrier to entry for owning a wine brand was astronomically high.  For hundreds of years, your only hope was to be the first male born into a wealthy, chateau-equipped family in France.  More recently, your chances were much better but still pretty bleak: you needed to be a brilliant Silicon Valley entrepreneur on the fast track to IPO or Google buyout. Provided you played your cards right, you ended up with more money and time than you ever dreamed of and suddenly felt a need to produce cult Cabernet in Napa Valley. Plop down $10 million for a prime spot in Oakville or Stag’s Leap, hire the best winemaker money could buy, and watch people line up on your email list to buy that $300 liquid gold. In almost every sense, the wine industry has changed dramatically since even the nineties.  Wine brands don’t need their own facilities [...]

We’ve rented out the legendary and incredible man-made floating island on the San Francisco Bay for a private lush evening with live music, delicious drinks (lots of tasty rums) and spirited tastings. What’s more, we’ve teamed up with Spark, a San Francisco based non-profit that supports women-led programs that ignite global change. All profits from the event will go to support Spark’s efforts.

  All I did was innocently ask my guide in Abruzzo, Italy, an historical question. I was, in no way, prepared for his vehement response. “The Romans!” bellowed Luigi Minnucci.  “They drank FILTHY wine!!” Granted, Signore Minnucci was effusive even by Italian standards, but he did know what he was shouting about. “First, the ancient Romans didn’t filter the juice,” he exclaimed. “Then, the pitch lining and even the terracotta from the amphorae leached into the vino and, ultimately, there was the lead!” He was right, of course. But that didn’t stop the Roman Empire from proselytizing the product of the grape and reaping the financial rewards of selling it. At its zenith, the Roman Empire sprawled from England to Africa, Spain to Mesopotamia. Its legacy is roads and aqueducts, architecture and art, place names and wine. The last is all the more amazing because, as Luigi Minnucci asserted, most of [...]

The United States’ relationship with alcoholic beverages has always been a dynamic one. Even as you read this, both state-level and federal-level legislation to change alcohol laws is being introduced. In 1697, what is now the state of Massachusetts declared “strong liquor” illegal. A tolerance movement beginning in Evanston, IL became the impetus for prohibition’s Volstead Act. There are still dry counties in some states. Some states take on the role of liquor store. Some stand between you and your Sunday game day beers. The list goes on! As diverse and ever-changing as our laws regulating alcohol have been, examining exactly which drinks fall in and out of favor proves even more fascinating. What did Americans first drink? And more specifically, what did the founding fathers seek out to quench their colonial thirst as they worked to establish a nation? In a word: Madeira. There are two main reasons as [...]

Enjoy great music, food, wine and sunshine at the Wente Vineyards Estate Winery (5565 Tesla Road, Livermore, CA 94550) on Wednesday, July 15th at 6pm.Check out up-and-coming artists Young Digerati, The Mumlers, and The Front Porch Band featuring Karl Wente, all while sipping on some fabulous Wente Vineyards wines. To enter to win two (2) Discover the Music Discover the Wine concert tickets follow these simple directions: Post a comment under the “Contest Alert” Post on Wente Vineyards Facebook Page and let us know one of your favorite bands you think would pair best with the smooth, rich and complex Wente Vineyards Riva Ranch Chardonnay.

We’ve teamed up with Pinot Days to bring you a 10% discount on all of the festival’s spectacular events. Just enter the discount code DRINKMESF11 when ordering tickets from the Pinot Days web site and you will receive an immediate 10% discount on all events. This year’s Pinot Days Grand Festival is Saturday, June 18th from 1-5pm at Fort Mason Center, San Francisco.  Enjoy, and we’ll see you there! WHY NOT MAKE A WEEKEND OF IT? A week of pinot? Just say “Yes!” Join us at a few of the smaller events, like our Williams-Selyem Spotlight tasting, or the Best of Oregon tasting on Friday afternoon and evening. Or the 12 Noble Stars tasting following the Grand Festival.

By day, the island of Capri off the coast of Napoli, can be a tourist nightmare from hell. With swarms of turistas arriving by hyrdofoil from the mainland seemingly every fifteen minutes — who descend upon chic shops on the Via Camerelle such as Bulgheri, Canfora, and Pucci and Gucci — Capri is a Disneylandia. Ah, but by night, Capri is an oasis of tranquility, charm, and loveliness. Sitting in the tiny Piazzetta, as it’s known, one talks, smokes, and sips on limoncello. But for me, it’s the local wine — the white Falanghina, Greco and Biancolella varieties, or the Capri Rosso, made for the most part from Piedirosso – that gives the true taste, literally, of the island.