Category Archives: Central Coast

Whip: It Good

Posted on July 7, 2015 by intoxreport

Some of the world’s greatest wines are single varietal.  There are the towering Chardonnays of Montrachet, the suave and potent Pinot Noirs of Romanée-Conti, the hedonistic Rieslings of the Rheingau and the pure-Furmint Tokajis of Hungary. You’ll run into some impressive … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Central Coast | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Relax, Wine Business: Kathie Lee Has Arrived

Posted on March 20, 2014 by intoxreport

The global wine industry—beleaguered by the recent recession, fickle vintages, lazy retailers, semi-literate historiographers and the idiotic 100-point scoring scale—may be likened to the Frankish army at Anatolia, Wellington’s forces at Waterloo, the 2nd Ox at Pegasus Bridge or Gandalf … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, GENERAL, Monterey | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Live Fast, Die Young And Leave A Corpse That Looks Exactly Like James Dean

Posted on November 27, 2013 by intoxreport

(This piece is an excerpt from ‘A Rite Of Paso: Paso Robles Wine Country’ to be released December, 2013). Within the annals of the eerie, two almost inconceivably bizarre images come to mind: First, the photograph of John Lennon signing Mark … Continue reading →

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Bridlewood Revisited

Posted on June 8, 2013 by intoxreport

What’s the difference between a fifteen dollar chardonnay and a twenty dollar chardonnay? Five bucks. Thomas Riley Marshall (D), Indiana governor, 1908 -1913 and 28th Vice President of the United States under Woodrow Wilson, is not remembered for his controversial … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Central Coast, Monterey | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Brown-Nosing in Paso Robles: Red Zeppelin Winery

Posted on March 31, 2012 by intoxreport

Of my forty-three thousand Facebook friends, I know approximately four of them personally—the rest I solicited over the years so that I could make smarmy rejoinders to their heartfelt postings in the firm belief that I would become the Oscar … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Central Coast, Grenache, Syrah/Shiraz | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Vintage 2008: Donati Delivers A Digest of Doozies

Posted on December 28, 2011 by intoxreport

It has been said (by Italians mostly) that there are only two kinds of people in the world: Italians and people who wish they were Italian. Whether or not you accept this, the fact is, in terms of cool, Italians … Continue reading →

Posted in Cab/Merlot, Paicines | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Nary a Jekel to heckle in Arroyo Seco

Posted on September 3, 2011 by intoxreport

Like the irrepressible Terrytoons magpie that shares a name with Salinas Valley wine pioneer Bill Jekel, the Arroyo Seco AVA is one odd bird.  Perched  inside a larger appellation, Monterey County (which in turn is a subzone of the sprawling … Continue reading →

Posted in Arroyo Seco, CALIFORNIA, Central Coast | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Sup a Cup of Cupcake; Leave the Lemon Chiffon for Grandma

Posted on August 31, 2011 by intoxreport

In my best Seinfeld voice:  What’s the deal with all these cupcakes, anyway? Fake Jerry is right.  Prior to the last few months, the only space cupcakes ever occupied in my brain was when I woke up in a panic … Continue reading →

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Cold (And Brother, Do I Mean Cold) Heaven Cellars: Defriend in Need is Defriend indeed.

Posted on August 27, 2011 by intoxreport

What a revoltin’ development! On Facebook, I’ve been ‘defriended ‘ by a California winemaker after I took exception to some silly-ass generalization she made about wine writers, which in the interest of journalistic trifling I would repeat verbatim except that … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Coast, Viognier | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Tudor Wines: Dan Is Now The Bubble Boy

Posted on August 26, 2011 by intoxreport

“You can take my identity, my pension, my Black Amex card, my blue suede shoes, but keep those mitts off of my pinot noir.” There’s Some Bull In The China Shops Earlier this year, a scandal was uncovered by Chinese … Continue reading →

Posted in Central Coast, Pinot Noir | Leave a comment