Thomas Rivers Brown and his wife Genevieve Marie Walsh have quickly made Rivers-Marie one of California’s most sought after Pinot Noir labels. The winery was founded in 2002 and the first release was the Rivers-Marie Summa Vineyard Pinot Noir. Rivers-Marie also does several single vineyard Cabernets and a Chardonnay. In addition to making his own wine, Thomas serves as a…
The January Installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on some old bottles from several of my very favorite Chateaux. I mentioned in the first installment, the purpose of this series is to provide insight into specific wines or producers you may currently have in your cellar. The winning bottle will be opened this Saturday and a Bottle Note will…
Avennia was founded in 2012 by Partner/Winemaker Chris Peterson and Managing Partner Marty Taucher. Chris was the first graduate of Walla Walla Community College’s Enology & Viticulture program, and spent the better part of the last decade making wine at Delille Cellars. Chris and Marty’s appreciation for Old World winemaking is reflected in the name: Avennia is inspired by the…
I was recently asked to participate in a live tasting of three field blend Zinfandels from Dry Creek Valley. If you have read my blog long enough you know this is the equivalent of asking my 10 year old boy if he would like to go shopping at GameStop. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity. Dry Creek Valley…
Araujo Estate is a 38-acre vineyard in northeast Napa Valley, east of Calistoga. It was established in 1990 when Bart and Daphne Araujo bought the historic vineyard from Milt and Barbara Eisele, who planted the vines in the 1960s. For nearly 40 years the Eisele Vineyard has been known as one of the valley’s great vineyards, consistently producing outstanding wines.…
Zinfandel of the Month is a new feature on Zinfandel Chronicles. For a little background please see the first installment published three months ago. Keep in mind that although the Zinfandel of the Month might be an older bottle, the current vintage will be one you can find at retail or via the mailing list. The January Zinfandel of the Month…
Previously known as Grand Rêve, Force Majeure was founded in 2004 by Paul McBride and Ryan Johnson. Force Majeure pairs some of Washington’s highly acclaimed winemakers with fruit from one of Washington’s highly acclaimed vineyards, Ciel du Cheval. The winemakers contributing to the Collaboration Series is a Who’s Who of Washington winemakers including Ben Smith, Carolyn Lakewold, Chris Gorman, James…
Mailers from Betz and Quilceda Creek have already arrived. Save the date emails from Sojourn and Outpost are in my inbox. I’ve seen confirmations from the winery that Saxum and Rivers-Marie are only a week or two out. The biannual battle of trying to juggle mortgage payments, school tuition and wine purchases has begun. For better or worse, mailing list season…
Williams Selyem Winery began when Ed Selyem and Burt Williams started making wine as a hobby in 1979 in Forestville, California. Their first commercial release was in 1981, and in less than two decades they created a cult-status winery of international acclaim. Setting a new standard for Pinot Noir winemaking, they put Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley at the forefront…
Year end always seems like a good time to take stock of the wine cellar and think about how you might want to change your approach in the up coming year. I’ve been at this wine hobby this for a long time so there is no need for a radical overhaul. I do though plan to make some minor changes…