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Irvine & Roberts Vineyards – Making Great Pinot Noir in the Rogue Valley

When I tasted the Irvine & Roberts Pinot Meunier last month, I was smitten and selected it as the Please The Palate Wine of the Week. But, I loved their Chardonnays and the Pinot Noirs, as well as the story of owners Dionne and Doug Irvine, which I wrote about in the Napa Valley Register and am sharing here.

When thinking about wines from Oregon, the Willamette Valley is what first comes to mind. But located in Oregon’s southernmost grape-growing region in Oregon, near the California border, is the Rogue Valley.

27 June, 2019

A Taste of South African Wines

With a long history of winemaking in South Africa, it is odd to think of South Africa as also New World. But, in many way, South African wines are new to many of us in the US. That said, we will see more and more of them as imports have been growing. So, here is a little taste of what you might find from South Africa, which I wrote about in the Napa Valley Register and am sharing here.

South Africa has been producing wine for more than 350 years. It is one of the most prominent wine producing countries in the southern hemisphere and is the ninth-largest producer of wine in the world.

One can think of South African wine as the Old World meeting the New World. Despite is long history, South African wines have only recently begun to become more prevalent in the U.S., with double-digit volume growth in the past few years.

07 May, 2019

Discovering New World Pinot Noir

Every March, I head up to the coast to Santa Barbara for World of Pinot Noir. For anyone who loves Pinot Noir, this is THE event. There are Pinot Noirs from around the world, each expressing the place where they are from. And, a seminar led by Elaine Brown focused on discovering some of these places which I wrote about in California Winery Advisor and am sharing here.

Pinot Noir is a wine that inspires many wine lovers. It is a grape that has cultivated a massive following. It is a wine that is pale in color with aromas of cherry, cranberry, raspberry, mushroom, tobacco, cola, licorice, clove and vanilla. It garners praise from around the world and some of the most highly prized wines in the world are Pinot Noirs.

02 May, 2019