Category Archives: Napa

Grape Seeds: Oil Make Something Of Ya Yet!

Posted on February 21, 2013 by

Nearly everyone on earth knows that there is no such thing as a Leprechaun that isn’t actually that wee oaf Matt Roloff mugging about in a green top hat on St. Paddy’s Day; likewise, most folks understand that there is … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, GENERAL, Napa | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Just Say Yes To Hess

Posted on November 9, 2012 by

I came of age in an era that had Ronald Reagan scaring us with Cold War rhetoric while his wife was scaring us with Drug War rhetoric.  Her banshee yelp, ‘Just Say No’ saved many a naïve youth from that … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Mt. Veeder, Napa | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Signorello Trims The Edge Of The Fuse

Posted on October 10, 2012 by

When does ‘cutting edge’ become ‘trimming edge’?  When Ray Signorello, Jr. gets into the game. I’m not sure if there is a direct translation of ‘signorello’ from Italian into English, but the Latin etymology is all about refinement, gentlemanliness and … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, Napa | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sammy And Jack, Sammy and Jack; I’m Gonna Get Me Some Sammy And Jack

Posted on July 20, 2012 by

The  best part of covering celebrity wines is that you don’t actually have to taste them to finagle columns from them thousands of words long. And do you know why?  Because, my droogies, there’s no need to taste a celebrity … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, GENERAL, Napa, Rum | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Let’s Slip Out Of These Dry Clothes And Into A Wet Martini

Posted on April 23, 2012 by

For those of you who think there is only one authentic martini—four parts gin, one part vermouth and an olive the size of Luca Brasi’s left coglione—Louie The Lush and me have an offer you can’t refuse. And speaking of … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, Napa | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Hestan Vineyards: Picture Perfect Picks From The Sultan of Saucepans

Posted on March 8, 2012 by

When a well-heeled businessman decides to open a winery—and plenty do—we can but hope that they possess at least one of the Big Three: A sense of taste, a love of the land or winemaking savvy. If somebody around the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, CALIFORNIA, Chardonnay, Napa | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Warren Winiarski’s Stag’s Leap of Faith

Posted on November 19, 2011 by

Within vino’s voluminous vale, the story of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars is the story of Napa.  At least, it’s a microcosm of Napa’s rise from a fiefdom of meh to a kingdom of quality—and that’s a crown that Warren Winiarski … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, CALIFORNIA, Chardonnay, Stag's Leap | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Napa Cellars Wines: Generically Delicious!

Posted on November 6, 2011 by

I know, bubeleh; I know.  After earning your MBA from the Carnegie Mellon School of Business and your Ph.D from MIT, after a brief teaching stint at Stanford Graduate School (for which you wrote three textbooks on macroeconomics) and your subsequent … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, CALIFORNIA, Chardonnay, Merlot, Napa, Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Silverado Vineyards: A Gold Prize for the Mother Lode

Posted on September 13, 2011 by

Brownie points if you knew that silver mining once rivaled winemaking in Napa County, and that Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a novel called The Silverado Squatters about the same trail that lent its name to Silverado Vineyards. Jackson Brownie points … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Napa | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Rutherford Dust Never Sleeps

Posted on September 11, 2011 by

‘Dust you are, and to dust shall you return.’  - Genesis 3:19 Open letter to God:  In the meantime, can we borrow some to make Rutherford cabernet? And although Robert Mondavi and Louis Martini might disagree (in spirit, of course, since … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, CALIFORNIA, Napa | Tagged , , | 1 Comment