Wine Blog

Unified Wine & Grape Symposium Brings Together International Wine and - PR Inside
Unified Wine & Grape Symposium 2009 - This January thousands of wine and grape industry professionals will again gather at the Unified Wine & Grape Symposium to see and learn about the latest equipment and services and hear from a collection of

Wine Of The Week - Morning News
Steen is the South African name for chenin blanc, a classic white-wine grape that gets far too little respect outside South Africa and France’s Loire Valley, which is where it originated. This bright, fresh wine — the first 2008 to come across my

The Merlot Murders ((Wine Country Mysteries, Book 1)
“Finely ladled suspense,” says the Sun-Sentinel about the complex flavor of Ellen Crosby’s debut mystery set in the wealthy Blue Ridge wine country of northern Virginia, where vineyard heiress Lucie Montgomery must find a killer or lose her cherished family heritage.

Leland Montgomery’s death was deemed accidental, but when his daughter Lucie returns home from France, she finds the once-thriving family vineyard run down, collapsing under huge debt. Lucie’s godfather warns her that Leland’s demise may have been the result of an attempt to force the sale of the vineyard. Her extravagant brother and rebellious sister are determined to sell the estate, and there’s something suspicious about the vintner her father hired right before he died. When another oenophile turns up dead, asphyxiated in a tank of Merlot, Lucie — the lone holdout preventing the vineyard’s sale — realizes she’s next in line for an “accident.” Can she trust in the proverb in vino veritas — in wine there is truth — as she attempts to survive a very bad year for Merlot?

Customer Review: First offering from a new series
As this first novel in a new series opens we are introduced to Lucie Montgomery, a 26 year old woman whose life of privilege as a member of a well to do Virginia family came to an end with a tragic car accident that left her permanently disabled. She had fled to her late mother’s family home in the south of France to recuperate for a couple of months and ended up staying for two years. Her father’s sudden death brought her back to the family home, a vineyard near the Blue Ridge Mountains. Once she arrived she was met with one shock after another, her brother had turned from a comfortable but charming slob into a status conscious snob married to a brainless bimbo that Lucie detested, and who Lucie found, was soon to make her an aunt. The next nasty surprise came when Lucie saw that her father had neglected the family home and business, that they were in desperate financial straights and that her brother and sister had already made plans to sell everything, whether Lucie agreed or not. One of the final surprises came when Lucie’s godfather told her that her father’s death had been no accident.

This series has all the ear marks of a charming cozy, the large cast of supporting characters, an interesting setting, an engaging main character with a few special qualities or quirks. What sets this apart from the usual cozy is that the humor here is rather dry and subtle, usually coming from Lucie’s own wry observations of the people and situations around her. This series is much more a ’straight’ mystery rather than the seriocomic that is more usual for the genre.

The mystery is sufficiently complex enough to keep the reader guessing at least over some of the details. Crosby has left plenty of loose ends to establish an ongoing story arc for subsequent books. The biggest flaw with this one is that the author spends so much time establishing backstories and on going conflict that the mysteries are often sidelined for prolonged periods but that is often a problem with first books in a planned series.

Anyone who enjoys series mysteries, particularly those with romantic overtones will want to read this and the subsequent novels in the series.

Customer Review: It’s Going to be a Bumpy Ride
I started this out on audio, didn’t much care for it, then switched to the book and enjoyed it much better.

Lucie Montgomery returns home to Virginia after living for two years in France recovering from a bad car accident that has left her leg twisted and practically useless. But this doesn’t get Lucie down; it’s just one more thing to deal with. She is returning home because her father, the head of the family vineyard has died from an apparent hunting accident.

Being away so long has left Lucie out of the loop and she returns to find that the vineyard, is crumbling under debt, her brother Eli is determined to sell off the whole shebang so he can build a new more fabulous home and her little sister Mia is now dating the guy that caused the accident that damaged Lucie’s leg.

Not that this isn’t complicated already, but when Lucie’s godfather is found murdered and the rest of the twisty plot of who done its and who will be murdered next, and who has a secret past and who will save the day. Not to mention a hidden necklace that belonged to Marie Antoinette and Lucie’s mother’s diaries. Yes, parts do get a little confusing with multiple plot lines and some apparent useless information, but hopefully the second in the series will straighten this out.

Guide To Fine, Inexpensive T-Day Wine - CBS News
Recipes, how to carve a turkey, an interactive map of events and more good stuff to gobble up. (CBS) A good bottle of wine adds a touch of style to any Thanksgiving feast. And believe it or not, you don’t have to spend a lot to get a good bottle this

Sales and Service for the Wine Professional
Providing in-depth coverage of the wine industry and comprehensive self-assessment material, Sales and Service for the Wine Professional is an indispensable one-stop resource for sommeliers, hospitality managers, food and beverage managers, trainers and students. With detailed treatment of recently emerged regions and a continued emphasis on the importance of service, this new, fully international edition offers ideal support for students and trainees on higher educational, vocational and professional courses.

Customer Review: The Sommelier’s Source
Up to date, with new areas expanded, color plates and maps. Excellent resource for anyone running a bar program with emphasis on wine.

Sometimes the British nomenclature is different than here.

Customer Review: Great Product, Great shipment
This book is a must if you are on your way to becoming a sommelier, in wine distribution, or really yearn for a deeper understanding of life on & off of the vine brought close to the classroom… You will be ultimately satisfied with the in depth perspectives that bring you closer to the world that is wine today. From the diseases, chemical composition, to the construction of the juice that is so deeply adored. You will find this piece of literature a gem you can constantly rely on for precise factual information. Cheers, MD

The first documentation of grapevines growing in the Americas was discovered in researching the logbook of navigator Giovanni de Verazzano, who reported in 1504 that a large “white grape” was vigorously growing at Cape Fear, North Carolina. The English explorer of the New World, Sir Walter Raleigh, confirmed in a letter to Arthur Barlowe in 1585, the discovery of a white grape (scuppernong), when he landed in coastal North Carolina.

The 1500’s ancient discovery of native grapevines growing in America was followed by numerous Spanish settlements along the coast of the United States where introduced old world grapevines were planted alongside the native American grapevines. That interplanting resulted in natural crosses of hybrid grapevines, a blending of the characteristics of both types. The French navigators were also exploring territories and lands surrounding Louisiana and were planting European grape vine varieties from the South of France, that also hybridized with native American grapevines. The English settlers established colonies in 1733 in Savannah, Georgia and Fort Frederica, on Saint Simon’s Island, Georgia, under General James Oglethorpe, who was the first Governor of Georgia. These English colonies brought in seeds of grapes from Europe that were planted and grown in small farm vineyards. Those transplants intermixed with native grapevines that grew in woods nearby, and this intermixing resulted in new grape hybrids that were spread by the Indians and colonists everywhere. It is believed that these hybrids produced some selections such as Concord, Niagara, Catawba, and others that were identified as growing naturally in the woods by the great American explorer William Bartram, in his book, Travels, as Vitis labrusca by botanists today.

Henry Laurens, who served as President of the American Continental Congress after the year 1755, lived near Charleston, South Carolina, and introduced olive trees, lime trees, everbearing strawberries, ginger, red raspberry, and blue grapes into the colonies to be grown for food. Henry Laurens was a good friend of John and William Bartram, the famous father and son, botanist explorers, and author of the book, Travels, in 1773. From Southern France, Henry Laurens introduced “apples, pears, plums, the white chasselas grape (vine) which bore abundantly.” Laurens claimed that he raised the fruit of the olive tree that he pickled and explained was “equal to those exported.”

William Bartram wrote in his botanical book, Travels, in 1773, that he left Augusta on the way to Savannah, Georgia, and viewed a plantation growing grapes. “Vitis vinifera, for wine, Vitis corinthiaca, for Currants, Vitis allobrogia, for Raisins, olives, figs, Morus (mulberry), for feeding silkworms, Citrus aurantium, Citrus limon, Citrus verrucosa, the great sweet scented Citron.”

When crossing the Saint John’s River in Eastern Florida, Bartram wrote that the “grape vines in this place were astonishing to behold.” He wrote that the grape was “small and ill tasted” but the strength and bulk of the vines could be imagined to pull the giant mighty trees down to Earth, but actually served to uphold the trees since the 12 inch wide vines twined up the trees and then “spread along their limbs, from tree to tree, throughout the forest.” In Alabama, Bartram wrote that the trees “were entangled with grape vines (Vitis campestris) of a particular species; the bunches (racemes) of fruit were very large, as were the grapes that composed them, though yet green and not fully grown, but when ripe they were of various colors, and their juice sweet and rich.” Bartram wrote that the Indians gathered, dried, and stored them (raisins) as provisions.

Bartram identified on page 327 of Travels, the European grape, Vitis vinifera,

“Which ramble and spread themselves over the shrubs and low trees in these situations” and the Indians assured Bartram that the grapes would “produce fruit affording on excellent juice; the grapes are of various colours when ripe, of the figure and about the size of the European wine grapes”.

This grape that Bartram identified as European grape, Vitis vinifera, could very well have been a hybrid cross with an American native grapevine.

Because of the introduction of the European grapevines into America in the 1500’s, there was ample time for intermixing of species, so that taxonomists today have great difficulty of positively identifying a grapevine growing in the woods as a true native. There is a high probability that wild grapevines contain genetic components of European inheritance

Prince Nursery of Flushing, N.Y. Was established as the first American Nursery in 1737 and Robert Prince advertised “Lisbon and Madeira grapevines for sale, Vitis vinifera.” It was interesting to note reports that Prince was unsuccessful in attempts to grow vines of wine grapes (European) due to “his inability to control a deadly fungus.” It is probably that Prince thought the problem was a fungus, but most likely the problem was a pest, phylloxera, that was a small lice-like creature that ate the roots of European grapevines, Vitis vinifera, and once American grapevines were exported to Europe, most of the vineyards growing there were destroyed.

George Washington built Mount Vernon as his home in Virginia in 1754, where he planted extensive orchards and vineyards from which he picked grapes and dried them into raisins. They were a �Staple at the dinner table� of George Washington.

Thomas Jefferson planted extensive European grapevines at his vineyard at Monticello, Va., in 1807, but like many other gardeners and wine makers, he failed when all the vines died of phylloxera, but he replaced those vines with the native American alternative grapevine, scuppernong, Vitis rotundifolia.

Perhaps no other group of plants is known better than the plant tribe of grapes. The grape is known more for its ability to transform into wine, than for its desirability as a table grape or a desert grape. Some grapes contain so much sugar inside the skin, that they will not ferment in on the vine after ripening, but will turn into a raisin. The unique aesthetic quality of the grape is the capacity for producing juice. The juice may be used fresh or fermented into famous vines with distinctive aromas and flavors increasing into quality with aging, some lasting for centuries. The Roman wine makers put floating olive oil in the wine bottles to prevent the wine from oxidizing and fermenting further into vinegar.

Luther Burbank, the great American hybridizer in his 8 volumes of Fruit Improvement, made grape selections by hybridizing over 100,000 species of American grapes with European grapes and other species that he imported from various countries. Burbank’s inventive work on grapevines demonstrated that the characteristics of grape production, taste, and many other factors can show great variations, depending on climate, conditions, and soil changes. He imported muscadine vines, Vitis rotundifolia, from the Southeastern United States where they flourished, but these grapevines were not satisfactory growers when planted in California.

Burbank spent considerable effort in hybridizing American grape species with Tokay grapes from Hungary and the ancient Syrian grapevines of the Bible. Burbank also imported the Thompson’s white seedless grapevines in 1880 into California to hybridize with American grapevine species. He found it was an extremely productive, light-colored, strong-growing, yellowish white grape “that grew well in California vineyards.”

It is obvious that historically grapes were found growing in America by European explorers, who brought European grapevines and grape seeds with them, that were considered to be superior to American native grapevines. European grapevines had been interbred for centuries with certain genetic weaknesses appearing, when American native grapevines were introduced into Europe, and the European vines faced total extinction until it was learned that the European vines could be saved by being grafted on top of American grapevine root stocks. The genetic characteristics of European grapevines were hybridized naturally when planted along side American native grapevines into new commercial grape selections. American plant breeders have achieved monumental successes in producing new grapes that are specifically used as juice grapes, raisin grapes, wine grapes, table grapes, and pick-your-own selections.

About the Author:

Patrick A. Malcolm, owner of TyTy Nursery, has an M.S. degree in Biochemistry and has cultivated grape plants for over three decades.

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The Grapes of Wrath (Penguin Modern Classics)