Enobytes

How hard do winemakers work . . . especially at startup? Last week, I had the privilege of a long visit with Bill Fuller, co-founder of Tualatin Vineyards near Forest Grove, Oregon. Now, Bill is a good friend going back almost to his 1971 arrival in Oregon, but there is something really special about discussing [...]

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Ian Hongell, the Senior Winemaker at Peter Lehmann winery in the Barossa region of Australia is a direct, concise and confident winemaker who speaks with passion and authority, not just about  wines but everything else he talks about.  If there is a wine region that is as territorial as Napa Valley about the quality of their [...]

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Barcelona was frustrating to me upon arrival. Of course, it should have been after leaving the tranquil and idyllic surroundings of Bilbao. This assessment goes sharply against what I had expected, from the many tales of wonder that I had been regaled with by everyone who had ever been there before me. In our planning [...]

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My first trip to Lake County came from my interest in finding an area that had wine and casinos. The year was 1994. I had just moved from Chicago to San Francisco and auditioned at Stars and Joyce Goldstein’s Square One and was offered positions at both restaurants. Then my audition at the Kimpton Group came [...]

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I’m guilty of reminiscing. I admit it. But I think anyone that has tasted wine for a few decades is as guilty as I for recollecting greatness. We all have those memories where certain decades, regions or producers simply blow our minds. Maybe it’s simply a green drinker finally grasping greatness in a glass. I [...]

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We all complain and obsess about today’s wine styles – whether it’s excessive tannins, over-oaked chardonnays, excessive alcohol, too many vegetal aromas, brett, sulfites, and on and on and on… Well here is your opportunity to participate in a very special tasting to experience what some of our postmodern winemakers are up to these days [...]

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