Vinography: A Wine Blog
Wine and food adventures in San Francisco and around the world
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ZAP Zinfandel Festival: January 28 - 31, San Francisco
It's that time of year again. I know of no other event that seems to bring out the inner wine lover in so many San Franciscans more than the annual ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and Producers) festival. It never ceases to amaze me how many people turn out with such enthusiasm for this single varietal fe …
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Kubota Manju (Junmai Daiginjo), Niigata Prefecture
When people often ask me how I "got into wine" I have a sense that they are expecting me to relate some story of a revelatory mouthful -- that one wine which struck me like a lightning bolt and sent me down the path to become the wine fanatic that I am today. Strangely, I possess no story like that …
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Alfred Gratien Champagne, Epernay, France: Current Releases
The more good Champagne I have, the more it seems to me that you really get what you pay for. Unfortunately, what you have to pay for the really good stuff is out of the reach of most wine lovers, which was why I didn't like Champagne until several years after I started getting into wine. Now I lo …
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Join Vinography at The Aspen Food & Wine Classic '09
Now that you're wrapping up your Winter holidays, it's the perfect time to plan your Summer ones. In my opinion Summer holidays should be filled with beautiful scenery, great wine, and delicious food. If you agree, then perhaps you'll consider joining me at the Aspen Food and Wine Classic 2009. I g …
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Last Day to Get Fabulous Wine Prizes for a Steal!
OK folks, here's the deal. Today is the last day of A Menu For Hope charity raffle. You've got until Midnight tonight, Pacific Time, to buy raffle tickets for some seriously awesome prizes. Every raffle ticket increases your chance of winning said prize, and every ticket buys healthy, nutritious l …
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The Intersection of Wine and Design: The DWR Champagne Chair Contest™
It's pretty rare for the two halves of my life to intersect. As some of you know, by day I run a design agency, while by night I write this blog. There's very little overlap between the worlds of design and wine, except perhaps in the realm of wine packaging design, which is fodder for an entirely …
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Book Review: American Vintage by Paul Lukacs
Review by W. Blake Gray. Is wine food or alcohol? Most Americans would immediately choose "alcohol," perhaps laughing at the question. In Europe, though, that wasn't the case for centuries. Before water purification became widespread, wine was safer to drink than water. The idea that wine is prima …
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Boston Wine Expo: January 24-25, Boston, MA
Wine lovers in Beantown, listen up. It won't be long now before some of you may be asking yourselves what on Earth you're doing freezing your keisters off in the depths of winter. But there is at least one reason for sticking around through January besides the New England Patriots, and that, my frie …
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Menu For Hope Campaign Extended with New Prizes!
Merry Christmas to all! Today was supposed to be the final day of A Menu For Hope, our annual charity raffle, but it has really picked up some steam in the last few days so we're extending it through the end of the year! A number of new prizes in all regions have been added. So go find some fabulou …
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Two Hands Wine, Barossa, Australia: Current Releases
One of the things I love about the wine world is the way in which it rewards people with vision, initiative, talent, and above all, passion. I find it magical that someone can fall in love with wine, and decide that the most important thing for them to do for the rest of their lives is to make wine …
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American and Italian Wine: Movin' on Up!
I'm a proud papa, though I don't think myself at all unique in my position. When my little daughter figured out how to roll over this week and shake her head back and forth, I knew it was only a matter of time before she would get her MENSA membership card and first Olympic gold medal. Nothing qui …
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2007 Rosemount Estate Show Reserve Chardonnay, Mudgee, Australia
In this day and age of farmers markets, boutique stores, and micro-breweries, it's easy for the upwardly mobile wine lover to forget that there are a lot of great wines on the market that are made in quantities well north of 5000 cases. There are big wine companies that make great wine, and big win …
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Don't Try This At Home. At Least Not With Good Wine.
I love the Internet. If only because it never ceases to be a source of moments that leave you scratching your head, jaw dropped, laughing hysterically, or in some cases, a mix of all three. For instance, this image... ...which was posted to Reddit earlier today with no explanation other than th …
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Holiday Gifts for Wine Lovers: The Only Advice You Need
I take special (perhaps even perverse) pride in eschewing all the typical seasonal storylines that are churned out, regular as clockwork by the wine media all across the country. I don't hold it against most wine journalists that they write about pink wines in the summer, what to pair with Thanksgi …
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Book Review: The Billionaire's Vinegar
Review by Tim Patterson. If you're getting your morning jollies reading about the amazing collapsing Ponzi schemes of investment wizard Bernie Madoff, you'll love The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Story of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine. It's all there: fraud on a grand scale; apparently sm …
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Win Dinner for Six, Free Wine, and Vinography as Your Sommelier
One of my greatest joys in the world is turning people on to good wine. And I love when I can do it in person. It's the season of giving, and as you know Vinography is the proud sponsor of all the wine prizes for this year's Menu for Hope charity raffle. I've made sure there are a lot of fabulous …
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Announcing A Menu For Hope 2008: Win Fabulous Wine Prizes
How would you like to go a luxury wine vacation all the while knowing that you're enjoying Napa luxury because you helped to feed some hungry schoolkids in Lesotho, Africa? That, my friends, is the beauty of the charity event called A Menu For Hope. This is the fifth year of A Menu For Hope, the gr …
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Donate a Prize to A Menu For Hope, Become Famous!
This is the official request for prize donations for the 5th Annual Menu For Hope charity raffle, sponsored by wine and food bloggers around the world. For those who are not familiar with this initiative, it is essentially a raffle, with prizes donated by bloggers (or other kind folks who want to p …
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The ISP vs. the Wine Blog
The company that hosts this blog (Dreamhost) just got themselves on the list for a stocking full of coal this Christmas. For the last 4 days I have been unable to publish new entries here on Vinography because... well, no one seems to know. What I DO know is that without receiving any notifications …
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The Sadness and Irony of a Wine Museum
Meet Michel Chasseuil. He's 67, drives a beat-up old car, never goes on vacation, and is perhaps not unlike so many aging Frenchmen of his generation. He does have one particular thing that makes him somewhat unique, and of great interest to most anyone interested in fine wine, however. Chasseuil …
Vinography: A Wine Blog
