Winexpression

Remember around the turn of the millennium when clothing retailer Gap made all those fantastic commercials? The ads featured attractive people dancing gracefully and enjoying life, while wearing their Gap khakis and polo’s. These ads were effective because they targeted emotion, the audience wanted to belong, to fit in, to enjoy life along with their [...]

It’s sobering when you stop and think that two people visiting Napa Valley for a day of wine tasting can rack up a bill of $200 if they visit four wineries @ $25 a tasting. Honestly, that’s ridiculous.
I found an interesting piece in the Chronicle this weekend that was frustrating for my wife and [...]

As I watch friends, family, neighbors, and strangers open bottles of Sparkling wine, my frustration has finally reached an unbearable level. Hasn’t anyone showed you how to do this? It’s not rocket science. But unlike opening a 2 liter bottle of carbonated sugar water, opening sparkling wine requires some guidelines in order to avoid harming [...]

It was almost 30 years ago that American wines shocked the world when two were chosen by French tasters over first growth wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy changing the American wine scene forever. That night, Steven Spurrier organized the tasting, and is set to do it again this year. This time there will be two [...]

It’s happened to me, and I’m betting most have had a similar experience. Over at a friends house, as I prepared to open a bottle of wine, I asked for an opener (a waiter’s friend), inserted the corkscrew in, started to twist, and was surprised when the worm detached and the opener broke. Great, now [...]

The French make the most wine in the world, but, their market share is sliding fast and they can be bumped out of that top spot sooner than they think, if things don’t change. Many are taking the first steps in remedying the situation by looking to the government for help, but is it because [...]

Americans are drinking more wine according to a recent study by Merrill Research of San Mateo, and wineries are noticing that the next generation consumer is quickly becoming a group to target. These 20 somethings are learning more about the product, are influenced by reviews and recommendations, and are spending more money per [...]

My wife forwarded me this email after my last post:
Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road. As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the Navajo woman [...]

I can’t seem to stop. I’ve tried different ways of stopping myself, but nothing seems to work, I just keep doing it.
What am I talking about? Buying wine. That’s right, just the simple act of exchanging hard earned cash (or plastic) for fermented grape juice for later consumption. I’ve tried to give myself a monthly [...]

How do you rate a wine? Do you try and stick to the 100 point system? Is that system flawed? Is there a better scale to use? How important are tasting notes?
These are some of the questions most of us face when we seriously try and gauge a wine’s quality. There are a lot of [...]