Wine Storage LFSX Velvet

The old adage that ‘everything is bigger in Texas’ should be amended to include the state’s will to grow grapes and make premium wines – no matter what. In no other major wine producing American state does the tantalizing exploration of wine’s possibilities continue to embolden and elude the producers of the area.

The southern Willamette south of Eugene has a special place in my heart.

My first visit was in 1992 when I house-sat for friends on the mid-Oregon coast in Florence. I took a day trip inland and just for fun decided to drop down south and check out the wineries. My expectations were not high. At that point, I was still a bit of a California snob.

Norm Yost started his career into the world of wine as a beer drinking football player, specifically offensive guard and tackle. Sure, he was at UC Davis, but he had been recruited right out of high school to play football, Division 2, not to do any mamby-pamby wine related stuff. His roommate in college was studying fermentation science and enology and would conduct wine tastings, which got Norm's attention. “I was really intrigued by it,” he recalled.

This is the first in a series of articles about the people, places and events that helped shape Napa and Sonoma as we know them today.

After watching the atmospheric rise of popularity and quality in California wines over the past thirty-odd years, it is not a stretch to assume that Napa Valley as a tourist destination is a relatively new phenomenon.

Perhaps the most obscure wine making region in all of Italy is the region of Molise. Molise is surrounded by Abruzzo, Lazio, Campania, and Apulia. Until 1963, the region of Molise was part of the same political region as Abruzzo (Montepulciano d’Abruzzo was discussed in a previous article). In fact, the food and traditions here are closely associated with Abruzzo. Yet, its closeness to both Apulia and Campania lend it a bit of a southern influence.

The wines of Molise achieved their own independence in the 1980’s with the creation of two DOCs: Biferno (named after the largest river in Molise) and Pentro di Isernia. These hillside areas receive wonderful sunshine and are sandwiched between the Apennines Mountains and the Adriatic Sea. Biferno wines can be red, white or rosé. The whites are predominantly made from the Trebbiano grape along with the Bombino in smaller proportions. The reds are a blend of mostly Montepulciano with some of the Aglianico grape. Wines from Pentro di Isernia can also be red, white or rosé. The whites are the same Trebbiano-Bombino grape blend, while the reds (and rosé’s) are usually a blend of Montepulciano and Sangiovese.

More recently, in 1968 a DOC also called Molise was created. This DOC encompasses the region and allows for white, red, rosé and even sparkling wines.

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series.

The classic red wines of the Northern Rhone Valley are some of the world’s greatest. Hermitage, Côte Rôtie and Cornas reds are the finest expressions of Syrah on earth.

But the best of them have gotten to be very expensive, especially in American dollars. Recent vintages of Hermitage from Jean-Louis Chave are now more than $200 per bottle (and his scarce, top cuvee, Cathelin, is over $1,000). Guigal’s Côte Rôtie La Landonne, La Mouline and La Turque are nearly $250 per bottle, and even the Guigal Côte Rôtie Brune et Blond bottling is over $75.

A 24 Hour Diary:

Feb 20, 2008, 11:35 am, Porto Alegre Airport, Brazil

I’m shopping at the duty free store in the Porto Alegre airport as I wait for my twice-delayed flight to Montevideo. Luckily I now have enough time to pick out the most useful things one could have during a hot and sweaty South American summer... a pair of Brazilian Havaenna flip-flops...35 spf face cream... and some over-priced designer deodorant ( no sense in layering on perfume over my sun-block and insect-repellent).

In the region of Campania, a wine is made that is a very nice every day wine that sells for a fair price and, in the hands of a few wineries, presents a very good buy. The really fun thing about this wine, however, is the name. I am speaking about Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio. Long before winemakers started putting cute animals on their labels or giving their wines fanciful names in order to market them to the general public, Lacryma Christi wines were flourishing.