California Wine Month! Did you know that? Some do, some don’t (we in the Golden State need to work on that reality). In its 6^th year now, the month was designated by Arnold (The Terminator) Schwarzenegger as a way to celebrate and bring attention to the very important domestic wine business that provides so much to California.

Grapes and wine are a major source of agricultural pride and muscle locally. Betcha’ that you weren’t aware that wine is the number one finished agricultural product in retail value in the US. It is. And given the reality that California wines are over 90% of American production and represent more than two of every three bottles sold in the US, California wine, by default, is the source of this same formidable impact. Continue reading »

I suspect that many of you out there are sports obsessed… when not being wine obsessed. The critical thinking about team strategy, analyzing player personnel and micro-critiquing performance as ‘arm chair’ coaching are fodder for lengthy conversation and always a great excuse to pull a good bottle of wine, if not the de rigueur beer, to stimulate the oft-heated discussion.

I especially enjoy the pre-season time when rosters are being finalized, players are moving around, free agents signed and the complexion of the impending season shaped. As a loyal and true San Francisco Giants fan, I had my ups and downs of watching the moves (or lack of moves) made to the makeup of the team this season and have spent many an hour thinking through how it will affect the game on the field in 2009. This ‘sport’ of evaluating talent for team output is however not the exclusive domain of atheletics. It happens in restaurants and wine too. Really! Continue reading »

Though I haven’t been counting and ranking the actuality, it seems to me that one of the most frequently asked questions I get is about who, price be damned, is making the best Cabernet Sauvignon in the Northern California wine country. A tall order question indeed, as, firstly, there’s ample wonderful wine being made, secondly, it’s nearly impossible to get the experts to agree and finally, much of it depends on winemaking philosophy and what you like (e.g. does your palate agree with the signature style of one of the difference-making Cabernet producers out there, of which there are many). Inquiring minds want to know, where can you go to begin to learn comparatively?

Well that last question is at least one I can answer. If you have the time, interest, and money, and happen to be in the Napa Valley this Saturday, April 25^th. It’s called ‘Atelier’ and will be held at Acme Fine Wines from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Atelier will feature the ‘who’s who’ (and their wines) of contemporary Cabernet Sauvignon. The wines and their makers featured are mind boggling: Continue reading »

For years I have preached in my sensory evaluation teaching and ‘how to taste’ classes that deja smell is far more evocative with most of us than deja vu. That olfactory triggers resonate much deeper and more viscerally with most people than that elusive momentary brain blip that is named so aptly by that lovely French term. So, you can imagine that I was delighted to read about last week’s published Northwestern University study that reaffirms the power of smell and emotional connection.

Even without this study’s corroboration we all know firsthand how this works both positively and negatively. We all can connect with the pleasure sensation that is elicited by the smell of a perfume your Mom wore when you were a child or the aroma of fresh peach pie that might bring you back to helping your Grandma bake during summer vacation. It can also be negative. The smell of certain fusel liquids or chemicals is said to revive latent painful memories in war veterans while the smell of burning enamel can bring anyone back to the unpleasant emotions associated with teeth being drilled in your dentist’s office. Smell is indeed powerful stuff.

In reflecting on this more, I have begun to wonder if, based on which wines you first learned on, your palate and perception of what you like and what is good is established similarly. Think about it. If you grew up and first cut your teeth on red wines from Bordeaux or Burgundy, you likely have fixed olfactory ‘memories’ of terroir- the lead pencil and cigar box aromas of Bordeaux and the ‘barnyard’ and sweet earthy nuances of Burgundy. Continue reading »