So many people have said, "I'd love to try that wine, but I am not willing to pay X$'s for a bottle that I don't know how it tastes." Research has proven the number one factor in consumer wine purchases begins with the price point. Might I suggest that the average Joe or Jane is not willing to give up their hard earned money without knowing if they like it or not.

A solution is now available to this issue! The "tasting room" can now be brought to the consumer. TastingRoom.com has been kind enough to ...

When it comes to food and wine it can be equated to shoes and socks,mom and dad, Disneyland and Mickey Mouse, wind and kites, one just simply goes with the other. At the great wall of wine in the grocery stores, I often see people staring into a sea of wine desperately trying to figure out what they will add to their shopping cart loaded with food. In my estimation, many forget that wine is a living organism like food. Wine is ultimately a crop grown in a dirt field, fueled by God's weather run by farmers.

Wine ...

Rustic elegance might be the best way to describe the on-set of a recent Eugene Oregon excursion I took through wine country. Our wine blogger conference excursion group was courted by some great people from  Eugene Cascade Coast and AMTRAK. This historic restored 19th century barn is the home to Heidi Tunnell Catering Company. Heidi may live in a small town, but this is no run of the mill catering as she took home the title of Iron Chef OR in 2011.

We were happily greeted in the barn by Heidi and a cold glass of bubbles on an unusually ...

My new friend Sharon can give hugs out all day long with open arms and humor. If hugs were acceptable in todays society from a near 40 year old man, without being weird, I would have given them out all day too.

Thank you, danksche, gracias, merci, however you say it, the magnitude or level of thanks is rarely understood in the English language. When someone holds the door for us, most of us say "thanks." When a waiter brings us wine we say "thank you." When I see a man or women dressed in a United States military uniform ...

When it comes to winemaking and wine knowledge, well, lets just say it is not an even playing field for all. The range is broad and so is the quality of wines produced globally. Ted Elliot of T.R. Elliot is producing Pinot Noir that most anyone would be proud to bring to any dinner party, although many might not want to release a grip on this bottle.

Several of us had the opportunity to play an interactive role in a livestream on Cellarsofsonoma.com last Tuesday night at 6:00 PM. Ted learned to make wine under the watchful ...

In life and wine there are often quantifiers. In school we had grades. In life we have work reviews, in wine we have scores. All of these things are simply an attempt to distinguish between below average, average, above average, or rock-star status.

Allow me to get to the meat by unabashedly saying this is a hall of fame rock-star wine! 

Steven Kent Winery or shall I say Steven Kent Mirassou is a 6th generation California winemaker that has a winery in Livermore Valley of California. The Lineage label is his top tier of wines and a true Bordeaux style ...

When it comes to Chardonnay lets just say I could be compared to a child at the dinner table, picky. Living in California where Chardonnay is abundant, so are the varying levels of quality and styles. My personal preference leans toward a couple of styles of Chardonnay and shys from a wine that taste like an over manipulated grape that came from grandma's house.

Now that I got that out of the way, I can say Amorosa Bella from the Russian River Valley is not your grandmas' Chardonnay. Scott Jordon of Cellars of Sonoma did a live stream video ...

This years Wine Bloggers Conference or #wbc12, will be held in Portland Oregon this coming August 15-19th. Those you of joining the #wbc12 have most likely already reviewed the agenda, and for me that would amount to a few dozen times. Throughout this past year I have been privileged to participate in a handful of events that all have ties to this years #wbc12 agenda. In a sense, I feel like I've gotten micro portions of wbc. While each of these tiny pieces have been lots of fun, I expect so much more when in Portland. 

I live near ...

What a fantastic live stream last night with Scott Jordon of Cellars of Sonoma, and his guest winemaker Heidi Barrett. You may know her name from many Napa cult wines, such as iconic Screaming Eagle. Scott poured the line-up of Heidis' La Sirena label while getting wine geeky. Great to be joined by fellow wine bloggers Jodi Fritch, Dan Goderis, Dezel Quillen, and Grace Hoffman.

We all had the opportunity to drink the La Sirena Calistoga (Napa Valley) Syrah with Scott and Heidi as they talked about the wines, and we asked her questions. The wines coming from Cellars of ...