Lately, there has been a good deal of ink devoted to a sweeter, straightforward, easy-to-drink varietal that is a good aperitif and pairs with lighter fare. That varietal, known as Muscat Blanc, Muscat Canelli and…
We Americans don’t realize it, but the Chinese are determining what wine we drink. They’re not flooding the market with knockoffs or gray-market bottles. Instead, their voracious appetite for big-name Bordeaux has…
Few things offer more pleasure in wine than a great vintage of Chablis. When the stars align, when the fruit gets just ripe enough without verging into overkill, you can’t but see how a truly meaningful wine really can’…
– Serial entrepreneur Paulo Lerner and his partner-in-Web endeavors, Joana Koiller , have harnessed the GPS capabilities of iPhones to provide direct-to-picnic-blanket deliveries of wine with Rewinery . Deliveries (…
Zinfandel is California’s grape, and nowhere has it found a home like Sonoma County, where more than 5,300 acres are devoted to it. If you want a barometer of the state of Zin, look no further. It has been a few years…
The first vineyard in Santa Cruz was planted by Spanish missionaries, but the wine it produced was so bitter that the padres mixed it with sweet Port to make the stuff drinkable. So much for the good old days. Despite…
Francis Ford Coppola knew he had a special place when he bought the old Niebaum mansion in 1975. But, how special? Robert Mondavi, who came over from nearby Oakville to pay his respects, perhaps framed it best. “You…
Making the case for great Australian wine lately has been a bit like hanging hopes on a Warriors playoff berth. To sing the praises of antipodean Chardonnay from my sunny California desk? I mean, that’s just crazy talk….
To that list of legacy grapes in California having a quiet resurrection, add Chenin Blanc. I won’t dare say that Chenin has been a great grape on these shores, although in its native Loire Valley it aims for greatness,…
Some of our recommended Chenin Blanc-based wines from California’s 2010 and 2011 vintages: 2010 Roark Wine Co. Santa Ynez Valley Chenin Blanc ($15, 12.3% alcohol): A small side project label from Ryan Roark, who works…
I usually pride myself on my sense of direction, but the MacRostie Winery tasting room had me befuddled. I was standing at what I figured to be the front door in an industrial warehouse lot just southeast of downtown…
After keeping their wallets in their pockets during the height of the recession, California wine-grape growers are ready to expand their vineyards or replant existing ones. Everyone is hustling to get their vines in the…
One of the great overlooked facts about Syrah: Historically, even in its motherland, this grape has made truly great wine in only a very, very small portion of the world – essentially a 50-mile stretch along the Rhone…
When some wineries say visits are “by appointment,” it’s a loose request. It refers to a use permit that limits tasting-room visits to control traffic, yet a quick phone call at a tasting room driveway often can be the…
Say what you like about its modern style, but Napa Valley has a century of evidence as Cabernet Sauvignon’s happy place. Merlot, however, is another story. Cabernet’s companion certainly shows up in the same spots, but…
Witness the power of no. When the Slanted Door opened in the Mission District, Mark Ellenbogen opted to spurn the Chardonnays of the world in favor of Riesling, Burgundy and other subtle wines that better matched…
For all the fretting about San Francisco’s chill – duly noted, Sunset residents – I wasn’t convinced it was too cold for grapes. San Francisco is never hot, of course, but it’s never truly cold. After spending a lot of…
Editor’s note: In this occasional series, called Clos Chronicle, The Chronicle’s wine editor, Jon Bonné, teams with winemakers for an urban viticulture experiment in our rooftop garden. Throughout the season, he’ll…
Livermore Valley has come a long way since Englishman Robert Livermore planted the first commercial vineyards there in the 1840s. Today, the region boasts dozens of wineries, including several with historic pedigrees….
Livermore Valley’s grape-growing history stretches back more than a century, with more than 2,000 acres of vines in the 1880s. Its wine industry has waxed and waned over the years, as vines went in and came out, but…
After 129 years as a family business, it’s no surprise that Wente Estate Vineyards would have spread its wings – to nearly 3,000 acres, not only in Livermore Valley but in Monterey as well. This long tradition is now…
Livermore is the forgotten – or, at least, overlooked-California wine region that lives in the shadow of Napa and Sonoma. That seems strange because the area’s first vines were planted by Spanish missionaries in the…
Between all the manicured gardens, tasting bars and cheese pairings, it can be easy for a visitor to forget that Napa Valley’s original draw was the winemaker’s art. That fact never travels far from my head, only…
This most northeastern region of Italy is one of the few places in the world where white wine is king. That suits its cuisine – which draws influences from bordering Austria and Slovenia, as well as the nearby Adriatic…
The first year offered auspicious hints. The second year showed what could be done. The third year hammered home the point – for better or worse. California’s past three vintages have been tricky. This three-year period…
The prediction a year ago (go to: sfg.ly/zulbKs ) was that Grenache stood ready to accomplish American Syrah’s unfulfilled promise of a great next red grape. It wasn’t the most obvious notion, perhaps because of…
When Ram’s Gate opened in September, its marketing team specifically noted in its press materials that it does not include a restaurant. It employs an executive chef – Jason Rose, who previously worked for Delfina…
They started as bootleggers barely old enough to drink. Brandon Allen, now 27, was working construction and attending an occasional class at the junior college in San Luis Obispo. Bo Silliman, now 25, was studying…
A wine-tasting room isn’t a restaurant. It seems self-evident. Arlo Guthrie, after all, wasn’t referring to a Chardonnay-sipping parlor when he sang about a restaurant where you can get anything you want. But disputes…
Fire crews have not yet contained a fire that has burned 200 acres in rural Napa County near the Silverado Trail, state firefighters said today. The fire started Thursday afternoon about 5 miles northeast of Yountville…
