For those who do not have the benefit of living in Napa Valley, it is often a mystery why it is that one year a wine can be outstanding from a vintner and the next year it can be drastically different.   Provided that the fruit is selected from the same vineyard and the vinification process […]

With Labor Day under one’s belt, near-autumnal breezes whispering at the ear and fleeting warm afternoons at hand, there is no better time than to welcome back Cabernet Sauvignon to the table.   Summer months generally prove far too warm for me and my guests to appropriately appreciate the offerings that Cabernet Sauvignon sets forth in […]

       Zinfandel, long known as California’s red wine grape jewel, is synonymous with barbeque as barbeque is to summer dining.   As August wrapped up this week and Labor Day looms immediately ahead, there is no better tribute than firing up the charcoal grill and pulling a bottle of California’s classic red wine. As cliché as […]

Warm weather draws people outdoors and from there, they are intuitively drawn to their grills.   Grill tops are adorned with a variety of creative fare from ripe garden vegetables, freshly picked corn, sizzling steaks and barbecued chicken to juicy stone fruit.  The wines which accompany these grilled delights vary across the varietal spectrum and while […]

In the 1940’s, a phone would ring on the outskirts of the town of Napa and on a party line, a voice would greet Aldo Biale with a seemingly simple request, “Please send produce, a dozen eggs and a black chicken.”    A delivery would then be made within Napa, with the items requested but hidden […]