http://reignofterroir.com Wine Blog Fri, 16 May 2008 13:15:54 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en The Castell del Mirall vineyards are located in the Penedès Denominació d'Origen (DO) of Catalunya, not far from the capital of the magnificent, most European of cities, Barcelona. I am interested in this winery for a few reasons: they use Braille labels, something I was to learn from David Assens, ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/05/15/lluis-ferre-of-castell-del-mirall-winery-penedes-spain-interview/ Jason Lett has been the vineyard manager and winemaker at The Eyrie Vineyards in the Willamette Valley since 2005 when his celebrated father David 'Papa Pinot' Lett decided to pass the torch. Jason had already achieved quite a reputation of his own for quality with Black Cap Winery, so one ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/05/13/jason-lett-of-the-eyrie-vinyards-oregon-interview/ Though I've come a bit late to the review party let me add my 2 cents on quite a good book that recently crossed my desk: California's Central Coast, The Ultimate Winery Guide, From Santa Barbara to Paso Robles. Oddly faulted for its incomplete listing of wineries it is, ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/05/11/californias-central-coast-winery-guide/ My most recent article on Celebrity Wines (see post below) was fun to research and I discovered a lot of new information on wines and wineries. However since posting it’s become clear my research was not as thorough as I may have hoped, and since I do strive to be ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/05/09/vins-de-celebrite-celebrity-winesupdate/ Winemaking, a revered calling for those fortunate few; working the land, toiling the vines, something handed down from generation to generation, something that fate alone chooses. Er….well, no – not really, or at least not any more. Barry Manilow wines anyone?   In today’s society money and fame can obtain pretty much ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/05/06/vins-de-celebrite-celebrity-wines/ In the current opportunistic political climate where border fence construction and a hostile immigration debate can pass for civil expression, it is easy to lose sight of the durable commonalities enjoyed between Mexico and the United States. Cinco de Mayo is for that reason a particularly unique holiday in ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/05/04/cinco-de-mayo/ Nicolas Quillé is Randall Grahm's right hand man in the Pacific NorthWest. Yet Mr. Quillé remains independent. He speaks his mind. I think that is precisely why Mr. Grahm paused when, after he put some of his Bonny Doon labels on the market, Mr. Quillé protested that the Pacific Rim ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/04/29/nicolas-quille-of-pacific-rim-interview/ I ventured up into the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA some weeks ago while doing research on the Mission Soledad itself located on the Salinas valley floor. The SLH AVA is one of many AVAs contained within the Central Coast AVA and borders the Monterey AVA which included the Salinas Valley ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/04/28/santa-lucia-highlands-winegrowers-gala/ Phil and Peggy Crews are the owners of Pelican Ranch Winery in Santa Cruz, Ca. *Though their website is in need of a serious overhaul useful information may still be found there. They enjoy a substantial subscriber base and sell a high proportion of their wines through their tasting ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/04/24/phil-crews-of-pelican-ranch-interview/ A couple of weeks ago I picked up Sanctuary Wines 2006 Marlborough Pinot Gris from the local Sainsbury’s supermarket. Apart from liking Pinot Gris one of the other reasons the bottle made it into the trolley was the CarbonZero logo on the label, something I remembered reading about in a ... http://reignofterroir.com/2008/04/23/carbon-zero-wine-with-green-credentials/