To say my dad and I have been obsessed with Sangiovese would be quite anunderstatement. As we celebrate the phenomenal 2023 vintage for our Sangiovesewines, I thought it appropriate to review our history with Tuscany’s grape.Dad and Linda began visiting family in Tuscany in 1980. They quickly decided thattraveling to Italy was THE vacation for…
Segromigno is the name of a village in Tuscany, and it is the name we have used for our Sangiovese blend since 2000. 25 years later, I’m thinking Segromingo could offer a glimpse into the future of California red wine. The wine business is going through a bit of a rough patch these days. California…
Barbera is the most heavily planted grape in Italy’s Piemonte region, but here ithas always taken a back seat to Nebbiolo, the grape used for Barolo and Barbaresco.Thanks to a several wineries (listed below) in Asti, Nizza, and Alba, Barbera is having itsshare of the Piemontese spotlight.We began to appreciate Italian Barbera back in the…
We have always likened our best Grenache-based wine, Cuvée Foudre (weak name, Iknow, but that is what we gave it 20 years ago) to the world’s most prestigious RhôneBlend, Châteauneuf-Du-Pape. Yet, in the past 10-15 years, CDPs have come a littleunder fire, and I’m not just talking about the high alcohol content. So, I decided…
Montepulcino has developed quite a cult-like following among our customers. I initiallythought folks were attracted to the novelty of a California winery making this prominentCentral Italian wine. However, after making and selling our Montepulciano for 18 years, I’d sayyou like UNTI Montepulciano. You really like UNTI Montepulciano. Since our very first vintage in 2006, we…
Zinfandel is better in Dry Creek My dad and I began wine tasting in Dry Creek Valley over 40 years ago (ouch). What was immediately apparent to us then still rings true today – DCV is our favorite place on the planet for high-quality Zinfandel. Why? I’ve tried to distill it down to a few…
Vermentino, Amore My first experience with Vermentino was underwhelming. It was an inexpensive wine from Sardinia —soft and fruity, but not compelling. I didn’t take it seriously. Then we started making Vermentino from our experimental vineyard planted in 2004. I appreciated Vermentino’s expressive fruit but was still not convinced it was worthy of being bottled…