IntoWine recently caught up with george wine company's winemaker and founder, George Levkoff to discuss wine making and his thoughts on current trends in the wine industry. What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career? I became a winemaker as a result of an epiphany I had at dinner in late 1994. The restaurant was Joe’s in Venice, CA, and the meal was tuna foie gras. My friend Mark brought along two bottles of pinot noir from Williams Selyem, Rochioli Vineyard 1991 & 1992. The meal which I had many times before, never tasted better, and I proclaimed that one day I would make wine like this in Healdsburg, a town I had never visited. Four years later I sold my house and quit my job, and moved to Healdsburg.

What's an appropriate wine to serve at a Baltimore Orioles themed party? What wine would be a good gift for a hard core Orioles fan? Even a short visit to Baltimore will reveal an important fact about Charm City's residents. They are stubbornly passionate about the things that matter. And, in Baltimore, sports teams definitely matter, particularly the Baltimore Orioles baseball team. As Opening Day approaches each year, news reporters file stories on Orioles veterans, rookies and coaches, on the menu and management of Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the city's iconic stadium, its groundskeepers and staffers and on hopes for the new baseball season. The city and its residents adorn themselves with Orioles orange and black. With every Baltimore spring comes a renewed flowering of Orioles mania, an enthusiasm that diehard O's fans carry all the way through the season and playoffs.

IntoWine recently caught up with Pisoni Vineyard's winemaker Jeff Pisoni to discuss wine making and his thoughts on current trends in the wine industry. What prompted you to pursue winemaking as a career? Both my brother and I were fortunate to grow up around it. We were both very young when our father was already making wine and started planting vineyards. When only a few years old, Mark and I would “make wine” in mason jars and stomp grapes in old redwood fermentors that belonged to our great-grandparents. Seeing all this at a young age gave us an appreciation for winemaking and a desire to work with the family. I had always been very driven to the winemaking side, whereas my brother felt closer to the farming side. Now Dad watches over things but leaves the winemaking up to me and the viticulture to Mark.

IntoWine recently caught up with Chris Ball of 417 Wines, the producers of Tangent Cabernet Sauvignon, to discuss his foray into winemaking: How did your foray into winemaking come about? I was first really exposed to wine while studying Architecture in Sienna, Italy. After I came back I began developing a taste for what I appreciated, which in turn led to collecting wines, and eventually the desire to make wine…specifically wine in the image of what I enjoy. My good friend David Dain of Dain Wines has served as a mentor as well as consultant on our inaugural release of the two 2007’s

I think Port is an underappreciated wine. At least in my life, I’ve always restricted it to dessert wine, and not being a dessert person, the bottles I acquired tended to sit around in my wine cabinet to gather dust and “age”. But, about a year ago, a friend (let’s call him John) at work called me over to his desk, pointed to an open bottle of port and a glass (fortunately he doesn’t operate heavy machinery) and asked me try his “…favorite $20 bottle of port, the best deal around”. The wine tasted very nice, but what interested me more than the flavor, was the way he thought about Port.

Baja California may seem like beer and tequila country but its grape-growing valleys like Guadalupe, San Antonio, and Santo Tomas, are producing 90 percent of all of the wine made in Mexico. “There’s a big market for good wine and there’s a lot of money here in Mexico,” says winemaker of Vena Cava, and British transplant Phil Gregory. “Guadalupe Valley is the name that brings people here.” More and more, the Guadalupe Valley is becoming known as the de facto wine route, known as the Ruta del Vino (route 3 from Ensenada) which traverses 135 miles encompassing about 50 wineries.

What's an appropriate wine to serve at a Boston Red Sox themed party? What wine would be a good gift for a hard core Red Sox fan? If you've ever been to a Boston Red Sox baseball game, you already know that the Red Sox Nation, as the team's fans are known, is loyal to the point of obsession. Even at away games, you will see a literal sea of red shirts, worn by the Red Sox' devoted fans. Forbes Magazine named Red Sox fans the "best sports fans in the nation" for 2010. Which wines would be best to serve to these dedicated Red Sox fans? What wine would you buy as a gift for a citizen of the Red Sox Nation?

What's an approriate wine to serve at a New York Yankees themed party? What wine would be a good gift for a hard core Yankees fan? No matter what time of year it might be, spring training is "just around the corner," either as a continuation of a favorite baseball team's good year or as a beacon of hope for a better season. New York Yankees fans, in particular, usually have something to celebrate. This storied Major League Baseball franchise, named "World's Most Valuable Sports Franchise" by Forbes.com, has captured 28 World Championships and seen 48 players (so far) named to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. For New York Yankees fans, there's no better way to celebrate Yankee baseball than with a bottle of baseball-themed wine.

When considering the unofficial lists of “First Growths of the Right Bank” in Bordeaux, Chateau Pétrus must be included. Pétrus is located in the tiny commune of Pomerol on the right bank of the Gironde River. The wines of Pomerol have never been classified, but there is no doubt that Pétrus is in the highest echelon of wines produced there. It is also one of the most expensive wines sold anywhere in the world. While the name of the estate is Chateau Pétrus, there is no grand Chateau on the premises. There is a modest two story house on the property. Perhaps because of that, or perhaps just due to its reputation, the wines are often just referred to as Pétrus. The name is homage to St. Peter whose picture appears on the label. Pétrus does not have the long history of many of the great Bordeaux wines. Thomas Jefferson most likely never drank it. The estate property was originally owned by the Arnaud family since the mid 1700s. At that time, the estate was 17 acres. The name Pétrus can be found in records dating back to 1837. In 1868 Chateau Pétrus was ranked in quality behind two other Pomerol estates: Vieux Chateau Certan and Chateau Trotanoy, as listed by Cocks and Fèret , one of the leading Bordeaux reference’s of its day.

California has been home to many cult wines over the past few decades. Typically a small production label makes a series of great wines, a few -usually connected- wine enthusiasts discover them, word then spreads through the wine community as the financially well endowed lay claim to the membership lists and clamor for the next release, driving up prices in the process. Meanwhile, the producer breathes a sigh of relief knowing that, not only will their next release sell out, but that it will sell for a premium. Napa Valley's Cult Vines , as its name not-at-all-subtly implies, has focused its efforts directly on this sub-sector of the wine market; and there is nothing modest about their strategy. They are choosing the best grapes from the most respected vineyards and endeavoring to make the finest Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Roussane/Marsanne possible to sell to cult wine fans with deep pockets. And to their credit, their strategy appears to be working as planned. IntoWine caught up with Cult Vines co-founder Michael Cochran to learn more about his foray into cult winemaking.