Personal Wine LogsKeep an online wine journal & never forget a great bottle of wine
Keep track of what you've drunk in your own personal wine log, so you know which bottles, grapes or regions you like best. Your wine log is an online wine journal that you can access or search from anywhere in the world. Share your wine bottle log and browse other user's wine logs if they have kept them public. Discuss wines on user chat boards and in the forum or explore our wine guide. Find new bottles to try and save them to wish lists. Automatically watch for new bottles that meet criteria you specify. logabottle.com is 100% free to sign up for and use, so take a tour using the links above and register to get your online wine journal today! |
March 2010 Wine NewsArchives by MonthWine News Archives |
|
Chilean earthquake: wineries, tanks, bottles damaged or destroyed | March 1, 7:45 am | 1 comments "Tragedy struck Chile overnight on Friday in the form of a massive earthquake that has displaced two million people, severed north-south bridges in the narrow country, and killed hundreds of people. . . . Chile has a large, export-oriented wine industry. Some of infrastructure, particularly in the regions of Maule and Rapel (including Colchagua), has been damaged or destroyed." Source: drvino.com |
|
Santa Cruz Mountains wines reach a peak, quietly | March 2, 8:57 am | 0 comments "Next week, Paul Draper and his team at Ridge Vineyards will pause from their work at the legendary Monte Bello vineyard and raise a glass to 50 years of winemaking, high above the streets of Cupertino. Ridge's half-century history is a testament to the improbable." Source: sfgate.com |
|
A Non-Action Approach to Wine Making | March 3, 9:20 am | 0 comments "American popular culture loves the man of action, but wine lovers might prefer the man of “non-action.’’ That is how Paul Draper, the chief executive and winemaker at Ridge Vineyards, characterizes his approach to wine. Ridge, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this week, and Draper, who is marking 40 years with Ridge, are the subject of my column this week." Source: nytimes.com |
|
Red & White, S.F. | March 4, 11:33 am | 0 comments "Red & White: Having already scored great pizza, what Glen Park needed was a wine bar to call its own. Inspired by a Squaw Valley hangout, Peter Bell, an ad-industry refugee from Michigan, and his partner, Juliana Flores, a native San Franciscan, came to the rescue with Red & White, which opened in January." Source: sfgate.com |
|
Local Versions of Europe’s Everyday Wines | March 5, 9:58 am | 0 comments "Terms like “brutal” and “worst year in history” were tossed around with the release of 2009 sales figures at the nation’s largest wine industry trade show, a few weeks ago in Sacramento. For the first time in years, California shipments and sales dropped significantly. Wines over $15 a bottle were particularly hard hit. It’s not surprising that people are drinking cheaper wines. But why can’t they be better wines?" Source: nytimes.com |
|
Better know a wine law: Maryland! | March 7, 10:05 am | 0 comments "Maryland, the home of the Fightin’ Terps, threatens to turn its wine lovers into perps: The laws governing these five and a half million residents make it a felony to order wine online and have it shipped to their homes. To purchase wines, consumers residing Annapolis, Baltimore or along the Chesapeake must buy from a local store; comparison shopping through retailers on the internet or ordering directly from a winery is illegal." Source: drvino.com |
|
'Pinotgate' controversy gives grape a bad name | March 11, 10:39 am | 0 comments "Could bungling by French vintners finally end our tortured love affair with Pinot Noir? The fallout of what we'll call Pinotgate began last month with 12 fraud convictions in a French court for selling to E&J Gallo wine labeled as Pinot Noir that was nothing of the sort; it was actually Merlot and Syrah." Source: sfgate.com |
|
Paul Draper’s forty years and the making of Ridge Monte Bello | March 12, 10:29 am | 0 comments "Paul Draper is, without question, one of the world’s great winemakers. Even though he has every reason to be an egotistical blowhard, he remains humble and democratic in spirit, asking sincere questions of those around him and quick to point to his team as the reason for the winery’s success. It may sound absurd to think that a winemaker’s personality is as discernible in the glass as the terroir, but that combination of curiosity, humility, and respectful excellence comes through in the wines of Ridge Vineyards." Source: drvino.com |
|
How Important Is It for a Red Wine to Be a Dark Color? | March 13, 10:33 am | 0 comments "One of the most striking characteristics of the 2007 red Burgundies is their relatively pale color. The particular conditions of this vintage compelled most winemakers to treat their grapes with a light hand. That is, they did not try to extract lots of color and tannin from the grapes. As a result, you can easily hold a glass of a 2007, even a grand cru wine, and see your fingers through the wine on the other side of the glass." Source: nytimes.com |
|
Santa Cruz vineyards shun popular list of vines | March 14, 12:14 pm | 0 comments "There's more to a great vineyard than soil and site. Vines themselves need a pedigree. This point hit home during my recent travels in the Santa Cruz Mountains." Source: sfgate.com |
|
Glass tops win fans in California | March 15, 10:00 am | 0 comments "The Vino-Lok looks like a glass artist's take on a button mushroom. A smooth, thick disk caps a tapered, stubby stem. It is weighty in your hand, clear to the eye and smooth to the touch. To its fans, it is the future of wine closures. " Source: sfgate.com |
|
A Round-Up of Wine-Related Links | March 16, 9:42 am | 0 comments "If only to cheer myself up, I wanted to start the week by offering a few recent wine-related pieces highly worth reading. Stay dry!" Source: nytimes.com |
|
The Chronicle Recommends: California Grenache | March 17, 4:00 pm | 0 comments "Grenache should be easy to like. Its typical bursts of bright berry fruit and warm spice are remarkably user-friendly, which has helped it find favor as the backbone of Chateauneuf du Pape and many Rhone wines. Yet, homegrown Grenache might be an even harder sell than Syrah." Source: sfgate.com |
|
The Reds of the Loire | March 19, 2:10 pm | 0 comments "Alright, all you fans of Loire reds, come out from wherever you are hiding. That’s right, I mean both of you! Look, I know that the cabernet franc wines of Chinon and Bourgueil are not among the most sought-after bottles out there. That, among many other things, is part of their charm. They are great values, not so hard to find if you have access to good wine shops, and the competition for bottles is slim. They are also the subject of my column this week." Source: nytimes.com |
|
The Chronicle Recommends: Kosher wines | March 21, 11:06 am | 0 comments "Today's recommended wines are first and foremost food-friendly. In general, the overall quality of the kosher wine we tasted is better and more consistent than our last look two years ago. Though well-established Israeli brands were generally available, it was tougher to find French, Chilean, Spanish and New Zealand kosher wines this time. Sometimes only a close look at the back label will identify whether a wine is kosher. The label will carry the certifying organization's symbol, often a circled "U" or "K." In addition, wines labeled as kosher for Passover also carry a P to the right of the circled symbol. Unless otherwise indicated, all recommended wines are also mevushal, which means the wine remains kosher even if someone who is not observant handles an open bottle or pours the wine." Source: sfgate.com |
|
In Napa, a new path to using less water | March 22, 10:03 am | 0 comments "On close inspection, one thing stands out amid the vines at Dominus: You'd be hard-pressed to find thin black water hoses running down the rows. Irrigation tubing is so ubiquitous in California that the lack is disconcerting. Yet that was always the plan laid out by proprietor Christian Moueix in 1981, when he agreed to make wine from the Yountville site." Source: sfgate.com |
|
Sonoma winery is a comfy spot to sit, sip | March 23, 11:48 am | 0 comments " When you pull into Anaba's parking lot and see a black BMW with the license plate "WINEBMR" on it, two thoughts immediately come to mind. Overly pretentious? Or confidently cool? The answer - the latter - is clear as soon as you start chatting with Stephanie Friedman, Anaba's tasting room and wine club manager, and more important, owner of said BMW. She'll guide you through Anaba's pronunciation (ANN-aba), its brief history and future plans. And, of course, its wine." Source: sfgate.com |
|
Despite tradition, kosher wine can be dry | March 24, 9:41 am | 0 comments "Seders, the ritual meals that are held the first two nights of the holiday, call for participants to drink four cups of wine. Sounds like fun, eh? Well, it can be quite painful if all that's being served is the Concord grape stuff and you're not crazy about cloyingly sweet wine. Thankfully, no dietary law says the wine has to be sweet, and the Zuckermans are among those Jewish consumers fueling the rising demand for dry kosher wine. " Source: stltoday.com |
|
Syrah: beyond the fruit bomb | March 25, 8:55 am | 0 comments "While Merlot’s fall from grace can be traced to one line in the movie Sideways, the fall of Syrah has been more difficult to track. Australian wine, with Shiraz as the signature grape, has experienced a decline in sales over the past couple of years. Even more broadly, it’s still a tough sell: producers and retailers have repeatedly told me that save for a few appellations in the Northern Rhone, the homeland of the grape, Syrah remains a sluggish category. " Source: drvino.com |
|
Wine decanter is a 'Touch' of color and style | March 26, 8:43 am | 0 comments "For the second year in row, Newton Vineyard has sponsored an artist to create a wine-related item that reflects the winery's eco-chic sensibility. Last year, British artist Claire Danthois created a limited edition of five wine-tasting installations of reclaimed oak. One is on display in the St. Helena tasting room on Spring Mountain. This year the vineyard, known for its unfiltered wines, wanted the collaboration to result in something a bit more portable." Source: sfgate.com |
|
When small wine shops are great–and when they disappoint | March 27, 9:28 am | 0 comments "I love a good, small wine shop. When people ask me to recommend a wine, I often tell them that the best practical advice I can give them is to find a great, small shop near them. " Source: drvino.com |
|
In Germany, a Highway Threatens the Mosel Wine Region | March 28, 7:32 pm | 0 comments "Despite the chill pouring in through the open window next to my desk, spring is here. For me, that means thoughts turn to riesling, German riesling in particular." Source: nytimes.com |
|
A perfect dozen of spring white wines | March 29, 11:29 am | 0 comments "Spring is filled with the flavors of green. With so many favas and asparagus spears on the table, wines must play along. Which makes it perhaps my favorite time of year for wines, because after thinking hard about the deep, rich wines of winter, we can lighten up and air out the cellar. Last year I looked for a handful of whites and reds (and a spring red is a trickier creature than you might imagine); this year I'm sticking with whites. " Source: sfgate.com |
|
No oxymoron: fine cheap wines | March 30, 10:18 am | 0 comments "When I choose wine, I want something more than a glass of alcoholic fruit juice, and like many other wine enthusiasts, I may whine about it, but I'll fork over $10 or $12 to enjoy something interesting rather than settle for less. But it's a real treat for price-savvy wine consumers when we can find a single-digit bargain that satisfies at least our basic taste and quality requirements. Today let's take a peek at two such goodies, a low-end Chianti with a lot of Tuscan character, and a Grüner Veltliner that shows good Austrian style in a full liter bottle." Source: wineloverspage.com |
|
Will voters swallow seven buck Chuck? | March 31, 8:35 am | 0 comments "Could California’s wine excise tax increase 12,600 percent? " Source: drvino.com |
