“Maynard James Keenan!” they’d say. “Singer of Tool, you know?” Of course I knew. “He bought a house in Jerome and does all kinds of crazy shit up there!”
What I didn’t know at the time was that, no, my friends weren’t completely bullshitting me. The tall and mysterious frontman of Tool, A Perfect Circle and, more recently, Puscifer, did in fact buy property in the impossibly small mountainside former ghost town of Jerome 60 miles southwest of my of birthplace, Flagstaff. But he wasn’t dropping acid, painting himself blue and “stinkfisting” lucky fans like we’d assumed. He was, of all things, digging in the dirt, planting grape vines and building a winery.
View original post.
Their winemaker is the much-lauded Carol Bunn, a local girl with a curriculum vitae, and clutch of significant trophies, that many local winemakers can only dream about. “We’re big on vineyard canopy management techniques,” says the gregarious Bunn …
View original post.
The white and gray volcanic rock on Tom and Marcie Dinkel’s property is called “tuff.” It’s hard to grow grapes in this ground with the topsoil measuring about four inches — the soil drains quickly and the vines don’t get a lot of water.
Winemaker Bob Foley describes the terroir and its effect on the four-acre Dos Lagos Vineyards, 1,650 feet up Atlas Peak Road: “Cabernet sauvignon grown in this volcanic tuff series geology produces remarkably expressive wines of profound extraction.”
View original post.
Reuniting with an old friend is always enjoyable, and doubly so when it’s with Richard Arrowood and a glass of his 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon.
Richard Arrowood began his winemaking career in the mid-1960s. In 1974, he became the winemaker and the first employee of the Sonoma County’s Chateau St. Jean. For the next decade, Arrowood created some of America’s most outstanding white wines by focusing on the innovative idea of single-vineyards like Robert Young, Belle Terre, Frank Johnson, Hunter Ranch and many more. During that period, it seemed that if the wine was white and had a Sonoma appellation, either it was made by Dick Arrowood or it wasn’t very good.
View original post.
The Pinot Noir Summit is a Pinot Noir judging unlike any other, led by Barbara Drady, chief wine evangelist and CEO of Affairs of the Vine. Drady says of the event, “People are passionate about Pinot Noir in a way that exceeds any other varietal. Sometimes called Pinotphiles or just plain crazy, lovers of Pinot are driven to discover and experience the ultimate wine.”
Attendees blind-tasted 40 top-rated Pinot Noirs, becoming “wine judges for the day,” with their palates then later pitted against the results of a panel of wine experts. Wines tasted by attendees were already deemed as winners by the professional panel, scoring 90-points or above. All results were then defined by gender.
View original post.
The popularity of Argentine Malbec has sky rocketed in the last year with sales of Malbec jumping over 100% in the second half of 2009. This up-and-coming category derives its distinctive, appealing flavors from high-altitude grape-growing in the foothills of the Andes Mountains. Winemaker Joel Gott, one of the founders of the Three Thieves and a veteran winemaker, produced the 2009 Show Malbec from special vineyards in two of Mendoza’s best sub-regions: the “El Alto” vineyard in Lujan de Cuyo, situated at over 3,000 feet, contributing dark fruit and ripe tannins, and another in the Uco Valley, even higher altitude, adding acidity and complexity. Aged for nine months in 25% new French oak., the result is a fresh, fruit-forward, velvety bottle of blackberries and spice. The flavor profile of this latest Thieves effort is right on target for the adventurous, younger wine drinkers energizing the current wine scene.
View original post.
Over fifty years ago, patriarch Donald Long began to acquire land on Pritchard Hill in the eastern mountains above Rutherford and Oakville. Today it is one of the most coveted vineyard areas in the Napa Valley with the most recent owners ranging from cult Ovid to the venerable Continuum owned by Margrit, Tim and Marsha Mondavi. Current generation owner David Long has been making wine at namesake David Arthur Vineyards for over 25 years now and in 2008 hired Nile Zacherle as winemaker to ensure the crafting of the highest quality cabernet sauvignon blends worthy of this ‘climat’. View original post.
LOU KAPCSANDY built a successful career in construction in the Puget Sound area, but his heart belongs to wine. In the late 1990s he started an import business, focusing on Bordeaux. As often happens, one thing led to another, and in May 2000 the classic “too good to be true” opportunity came his way, and he purchased one of Napa Valley’s most historic vineyards, State Lane.
For some 25 years the fruit from this site had gone to Beringer. As early as 1979 and 1980 Beringer’s Private Reserves were 100 percent State Lane cabernet sauvignon. But when Beringer’s lease on the grapes expired, Kapcsandy (the c is silent) seized the opportunity and bought the vineyard.
View original post.
LOU KAPCSANDY built a successful career in construction in the Puget Sound area, but his heart belongs to wine. In the late 1990s he started an import business, focusing on Bordeaux. As often happens, one thing led to another, and in May 2000 the classic “too good to be true” opportunity came his way, and he purchased one of Napa Valley’s most historic vineyards, State Lane.
For some 25 years the fruit from this site had gone to Beringer. As early as 1979 and 1980 Beringer’s Private Reserves were 100 percent State Lane cabernet sauvignon. But when Beringer’s lease on the grapes expired, Kapcsandy (the c is silent) seized the opportunity and bought the vineyard.
View original post.
.
Fess Parker, a name that will be immediately familiar to people of a certain age, say retirement age, died Thursday at age 85. Parker became a national icon as “Davy Crockett” and “Daniel Boone” on some of early television’s most popular shows. He later became a successful developer and owner or a winery. View original post.
News | TD Williams March 31, 2010 | 
Comments (0) 
