“This is a winemakers’ winery.” That Amici’s Associate Winemaker Bobby Donnell was speaking truth to me – and not just laying out the typical wine country cliché – was evidenced by the total lack of anything resembling Napa Valley “Why, yes I DID!” pomposity in Amici’s vinous Calistoga hamlet. Maybe it’s due to owner John…
Category: kick-ass wines
Highlights From #Vino2015
I am, as I’ve noted ad nauseam lately, insanely behind on my producer/feature write-ups. That streak continues unabated at the moment, but this time it’s in favor of actually bringing you some vino recommendation (you’re welcome!). I recently had the great pleasure of being a panelist speaker at the enormous VINO215 Italian wine trade and tasting…
What We Drank For Pre-Thanksgiving Thanksgiving
Quick, get ready to freak out; I am about to talk about a wine that was not a sample, but for which I paid using my very own hard-earned cash! The atom might destabilize!! It’s true. About the wine being purchased, I mean, not about the atom (I think). The short version of the story…
That Old, Old, Old, Old, Old Place In Lodi (A Bechthold Vineyard Cinsault Tasting)
Remember when we talked about that old Cinsault vineyard in Lodi? I mean, that REALLY OLD Cinsault vineyard in Lodi? The tiny, flat, rectangular Bechthold vineyard – all 25 acres of it, or just about 0.0025% of Lodi’s overall plantings – is an organic, own-rooted, sandy-soil patch of Cinsault in the Mokelumne River area, near…