A Free Wine Encyclopedia!The history and legacy of the Rioja district in Spain is rich in tales and stories. I would suggest, if your are interested, a book by Jan Read “Wines of the Rioja”. I was captivated by the accounts of not only Rioja, but of the capital of Rioja, Logrofio. The Rioja district of Spain is… read more »
How do you successfully introduce a new line of wines in a super competitive environment in the middle of a recession? That was the challenge facing the new Winterbrook partnership in early 1992. Though the winery was established in 1983, early 1992 marked a new era for the fledging facility. John Sullivan, Gregory Popovich and… read more »
Two decades ago, two brothers, John and Karl Giguiere (grandsons of Washington State wheat farmer Robert Hugh Phillips), along with John’s wife, Lane Giguiere, pioneered the development of vineyards in northwestern Yolo County. Their family had acquired a ranch there in 1946 and had followed the local traditions of farming dryland wheat and barley, and… read more »
The Mitchelton Winery is located in the Goulburn Valley region of Central Victoria. This places it less than an hour and a half away, if you get the bug to drive to this Australian wine country from Melbourne. In the same way that a hospitable winemaking establishment in Napa Valley would appeal to someone in… read more »
The Joshua Hill Winery label is a proud premium brand offered by what is, actually, the ninth largest winery in the U.S., Delicato Vineyards. A vintner’s vintner, Delicato is a family owned Central Valley winery, now in its 56th successful year. It operates the second largest single-plant winery in the nation, with a storage capacity… read more »
The Konocti Winery is located in Lake County, to the north and east of Napa, Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. It lies on an ancient volcanic plateau dominated by California’s largest natural lake, Clear Lake, and the 4,200 foot extinct volcano, Mt. Konocti, from which it derives its name. Lake County’s vineyards date back to the… read more »
The venerable French wine-shipping firm of Barton & Guestier (B&G) was founded by Thomas Barton in 1725, hence the proud name of this selection. Barton, of English/Irish heritage, having taken on a French partner, Daniel Guestier, was notably instrumental in developing the British Isles’ seemingly unquenchable thirst for Bordeaux wines. The massive market he helped… read more »
If you were to try and imagine the most irregular, most unnatural, most intriguing location for a winery, would you choose downtown Los Angeles? No, seriously, I mean downtown Los Angeles! In 1917, when Santo Cambianica came from Padua Italy, winemaking in Los Angeles was truly in its infancy. He opened this winery and named… read more »
When, between 1976 and 1984 the authorities of the Languedoc wine growing regions of France set out to change their image, the Herault district was one of the first to accept the challenge. Long known as France’s “wine reservoir”, the Languedoc needed a new image. The district of Herault uprooted 74,000 acres of vineyard to… read more »
The venerable French wine producing firm Moillard was founded in 1850 by Symphorien Moillard. It is now managed by the fourth and fifth generations, and remains a family owned and operated concern. While 60% of Moil-lard’s turnover is achieved in France, its wines are sold internationally in over 30 countries. The elite part of the… read more »