Sierra Foothills Wines
Make Their Mark

by Jean Deitz Sexton
May 16, 2008

The individualistic, sometimes quirky, but always interesting styles of Sierra Foothills winemakers came to the forefront in the inaugural BEST-OF-APPELLATION PROGRAM with the Sierra Foothills appellations as its first focal region. Over the course of three days, teams of wine experts blind tasted and discussed the wines of El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, North Yuba, Sierra Foothills, Fair Play, Fiddletown and Shenandoah Valley.

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There's a Quiet Evolution Happening in the Napa Valley

by Alan Goldfarb
May 27, 2008

If there was any concept that could be concluded from our tasting of Napa Valley wines it was this: There’s a quiet evolution taking place in the Napa Valley. Some producers have taken up the cudgel of terroir-driven wines.The wines are beginning to be ratcheted back through various means both in the cellar and in the vineyard; and equilibrium is returning, especially to the Cabernet Sauvignons that made the appellation so famous in the first place.

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Wine According to Jeff McBride

Wine arrived in California via the Spanish Mission chain, working its way northward from South America. Over the next four centuries the Golden State would strive to prove that it was the true Oenotria. By the second half of the 20th century, California was firmly established as one of the very best wine regions in the world.
With 480,000 vineyard acres and 1200+ wineries producing an amazing 560 million gallons of wine annually, California is only exceeded by the national outputs of Italy, France, and Spain.
Today, vineyards cover the state from north to south, and include just about every conceivable microclimate, with hospitable conditions for the cultivation of every classic wine variety, as well as a host of Californian originals. With such diversity, California can not be taken seriously as a "distinct" region. Within the state, almost 90 different American Viticultural Areas have already been officially recognized by the TTB, with many more pending. California vintners can produce every wine type and style imaginable, from dry to dessert, fortified, and sparkling. For the wine consumer, California is the one-stop-shopping destination with a wine for every palate. For this same reason California, used as an appellation, can only be a guarantee of broadest-origin (and nothing more), and wines carrying the California appellation are likely to be blends of fruit originating from a number of more specific (and distinct) appellations within the state.

Current Feature

Granholm v. Heald 3 Years Later
Notes on the current state of direct-to-consumer shipping
By Eleanor & Ray Heald
May 29, 2008

May 16, 2008 marked the third anniversary of the U.S Supreme Court decision in the case of Granholm v. Heald. Wine Institute figures show that 36 of the 50 states now have some form of direct shipping. [>] continue