Category Archives: CALIFORNIA

I’ve Done the Mead Deed. Yes, Indeed.

Posted on September 13, 2011 by intoxreport

What do honey mead and Margaret Mead have in common? They’re both interesting, but nothing you’d let near your lips. Or so I thought until I honeyed up to a home-mead batch that I did after getting sick of passing … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Michigan, MIDWEST | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Silverado Vineyards: A Gold Prize for the Mother Lode

Posted on September 13, 2011 by intoxreport

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 →

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Rutherford Dust Never Sleeps

Posted on September 11, 2011 by intoxreport

‘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

Robert Mondavi and 9/11: A Connection?

Posted on September 10, 2011 by intoxreport

First, the good news: Egg white is a fining agent used in Burgundy to clarify wine.  Although other products work equally well, albumen is particularly prized because lots of Cordon Bleu recipes call for egg yolks, and that leaves the … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Syrah/Shiraz, Zinfandel | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Biody-scam-ics? I’ll Drink; You Decide

Posted on September 9, 2011 by intoxreport

As a disclaimer, yes I do have one of those blue eco-friendly Yuppie Guilt Boxes in my garage into which I dutifully deposit all my empty water bottles—most of which come from the island of Fiji aboard huge, oil-ravenous tankers—and … Continue reading →

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Cellar No. 8 ‘Eight’: Stuck Here In Lodi By Choice

Posted on September 7, 2011 by intoxreport

One of the effects that alcohol has on the human brain, specifically on the nucleus accumbens, is that it makes you go all silly sappy and irrationally nostalgic.  So when a winery recalls it’s founder and his guiding principles in … Continue reading →

Posted in CALIFORNIA, Petite Sirah, Sonoma | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tête-à-Tête Wine: Pardon their French

Posted on September 6, 2011 by intoxreport

For us hard drinkers, the Niagara of ‘easy drinking’ wines on the market is like a kick in the beer nuts. In general, when the ‘easy drinking’ tag is looped around a product’s neck, it refers to gentle, unassuming buzz … Continue reading →

Posted in Sierra Foothills, Syrah/Shiraz | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Rodney Strong Like Bull, And That’s No Bull

Posted on September 4, 2011 by intoxreport

There’s strength in numbers, and if they happen to have dollar signs in front of them, Rodney Strong Vineyards is pulling down some weightlifting gold.  Growing at a pace of 14% a year (compared to 2% for the category according to … Continue reading →

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Forchini Vineyards: Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag

Posted on September 3, 2011 by intoxreport

  Fifty out of fifty States now produce wine, including Alaska, where moose blubber is used as a fining agent and the must is strainied through Sarah Palin’s brassiere. Today, every continent has a winemaking tradition except Antarctica, but the geophysicists … Continue reading →

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Ravenswood: Better Living Through Joel Peterson’s Chemistry—Particularly C2H5OH

Posted on September 3, 2011 by intoxreport

First off, I love how Ravenswood rolls off the tongue; it conjures up Gothic images—remote, crumbling castles on windswept moors filled with persecuted virgins and hereditary curses. The Ravenswood label, a cryptic crest displaying a trio of stylized ravens with … Continue reading →

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