Walking through the rows at Seven Springs Vineyards, her auburnish hair flowing in the South African breeze, winemaker Riana van der Merwe inspects grapes hanging from trestled limbs and contemplates their future. Like the canes to the wire, her future is intertwined with theirs. Together they are attempting to showcase
How many of us haven't, at some point, fantasized about leaving it all to go run a winery? This dream always seems to entail lunch shared with friends and family, a light dish accompanied by a bottle of one’s own red wine, eaten al fresco and overlooking breathtaking views of
For Mormoretto’s 25th anniversary, the Frescobaldi family has created a vivid super-Tuscan style blend. Beginning with violets, tobacco and wild herbs in the aroma. On the palate, nice targeted tannins are curled around the blended flavors of fruit and leather. This wine is just beginning to come into its own,
Rick Rockwell has had successful careers as a TV news director and academic, but the St. Louis native practically sounded like a little kid when he attended our DrinkLocalWine conference in St. Louis last year. Said Rockwell: “Joe Pollack will be there? The Joe Pollack? And I’ll get to meet
Sangiovese, barbera, primitivo…the classic Italian grape varieties most cultivated across Italy. But grown in Sonoma, California? They are and have been dating back to the late 1800’s and thriving today. The arrival of Italian grape varieties in Sonoma can be traced to 1881 and the founding of the Italian Swiss
The presence of minerality in wine is beyond a doubt a one of the most controversial and hot issues of the wine world. It stands among topics like climate change, the impact of ''wild yeasts,'' biodynamics and natural wines, all of which are capable of generating extensive and sometimes endless
Aromas of wild herbs growing on dry, late summer California hillsides – wild thyme, sage, juniper. At first it feels thinnish on the palate, but that’s only because the tannins are integrated into the dark fruit in a more refined manner than expected. Wild herbs show up in the finish
North Carolina’s first commercial winery was established in 1835 by Mr. Sidney Weller, in the community of Brinkleyville, in Halifax County. But that wasn’t the beginning. In 1584, Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe, exploring on behalf of Sir Walter Raleigh, came upon a land they described as "...so full of