A Free Wine Encyclopedia!Les Vignerons du Val d’Orbieu is an association of shareholders formed in 1967. The Group’s members are all wine producers in the French Languedoc region. This vast wine growing area in the south of France, known as the Midi, is to French wine what the American Midwest wheat belt is to grain: it produces virtually… read more »
Things certainly are looking good for us WOMC enthusiasts in 1992! I would never have imagined that Paul could find two lovely Pinot Noirs within such a short period of time (seven months), especially considering the price class of most Pinot Noirs. The last one was Tony Austin’s 1988 (#691A) sent last June. That was… read more »
Imagine that you are a winemaker or that you own a winery, and you are tasting some of the wines that are maturing in the barrels. You are an experienced taster, and are able to read into wine. You can detect characteristics that tell you this wine will improve and become a superb wine. From… read more »
Let’s face it. The month of December is certainly a busy one. Even the most organized people find themselves wanting to turn back the clock… just a little, to give them some extra time to “make Christmas cookies, find that special gift or go to the Nutcracker ballet”. We all have lists of things we’d… read more »
About 150 years ago, Dr. Christopher Penfold left England with his wife Mary to settle in South Australia. They built a whitewashed stone cottage in Magill, four miles from Adelaide, and named it after Mary’s home in England, “The Grange”. The doctor had brought with him some wax-sealed grape-vine cuttings. He planted these over the… read more »
Martin Van der Kamp, a native of the North Coast wine country, was a home winemaker there for many years. In his youth he had done a stint as an employee at Napa’s famous Schramsberg Champagne Cellars. Bitten by the bug, he took several trips to some of the top Champagne houses in France. It… read more »
About one year ago, (WOMC Newsletter, June 1991), we wrote about the deadly root-burrowing louse, phylloxera vastatrix. We included the article as a history lesson. During the latter half of the 19th century, the parasite, which is of American origin, devastated millions of acres of vineyards around the globe. It was brought under control by… read more »
Let’s face it, every cook has at least a few culinary items they are downright afraid to try to make. I always had a fear of making homemade danish pastry, and rightly so! Never will I forget the disaster of that enterprise. Making danish pastry is a difficult process, a skill that requires a thorough… read more »
Founded in 1921, Zonin is Italy’s largest privately-owned wine-making concern in operation today. Considering how far back many Italian wineries go, this makes the company a relative newcomer. In all fairness, it is important to state that prior to establishing the firm seventy years ago, the family had actually been active in the wine industry… read more »
In opening, let me first ask you to notice the small print section of this wine’s label which reads “A Chalone Property”. Any discussion of the Carmenet Vineyard must include a discourse on its parent company. Chalone Incorporated is the only publicly-held company in the U.S. whose principal business is producing and marketing premium wines…. read more »