I recently had a conversation with a celebrity involved in the California wine biz that went something like this: CA Wine Celebrity: “Hey – have you ever had cannabis-infused wine?” Me: “Cannabis-infused?” CWC: “Yeah. Totally. Pot wine?” Me: “No – but I wouldn’t be surprised if every other winemaker in California was drinking it; and…
Tag: California wine
What I Learned At Summer Wine Judging Camp (Inside The 2011 Lake County Wine Awards, Part One)
A little over a week ago I helped to judge the 2011 Lake County Wine Awards Competition, which was held at Brassfield Estate Winery in the ludicrously-beautiful Clearlake Oaks area. Over 180 wines carrying the Lake County AVA on their labels were submitted to the competition. While I’m well-past the “cutting teeth” stage of judging…
Joe Vs. The 100-Point Wine (Thoughts On The 2006 Cardinale Cab And The Yoke Of “Blind Collection Mode”)
Imagine a a narrow, unevenly lit, and thoroughly cramped comic book shop near the Delaware / Pennsylvania state borders, inside of which we find a short, lanky kid in a blue-and-white 3/4-sleeve t-shirt fresh from rummaging through the bargain-bin boxes. He’s holding up two “B-grade” comic books – one in each hand, suspended like some…
The Vintage From Hell, Now In Barrel (What Can We Expect From Napa’s 2010 High-End Reds?)
During my most recent jaunt to Napa, I had the pleasure of visiting a few producers in the Valley to get a feel for just how the hellish 2010 vintage (remember that?) was coming along in barrel (well, for those fortunate enough to get fruit picked and crushed from 2010, that is). So after…