The average lifespan of a wine grape vine is one score years and five. Then it’s unceremoniously ripped out and sent on to a second life as compost, BBQ fuel, or crafting material. But at Cakebread Cellars in the Napa Valley, viticulturist Toby Halkovich and his crew have broken with
Serenaded by drum, tambourine and accordion, workers clad in navy shorts and red plaid shirts march around the concrete tank of port grapes, a few couples clasping arms and gamely waltzing in the knee-high purple soup. The evening treading session during harvest at the Quinta do Vesuvio owned by the
Standing in a Kendall-Jackson vineyard, new-man-on-the-job 'Jake' looks a bit nonplussed as he's handed an English-Spanish dictionary to help him communicate with fellow crew members who speak Spanish only. Rick Tigner, President, Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates, the largest family owned luxury/ultra-premium wine company in America, goes undercover in the third episode
As Napoleon is reputed to have said, “Champagne: in roaring economies you deserve it, in recession you need it.” OK, the energetic emperor did not actually say that. (The proper quote, according to legend anyway, is, “Champagne: in victory you deserve it, in defeat you need it.”) But it is
The Languedoc wine region did not live up to my expectations, and that worked out just fine. Set in the south of France, Languedoc does not have the name-recognition of Bordeaux or Burgundy. And what reputation it does have is-read more-
Does your palate say pricey French bubbly while your wallet says non? Pas de problème. Why not check out Limoux, a region in the South of France that is building a reputation for delivering scintillating sparklers that will not burst-read more-
Glasses clink and the buzz of conversation bounces off the stainless steel tanks and French oak barrels stacked to the ceiling as Steve Shaffer pours wine for thirsty visitors. But outside the cellar doors is no stretch of sweeping green-read more-
Green, rough, bitter—for a hard-working grape, carignan shoulders an awful lot of insults. And it’s true the prolific variety, traditionally used in reds from France’s Languedoc region, has produced a lot of undistinguished wine. But lately, carignan has been coming-read more-