Category Archives: Uncategorized

IPNC 2016 House Style Pinot Noir Seminar with Jim Clendenen

IPNC 2016 continues with a Pinot panel called Genetics 325: Evolution of House Style. It has near to nothing to do with genetics, but oodles to do with the human influence on wine. The panel includes Adam Campbell of Elk … Continue reading

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IPNC 2016 Lunch With James Halliday Tyrrell’s Wines

I will post intermittently of 2016 IPNC (International Pinot Noir Celebration)’s 30th Anniversary So chance has landed me at IPNC for a second year. I arrived late, missed my vineyard tour, and almost missed lunch. But luckily, they squeezed me … Continue reading

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Smell Test Detects Alzheimer’s Disease

The University of Pennsylvania Smell Identification Test, or UPSIT, pits aging people against scratch and sniff cards of raspberry, coffee, chocolate, cinnamon and licorice: basically fantastic Napa Cab aromas. If you cannot smell these, well, you have a tripled chance … Continue reading

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SakeOne Brewery Visit Review

West of Portland, Oregon, on the fringes of civilization in Forest Grove, sits what looks to be a warehouse among fields, other warehouses, and lumber yards. Yet here lies America’s first saké producer: SakeOne. They began in 1992 as sake importers but soon saw gold in Oregon’s coastal range: pure water similar to Japan. By 1997, SakeOne produced their first batch of Momokawa.

Our tour starts outside with a mural of classic saké production by a local artist. Continue reading

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Wine Review Thacher Mourvedre Paso Robles 2012

Our Monday recap tour of Paso Robles wineries continues with Thacher Winery. By chance, my beer brewing wife has a soulmate here. Sherman Thacher brewed at Los Gatos for sixteen years. But a switch to wine in 1993, marriage, and kids led to opening his namesake winery in 2004. They bought 54 acres of barley field tucked between hills on Paso’s west end in Adelaida. Aside from barley, pumpkins, and corn they also grow zinfandel and petite sirah (they source the rest). Once done, 3,400 cases make Thacher’s wines a limited commodity. Continue reading

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