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Uncorked: The Blog
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Why Are Winemakers Clean Freaks?

Why Are Winemakers Clean Freaks? Learn why it is so important to be clean clean clean when winemaking, and how they do it.

Testarossa Winery Account Manager, Marie Bourdet, Wine Educator, Bob Zamora, and Winemaker Bill Brousseau enjoy a taste of Chardonnay.

If you’ve ever been inside a cellar, you’ve probably seen ample evidence that winemakers are clean freaks. From workers hosing down tanks to pristine wine thieves, the clean machine is in force at today’s wineries.

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5 Things NOT to do at a Wine Tasting

Gerri-Lynn Becker, President of The California Wine Club, enjoys a tasting with Peter Stolpman of Stolpman Vineyards

Gerri-Lynn Becker, President of The California Wine Club, enjoys a tasting with Peter Stolpman of Stolpman Vineyards

Wine tastings should be fun. Wineries know this, and the smart ones do everything they can to make visitors feel comfortable.

Yet, hospitality is a two-way street. You, as a winery guest, also have some obligation to be a pleasant participant in the wine exploration.

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Get To Know Walla Walla’s Wine Scene

InquisiTours designs deluxe, escorted group tours and custom tours of the Pacific Northwest.
InquisiTours designs deluxe, escorted group tours and custom tours of the Pacific Northwest.

“If we were in France, we would be halfway between Burgundy and Bordeaux. We’re not. We are in a small town four hours from Boise, Idaho; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.” – Guy Glaeser, Co-Founder of InquisiTours

Walla Walla is a wine town, producing some of the nation’s, the world’s, finest vintages. It is known for its big bold reds, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Syrah.

Before Walla Walla became a wine town, it played an important role in American history, playing host to the Lewis and Clark expedition, many of the Pioneers on the Oregon Trail, and can justifiably lay claim to being the birthplace of Western hospitality.

Before it was a wine town it was a farm town. The jolly green giant lives on a hillside outside of town and we all know about the Walla Walla sweet onions.

Before it was a wine town it was a college town. Its three highly regarded institutions have given us everything from Superheroes to the longest-serving Supreme Court Justice.

Before it was a wine town it was an Art town. Since the 1980s many of the world premiere artists have made their way to the Walla Walla Foundry to create world-class sculpture.

And before all of this, it was an amazing piece of landscape. For generations, the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla Nations lived in the shadow of the Blue Mountains, enjoying the abundance of the land of “many waters.”

Blue Mountain Vineyard

All of these traits make Walla Walla a lovely place to visit and learn about. When planning a trip, I always try to include all these assets to make our time in Walla Walla about more than just wine.

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Ask a Winemaker: Why Do You Have to Sell Wine 3 Times?

For almost 30 years, we’ve been traveling the dusty back roads of wine country, discovering small family wineries handcrafting award-winning wines to share with our wine club members.  One of the things that the small wineries we feature in our wine club often tell us is how hard it can be to sell wine.

As conglomerates grow ever larger, the hustle for supermarket shelf space has grown more intense. Small wineries are saying that retailers are requiring them to slash their prices to the bone — to match the selling price of the big boys.

“Our amazing wines are competing with the mass production of conglomerates,” says Winemaker Megan McGrath Gates, of Santa Barbara’s Lucas & Lewellen Wines. “I hope everyone keeps in mind, Lucas & Lewellen is the couture leather bag, not the knock-off.”

Gerri-Lynn Becker, President, The California Wine Club, and Megan McGrath, Winemaker, Lucas & Lewellen Winery.

Gerri-Lynn Becker, President, The California Wine Club, and Megan McGrath, Winemaker, Lucas & Lewellen Winery.

Plus, it takes a lot of time and effort to sell wine.  As David Rossi, Winemaker and Founder of Cloisonne Wines and Fulcrum Wines explains, it is a multi-step process.

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Ask a Winemaker: Can You Taste Terroir?

Have you ever wondered why two wines of the same varietal, made in the same year, in the same region taste so very different?  There can be a lot of reasons for this, including winemaking choices, farming choices and, of course, terroir.  Terroir refers to the environmental factors that  influence a wine’s character, including the soil, wind, rainfall, temperature and sunshine.  So how much difference does terroir really make?

Sonja Magdevski, the Founder and Winemaker of Casa Dumetz in Los Alamos, had wondered this, too. Since she sources fruit for her award-winning Grenache wines from five prestigious Santa Barbara vineyards, she was in the perfect position to find out.

Casa Dumetz award-winning Grenache wine
One of Sonja’s award-winning Grenache wines.

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Ask a Winemaker: What is Hands Off Winemaking?

The California Wine Club is focused on helping artisan winemakers share their small batch wines with wine lovers.  Our wine club members enjoy these award-winning wines, and the story behind every wine included in our wine club newsletter, Uncorked.

When we are talking with winemakers at small, artisan wineries, they often tell us that their style of winemaking is “hands off.” But what, exactly, are they saying?

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The Fascinating History Behind Australia’s Leogate Estate Wines

Here at The California Wine Club, we love discovering small, family wineries handcrafting distinctive wines.  With the International Series wine club level, our  wine club members enjoy small-batch wines from tiny artisan wineries around the world.  This month our wine club members will be enjoying two 95 point-rated wines from a family winery in Australia’s oldest wine region, Leogate Estate Wines.

Fine cattle to fine wine in southeast Australia’s New South Wales has been the trajectory for Leogate Estate Wines Proprietors Bill and Vicki Widin. After raising Angus cattle near Sydney for many years, in 2008 the couple purchased 160 acres of 50-year-old vines in New South Wales’ Hunter Valley. The quality of the appellation and the terroir, the age of the vines, skill in the cellar and vineyards and the Widins’ transformation of the property (new winery and tasting room, restaurant addition) have made Leogate Estate a popular destination.

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Beat the Heat, Wine Caves

On a recent wine club trip, where we were searching for different wineries and new wines to share with out wine club members, we marveled at the beauty of Jarvis Winery’s wine caves in Napa Valley.  For those wine club members who have not yet had the chance to tour a winery wine cave, here’s a brief introduction:

A wine cave is a subterranean cave built into a hillside, and is used for storage and aging of wine. Caves are a unique way to store wine and are designed to offer high humidity, cool temperatures and a dark environment.

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From Movies to Wine, the Reviews are Positive at Frank Family Vineyards

Here at The California Wine Club, we think that carefully aged Cabernet  Sauvignon is the ultimate reward in fine viticulture.  With the Aged Cabernet Series wine club level, our  wine club members enjoy the finest Napa Valley Cabernets made, aged to perfection.

This month our wine club is featuring a 2011 Rutherford Cabernet from Frank Family Vineyards.  Only 35 cases of this wine are known to remain, and our wine club members will be enjoying some of it.

Frank Family Winery began when Rich Frank, then the President of Disney Studios, bought a weekend retreat in Napa Valley’s Rutherford AVA. He soon learned that his 107-acre hillside vineyard was coveted by winemakers eager to buy its fruit.

He created a winery at the original site of the historic Larkmead winery. His  winery soon became one of the most popular in Napa Valley. Winemaker Todd Graff oversees production of its signature Cabernet Sauvignon and favorites like ChardonnayZinfandel, Pinot Noir and others.

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Perfectly Aged Atlas Peak Cabernet from Cobblestone Vineyards

Here at The California Wine Club, we think that carefully aged Cabernet  Sauvignon is the ultimate reward in fine viticulture.  With the Aged Cabernet Series wine club level, our members enjoy the finest Napa Valley Cabernets made, aged to perfection.

At Cobblestone Vineyards, Cabernet Sauvignon from estate vineyards in Napa’s Atlas Peak AVA, Chardonnay from Monterey’s Arroyo Seco AVA, and Pinot Noir from New Zealand’s Martinborough region are the focus. Their outstanding estate vineyards are the pride of the Levine family. Our wine club members will be enjoying their 2010 Cobblestone Vineyard Reserve, Atlas Peak Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon.

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