Category The Wine Explorers Letter

“Wild Yeast”

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”] ***First a note: We still have a few cases of wines from our American Collection available (see inventory here). If you need to refresh your memory on those wines, you…

Read More“Wild Yeast”

Lost for 500 Years… A Vine Rediscovered

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.1″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″] *** First, a word that, like any respectable Frenchman, our resident wine expert, Julien Miquel, is presently taking his vacances d’été. However, you can catch…

Read MoreLost for 500 Years… A Vine Rediscovered

America’s Eastern Burgundy

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.5.1″ _module_preset=”default”] Cedar shingles… old board and batten barns… deserted beaches scattered with oyster and clam shells, bleached white by the summer sun. Long Island’s North Fork doesn’t look much like…

Read MoreAmerica’s Eastern Burgundy

Covid Ruined His Wife’s B-day, Julien Miquel Stepped In

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” _builder_version=”3.27.4″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” sticky_enabled=”0″] Planning your wife’s birthday is always a venture fraught with failure. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s…

Read MoreCovid Ruined His Wife’s B-day, Julien Miquel Stepped In

Orange Wine (karvisperi ghvino)

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.3.2″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.2″] Orange wine. Virtually unknown 30 years ago, in recent months the style has become so popular even Newsweek (not exactly on the viticultural vanguard) has been asking: “Orange wine is taking over, but…

Read MoreOrange Wine (karvisperi ghvino)

What is “Dry Farming”?

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.3.2″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.2″] ***Before we start today, have you seen our resident wine expert Julien Miquel’s tasting videos for our American Collection? If not, you can watch them at this link. *** Out in Northwestern Argentina, we…

Read MoreWhat is “Dry Farming”?

American Clones

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.3.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”] We’re busy shipping the American collection, including: a dry-farmed pinot (only 900 cases made) an organic take on “Rutherford dust” an inky, cold-soaked cab sauv fermented in small lots…

Read MoreAmerican Clones

A (Brief) History of American Wine Part II

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.3.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.2″ global_colors_info=”{}”] American wine was reborn in the basement of the Modesto Public Library in California.  There, brothers Ernest and Julio Gallo found old instructional guides on winemaking from the University…

Read MoreA (Brief) History of American Wine Part II

A (Brief) History of American Wine

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.3.2″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.3.2″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.2″] By the 1960s, there were zero wineries in Virginia, zero in Oregon, only 15 in Washington state, and barely 100 in California (compared to over 3,000 today). 70 years earlier, Virginia had been…

Read MoreA (Brief) History of American Wine

“Grey” Wines of Languedoc

[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ admin_label=”section” _builder_version=”3.22″][et_pb_row admin_label=”row” _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.3.2″] We got a treat this week; someone sent us two bottles of “gris de gris” from Languedoc’s Corbières sub-region in France. For those unfamiliar with the…

Read More“Grey” Wines of Languedoc
0