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Gerald D. Boyd
Aug 10, 2010
The other day I was thinking about 'six degrees of separation,' the idea that was circulating around a few years back that claims one need go no further than six steps at most to discover a connection with any other person. Random musings like that pop up when a writer has writer's block--the non-productive exercise of staring blankly at the computer screen waiting for a special muse to strike with a stellar idea. Eventually, my enlightened moment arose when my muse whispered, 'Why not a relationship between Petite Sirah and Pinotage?' On the surface the idea sounded implausible, but these two seemingly different grapes do share some things, and maybe at one of those six levels Petite Sirah and Pinotage are related.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jul 13, 2010
Merry Edwards has been called the Queen of Pinot (Reine de Pinot) and with good reason. Edwards, a veteran California winemaker, who operates out of her eponymous winery in Sebastopol, in western Sonoma County, is considered to be one of the leading experts on California Pinot Noir--which is no mean feat when you count the number of winemakers getting into the Pinot derby of late.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jun 15, 2010
In June of last year I finally took the step and became a vegetarian. It wasn't an easy decision; my wife still eats meat and prefers to call herself a 'flexitarian.' How would I handle the whole wine thing? There were questions I had never considered. For instance, vegans--vegetarians who do not eat meat or fish as well as dairy products--must be aware of wines that are fined using egg whites, or filtered using isinglass, a gelatin prepared from a fish bladder.
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Gerald D. Boyd
May 19, 2010
In his book I'll Drink to That, the story of Beaujolais and the man who made it the 'world's most popular wine,' Rudolph Chelminski describes Georges Duboeuf as 'one of those rare persons inhabited by a mysterious kind of driving force that sets certain individuals apart from the rest, causing them to achieve what others don't even think about venturing.'
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Gerald D. Boyd
Apr 20, 2010
Grenache fills the bill for today's wine consumer looking for palate-forward red wines with fresh flavors, substantial but soft tannins, excellent acidity and a long, satisfying finish. Shiraz (a.k.a. Syrah) may be Australia's flagship red grape, but Grenache gives many Aussie 'GSM' (Grenache-Shiraz-Mourvedre) blends a fruity lift and shares equal billing with Shiraz in the delightful d'Arenberg 'd'Arry's' Original Shiraz - Grenache.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Mar 23, 2010
As a follow up to previous visits to the Côte d'Or, I made my first trip to these lesser known Burgundy appellations last December. What I found was friendly, enthusiastic winemakers and vintners, mostly second and third generation members of wine families, eager to tell their stories and for the wine world to learn about their wines. Many of the winemakers I met travel fairly widely, and have worked grape harvests or done cellar work in other parts of the world--an exposure that allowed them to talk about their wine without a lot of formality.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Feb 23, 2010
What comes to mind when you hear someone mention Burgundy wines? Most serious wine drinkers automatically think Côte d'Or Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. And that makes sense because, despite the high prices, red Burgundy from the Côte d'Nuits and white Burgundy from the Côte de Beaune are the most popular Burgundy with American wine drinkers, and they are the wines sought after by collectors. However, there is another Burgundy--or perhaps multiple other Burgundies. Beyond the Côte d'Or are other appellations producing wines from the same grapes, but without the public image and lofty prices of Côte d'Or wines.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jan 26, 2010
By now, every wine fan knows the story of Argentine Malbec, the black wine grape that, while declining in popularity in France, is having great success in Argentina. Once grown throughout western France, Malbec acreage in Bordeaux has declined rapidly since 2000. Part of the reason for Malbec's decline in France is the grape's susceptibility to diseases and its rustic character, which doesn't play well with today's wine drinkers. But, how did an unpopular grape with a personality identification problem in its homeland travel thousands of miles to Argentina?
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Gerald D. Boyd
Dec 29, 2009
Francis Bacon, the 16th century English philosopher and statesman, had this to say about books: 'Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed and some few to be chewed and digested.' Even if Sir Francis was sipping from a flagon of Sherris sac when he penned those words, it's not likely he was thinking of wine books, but the allusion can be imagined if you squint and read the words over a few times.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Dec 1, 2009
The use of single letters as brand identifiers on wines is not new, with Chateau Y, the sumptuous dry wine of the Sauternes producer Chateau Yquem being one notable example. So, in 1986, when Judy Jordan, daughter of Jordan Winery's founder, decided to produce high-end sparkling wine in Sonoma County, her decision was to brand the bottles with a large stylish yellow "J," easily recognizable on the green bottles. Use of the single letter was noticeably distinct from the 'bank note' labels of Jordan Winery still wines, but the decision also stirred speculation of whether the single letter was J for Jordan or J for Judy.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Nov 3, 2009
The wine industry tends to be fluid and ever-changing. Not long ago, New World wineries, like those in the Old World, were mostly family owned. In recent years, though, the structure of the wine industry worldwide has moved toward corporate ownership and away from the family. So it's refreshing to see a noted Australian wine family that survived the corporate world and then re-invented itself as a family wine company. Chief among the survivors are Robert Oatley and Chris Hancock, two Aussies who display the don't-quit tenaciousness of someone who won't let life's hard knocks kick the legs out from under them.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Oct 6, 2009
In a world where it seems as though every wine region is striving to join the international scene, Portugal is doing its own thing. Long known for its excellent Port wines, Portugal has lately been attracting attention for its attractive red table wines, made mainly from native grapes.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Sep 8, 2009
Whenever I'm with a group of people who profess to be serious about their wine, inevitably there are a few who turn up their noses when offered a rosé. My reaction, to myself, is 'What's wrong with rosé?' Every wine doesn't have to be white or red, and there are times when it takes too much effort to decide which oaky white wine or aged red will best accompany the evening meal.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Aug 11, 2009
Semillon is a puzzling and mysterious wine; a chameleon that takes on different aromas and flavors depending on where the grape is grown, how the wine is made and what grapes are chosen as blending partners. And then there's the confusion centered round the pronunciation ('Sem-e-yon' or 'Sem-a-lon') of the grape and wine.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jul 14, 2009
Santa Cruz Mountain winemakers say their Pinots reflect the myriad of microclimates in the mountain-based vineyards farmed by what is officially described by the SCMWA (Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association) as 'progressive sustainable agriculture.' SCMWA also trumpets the appellation's 'balanced flavors, complexity, food-friendly acidity and age-worthiness,' as an enticement to wine consumers who are bored with overly oaked, highly extracted wines.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jun 16, 2009
Brian Larky is a high-energy guy who looks like he's running even when he's not. I first met Larky in the late 1980s, when we were both a lot younger, in Lombardy, Italy. Not long out of UC-Davis, Larky was young, confident, American and the winemaker for Ca' del Bosco. We crossed wine paths a few times since that meeting in Italy, but it wasn't until last month that I decided to see what he was up to. I quickly discovered that Brian Larky, founder of Dalla Terra--Winery Direct is one busy guy, even in these slow economic times.
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Gerald D. Boyd
May 19, 2009
In the mid to late 19th century, the great red wines of the Northern Rhône, all made from Syrah, were considered among the finest wines of the time. Noted gourmands of the time heaped praise on Rhône reds, including the estimable Professor George Saintsbury, an Englishman with a known taste for Bordeaux and Burgundy, who jotted this about Syrah in his copious cellar notes: 'One of the three or four most remarkable juices of the grape, not merely that I ever possessed, but that I ever tasted…It was the manliest French wine I ever drank.'
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Gerald D. Boyd
Apr 21, 2009
One of winedom's burning questions is if the search for the Holy Grail of Pinot Noir is still on-going. Some wine lovers believe all this scratching around is much ado about nothing, while other Pinot-philes contend that somewhere there is a place, other than Burgundy, where Pinot Noir shines its brightest -- like Central Otago on the South Island of New Zealand.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Mar 24, 2009
With the release of the 2004 Artist Series Cabernet Sauvignon, Kenwood celebrates 30 years of art and wine, a concept compared to the very practice of winemaking that many believe is an art in itself. The Artist Series Collection is a work in progress, for both the art of the label and the art of the wine in the bottle.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Feb 24, 2009
Recently, Jackson Family Wines (JFW) held a mini-seminar on Sauvignon Blanc, previewing its own Sauvignons -- Matanzas Creek, Kendall-Jackson and Murphy-Goode "The Fumé" -- alongside Long Boat, a Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc that JFW imports from New Zealand. It was a revealing kaleidoscope of styles showing that, with a little patience and searching, there is a Sauvignon Blanc (or Fumé) for everyone.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jan 27, 2009
Things were going along smoothly for Silver Oak until a fateful night in 2006 when the Napa winery was destroyed by a fire. But from the devastating loss, the Duncan family, led by Ray Duncan's two sons David and Tim, with input from Daniel Baron, formulated plans for a new winery that would meld together modern grape processing and winemaking techniques while still honoring the origins of Silver Oak Cellars. The new, recently opened Oakville winery is a beautiful piece of contemporary architecture wrapped around a modern and functional winery designed solely to produce only Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Dec 30, 2008
In Hugh Johnson's early edition of The World Atlas of Wine, he sets the mood for a fascinating treatise on Tokaji, one of the world's great dessert wines. "Tokay is like one of the provincial towns in Russian novels which burn themselves into the memory by their very plainness." As Johnson astutely observes, the plainness of Tokaj town and the wider region, in the far northeast corner of Hungary, makes its famous sweet wine, Tokaji, all the more dramatic and appealing.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Dec 2, 2008
It's hard to imagine why Lake County is not better known for its wines. Kendall-Jackson recognized the potential of Lake County grapes as far back as 1982, and when noted winemaker Jed Steele decided on a spot to grow grapes and make his signature wines, he chose Lake County. Still, recognition for Lake County wines has lagged behind those of its neighbors in Napa, Sonoma and even Mendocino counties. But that's changing. Today, Lake County has a deserved reputation for Sauvignon Blanc but it may be that flavorful reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and Syrah will ultimately earn the most raves.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Nov 4, 2008
About this time last year (has it been a year already?) I wrote a handful of capsule wine book reviews as holiday gifts for wine lovers. Paper and print books still hold some interest, but this is the electronic age and the era of electronic "books." As clever as these new gadgets may be, flipping a page electronically somehow doesn't have the same tactile and sensory satisfaction. Fortunately, there are still plenty of book publishers that release a selection of wine books every year, many of them worthy additions to any wine lover's library.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Oct 7, 2008
Trends in wine come and go, changing with the pressures of the market and the whims (and needs) of winemakers. One of the more controversial trends to endure in recent years is the proliferation of so-called 'cult wines.' Mainly Cabernet Sauvignons from the Napa Valley, cult wines are scarce and expensive and, say some critics, over-blown examples of the depth and finesse of real Napa Valley Cabernet.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Sep 9, 2008
Formed in 1991, the Rutherford AVA is a narrow band of alluvial soil that stretches from St. Helena to Yountville, along the west side of the Napa Valley floor. Rutherford, along with neighboring Oakville, is widely considered the premier source of Napa Valley red wines based on Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Aug 12, 2008
Take a piece of dirt in Santa Barbara County, plant some Pinot Noir vines, then invite a small group of winemakers to select the grapes they want and make a Pinot that reflects not only the vineyard but the winemaker's style. This innovative concept, called Julia's Vineyard Artisan Program, is the brainchild of Barbara Banke and Lane Tanner.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jul 15, 2008
Petite Sirah is the dark knight of California red winemaking. Neither as regal as Cabernet Sauvignon or Pinot Noir, nor as middle-class as Zinfandel, Petite Sirah is the everyman warrior that is slowly crossing class lines and moving up.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jun 17, 2008
I consider myself a serious wine guy, but I must profess an unabashed love of rosé wines. Often ignored by folks who can't see past big reds, pink wines deserve more respect. And certainly, at this time of year, they deserve a more secure place at the summer dining table.
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Gerald D. Boyd
May 20, 2008
The consideration of Chianti is often a generational thing for many Americans. Wine drinkers of a certain age remember a thin, acidic red wine in a straw-covered flask that was the traditional partner with pasta and pizza. Chianti consumers today, however, don't know from fiasco, and that's a good thing, since there's little resemblance between the original blend for Chianti in flask, formulated by the Baron Ricasoli and the Chianti in today's market.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Apr 22, 2008
Somewhere in the minutia of U.S. wine labeling regulations linger two terms that defy definition. 'Reserve' and, more recently, 'Old Vine' have been kicked around for years, with little consensus by the industry or the federal government as to their meanings.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Mar 25, 2008
Today, 're-invent or perish' is a credo for some California winemakers to live by. The hard-driving belief held by these winemakers is that, if you don't stay on top of your game, a fickle wine-buying public will look to someone else for new and exciting taste experiences. Over the last four decades, Richard Arrowood has shown his ability to adapt and advance, maintaining the Arrowood name as both an indicator and brand of quality winemaking.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Feb 26, 2008
California wine watchers know Kerry Damskey as the winemaker behind such brands as Gauer Ranch, Dutcher Creek and his newest venture, Palmeri, but his reach as a winemaking consultant goes as far a field from his Sonoma home base as Washington, Bulgaria and India. No wonder that Damskey has been called the 'Wandering Winemaker' and 'The Indiana Jones of Wine.'
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jan 29, 2008
Considered the birthplace of the Napa Valley wine industry, St. Helena is both a small town and, since 1995, an official AVA (American Viticultural Area), which according to the group known as Appellation St. Helena (ASH), has a 'unique topography' and microclimate that is 'great for many varietals.' The current ASH membership of 69 wineries and growers cultivate a total of 1156 planted acres, mainly Cabernet Sauvignon, Zinfandel, Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jan 1, 2008
This year, The Meritage Association marks its 20th Anniversary. It is an auspicious occasion for a group of wineries that has worked hard for two decades to assure that the Meritage style of white and red wines becomes an indelible part of the New World wine landscape
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Gerald D. Boyd
Dec 4, 2007
The holidays are upon us and that usually means the annual panic to find a gift for the wine fan on your shopping list who has everything, including a cellar full of wine. Give a book on wine, especially one that relates to your wine lover's special interest. While a book as gift is not an original idea, it is a practical and permanent one, especially in these etheric electronic days of texting and, Bacchus preserve us, books on tape.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Nov 6, 2007
Drop this into a wine conversation sometime: 'There's this new winery in the Napa Valley that has to be seen to be believed!' What you're likely to hear, wearily muttered is, 'So what else is new.' Napa is loaded with showplace wineries, so it is easy enough to become jaded, yet my recent visit to Palmaz Vineyards revealed a truly eye-popping operation.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Oct 9, 2007
There is some good and bad wine news out of British Columbia. The good news is that the demand within British Columbia and elsewhere in Canada is soaring for BC wines. The bad news, especially for American wine drinkers, is that very little of the BC wine makes it into the U.S. market.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Sep 11, 2007
For me, summer also means the best time of year to delve into the latest collection of rosé wines. You can drink pink anytime of the year, but rosés and summer go together perfectly. They are great cool summer sipping wines, or ideal accompaniments with a variety of light al fresco foods.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Aug 14, 2007
For nearly 150 years, the name La Rochelle was mostly forgotten, buried in the dusty pages of the Mirassou family history. Generations came and went and by 2003, the Mirassou family had sold their name and the winery to Gallo, while retaining the San Vicente Vineyard and Mission Ranch. Then, in 2005, Mirassou, pere & fils, resurrected the La Rochelle name for a new limited production series of Pinot Noirs, adding a Pinot dimension to a line that focused mainly on Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jul 17, 2007
At Caymus Vineyards in the Napa Valley, the family creed is, "one wine, one label." Over the years, that one Caymus wine has been emphatically red, and now, more than three decades later, Caymus is comfortably established as one of California's iconic wineries, noted for its Caymus "Special Selection." But as things have turned out, there's more to Caymus than Special Selection.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jun 19, 2007
Michael Richmond, winemaker for Bouchaine Vineyards in Carneros Napa Valley, is a self-proclaimed student of Chardonnay, who recently undertook the perilous task of trying to make sense of matching the world's most popular white wine with food. I applaud Richmond, but for me, pairing Chardonnay with food can be a vexing conundrum.
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Gerald D. Boyd
May 22, 2007
Opinions are like noses; everyone has one, especially on global warming. Believe what you will about the sensitive subject, but Olivier Humbrecht is convinced that global warming is responsible for the rising alcohol levels in wines, especially in Alsace where Humbrecht makes his biodynamically-grown Domaine Zind-Humbrecht wines.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Apr 24, 2007
Philip Shaw has a dry wit and a devilish smile, making it hard to decide if he is being straight up or trying to take the mickey out of you (as the Aussies would put it) when he explains about naming his value wines 'Rolling' and 'Climbing.' 'We wanted something different, an appeal to the feminine side since most wine labels are so masculine,' Shaw says with a bright grin.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Mar 27, 2007
Eisweins remain, almost exclusively, the product of German winemaking. A smaller number of Austrian wineries also make Eiswein, but when it comes to this oddball style of sweet wine, Germany rules. But relatively recently, Canada got into the frozen wine game--and the whole field changed dramatically.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Feb 27, 2007
Among the growing collection of high-end California Cabernet-based blends, a few have reached iconic status. Known variously as Bordeaux-style blends, Cabernet blends, and Meritage, this rarified elite includes Phelps Insignia, Cain Five, Louis Martini's Monte Rosso, Opus One, Coppola's Rubicon and Chateau St. Jean's Cinq Cepages.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jan 23, 2007
"Our goal is to make great estate Cabernet Sauvignon," is the clarion call of every Napa Valley winemaker (except for those who came to their senses and opted for Pinot Noir). So natural and expected is this homage to Cabernet that it has become the motto of Napa winemaking.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jan 2, 2007
Clarendon Hills arguably makes the best red wines in Australia. Oddly enough, however, if you spent all your time in Australia, you'd be in no position to hold an informed opinion on the matter. Few Australians have ever tasted the superb Syrah, Grenache, Merlot or Cabernet Sauvignon that Clarendon Hills produces from the McLaren Vale region of South Australia.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Dec 5, 2006
A red thread of mountain-grown intensity and ripe dense berry flavors runs through the fabric of Sonoma's Monte Rosso Vineyard, especially when woven into Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah and Zinfandel.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Nov 7, 2006
Remember the terroir tempest in a wine glass that bubbled over the rim in the early 1990s between California's Bill Jekel and Bordeaux's Bruno Prats? The Gallic Terroirist, of course, was Prats, while Jekel contended that grapes and winemaking were more important.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Oct 10, 2006
A few years ago, Don Carano swallowed hard and admitted that he wasn't satisfied with Ferrari-Carano red wines. "The wines were good but not great and we were hearing this from others as well. I wasn't satisfied with our red wines and decided that we had to make some changes," Carano explained in his quiet, careful manner.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Sep 12, 2006
'Manufactured' is a word not often heard in wine circles. 'Made', maybe, 'produced,' perhaps, but 'manufactured' more aptly describes a widget than a wine. Still, the process of making Champagne or traditional champagne method sparkling wine is closer to a manufacturing process than the process applied to make any other wine.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Aug 15, 2006
Riesling may be the most under-appreciated white wine in the world--but you'd never know that in Australia. While Americans shun Riesling, Australians embrace it; enjoying dry, mouth-watering Rieslings from Claire Valley, Tasmania and Western Australia's Great Southern, to name just a few places in Oz where Riesling thrives.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jul 18, 2006
The Simi story is an impressive one, from the time that an 18-year-old Isabelle Simi-Haigh took over management of the winery when her father died in the influenza epidemic of 1904, through the succession of noted winemakers that followed, each of whom carried on the Simi tradition while putting their own stamp on the wines: Mary Ann Graf, Zelma Long, Nick Goldschmidt and now Steve Reeder.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jun 20, 2006
Mendocino Pinot producers such as Navarro, Goldeneye, Husch, Greenwood Ridge, Claudia Springs, Handley, Lazy Creek, Harmonique and the revitalized Parducci are gradually showing the wine world that Pinot is not only possible from Anderson Valley, but it has what it takes to stand with its peers at the top echelon.
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Gerald D. Boyd
May 23, 2006
A first impression is that the Portugal's Douro Valley is a throwback to a more traditional time, at least in terms of grape growing and winemaking. But don't believe it. Behind the walls of the traditional quintas, perching precariously amongst the river's many turns and inlets, there is a modern wine industry producing one of the world's great fortified wines.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Apr 25, 2006
By nature, mountain-grown wines are more intense and stronger in structure than their valley counterparts, but show different aspects of fruit and finesse. The conditions on Spring Mountain are ideal for varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Mar 28, 2006
In 1975, Cathy Corison was a young biology student at Pomona College in Claremont, California, when she had the epiphany that all wine pilgrims experience. Shortly after enrolling in a wine appreciation class, Corison was captivated: "Wine just grabbed me and ran," she says, "and I knew that I wanted to make world-class wine on a small scale."
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Gerald D. Boyd
Feb 28, 2006
Opinions on wine are like noses: everyone has one. There are dedicated fans who prefer Piedmontese reds fashioned from Nebbiolo, while other Italian wine lovers claim the best rosso is made from Tuscan Sangiovese. Even among Tuscan red wine drinkers, partisans debate the relative merits of Chianti, Vino Nobile, Carmignano and Brunello di Montalcino
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jan 31, 2006
Modern wine marketing, as we are all too aware, can be clever and attractive, or dumb and off-putting. Wine names and label design are just two parts of this often controversial craft. Like them or not, rarely are the off-beat wine names dull or boring.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Jan 3, 2006
In the December 2005 issue of Wine Business Monthly, the editors claim that "many industry leaders" predict that, in 2006, Pinot Gris (a.k.a. Grigio) will lock down its place as the second most popular white wine, after Chardonnay. Not so fast! There happens to be a sizable number of us Sauvignon Blanc admirers who believe that Sauvignon Blanc has the style and flavor, not to mention diversity, to offer more appeal across the board than any other white wine, including Pinot Gris/Grigio.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Dec 6, 2005
Windsor Vineyards is a unique winemaking phenomenon in transition. The largest direct-to-consumer winery in the United States, Windsor Vineyards sells an impressive 95 percent of its annual 200,000 case production through telemarketing. This sales technique is virtually unknown in the wine world, but Windsor Vineyards--the company that put the personal into personalized wine labeling--has moved onto the cutting edge of direct-to-consumer wines sales.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Nov 8, 2005
Within California's Sonoma County, the Dry Creek Valley has emerged as an impressive source of Zinfandel, and Dry Creek Creek's producers are eager to show that Zinfandel is one of the most adaptable red varieties in the expanding collection of California reds.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Oct 11, 2005
Buried in the moldy caves of wine lore and legend, an unnamed California vintner, feeling very confident of his wine, supposedly posted this sign at the door of his tasting room, "Genuine California Burgundy. Beware of French imitations." True or not, it's a lovely bon mot! Even more, the annals of wine literature are filled to the brim with similar stories and legends. Who and what to believe? In wine lore and legend, not knowing is half the fun.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Sep 13, 2005
Ask any Pinot lover where the best California Pinot Noir is made and the Russian River Valley will be at the top of the list. Compared with Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir has a short track record in California. Not long ago when the call went out for an American Pinot Noir, Oregon got the nod. Today, Pinot lovers turn to the Russian River Valley and its sub region Green Valley for exciting, juicy wines.
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Gerald D. Boyd
Aug 15, 2005
Mention Marin County in a mixed crowd and you're likely to get reactions ranging from the snickering to the serious. In the 1970s, Marin County was known for its hot tub parties and casual lifestyle, prompting former San Francisco Chronicle columnist, Herb Caen to describe the then-current car of choice in Marin County, the BMW, as "Basic Marin Wheels."
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Pinotage & Petite Sirah: An Unlikely Pair?
