The PlumpJack Option

Roger Morris
Feature Stories
4 min read
The PlumpJack Group, the San Francisco-based hospitality organization that owns wineries, restaurants, boutiques and hotels, got its start in Napa Valley in 1995 with the purchase of Villa Mt. Eden in Oakville and the vines that went with it.  They re-named the winery PlumpJack after a Shakespearean character known for

Trending: Small and large, pink and red

Becky Sue Epstein
Feature Stories
5 min read
One bright Sunday morning this Spring I put on my walking boots and entered the first enormous hall of the the world’s largest wine trade show: ProWein 2016, in Dusseldorf, Germany. Having decided that this is my year of doing things differently, this winter I was delighted to be a

Wines of the West Bank

W. Blake Gray
Features
8 min read
Israeli fine wine has a Palestinian problem. This is a recent development. While Israelis have been making wine in the country since before it became a nation, the industry was focused on making lots of cheap wine until the 1990s. To make cheap wine, undisputed Israeli territory in the warmer

Kosher for Passover Vodka and Gin

David Honig
Spirits
1 min read
Distillery No. 209, in San Francisco, makes two special spirits which are Kosher for Passover. Before Passover, Jewish families cleanse their households of any grains, or anything made from grains. That includes the obvious, like bread, and the less obvious like single malt scotch or aged bourbon (don't get too excited,

Top-shelf Tequila

Michelle Locke
Features
3 min read
Tequila used to be known as the drink of cheap thrills and bad choices. Pour yourself a tot of something like Gran Patrón Burdeos – aged in French and American oak, finished off in ex-Bordeaux wine barrels and sold in a custom-engraved crystal bottle for around $500 – and you realize the traditional
Pogo Nugget - 68, courtesy chrstphre ㋛ campbell

Mousiness: a primer

Simon J Woolf
Feature Stories
4 min read
I admit it, I've become obsessed by mouse taint. If that seems strange or perverse, let me expand. Most wine faults in this day and age are pretty well understood. We know a fair bit about Brettanomyces, volatile acidity, reduction and many other common complaints. Not so with the stray rodent

Bitters and the mystery of blending

Erika Szymanski
Features
5 min read
I had expected great things from my first experiences with cocktail bitters. Bitter flavors are great, and so are condiments. Make me a kale and radicchio salad spiked with anchovies, garlic, and mustard and I'll nosh contentedly. So I was surprised, when I splashed some of the classic Angostura on