In 1974, eighteen-year-old Doug Shafer and his younger brother spent endless hours after school clearing rocks from a seven-acre parcel of the Napa property their father had bought with an eye to planting Cabernet Sauvignon. They lugged the rocks off the hill in the heat of the valley sun. “By hand. By the thousands.” Thirty-two years later, in September 2006, Shafer Vineyards released the 2002 Hillside Select Cabernet, a vintage that Robert Parker had awarded a perfect 100 points. Doug Shafer’s well focused memoir, written with Andy Demsky, is the rocky-hillside-to-world-renowned-Napa-wine story of father John Shafer, son Doug and winemaker Elias Fernandez. The Shafer story is a tale of vision, luck, daring and modesty. There were plenty of mistakes along the way. There was the decision to plant Sangiovese in the hope that the varietal would be the next big thing. There was the misguided cold soaking of the 1985 [...]

The final day of my Oregon travels was devoted almost exclusively to the wines of the Applegate Valley. This region is brimming with under heralded juice just waiting to be unearthed. But considering that this part of Southern Oregon is also home to one of the most rapidly-developing craft beer scene in the country, it becomes clear that the Applegate is cloud nine for connoisseurs.

Happy Saturday everyone! Your leisure is precious, so why waste it sipping on swill? Allow me to step outside the box with a couple of weekend recommendations that might not be on your radar, but will definitely be worthy of your time.

Add this to your list of must attend events: SF Vintners Market on April 13th and 14th at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, CA.

You gotta hand it to Shafer Vineyards (6154 Silverado Trail) out of Napa Valley. For several years now they have consistently been producing some of the highest rated red wines in the world.

Last weekend, some of us over here at the Drink Me team were lucky enough to join for the world renown Flavor! Napa Valley event up north. We headed up on cold evening for an event aptly named The Appellation Trail: Tasting Napa Valley. After checking in at the Culinary Institute of America, we joined hundreds of tastemakers, winemakers and chefs for a gallant evening of the best wines that Napa Valley has to offer along with incredible tastes from Napa’s top restaurants and live music to fill in the gaps.   Perhaps one of our favorite aspects of the event, aside from the award winning wines, was the ability for us to taste our way though the Napa Valley Appellations. There were over a hundred wineries present, each spaced out by their individual sub-appellations in the valley – which let us taste through the terroir and differences that become [...]

Everybody knows that Les Claypool knows how to rock. Far fewer realize, however, that the long-time Primus frontman also makes a jammin’ good juice. Namely, a Russian River Valley Pinot Noir of singular spectacularity. Unlike the band, the wine certainly doesn’t suck.

Chardonnay is a varietal of white wine renowned for its refreshing crispness. The light, fruity notes typical to this grape lend themselves to the warm summer air. Yet chardonnay also possesses a great malleability, meaning that it can take on many different flavor profiles depending on how and where it was produced. For instance, some winemakers like to introduce smokey tones to chardonnay. While that might uncover some elements of the grape that you hadn’t previously considered, it’s not necessarily what you want to sip on to get through a hot, sunny day. As you enjoy the dog days of August, consider these fine specimens of wondrous white to bring out the best of the season. The chardonnay grape was among the first to be commercially produced in the eastern United States. It was in the fertile regions surrounding upstate New York’s bucolic Finger Lakes that this style really took [...]