It certainly doesn’t feel like Spring in many parts of the country. Even so, the season of renewal officially begins today. As late 19th- and early 20th-century author, educator and clergyman Henry Van Dyke once noted, “The first day of…

Beginning a few weeks after harvest is completed and often extending well into spring, many wineries will offer “barrel tasting” as part of their tour programs. In some appellations where the wineries are organized for marketing purposes, entire f…

Some winemakers take great pride in letting the public know that their wines undergo “no fining.” The main reason cited is that this common and widely accepted practice can strip wine of its “naturalness.” While that’s true to a certain degree, fa…

We’ve heard it many times: “All great wines begin in the vineyard.” It’s impossible to debate that point because without grapes of good quality—meaning healthy and adequately ripened—a vintner is destined to make a wine that is little more than “a…

Like many things in life, wine is cyclical. If you drink it long enough (I’m speaking in moderation over a good number of years, not multiple hours in a single setting), you’ll see styles come and go. It’s sort of like fashion that way. Chardonnay…

Bring up the subject of human cloning, and prepare yourself for a spirited ethics debate. But when the topic turns to grapevine cloning, the mood can become downright romantic. Matching the right clone to the right vineyard site can make all the d…

Here is a statistic that may startle you: only 2 percent of all wine made ever spends time in wood barrels. That’s according to someone who should know: Francois Peltereau, president of Seguin Moreau Napa Cooperage, a maker of oak barrels for wine…

One of the special places on Earth for growing Cabernet Sauvignon grapes is the Rutherford sub-appellation of the Napa Valley. For one member of the Vinesse tasting panel, the Rutherford-designated Cab from Pine Ridge Winery—a wine originally know…