California wineries are often burdened by a turnover of winemakers. The most elite wineries hang on to their winemakers because, well, there’s no place better for them to go. But otherwise winemakers can leap frog from one mediocre winery to the next in search of an ow...

Steve Rogstad knows Los Carneros.  After college, he worked at Saintsbury, Rombauer, and Clos Pegase before landing his current winemaking position at Cuvaison. He worked alongside legends – Dick Ward, Tony Soter, Ted Lemon and Craig Williams – to perfect pinot noir an...

We always have found Valentine’s Day a bit galling. Steeped in mythical interpretations, it is a holiday cleverly marketed by greeting card companies, florists, chocolatiers, and restaurateurs who are happy to help you express your love with dollar signs. Why do we hav...

Most people think of Napa Valley when it comes to California wine. However important it is to the West Coast wine industry, Napa is relatively small at just 4 percent of California’s wine production.  There are other emerging regions that are producing interesting wine...

We often wonder how pinot noir got so expensive. There was once a time in our early years of winemaking when burgundy costs considerably more than California pinot noir. Now, it’s the opposite. We can find excellent burgundies from areas like Mercurey, Givy, and Maconn...

We may make too much of weather when it comes to enjoying wine. But why is it that a crisp sauvignon blanc tastes better in the summer and a brawny zinfandel tastes better in the winter? Yes, we know many of you drink either wine year-round, but a lot of people associa...

We recently met with Remi Barrett from La Sirena, a small production Napa Valley winery project of Remi’s mother, Heidi Peterson Barrett. Heidi Peterson Barrett and her husband, Bo Barrett, are two of the highest profile and well-respected winemakers in Napa Valley win...

When we became interested in wine, we first visited France, arguably the most revered wine growing region in the world and certainly one with the most influence on winemaking. Although we liked the Bordeaux region, we found ourselves drawn to Burgundy where pinot noir...

The beginning of a new year gives us the opportunity to set personal goals and reflect on where we’ve been and where we’re going. That 2020 is also the beginning of a new decade and allows us to extend our reflections.

Since we began writing this column more than 30 yea...

When the Washington Nationals celebrated their World Series victory a few months ago, the locker room was awash in sparkling wine. Players and coaches reveled in showering themselves with sparkling wine, a victory tradition hardly uncommon in the world. No matter how m...