Wine Tonite!

With all this talk of low employment rates, the housing market trough, corporate buyouts of failing producers and the loss of joy in the wine world, it’s refreshing to see more passionate winemakers continuing to put everything they have into their dreams of making great wines they love.  However, in most cases you have to [...]

We love to hike, camp, travel, kayak, cycle, you name it… and living (or visiting) in wine country affords many opportunities to reach out beyond the local vineyards.  Recently, we stepped up our camping style by adding a camper trailer to our arsenal.  As you get older things like the simple conveniences of an on-board [...]

Back on January 2nd I predicted that 2011 would be the year of Syrah and if the Rhone Rangers organization has anything to do with it, every year will be the year of Syrah in addition to Grenache, Mourvedre, Petite Sirah… you catch my drift.  This weekend the wife and I embarked on our first [...]

Much like the Lone Ranger and his sidekick, Tonto, worked to make the Wild West a safer place, the Rhone Rangers work hard to make the U.S. an affable place for the production and enjoyment of the winegrape varieties of the Rhone River Valley in France beyond just Syrah.  In furthering my quest for 2011 [...]

Syrah is a classic grape that, at one time, was made popular by majestic regions such as Hermitage and the Cote Rotie, located in the Northern Rhone valley in France, which are some of the most well-known Syrah-producing areas  in the world.  A classic Rhone Syrah will also have about 10% Viognier co-fermented with it.  The [...]