We understand that sometimes it's a little difficult to figure out which ladies on online hookup sites are actually escorts, and which ones are actually real. Even if you're using the best sites to get laid, there's still a chance that you might run into an escort or three, and that means that you're just […]

You?re dating and you?re having the best time of your life. A surprise visit, a fancy night at a restaurant, or a talk over wine and candles ? they all seem sweet, but what will you be ready when he?s ready to go serious with you? Most people who are recovering from a relationship will […]

Wireless devices, specifically smartphones, have become primary targets of robbers. Smartphones are pretty expensive and they may also contain personal information that robbers can use to their advantage. Losing your phone can be very devastating especially that most of your life depends on it. Then again, you can?t dwell on what?s already happened...

All of us want to have healthy and fit bodies. As much as we?d like to achieve our goals the next day, we still have to work hard for it. What if you don?t have too much time to spare? If time is limited, then you have to pick a routine that works for you. […]

Car insurance helps a lot of vehicle owners especially at times of mishaps. It saves you the big amount you have to spend on damages and repairs. But don?t you know that car insurance rates are based on the average insurance claims each type of car and model has? If you?re driving that has a […]

Internet has provided one of the best platforms for various people and business units to promote and market their goods and services to reach their potential clients. The main objective in online marketing is for these people and organizations to eventually sell their products and services, just like it is in any other type of […]

Ahh, Alice. It's been a few years since Alice Feiring and I first met at the Healdsburg Wine Library where she read from her book, The Battle for Wine and Love: or How I Saved the World from Parkerization. Though I walked away from our encounter convinced she was misguided and hypocritical in her criticism

Natural Wine Remy Charest has a wonderful piece on Natural Wine over at Palate Press. A must read for some much needed balance on the issue of what is and is not "natural". My take: Making a wine without sulfur is crazy if you want consistency in your product. I'm not speaking of vintage to

First off, my apologies for the issues with email updates, RSS and the site these past few days. My old host, mediatemple, was hacked and malware was injected into my blog. I'm now happily at Page.ly and thanks to Josh Strebel's tireless customer service efforts I'm back up and clear of bugs. Soft-Boiled Hen Egg

I believe pinot can pair with anything. So many styles – light to heavy – and so many aromas – gamey to floral – make it endlessly adaptable. In this upcoming blog series I'm going to put my belief to the test. Can pinot pair with poached egg and asparagus? How about calf heart? Compressed

Matos St. George cheese. But I repeat myself. Matos only makes one cheese, so that's like saying Petrus Merlot blend. Semi-firm, nutty, creamy, heaven. And getting to Matos Cheese Factory is as much of an experience as eating it. Words don't do it justice. The long driveway past the vines and the cows. The alarm

Ah, Facebook. In 2008 in Wine: A Global Business (Second Edition), I wrote the following about Facebook: Currently wineries are having a difficult time determining how best to take advantage of this communications channel. It may well be that the best way to leverage social networks and the vast amounts of data contained in them

John Williams of Frog's Leap was recently profiled in the Atlantic, a relatively respected journal of our times. John is a fantastic winemaker, and he lives his green ethos like no one else in Napa, and perhaps in the entire industry. Yet even he finds himself getting annoyed by the questions from Atlantic environmental-advocate-cum-journalist Mark...

Wine and baseball are intertwined in the best of ways. Both the growing season and the playing season overlap almost perfectly. Pitchers and catchers report in February, foreshadowing the beginning of spring training. In the vineyard we prune and train our vines in February in anticipation of spring. Play begins in earnest in April, and

Charlie Palmer's annual Pigs & Pinot event is a well regarded and, if this year is any indication, well attended event. Which is why it is both surprising and completely unacceptable to receive the following email: Dear Candace, We are very sad to bring this news to you today. Demand for Pigs & Pinot this

Some very important reporting from W. Blake Gray. For the impatient, the reason is: taxes. Read the whole post.

A little over 4 years ago (November 18th 2005 to be exact) I wrote the following: Welcome to pintoblogger.com, a blog I?ve created to outline the long and painful processes involved in starting and building a family winery in the Russian River Valley. I?ll be honest, just typing the words above was daunting. I have no illusions

Honestly, ask yourself: have you sniffed taint recently. I mean really sniffed taint? Rigorously. Methodically. Intensively. Do you know how to rectify your taint after you've sniffed it? Are you certain? Did you know that not all taints are foul smelling? Some folks think some taints smell pleasant. It really depends on the person. There is so muc...

Ms. Farrah, I thought you should know that I just finished reading Tom Wark's recent post on your unconscionable support of HB6644 late last year. This was a bill that, as far as I am able to discern, was almost completely anti-consumer and anti-competitive, benefitting only the Michigan Beer & Wine Wholesalers. That you counted the...

After reading the latest issue of Practical Winery & Vineyard and seeing the term "trading down" misused by an un-named CEO no less than three times in one paragraph, I wanted to gouge my eyes out with my Dixon Ticonderoga 1388. Stop using it. Just stop. Saying that consumers are "trading down" right now betrays a

My second review starts with the following words: A gorgeous dry white that was so aromatic and balanced that I thought it was an excellent example of Gewurtztraminer from Alsace, one of my favorite wine regions. Was I right? Click here to find out.

There is a better way to review wine. It's costly, time consuming and potentially embarrassing. No one will ever use it. Except me. I've always felt that wine reviews were lacking. Not because I'm sensitive to criticism, and not just because of the power of Parker or anything similar. What has always bothered me is that

Funky intro and outro music by indie band Binaerpilot, Destroy the Popollution. Used with permission.

I haven't written about marketing in a long while. Know why? Nothing, and I mean nothing new is being said. But there has always been one guy who has consistently thought differently about "word of mouth marketing" in general and social media marketing in particular. His name is Jim Novo, formerly of Home Shopping Network, and...

My PalatePress.com article on Brett in White Burgundy. Funky intro music by indie band Binaerpilot, Destroy the Popollution. Used with permission. Caddyshack is ? 1980 Orion Pictures Corporation.

Two Sonoma County chefs take the same main ingredients, interpret them based their own personal style, come up with completely different dishes, and then share their recipes. That's the premise of the new cookbook Down Home: Downtown, published by Rodney Strong Vineyards. The two chefs, Jeff Mall from Zin restaurant (Down Home) and Josh Silvers of ...

Blending. The Dark Art. I think you could go your whole life and not really master it. Which makes sense since art is like that; perfection is unattainable. During blending trials you're always worried: Am I capturing the best of this vintage? Or am I covering up distinctiveness? Am I using enough of my juice to

Due to some events last night, I feel compelled to post the following items. First I'd like to point you toward this video. I share this for two reasons. 1. It goes to credibility. You must discern for yourself the credibility of the man who is accusing me of the most heinous charge that can be leveled against

Just in time for WBC 09! Yesterday I launched a project of mine that aims to bring together citizen reviewers seeking wine samples for review and wineries looking to target them. Help a Winery Out. Head on over to helpawinery.com to sign up or just to learn more about it. For those familiar with Help A Reporter

Just a quick note that the $250 blogging scholarship award will go to Bean, the author of Wine and Beer of Washington State. The winning entry is here. Congrats to Bean and a big thank you to everyone who entered!

Note: I started this post way back in October. There are some interesting things I want to say about natural birth and natural wines, and I will, but not today. Today my wife is in labor and will be giving birth to my baby girl Charli. It'll be a natural childbirth once again (barring an

In my previous post on New Vine (formerly New Vine Logistics), I listed 4 questions I had about the abrupt closure. Thanks to the absolutely stellar reporting of Lewis Perdue at Wine Insights (be sure to subscribe if you don't already), it looks like I've gotten some answers. But first, the juicy stuff from Lewis' latest post: *...

"The first director I had at Second City said, ‘You have to learn to love the bomb,' and I didn't know what he meant for a very long time. …But there's a buzz to failing and not dying." - Stephen Colbert So the wine blogger scholarship contest, the one where if enough people submitted applications you could...

UPDATE: Lewis Perdue at Wine Industry Insight has the best article yet published on the closure. His reporting appears more accurate than mainstream newspapers. He's a blogger by the way. Highly recommended. Usually I use this blog to express my views and opinions, but today I just have questions regarding the NVL closure. According to reports in...