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 »
McWilliam’s has been a maker of fine wines since 1877, when Samuel McWilliam first planted his vines at Corowa in New South Wales, Australia. It was his son, John James, who subsequently founded McWilliam’s Hanwood vineyard and winery at Griffith (from which this month’s selection comes), paving the way for the dynasty that was to… 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 Citra Cellars is an association of fourteen member wineries and their affiliated vineyards. A large-scale, efficient interpretation of the winemaking co-operative concept, Citra acquires its grapes from a staggering 10,000 wine-grape growers! These farmers cultivate the fertile, ideal-for-grapes, limestone and loam coastal hills in the province of Chieti, which lies about two hours east… 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 »
This wine comes from the largest mountainous wine-growing region in Hungary, Mátraalja, in the foothills of the Mátra mountains. Running from east to west, this mountain range offers ideal viticultural conditions to about 30,000 acres of grape vines which thrive on its sunny, south-facing slopes. There are three major quality strata in Hungarian wines. Vin… read more »
Wow! Two superb Sebastiani bargain wines practically back-to-back! (Remember this September’s wonderful “Emilia-label” Cabernet #992A? It’s still available at only $7.29 ea., if you’re new and you missed it!) This winery has managed to stay in the same family’s hands despite tumultuous times; Prohibition, The Great Depression, hostile take-overs and whatever else has come along… read more »