Niche Wine Blog

Book Review: 1000 Best Wine Secrets

by: Carolyn Hammond
Paperback 383 pages; October 2006. Sourcebooks, Inc. ISBN: 1402208081

If any of you are like me and just can't seem to find the time to sit down and read the wine books you've been meaning to, don't feel bad.  No matter how many times we try to set aside a few minutes here and there, something inevitably arises, taking precedence.  Well, luckily this weekend I put my foot down and  got a little reading in - of course the long weekend made it a bit easier to do so!  Another aspect that made it easier was this recently published book, 1000 Best Wine Secrets, an engaging tell-all wine book, by Carolyn Hammond, which encompasses a friendly reading format.   

District San Francisco

There are no standards of taste in wine, cigars, poetry, prose, etc. Each man's own taste is the standard, and a majority vote cannot decide for him or in any slightest degree affect the supremacy of his own standard.

- Mark Twain, 1895

This is the philosophy at San Francisco's newest, hippest wine bar, bordering SOMA, South Beach, Mission Bay neighborhoods .  District, which opened last Monday, having a gradual build of customers throughout the week, was climactic Friday night. 

2006 Harvest Report

For those of you who are interested, Wine Enthusiast Magazine published the 2006 Harvest Report in their February issue, leaking some very valuable and interesting information.  Especially for those of you concerned with finding out which New and Old World regions are expected to provide the best vintages.  In the interest of the article and your reading enjoyment, I will only provide highlights of what the article states. 

White Oak Vineyard & Winery

The story of White Oak Vineyard & Winery  is one of uniqueness.  After growing up in Los Angeles, CA, the vineyard's founder and owner, Bill Myers, worked for many years as a building contractor and salmon fisherman in Alaska.  Until one day, in the 1970s, he decided to move to Healdsburg, CA and sell his boat in order to buy a vineyard in Alexander Valley. 

Global Warming & Wine

I know I have written a blog entry on this issue before, but I am convinced it is a topic that needs to be addressed, time and time again, until, and even after we understand its implications for us and for the world of wine.  I came across a write-up by Jaime Goode when reading Jaimie Goode's wine blog that I must share with you, titled More on Global Warming.  There is a preceding write-up, that seems to be the result of a bit of a stir-up on another blog, titled Global Warming and Wine.  Please, have a read...