Wine Blog

China Drinks In Wine Success
A Chinese wine was launched yesterday in Beijing for 900 yuan ($142) per bottle. Some already consider that price outrageously high, others woefully low. If the price sticks, this could mark the emergence of Chinese wine into the realm of fine

Great Wine Terroirs
“The vine and its wine are a great mystery. Only the vine reveals to us what is the real taste of the earth,” writes Colette. In this sumptuously illustrated and wonderfully informative book, Jacques Fanet invites us on an entertaining tour of the world’s most celebrated winegrowing regions to discover the characteristics of the bond that ties the vine to its place of birth: the terroir. Terroir is a uniquely French term for the subtle interaction of natural factors and human skills that define the characteristics of each winegrowing region.
Interviewing growers and researchers in France, Spain, Italy, California, Chile, Australia, and South Africa, Fanet looks for the soil in the soul of each wine. He takes us back millions of years to show how movements in the ancient bedrock, faults, mountain building, tidal flow, sedimentation, and volcanic activity contribute to the precise and individual character of each terroir, making the great winegrowing regions what they are today. Great Wine Terroirs provides wine enthusiasts with everything they will want to know about different soils and climates, the relationship between international grape varieties and the soil in which they grow, and how these factors affect the taste of the wines.
Color geological illustrations and timelines support the text and explain key phenomena. Fanet also provides a glossary, geographical index, and index of soil types and grape varieties. He explains enological practices and their effect on the terroirs and answers questions such as why the Châteauneuf plateau, almost 300 feet about the Rhône Valley, is surrounded by river alluvia and why there are fossilized oysters in the soils of Chablis. Those interested in the wine of California will find a lively discussion of the Napa Valley, with a detailed explanation of how the San Andreas fault, the Sierra Nevada, and the Great Central Valley have all played a part in creating the most spectacular wine-producing region on the continent.

Customer Review: Good Detail for Wine Geeks
This is a very good text for wine geeks ( I am a proud one myself), but not for the beginner to wine. If you are a lover of French wines and have a bent towards geology, then this is the perfect reference for you! The maps and soil diagrams are wonderful.

Barolo to Valpolicella: The Wines of Northern Italy (Classic Wine Library)

Customer Review: Trust me it deserves five stars!
Absolutely invaluable in my quest for uncovering order behind Italian wine classifications (there is none by the way). The only other in depth books that cover Italy so well are the Vino Italiano and Italian wine for dummies…trust me even though it is a dummies book it is well done.

This text covers Northern Italy while the companion, Brunello to Zibbibo covers everything from Tuscany south.

Customer Review: Wonderful Resource
I am still working my way through it, but this is an extremely informative book. It contains tons of information about regions of Italian wines that are not often addressed. The lists of quality producers for each grape, region, etc. make it easier to have a safe choice when ordering from a wine list.

Post office debate triggers lobbying
WASHINGTON – Wine wholesalers and amateur beer makers want Congress But many companies are deeply concerned about the sweeping proposals and say cuts in service and rate increases could have a devastating effect on their businesses.

Oz Clarke’s Bordeaux: The Wines, the Vineyards, the Winemakers

Customer Review: Excellent introduction and travel guide
This is a superb book for the wine enthusiast, combining a travel guide to the Bordeaux region, primer on the growing and production process, and guide to the various appellations. It is especially useful for the wine enthusiast like me, who has some basic knowledge but no real expertise. It would be very useful in planning a trip to the region, and I plan to try it out later this year.

Customer Review: Descriptive and useful
It’s been a pleasure to read a book like this in english. It is very descriptive (a “must” for a book like this), although not to the grade of being short-minded; on the contrary, it is very useful.