California wine company O’Neill Vintners & Distillers is creating a new luxury division and starting it by purchasing a Sonoma winery. Shanken News Daily (SND) reports that the 1.8 million case company has purchased Ram’s Gate Winery in Sonoma for an undisclosed sum. Ram’s Gate is known for upscale Pinot Noir and Chardonnay retailing from $45 to $150 a bottle, …

An expert panel of 21 judges tasted 16 pairs of white and red wines, pitting Europe and the Rest of the World, in an homage to the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting. It was a blind tasting where wine worlds blurred rather than collided; where ‘Old World’ and ‘New World’ felt obsolete against nuance, texture, elegance and balance. Following four …

Patz & Hall co-founder James Hall is still pinching himself: After selling the iconic California Chardonnay brand in 2016, Hall was able to buy it back earlier this year. He tells us how he did it, and then takes us all the way back to landing his first winery gig in Napa … by pretending he could speak Italian?! Straight …

Patrick van der Sande has added a photo to the pool: a nice start, 16th of may 2024 Source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickvandersande/53743568068/in/pool-17918700@N00

Patrick van der Sande has added a photo to the pool: surrounded bij fruittrees Source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickvandersande/53743564813/in/pool-17918700@N00

Freeman Winery’s winemaker Akiko Freeman Ken and Akiko Freeman are the husband and wife behind the family-owned estate on the dynamic West Sonoma Coast. As the winemaker, Akiko’s role is to translate the climatic extremes of their dynamic coastal terroir into nuance and subtlety in their Pinot Noir. Founded in 2001, Freeman’s winemaking has always aimed to produce elegant wines, …

Patrick van der Sande has added a photo to the pool: mainly Solaris and Johanniter Source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/patrickvandersande/53743703374/in/pool-17918700@N00

toseniksto has added a photo to the pool: Source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/200607258@N04/53743322904/in/pool-17918700@N00

20240426_181823.jpg | Anthony Barnish | Flickr Uploaded on May 23, 2024 Taken on April 26, 2024

Bordeaux’s Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste overlooks Pauillac from its namesake hill. From Chopin and Schubert to Vaughan Williams and Elgar, the greatest composers have given the world ‘variations’, musical compositions that explore the evolution of a theme. Now, Château Grand-Puy-Lacoste – a fifth-growth estate in Pauillac on Bordeaux’s Left Bank – is doing the same with wine. Starting with the 2020 vintage …

hi, im pez has added a photo to the pool: Source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/13742478@N04/53735111721/in/pool-17918700@N00

Fog on Tanaro Valley … | OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA | Flickr Uploaded on May 24, 2024 Taken on May 19, 2024

Stabbur’s Master has added a photo to the pool: Views of Bingen, Germany, from the Klopp Castle – Burg Klopp. The castle was built in the 13th century. The view of the city includes the Rhine River. The hill on the other side of the river has many vineyards. Source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/124651729@N04/53741623941/in/pool-52609756@N00

Baby Grapes | Jason Doss | Flickr Uploaded on May 21, 2024 Taken on May 21, 2024

Vineyard Landscape | Jason Doss | Flickr Uploaded on May 21, 2024 Taken on May 20, 2024

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Trefiano – Tenuta di Capezzana’s stunning take on Carmignano Riserva – a vertical tasting of a handful of vintages ranging from 1988 to 2019 (the current release) was held in Florence this February. In preparation for the tasting, I opened a bottle of the 2015 from my own cellar, so I have included my …

Anthony Desruelles has added a photo to the pool: Source : https://www.flickr.com/photos/144343893@N07/53735361838/in/pool-52609756@N00

Knightshayes Court is a Victorian country house near Tiverton, Devon, England, designed by William Burges for the Heathcoat-Amory family. Nikolaus Pevsner describes it as “an eloquent expression of High Victorian ideals in a country house of moderate size.”[1] The house is Grade I listed.[2] The gardens are Grade II* listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.   …

Do you ever find it difficult to read wine tasting notes? Wine tasting will always have a subjective, personal quality, because taste and smell are so inextricably bound to an individual’s own reference points. Language, too, is both collective and individual, and you may identify more with one wine critic over another. But, there are some common wine descriptive words …

Coup de Coeur 2024 celebrates the finest wines of undiscovered Roussillon Surrounded by three mountain ranges in a natural amphitheatre opening to the Mediterranean Sea, Roussillon is a hidden gem of quality wines in the south of France. In the first ever Roussillon ‘Coup de Coeur’ blind tasting event, held on 27 March 2024 in London, a team of UK …