Oscar Wilde once said “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness.” Well, at Luke Columbia Valley, they don’t believe that statement, Instead, they believe in being an original. In 2012, Thomas and Kristin Vogele brought a combined 30 years of wine business experience and redirected it into making bold…
Recently I had the pleasure of attending a virtual tasting including five New York wineries that are producing Rosé. The event was sponsored by New York Wine and Grape Foundation. The tasting was moderated by Wanda Mann, founder of Wine with Wanda, and East Coast Editor for Somm Journal. What is Rosé? There are two main…
Everyone loves being in a vineyard and seeing the beautiful vines come to life. The vines have been resting all winter and reserving their resources to produce a new vintage. But in order to make that vintage a spectacular one, work must be done on the vines to help them be the best they can…
Welcome to our latest installment of #WinephabetStreet brought to you by Dracaena Wines and Trio North Wildwood. In this series, Debbie Gioquindo and I work our way through the wine world one letter each month. We discuss the characteristics and history of the grape, as well as suggested wine pairings. So uncork, unscrew or saber…
There are a lot of trendy words being tossed around in the wine world today dealing with how wineries are being more respectful to the earth in which they grow their vines. These concepts are often interchanged, when they shouldn’t be. Sustainable, Organic and Biodynamic are all based on the premise of being better inhabitants…
This past week I had the pleasure of participating in a virtual tasting with Enrique Tirado of Viña Don Melchor. The tasting was a vertical of the 2017 30th anniversary and the 2018 which is one of the few Chilean wines to receive a perfect 100-point score from James Suckling. The event was moderated by…
Aquanet Generation For decades we lived on this earth without any concern for the effects our existence had on it. I think back to my high school days, in the 80s. Man, oh man, the hairspray that was used! I think hair back then defied the laws of physics! Hairspray was such a mainstay, that…
What is Winephabet Street, you ask? Think of it as Sesame Street for Winelovers! It is a livestream/podcast/blogpost interactive discussion all about wine. Winephabet Street is a collaboration between Debbie Gioquindo, aka HVWineGoddess, and myself. We will be working our way through the alphabet discussing wine varieties and regions. So grab a glass and join…
While having a conversation with another winery owner, the topic of bottle capsules came up. We questioned the idea of “naked bottles.” (I am not sure if that is the technical term, but that’s what I call bottles without a capsule on it.) Both of us like the idea of not using them on future…
