This story is perhaps overtold, but to this day, when we talk about Santa Barbara, the first thing that probably comes to people’s mind is the 2004 film Sideways. Yes, thanks to that film, the wines, particularly those made from Pinot Noir and Chardonnay (unfortunately not Merlot), have captured the attention of consumers and collectors. But the setting of the…

Looking at the Azores archipelago on Google Maps brings to mind the island where Tom Hanks’ character in the 2000 film Cast Away was stranded on for four years. Sitting in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, the Azores seems to be hidden within the vast ocean. But instead of looking for Wilson, we are seeking the wines from Paulo…

When talking about great wine regions and producers, we often associate them with heritage and legacy, something that can only be built with enough history. When it comes to Mendoza, it can still be mistaken as young and new due to its “New World” designation. But if we take a look back at the story of Mendoza, and of Luigi…

“That’s so awesome, are you going to Napa?” …is the response I got when I suggested I was visiting a wine region near San Francisco. It’s a shame, because the Santa Cruz Mountains (“SCM”) AVA, situated southwest of the Bay area, is actually much closer. It, however, remains largely unknown.  It’s not a small region either. SCM is a large…

Attending wine tastings as a wine writer can sometimes feel like attending a lecture. You enter a quiet and organized room filled with desks, chairs, and projectors, with one (or several) person at the front while the rest of us are seated facing them. Some of us have even spent several hours the night before studying the wine region or…

“Napa forgot Merlot. I didn’t.” That is Jeff Cole’s statement from his Instagram bio. His handle, @themerlotmovement, is just as defining. This is Jeff’s mission: to revive Rutherford’s (and in extension, Napa’s) reputation for producing world class Merlot.  To us looking in from the outside, however, this seemed odd at first.  Jeff is the winemaker at Sullivan Rutherford Estate, which…

The story of a winery often begins with a powerful figure, one full of character and energy. At Castello del Terriccio, located in Maremma, Tuscany, that figure was Gian Annibale Rossi di Medelana. It was Gian, who inherited the estate from his uncle in 1975, that transformed Terriccio to become part of the Super Tuscan revolution. But I never met…

Among the universe of wine characteristics that customers can describe to restaurant sommeliers or wine store staff, the distaste for 'sweetness' in wine is quite common. Part of it is the wine industry's own fault, having allowed bad apples like Blue Nun and White Zinfandel to tarnish the image of sweet wine. This image, however, has unfortunately formed a consensus…

In the wine world, there is a special emphasis for wineries that remain family owned. Maybe it’s the romanticized notion, believing they put more attention and care into the vineyard rather than meeting production targets. Maybe it’s the freedom that comes with independence, allowing them to focus on quality instead of the bottom line. Or maybe, just maybe, it is…

Sabatino is a young man. Or at least, he is so full of energy that you can mistake him for someone half his age.  The truth is, Sabatino has been co-owner and winemaker of La Valentina since 1994. Located near the coastal city of Pescara in Abruzzo, where the region is known more for its affordable but mediocre wines and…

Grape Collective talks to Sami Ghosn about the origin of wine in Lebanon, and his hope for a peaceful future.

The sun-kissed vineyards, rolling hills, steep mountain terrains, winding roads leading to nowhere, and even livestock roaming the fields, the vision of vineyards are hard to deny. But that picturesque image was not what Sami Ghosn saw when he returned home to Lebanon in 1992 to establish Massaya.

British economist E.F. Schumacher, in his 1973 book Small is Beautiful, wrote: “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage — to move in the opposite direction.” Of course, the topic of that book had absolutely nothing to do with wine. But in our…

First and foremost, the North Adriatic is not another official wine region that we need to memorize for an upcoming wine certification exam (yet). It is, however, a unique concept that encompasses a group of wine regions in three vastly different countries. The different jurisdiction that crisscrosses the area conceals the fact that they share many historical and cultural commonalities,…

To many people, the wines from Sancerre are almost synonymous with the word ‘wine’. Sancerre, for all intents and purposes, is the answer: It’s Friday night and you want to relax? Sancerre. Your friend is hosting a dinner party? Sancerre. Your partner is cooking tonight? Sancerre.  Part of the popularity may be attributable to the easy-to-pronounce name, but it is…

Wine is more than just a beverage for me. Drinking wine, I can often derive introspective thoughts and emotions about myself. And most of the time, wine brings joy. But on a particular occasion not too long ago, some other emotion overtook me.  One evening, I was opening a bottle of Vintage Port from the legendary 1970 vintage. I was…

Anselmo is very easy to like. Tall, charismatic, a full head of hair, and always smiling when he talks. He radiates a sense of joy and pride when he presents San Leonardo and its wine. This small winery, located at the southern end of Trentino DOC in Northeast Italy, is surrounded by seemingly inhospitable terrain, endless forestry, and roaming wildlife.…

Time, in the right hands, can do remarkable things.  That magic is especially evident in Port, where extensive aging in barrel or bottle (depending on the type of Port) helps integrate the layers of flavors, tannins, and alcohol. Port is a unique category of wine where the tradition of fortifying the aggressively extracted wine with grape spirits requires the necessary…

“Wine, at the heart of it, is agriculture.” That was what Brian Talley told us as we wrapped up our tasting. He says this with a certain tone of endearment. As proprietor of Talley Vineyards, Brian has been at the helm since 1991, growing it from essentially a side project started by his father to become the benchmark winery of…

Something we often complain about is the price tags of wine. And it’s totally understandable - wine, on the surface, is just fermented grape juice bottled in a glass container. How hard can it be to consistently grow grapes, make wine, and sell to customers at a low price while still allowing the families who make the wines to earn…

Grape Collective talks to Ludovica Lisini about her experience working with her family to continue the legacy of Lisini winery.

In the wine world, a family is considered lucky to have their legacy carried on by descendants, generation after generation, to realize the vision their founding ancestors had for the land they occupy. Other times, uncontrollable events happen, and a family would lose their pride and joy.  While the journey that eventually brought Monica Raspi into wine was not as…

For many, wine can be beautiful and pleasurable, mysterious and complicated. For others, it is downright intimidating at times. When I find myself roaming the aisles staring blankly at a wall of wine, the abundance of options results in an endless self-debate to reach a decision on which bottle of wine to select. Fortunately, with experience, this process for me…

In the wine world, there are a lot of producers that come from multiple generations of grape growing and winemaking. To them, wine isn’t just a way of life, it is THE way of life. For Armando Castagnedi, co-owner of Tenuta Sant’Antonio in Valpolicella, this belief is the driving force behind the establishment of their business. Armando and his three…

In the business of wine, once a region establishes an identity, it can be hard for producers to venture past that boundary. But with Bodega Trivento (“Trivento”), one of Argentina’s most successful single varietal Malbec and Cabernet Sauvignon producers, they seem to be able to iteratively innovate their wine offering without discarding their advantage. Founded in 1996, Trivento owns 12…

Grape Collective talks to Samra Morris about her path to wine and her winemaking philosophy.

Last time when we wrote about wines from Canada, the diversity and quality of the cool climate wines from Ontario’s Niagara Peninsula came as a great revelation, as the winemakers there have been on a long and relentless path of expressing their unique identity. This time, we look to the West Coast around 2,000 miles away, where British Columbia quietly…

Dear love, I wanted to let you know how much you mean to me, and how there aren’t enough words to express this. But I am a flawed human. I may not always be on time with the flowers, helping out with the chores, keeping places tidy and neat, or quick to understand what you need most when you’re busy.   …

Another year, and another month of Dry January in the books. For those that haven’t caught on yet, myself included, non-alcoholic wine has picked up a lot of attention and momentum during January. So naturally, we wanted to ask the question: what is a non-alcoholic wine? 

If we play a game of word association, it’s very likely the word “Ice wine” leads us to think “Canada”, and for good reason. But the reality is that Canada’s wine industry goes all the way back to the 1800s, and it has been quietly evolving into a comprehensive high quality producer of wines of different styles.