A wine blogger must make a great many sacrifices in the course of carrying out his/her duties. For this wine blogger, a major sacrifice will be made this weekend...beginning this evening, as a matter of act...when I am compelled to attend the 10th annual Jazz on the Vine event.

What is Jazz on the Vine? It’s two days of music performed by such renowned artists as Euge Groove (real name: Steven Eugene Grove), Peter White (real name: Peter White) and a host of others generally clumped into the radio format known as “smooth jazz.” The Osthoff Resort in Elkhart Lake, Wis., is the host.

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Each summer, Robert Mondavi Winery, one of the iconic estates in California’s Napa Valley, hosts a Summer Concert Series on the edge of the famed To Kalon Vineyard.

Guests are invited to bring a picnic or enjoy a sit-down dinner prepared by Mondavi’s Chef Mosher. Either way, of course, Mondavi wines are available for sale.

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In the world of wine, the winemakers are the stars. They are the people sought out by journalists and bloggers for interviews, and they are the ones who get their pictures in magazines like Wine Spectator, Wine Enthusiast, et al.

But without the men and women who grow winegrapes, there would be no such thing as winemakers. It has become a cliché, but it’s absolutely true that all great wines begin in the vineyard.

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News item: Animal rescuers in the Chicago area said dozens of brown and garter snakes have been released after spending the winter in a wine chiller.
Source: upi.com

Most readers would consider this a nice story about animals—reptiles, to be precise. And it certainly is that.

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“A world of wine in 40 miles.”

That’s the marketing slogan of the Columbia Gorge Wineries, an organization of wine estates located in the unique winegrowing climate of the Columbia Gorge.

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There is no more beautiful portmanteau in the English language than “brunch.”

While brunch can be enjoyed on any day of the week, it is most commonly offered by restaurants on Sundays. Historically, the idea was to give revelers who stayed out a little too late on Saturday night the opportunity to sleep in without missing out on traditional breakfast fare. Exactly who coined the word—which morphs “breakfast” and “lunch”—is open to debate.

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Can winegrapes find happiness in a country where the climate is tropical all year long?

Kerry Damskey intends to find out. The man behind Terroirs Incorporated—a consulting firm for wineries—has vast experience growing grapes and making wine from California to China, and from Washington to India and Bulgaria.

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The growth cycle of a grapevine involves five basic processes each year:

1. Bud break.
2. Flowering.
3. Fruit set.
4. Veraison.
5. Dormancy.

We stress the word “basic” because each “process” is extremely involved, and any number of factors along the way can have a big effect on the ultimate health of the winegrapes and, by extension, the quality of the wine made from the grapes.

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Tempranillo.

Albarino.

Garnacha.

Verdelho.

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The Australian wine industry has had its ups and downs over the past 20 years.

It began with a big “up,” as American consumers discovered that Down Under vintners were making wines packed with personality, and selling them at bargain basement prices.

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