Eve's Wine 101

Perlises Pick – J Dusi Winery’s Positive Signs for the Future

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We all know the future is uncertain. But as wine writers, our job is primarily to not focus on the world issues of the day but to write about wine, wineries, vineyards, etc. for the devoted readers of Eve’s Wine 101.

Sometimes, though, a bit of news comes across our desks that will impact the future, maybe only in a small way, that causes us to smile.

Any regular readers of the Perlises’ articles are sure to know that we are big fans of the wines of J Dusi Winery in Paso Robles, ever since we met Janell Dusi and tasted that first vintage from her family’s historic vineyard. So we were very pleased to receive an email that read, in part:

“Historically, certain practices for wine packaging were thought to be necessary, including the use of wax or capsules on the neck of a wine bottle.

In reality, capsules and wax enclosures are purely packaging.  Although we have used these in the past to create a polished and complete package, it serves no purpose beyond the way the bottle looks. 

As we take a step forward in sustainability, starting with the 2020 Vintages we have eliminated both wax and capsules. You’ll find the vintage printed on the end of each cork. Easy to locate the vintage you want, and no more foil to cut or messy wax to deal with!”

Janell clarified that the change applies to their Paper Street label for the 2020 vintage and will impact the J Dusi label starting with the 2021 vintage. She added that “this is our first step in creating a more sustainable package for our customers, but the same quality wine inside!”

This made us very happy. Wineries that are doing their part to reduce their carbon footprint and impact on the environment should be commended and rewarded with our purchases, especially quality wineries such as J Dusi.

The other news from J Dusi was included with their Fall 2022 Club shipment. In addition to the wine, there was a nice profile of Janell’s nephew, which Janell said we could share:

“In 2002, a boy was born, beginning the 5th generation of the Dusi Family. His parents named him Dante, in honor of his great grandfather Dante Sylvester Dusi.

Dante Michael Dusi grew up in the middle of our grape growing family, deeply rooted in the wine industry. He was surrounded by vineyards, big trucks, heavy equipment, and the family businesses.

From infancy, it was grapes and trucks that Dante loved. He spent many days riding in a car seat beside his dad, Michael, in a Peterbilt truck, transporting grapes up and down the state of California. As soon as Dante’s feet could touch the pedals, he was moving semi-trucks and driving tractors.

He understood the complex logistics of the truck yard: dispatching trucks, keeping them clean, and helping the drivers park their trucks perfectly, at the end of the work day.

Throughout Dante’s childhood, he had an eye on every aspect of vineyard work. At two years old, he was already participating in harvest, picking leaves out of the freshly picked grapes. When his Auntie Nell began making wine under her own label, J Dusi, Dante helped Janell pick those grapes.

Today, Dante is nineteen years old. He has acquired skills beyond his years by working beside his grandfather, Mike. He is learning about the soil, plants, rootstock, grape varietals, as well as the care of our vines. Dante is taking classes, studying innovative techniques, hoping to drive the family farming practice forward.

Dante is a hard working young man who is proud to carry on the legacy of the Dusi family. He proudly shares his great-grandfather’s name, Dante Dusi.”

It sounds like the future of the Dusi family vineyards is in great hands. We look forward to meeting Dante Michael Dusi one day.Michael and Karen Perlis have been pursuing their passion for wine for more than 30 years. They have had the good fortune of having numerous mentors to show them the way and after a couple of decades of learning about wine, attending events, visiting wineries and vineyards, and tasting as much wine as they possibly could, they had the amazing luck to meet Eve Bushman. Michael and Karen do their best to bring as much information as possible about wine to Eve’s Wine 101 faithful readers

SOUTH COAST WINERY NAMED “GOLDEN STATE WINERY OF THE YEAR” BY CALIFORNIA STATE FAIR

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TEMECULA, Calif. – South Coast Winery announces with great pride it has been designated as the esteemed Golden State Winery of the Year by the California State Fair in the California Commercial Wine Competition, which recently took place at Cal Expo in Sacramento. This is an unprecedented fifth win of this title by any California winery with South Coast also winning this designation in 2008, 2009, 2013 and 2016.

This year, a panel of 44 official judges led by Chief Judge Mark Chandler tasted and evaluated 1,953 California wines from 443 California wineries. The competition is open only to wines made with fruit grown and produced in the 11 growing regions across California. Wines are evaluated by class, varietal, style and region based upon the source of the grapes. The expert judging panel includes respected winemakers, wine merchants, writers, promoters and educators.

“The California State Fair Wine Competition, which dates back to 1854, along with its pronouncement of South Coast Winery as Golden State Winery of the Year 2022 is so important and meaningful to us,” said Jeff Carter, president of South Coast Winery. “We owe this amazing kudo and the award recognition of the 29 wines we entered in the competition to the incredible Temecula Valley terroir, to our dedicated team and highly valued winemakers – Jon McPherson and Javier Flores – and to over 20 years of successful viticulture production.”

The 2022 California State Fair Wine Competition results included awards bestowed on all the 29 wines entered by South Coast Winery. They include Double Gold Awards for the vineyard’s 2020 Pinot Blanc, Best of Region White with a score of 100 and NV Daybreak with a score of 99. Gold Awards were given to 2018 Meritage Best of Appellation, 2018 Viognier Best of Class Appellation, 2021 Dry Gewurztraminer Best of Appellation, NV Brut, 2020 Riesling and NV Vineyard Rose. South Coast Winery also accrued 13 Silver Awards and eight Bronze.

About the California State Fair

The California State Fair is an international award-winning fair, receiving top honors at the International Association of Fairs and Expositions out of more than 1,100 fairs world-wide. The California State Fair is dedicated as a place to celebrate the best the state has to offer in agriculture, technology, and the diversity of its people, traditions, and trends that shape the Golden State’s future. The 2022 State Fair will include a comprehensive list of competitions, including California’s best commercial wines, cheeses, craft beers, cannabis, olive oils and fine arts, among others.

About South Coast Winery

The only state winery to claim the title of California Winery of the Year five times at the California State Fair Wine Competition, South Coast Winery sets the gold standard for excellence amongst California wineries, earning more than 3,000 awards since its inception in 2003. Situated on 63 lush acres, South Coast Winery Resort & Spa offers a breathtaking retreat for wine tours, romantic getaways and group events with 132 rooms and villas, a working winery and tasting room, gift shop, full-service spa and restaurant.

South Coast Winery is a family-owned and offers a broad portfolio of 45 wine labels, the majority of which are available for sampling in its main tasting room – from robust reds such as Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Petit Syrah, Merlot and Pinot Noir to whites including Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Riesling. Also available are sparkling wines, dessert wines and other specialty offerings. The winery employs a staff of skilled winemakers, including master winemaker Jon McPherson and winemaker Javier Flores, both with decades of experience in the wine industry.

For more information, visit www.southcoastwinery.com.

“Iconic Women in Italian Wine” tasting: Who, Where & Why?

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VERONA, ITALY (PRWEB) –  This unique event encompassed so much more than the sum of the individual women: two leading international female journalists, the female managing director of Vinitaly International, and seven renowned Italian women wine producers collaborated to create an event that set aside the natural competition between the players and focused instead on personal stories, camaraderie, and the aspiration all these women hold for the future of Italian wine.

Why has this event never happened before? An interesting question answered best by Monica Larner. “When Stevie Kim presented me with this idea, I was excited on many levels; however, most compelling was the opportunity to present beautiful Italian wines with a colleague whose magazine shares market space with my own. (Robert Parker) Wine Advocate and Wine Spectator have never collaborated on anything. With smug certainty I suspect our male colleagues would never pull resources together in this fashion for such a ground-breaking collaboration with important benefits. Post-pandemic we are all burning with a desire for new beginnings and being together. Inclusivity, camaraderie, creating togetherness. All seven of these individualistic and talents producers instantly recognised the importance and immediately agreed to participate.”

Stevie Kim pointed out that this event was the definition of ‘iconic’: “Two women wine critic titans collaborating for the first time, with seven Italian women who are giants in their industry, is a true demonstration of what it means to be iconic: ‘widely recognised and acknowledged for distinctive excellence.’”

Opening the event, Alison Napjus explained the real gravitas that informed the idea for the discussion. “Women are better communicators, using more words and more expressive words, with a better ability to listen and to empathise. These women are all around trailblazers, winery leaders, winery founders, wine makers. We all have to find new ways to connect and communicate after the pandemic pivot we all faced. This event gives us the chance to explore, as women, three particular themes in Italian wine; heritage/family, territory, wine ambassadors.”

The women winery leaders came from 5 different regions and their age gap spanned 40 years. The idea of women in wine is not new, women are everywhere in the industry, but the gathering to share stories and important vintages, to exchange experiences, ideas and ask questions with leading wine writers was ground-breaking. The honesty and open attitude of all the women involved was clearly part of the magic in the room and what will attract young and savvy wine lovers to the unique soulfulness of Italian wine.

Chiara Boschis of E. Pira & Figli in Barolo, commented ““What do I have of iconic in my life? I am not an iconic woman, I work like a donkey all day, but this vineyard, Cannubi, this is an iconic place, and the diversity in the area is incredible. When I first got together with my friends, the Barolo Boys, I was the only girl, but we all wanted to shine a light on all the differences of our area and understand the potential of our terroir.” She shared the 2010 vintage BaroloCannubi, a year that was important because her brother joined her, with his daughters who are all studying enology and will bring a new generation of women to the winery. “Wine makers usually work alone. When we start to work together, recognising everyone’s unique terroir, we start to learn new things and appreciate all the traditions, we find more opportunities.”

Elisabetta Foradori from Trentino expressed her perspective, in a different way. “I actually love making cheese, it’s another kind of fermentation. I’m a farmer. Our country has a beauty and a richness of variety and we have a mission to transfer into a bottle this pure message of the different terroirs. We have a great responsibility to save and improve the genetic variety and express the terroir in the most healthy and connected way possible. Be creative and responsible farmers for the future.” Her pomegranate logo represents 100s of tiny seeds, packed together in one beautiful container, 100’s of ideas, creative thinking, and out of the box innovation.

Arianna Occhipinti, from Sicily, youngest of the group, added her experiences as an explorer with a model for young winemakers. “Frappato is the original grape from Vittoria where I grew up. I needed an important grape to grow up as a wine maker. Thanks to the character of this grape, I learned to make wine. Now I vinify parcel by parcel to get better expression of the soils, the limestone, the tufa, the red sand. Now I have treasure, for me it is important to show what Vittoria really is, the fresh wines we can make even in the deep south of Sicily.”

Marilisa Allegrini spoke of her learning curve after the death of her father and finding her way in the world away from the winery. “Valpolicella was known for inexpensive wines in the 1980’s, and Amarone was a niche wine for high end consumers, so it was a challenge for me to communicate. The first time I went to America, the importer wouldn’t let me go out to promote the wine until I wrote down absolutely everything about the wine. Many people said they didn’t want a Valpolicella on their wine list, so I knew I had to communicate everything to make this area known and understood.”

Elena Fucci from Mt. Vulture in Basilicata felt much the same as she struggled to put her region on the map. “For me it is a dream to be with these special women in wine today. My journey started in 2000, when my family considered selling the vineyard because we weren’t making wines, just selling the grapes to the consortium. I decided to change the course of my study so the house where I was born and lived with my family would not be sold. I went to university to study enology and winemaking. No one knew where Basilicata was. I had 6 hectares and a single grape: my wine, my life, my Titolo. I travel a lot to explain my region and my wine, modern but not modernist wine, I work to respect and understand the territory where we are. The vintage I am sharing is 2012 because ten years ago I had no idea what would happen to me and my wine in these ten years since 2012 and how much communicating it would take.”

Heritage and legacy were addressed by Albiera Antinori with her family’s Tignaello and Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta with her legendary Sassicaia. Antinori said, “For me, looking at the history of the past 50 years since the start of Tignanello, and the diversity and uniqueness of wines that can be made in Italy — the terroir and the story are the future, terroir still to be discovered, every day you get surprised by wonderful areas with local varieties, an elegance, a minerality, they’ve got the sun inside. Even traditional vineyards have been replanted so new things will be coming up, but we must be centered on quality, personality, history and the story we can explain.” Regarding sustainability she added, “It’s a complicated word to use, it can mean different things. For me it is a puzzle made of many things, with the final objective of leaving something better for the next generation. Not only in the winery but also for our workers, our sales force, we need one certification in Italy for sustainable, for economic sustainability as well.”

Priscilla Incisa della Rocchetta looked at the idea of safeguarding Italian wine history from outside investors and influences. “It’s not easy, there are real issues for family businesses, you have to have a strong sense of pride, family values and the family project. A responsibility to the next generations, we want to pass on what we got in an even better shape than when we received it. We are guardians. We have to combine financial goals with the family goals. Having a long-term view means we focus less on making short term cash, but we have to involve the family members to keep everyone interested, our estate is not only wine, we have other ventures and interests and my cousins and I have different interests on the estate. Consultancy helps deal with family generation change issues to and now we have the Primum Familiae Vini group which is a good place to share issues, know-how and support others in similar situations.

Summing up, Allegrini said, “We must put the agricultural product into the cultural context of Italy as a place of art, history, architecture, and beautiful landscape.” Larner added, “This is the real way to help Italian wine be more competitive, to communicate differently and better, to tell that story, down to the soil, down to the producer, down to the winery, down to the vineyard, down to the very last rock.” Stevie Kim remarked, “Everybody wants to be like Antinori, this is the problem I face as an agency, everyone wants that beautiful 26 generation story on their home page. Every winery has to find their own original story, not only the romance of generations and terroir, not only bio and organic and so on, but it has to be economically sustainable as well as. Each winery has to find the uniqueness of their story.” Najus concluded that, “You can teach people about wine, but to find the story is much harder.”

Looking back on this momentous event, Stevie Kim commented, “This session was never about men versus women or pigeon-holing anyone on the basis of gender, regionality, or points of view. Rather, Iconic Women in Wine at Vinitaly 2022 took a good long look at how to improve communication, highlight success and exalt the unique power of women to unite in challenging circumstances for a common good. Larner and Napjus absolutely found the story that needs to be told in order to secure the future of Italian wine in the global market.”.
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About Alison Napjus: Alison Napjus divides her time between New York, where Wine Spectator is based, and a second home in Tampa, Fla. She regularly travels abroad, both personally and professionally. After graduating from Cornell University’s School of Hotel Administration, Napjus moved to New York to take a position as a manager at Tribeca Grill restaurant. She joined Wine Spectator in 2000 and was promoted to Senior Editor in 2012 and Tasting Director in 2016. She is lead taster for the wines of Spain, France’s Champagne and Alsace regions, South Africa and wines from regions throughout Italy. As Tasting Director, she oversees the scope and content of Wine Spectator’s annual reviews of more than 15,000 wines, working closely with the tasters and tasting coordinators in the New York and Napa offices.

About Monica Larner: Monica Larner is a Los Angeles native, her family moved to Rome when she was 11. After high school in both Italy and California, Monica earned her undergraduate and graduate degrees in journalismfrom Boston University and New York University respectively. She worked for the Italian daily La Repubblica, followed by the Rome bureau of BusinessWeek and two years as a staff writer with Italy Daily of the International Herald Tribune where she penned her first wine column. Monica is an active member of the Ordine dei Giornalisti and a certified sommelier with the Italian Sommelier Association. In 2003, Monica was approached by Wine Enthusiast to be the magazine’s first Italy-based correspondent, where her proudest achievement is the 185-page special collector’s Wine Enthusiast “Wines of Italy” edition that showcases her decade-long body of work. She was awarded the “Best International Journalist” Silver Grape Leaf three by the Comitato Grandi Cru d’Italia. Gambero Rosso recognized her as a “Leader of Italian Excellence,” and the Italian Trade Commission acknowledged her distinguished service to Italian wine. In 2013, she joined The Wine Advocate as the Reviewer for Italy.

About Vinitaly: the grand Vinitaly 2022 was held from April 10th to the 13th. Vinitaly 2022 counted 88,000 visitors of which 25,000 were top international buyers from 139 different countries. The premier event to Vinitaly, OperaWine “Finest Italian Wines: 100 Great Producers,” which was held on the 9th of April, one day prior to Vinitaly, united international wine professionals in the heart of Verona, offering them the unique opportunity to discover and taste the wines of the 130 Best Italian Producers, as selected by Wine Spectator. Since 1998 Vinitaly travels to several countries thanks to its strategic arm abroad, Vinitaly International. In February 2014 Vinitaly International launched an educational project, the Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) with the aim of divulging and broadcasting the excellence and diversity of Italian wine around the globe. VIA this year launched the 21st edition of its Certification Course. To date, there are 271 Certified Italian Wine Ambassadors of which 15 are also Italian Wine Experts.

Choosing My First Wine For Others

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The other day I was reminded of the first time I had been asked to select wine for others. And it was over 25 years ago. My friend Timmy D, an executive in the TV industry, asked me to attend an awards luncheon with him as his guest. I thought, cool, haven’t done that before.

At Mondavi winery honing my craft!

We were seated in a circle, a group of about ten or twelve, and handed the menu of what we would be served. I don’t recall any choices, there was amuse bouche, a salad, our entrée and a dessert, if I recall correctly. Luckily there was an accompanying wine list with a dozen or so choices. I was tickled to look that over, and even more tickled when Timmy asked me to select the wine for the group!

(When I think back I think, bravo Tim. He hadn’t asked the group if they would like me to select their wine, and as he was a busy executive on a popular series, I’m sure he hadn’t taken the time beforehand to tell his crew about me. Not even sure, now that I think about it, if there wasn’t someone else seated at that round table better equipped than I.)

To this day I have no idea what the rest of the table thought of this 20-something tall blond Amazon, that was unknown by all, and why I had been tasked with this duty. I think Timmy just told them that I was some kind of a wine lover, at that time avidly reading every issue of Wine Spectator from cover to cover – an annual gift courtesy Timmy. I wasn’t yet writing about, or seriously studying, wine.

To this day I also don’t recall what wine I ordered but I do remember studying the food menu with the wine list, asking the guests what their preferences were, and selecting the bottles.

The show itself was a blur, literally, as I had forgotten to bring my eyeglasses. I dimly remember Steven Segal striding across the stage, and only recognized him because you could see his staggeringly tall frame and his signature slicked back ponytail from any distance! My thrill was being at that table, and for one brief moment, being the one in command, not Segal.

The wine came. The food came. Both were consumed with many nods, agreeing that the pairing was quite tasty. This was thrilling for me!

I will never forget this day, and how Timmy and the rest of his associates at the table made me feel. It may have been one of many moments that made me want to devote myself 100% to wine. It certainly pushed me forward to wanting to taste more, experience more, and do more with wine.

Do you remember your first experience taking command of a situation – involving wine?

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits.

Vinitaly International Academy Welcomes 21 Italian Wine Ambassadors

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VERONA, ITALY (PRWEB) The 23rd edition of Vinitaly International Academy was a joyful week full of intensive learning experiences, networking, tasting, studying, and a little bit of good old panic.

VIA is the gold standard of Italian wine education and this year showed off the course to its fullest potential. With the in-person return of both faculty members, Sarah Heller MW and Henry Davar IWE, the course rebounded from COVID restrictions with a subscription of over 50 international students and a tasting list over three days that encompassed close to 140 wines in preparation for a grueling exam that has a typical pass rate of 25%.

This edition of VIA saw an enthusiastic, passionate and seriously studious group of selected students with a broad base of experience in the wine sector spanning buyers, retailers, educators, writers, enthusiasts, sommeliers, and those very new to the world of Italian wine. VIA aims to create the longest table, welcoming everyone who is curious about Italian wine to join the conversation.

The course offers students a hybrid learning format, with a series of online lectures in preparation for the in-person event in Verona, where students are immediately immersed in the Italian wine world, with unique experiences such as an opportunity to taste the wine of the historic families of Valpolicella at the famous Antica Bottega del Vino at a private event, as well as master classes hosted by various wine consortiums from all over Italy. Professor Attilio Scienza, the VIA scientific advisor, also attended the course and delivered spectacular lectures with up to the minute research in vine DNA and history, specifically for the benefit of VIA students.

Students faced a challenging 4-part exam on Thursday 7 April, which resulted in the inauguration of 21 new Italian Wine Ambassadors, the most successful class to date. Congratulations to all the participants, all of whom have now become members of the VIA family, intent upon spreading the love for Italian wine across the globe.

The list of Italian Wine Ambassadors, Verona Flagship Class of 2022: Peggy Baudon, Bev Bourdin, Julian Di Donato, Noell Dorsey, Jodie Hellman, Cedric Izri, Elissar Kurban, Jules Lamon, Chunxia Liu, Michael Markarian, Hee Sung Park, Gabby Rossouw, Christpher Sachs, Thomas Sartori, Erik Schneider, Rodrigo A. Sepulveda Schulz, Emiliano Stratico, Scott Thomas, Jessica van der Schee, Ezra Wicks, Ashlee Brianne Howell.

About: Vinitaly International Academy (VIA) aims to be the gold standard of Italian wine education. It offers a complete educational path with standardized courses that will teach professionals and educators to master the diversity of Italian wine in a rigorous, organized manner. VIA’s main objective is to foster a global network of highly qualified professionals such as Italian Wine Ambassadors and Italian Wine Experts: in turn, they will support and promote Italian wine throughout the world. VIA was founded by Stevie Kim, Managing Director of Vinitaly International. The new VIA ecosystem avails of the guidance of Italian trade associations Federdoc, Federvini, Vignaioli Indipendenti FIVI, and Unione Italiana Vini as members of the Institutional Advisory Board. Italian vine genetics scholar, Prof. Attilio Scienza, oversees VIA’s scientific and educational direction as the Chief Scientist. VIA Faculty Sarah Heller MW and Henry Davar teach the flagship Italian Wine Ambassador course. To date there are 292 Certified Italian Wine Ambassadors of which 15 are also Italian Wine Experts.

America’s Best Wine Festival, The Garagiste, Offers America’s Best Wine Club

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PASO ROBLES, CALIF. (PRWEB) – America’s Best Wine Festival (USA Today), The Garagiste Festival, has launched The Official Garagiste Festival Wine Club, offering consumers across the US* rare access to the same under-the-radar, innovative, micro-production wineries that have made The Garagiste Wine Festival famous. And, just like the festival, which limits attendance to preserve its singular experience, only 300 members will have access to the limited production wines of The Garagiste Wine Festival Club.

The club also offers wine lovers a chance to contribute to the future of winemaking as it supports The Garagiste Festival Scholarship Fund at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, one of the country’s top winemaking programs.

“The Garagiste Festival Wine Club is another first for the garagiste movement” said Garagiste Festival Co-founder Doug Minnick. “We are so excited to introduce the official wine club of The Garagiste Festival, offering wines delivered straight from the garagiste movement’s heart to your doorstep. No other wine club provides access to this range of hard-to-find gems from the burgeoning micro-winery movement, and none are associated with the actual Garagiste Festival.”

The Garagiste Festival helped spark the garagiste wine movement when it launched in 2011 with a mission to bring wider attention to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan micro-wineries making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world. It is the nation’s first and only festival to showcase the wines of micro-production commercial ‘garagiste**’ winemakers.

Garagiste Festival Wine Club members receive three shipments of four bottles of premium wines each year that reflect each of the Garagiste Festival regions: Paso Robles, Northern California, and Southern California (including Santa Barbara County). Membership in the club means that consumers who are unable to travel (as well as those who can!) to the festival’s four annual events can experience remarkable, hand-crafted wines from some of California’s (and the US’) most renowned and innovative wine regions, year-round.

For example, the next wine shipment will include wines from among the over 40 micro-production wines from Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino, Lodi, Sierra Foothills and Livermore that will be poured at The Garagiste Festival: Northern Exposure which takes place on April 30th in Sonoma, at the Sonoma Veterans Memorial Hall. To buy tickets, click here.

Carefully selected in a blind tasting by a panel of industry professionals (winemakers, sommeliers, wine writers, etc.) from the over 600 wineries in the Garagiste Festival’s orbit, the Garagiste Certified wines encompass the wide range of varieties, blends, and styles — and the high quality typical of The Garagiste Festival. Each shipment reflects The Garagiste Festival’s core principles: micro-production, locally-sourced, passionately-produced, and delicious — the kind of quality and innovation only achievable by wines handcrafted in small batches.

“Our festivals, the home of the garagiste movement, are known for discovering today’s, and tomorrow’s, rockstar winemakers,” continued Minnick. “Our wine club brings that rare opportunity closer to home.”

To join The Garagiste Festival Wine Club click here
For more information about The Garagiste Festival, click here
For breaking Garagiste Festival news and special discounts, sign-up for our free newsletter, The Dirt, at https://www.garagistefestival.com/garagiste-blog or follow us on Twitter (@GaragisteFest) or Facebook.

*Garagiste Festival Wine Club shipping is available in the following states: AK, CA, FL, NV, OR and Washington DC.

About The Garagiste Wine Festival
The Garagiste Wine Festival (http://www.garagistefestival.com), named “Best of the Fests” for 2019 by Fest Forums and the ‘Best Wine Festival in the US in 2018 in USA Today’s 10Best Readers Choice Awards, is the first and only wine festival dedicated to the undiscovered and under-recognized American artisan ‘garagiste’ micro-wineries who are making some of the best, most exciting, handcrafted small-lot production wines in the world. Founded by fellow garagistes Stewart McLennan and Douglas Minnick, the Garagiste Festivals are committed to discovering the best and most innovative limited-production winemakers and promoting and showcasing them to a broad audience of discerning wine consumers. In addition to its flagship annual festival in Paso Robles, CA, the Garagiste Festival line-up includes Garagiste Festival: Southern Exposure, featuring Santa Ynez Valley garagistes; the Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure, in Los Angeles; the Garagiste Festival, Northern Exposure, in Sonoma; winemaker dinners, a newsletter, garagiste profiles and more.

In addition to being named the US’ Best Wine Festival, the Garagiste Festival was named one of the ‘Top Nine Incredible Epicurean Vacations’ in the world by ABC News, “one of the premier wine events of the year,” by the LA Times and “Best Festival” by Sunset Magazine’s ‘Best of the West.’ The festivals are produced by Garagiste Events, a non-profit dedicated to furthering the education of future winemakers and those training for employment within the wine industry. Proceeds from the festivals support the Garagiste Festival Scholarship fund of the California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo Wine and Viticulture Department.

**Garagiste (garage-east) is a term originally used in the Bordeaux region of France to denigrate renegade small-lot wine makers, sometimes working in their “garages” (anything considered not a chateau), who refused to follow the “rules,” and is now a full-fledged movement responsible for making some of the best wine in the world. The Garagiste Festivals were the first to shine a light on the American garagiste winemaker in 2011.

New Book Explains America’s Fastest-Growing Wine Region (Paso) in a Compact, Easy-to-Read Format

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Newport Beach, California – Paso Robles has quickly become one of America’s most popular wine regions. It’s also a big and complex place. With more than 300 wineries and 11 wine-producing regions, it can be intimidating. Drive Through Paso Robles gives wine consumers the information they need to understand and feel confident to explore a large, fascinating and fast-growing part of the wine world.

“This book, the second in our Drive Through series, is designed to instill confidence in all levels of wine drinkers to help them discover and explore Paso Robles,” said Naushad Huda, creator of the Drive Through series, which began in 2019 with the award-winning Drive Through Napa.  “It’s easy to read, packed with information, and designed with a modern aesthetic while being a valuable companion as you explore the wineries in the region.”

Drive Through Paso Robles helps make Paso manageable, and it captures the dynamism and huge potential of a wine region that has become increasingly respected in the wine world. Compact and clearly written, it can be read in an hour or two, yet it gives you the essentials. Here are some features:

  • Information on the area’s geological and human history
  • Profiles of immigrant families who established winemaking in the area.
  • Descriptions of early winemakers and their contributions.
  • Detailed explanations of Paso’s 11 American Viticultural Areas.
  • Q&A sections with winemakers from Austin Hope, Clos Selene, Daou, Eberle, Epoch, J Dusi, J. Lohr, Saxum, and Victor Hugo.
  • A special foreword by Prentice Penny, a writer and director best known for his HBO series, Insecure. Penny’s 2020 Netflix film, Uncorked, explored a young Black man’s determination to become a master sommelier.
  • Special pages for personal tasting notes and winemaker autographs.

The team behind the book:

  • Paul Hodgins, an award-winning veteran journalist, author and educator who was The Orange County Register’s wine writer for 15 years.
  • Kathy Lajvardi, an award-winning motion graphics animator for films, including Iron Man; she also designed concert graphics for Madonna.
  • Naushad Huda, award-winning strategist, entrepreneur and wine geek.

Drive Through Paso Robles is available on Amazon. It is also sold in wine tasting rooms and stores throughout the region. For more information about Drive Through Paso Robles or Drive Through Napa or for wholesale orders call or text Naushad Huda at 949-441-4832 or email naushad@ilikethisgrape.com

Carter Creek Winery Racks Up 12 Awards at TXIWC

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JOHNSON CITY, Texas – Carter Creek Winery, located in the heart of Texas Hill Country and owned by the Carter Family, accepted 12 awards at one of the largest wine competitions in Texas – the 5th Annual Texas International Wine Competition (TXIWC). The mission of this yearly competition is to highlight Texas as a prominent viticulture and wine-making region while also raising funds for charitable donations for local community organizations.

Entries from six countries and over 11 U.S. states were blind tasted and judged by panels of three or more industry qualified judges – master sommeliers, masters of wine, certified wine educators, enologists, wine writers, professors, beverage directors, buyers and other influencers – all chosen for their vast experience and well-trained palates.

“We are most pleased that 12 of our Texas High Plains wines from Carter Creek Family Winery won distinguished recognition at TXIWC and especially proud our Plateau Red was awarded Best of Class Texas Red,” said Jeff Carter, president of Carter Hospitality, operating company of Carter Creek Winery Resort & Spa. “We too, like the organizers of this competition, are passionate about bringing recognition to Texas viticulture and supporting local community causes,” Carter added.

Veteran master winemaker Jon McPherson, who oversees production of Carter Creek’s award-winning wines, points out the winery’s vineyards in Texas Hill Country produce varietals that are especially unique because of the combination of an extremely warm growing season and an early harvest delivering softer, earth driven wines. McPherson likes to talk about the qualities of Best of Class Texas Red winner, Plateau Red, which is a blend of tempranillo, grenache, touriga nacional and tinta cao, showing a very exotic fruit aroma of spiced black cherries and raspberries. He says that Plateau Red is a rich, full-bodied wine due to 18 months of barrel aging and pleases the palate with bold lingering fruit flavors.

The 12 Carter Creek Winery, Texas High Plains award winners include the Best of Class Texas Red, one double gold, two gold and eight silver medals. Award winning wines include:

  • Best of Class Texas Red Wine Blend: Plateau Red, 2016
  • Double Gold Red Wine Blend: Maverick, 2018
  • Gold Medal White Wine Blend: Gloriosa, 2017
  • Gold Medal Red Wine Blend: Maverick, 2017
  • Silver Medal Sparkling White: Brut, NV
  • Silver Medal Dessert, Port: Dominum Tinto, NV
  • Silver Medal Other Flavored Grape Wine: Sangria, NV
  • Silver Medal Sparkling Fruit: Sparkling Peach, NV
  • Silver Medal Red: Tempranillo, 2016
  • Silver Medal White Blend: Plateau White, 2017
  • Silver Medal White Blend: Viognier Roussanne, 2017
  • Silver Medal White Blend: Viognier Roussanne, 2018

Producing award-winning wines since 2016, Carter Creek Winery’s production facilities are in Johnson City along Old Hwy 290 in Texas Hill Country, complementing Carter Creek Winery Resort & Spa. Carter Creek Winery Resort & Spa features 78 luxury villas, tasting rooms, a restaurant, its own onsite microbrewery creating small batch craft beers and an outdoor event center. It is a counterpart to Temecula, California’s award-winning South Coast Winery Resort & Spa and Carter Estate Winery and Resort.

 About Carter Hospitality Group

Established in 2011, Carter Hospitality Group, LLC. is a family-owned hospitality company with four hotels and resorts as well as three wineries across the United States. Based in Orange County, California, the company manages and owns a portfolio of luxury properties including South Coast Winery Resort & Spa, Temecula, California; Carter Estate Winery and Resort, Temecula California; and Carter Creek Winery Resort & Spa, Texas Hill Country. Carter Hospitality Group additionally serves as the owner-franchisee for Red Lion Hotel Orlando Lake Buena Vista South, Orlando Florida. For more information, visit www.carterhospitality.com.

Barolo and Barbaresco World Opening Event Is Back With 2022 Edition In Los Angeles

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LOS ANGELES (PRWEB) – The Consorzio di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe e Dogliani, the association representing over 500 wineries in Piedmont, Italy, is pleased to announce the second annual edition of Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening in Los Angeles. The upcoming event will feature the most recently released vintages of Barolo and Barbaresco, 2018 and 2019, respectively. The Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening is a unique occasion to learn more about the two iconic red wines of Piedmont. Through this comprehensive event, the consortium aims to increase awareness and build excitement in the United States market by providing direct encounters with the most influential wines of these famous appellations.

BBWO 2022 will begin on April 28th with a preview tasting for Master of Wine, critics, sommeliers and journalists from Europe and the United States to analyze the overall quality of the 2018 and 2019 vintages. The tasting will be followed by an exclusive gala reception in Hollywood at Paramount Pictures Studios, featuring a celebration of Piedmontese food and wine culture.

On April 29th, at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, over 150 producers will present their Barolo and Barbaresco wines to press, trade, and consumers with a walk-around tasting. Both the Barolo DOCG and Barbaresco DOCG appellation wines will be poured during the tasting, as well as select single-vineyard labels.

“After the tremendous success of the inaugural event, we are thrilled to return to the United States with the second edition in Los Angeles this year,” said Matteo Ascheri, President of the Consortium. “The Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening is an incredible opportunity to present our wines, our traditional food and our culture to the most influential wine personalities in the United States, ​​our highest-volume export market.”

The renowned Barolo and Barbaresco wines, often called the “king and queen” of the Langhe region where they are made, are produced from 100 percent Nebbiolo grapes. Age-worthy and complex, these wines have a long history of production in Piedmont and express the nuances of the region’s microclimates. In addition to the Barolo DOCG and Barbaresco DOCG appellations, producers may use the term MGA (Menzioni Geografiche Aggiuntive) on qualifying labels to indicate single-vineyard bottlings. The Grand Tasting will feature an area dedicated to these MGA wines.

The Langhe region, situated in the southern part of the Piedmont region between the Alps and the Apennines mountains, was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site for the cultural history of its vineyard-covered hills, a manifestation of wine traditions that have evolved since pre-Roman times, yet remain central to the daily economic activity and social life of the region. The region’s distinctive microclimates and unique geological soil types can be tasted in the glass year-after-year, making the Langhe home to some of the world’s most respected wines, among them Barolo and Barbaresco. To uphold the quality of these wines and its land, the Consortium maintains strict agriculture guidelines, such as the yield per hectare planting regulations set in 2011.

The event will also include cheeses of Fontina Valle d’Aosta PDO, and rice of Biella and Vercelli Barraggia PDO. Over two days, participants will have the chance to take a culinary journey to Italy, tasting Barolo and Barbaresco wines paired with Fontina PDO cheeses and risotto prepared with Baraggia rice. The Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening event is part of the European campaign “Top Tales: A piece of Europe on your table,” created to increase awareness of these three PDO products in the United States market.

For more information about the Barolo & Barbaresco World Opening events, contact BBWOevents@colangelopr.com, for media inquiries contact merland@colangelopr.com.

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About Top Tales: Top Tales is a project supported by the European Union aimed at promoting Fontina DOP from Valle d’Aosta, Rice di Baraggia Biellese e Vercellese DOP, as well as the DOCG’s Barolo and Barbaresco. The European communication campaign Top Tales: A piece of Europe on your table, is designed to increase the awareness of the three DOP products in the United States market.

About the Consorzio Di Tutela Barolo Barbaresco Alba Langhe E Dogliani: Founded in 1934 and representing 537 wine producers across multiple appellations, the Consortium is committed to the management, protection, and promotion of the Langhe, Alba, and Dogliani wine denomination. The Consortium ensures high quality by a set of formal production guidelines for the entire winemaking process, from agronomy to market surveillance. The Consortium continues to perform periodic sampling of wine products on the market to prevent fraud and to protect the wines’ authentication and reputation. Barolo & Barbaresco are registered trademarks in many countries throughout the world.

About Consorzio Tutela Fontina: The Consortium was created in 1957 to protect Fontina DOP, its production and distribution. The entity releases the Fontina DOP trademark on every wheel of Fontina produced following the Consortium’s rules.

About Consorzio Tutela Riso di Baraggia Biellese e Vercellese: the rice from Biella and Vercelli was awarded the PDO status in 2007 after the European Union verified its unique quality and nutritional characteristics. Today, the denomination covers 22,000 ha of paddy fields across 28 communes.

How To Start With Wine

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The question I’m asked most often is how did I get into wine and spirits? Well, over 20 years ago when I was a community columnist for my local newspaper and the editor of our weekly entertainment section asked what else I could write about. At that time I had been in a few wine clubs, and a book club, so I offered to do book and wine reviews. Pretty quickly I started receiving unsolicited bottles of wine on my doorstep for review, as well as invitations to wine dinners and wine events.
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No one sent me any free books, and the rest, is history.

Photo: Ed Bushman

What I want to share with readers today is how you can get into wine. I will share two simple ideas that should get anyone, aficionado or beginner, further into exploring and understanding wine.

Sensory Class

How are people able to describe aromas and flavors like fruit and spice in their wine? Why do they say things like, “This reminds me of milk chocolate-covered cherries”? No, there aren’t any cherries added into your glass of red wine, only a memory of a particular fruit. Your memory has to be either fresh, or well worked like most sommeliers through practice/a lot of tastings. So how can you do it? Let me tell you.

A few years back I was a guest at J. Lohr in Paso Robles. Besides a tour and tasting our group of wine writers/sommeliers were offered a sensory experience, led by red winemaker Steve Peck, which was meant to help us describe aromas. Peck had several small glasses of different Torani syrups, the same syrups you see in coffee bars, and the identity of each was written on a card, placed upside down in front of each. We were to sniff each syrup and guess what the flavor was, then reveal the card to see how we did. Immediately following this exercise we swirled and sniffed a few wines, and as you may have guessed, were easily able to call up the recent memories.

I emailed Torani after this eye-opening experience and they sent me about a dozen bottles to do my own classes, which I enjoy doing often. I also add glasses with items from my spice cabinet, honey, coffee, flower petals, earth, tree bark, tobacco, chocolate…you name it and I’ve probably put it in a cup. So you don’t have to have the syrups, you just need to take a trip through your house and garden. And then think about the smells.

Learning About One Variety At A Time

Years ago Eve Wine 101 Staff Writer Rusty Sly introduced “Grape of the Night” in one of his blog posts. He invited wine lovers to meet him at a local wine bar, with a bottle of the one variety of wine that he pre-chose. So say one month Rusty suggested a wine like Grenache and people then brought their favorite bottle of Grenache – which of course meant wines from all over, including Spain where the wine is called Garnacha. Then Rusty would read from his notes, about the history of the particular varietal, where it’s most popular and of course, the flavor profile. Guests would sample each – I know this part well as he roped me into serving most often – and describe the aromas and flavors they found. They were literally educating their palate on one variety at a time, and looking for small nuanced differences in each bottle.

Now, what will you do next to delve further into your wine journey?

Eve Bushman has a Level Two Intermediate Certification from the Wine and Spirits Education Trust (WSET), a “certification in first globally-recognized course” as an American Wine Specialist ® from the North American Sommelier Association (NASA), Level 1 Sake Award from WSET, was the subject of a 60-minute Wine Immersion video (over 16k views), authored “Wine Etiquette for Everyone” and has served as a judge for the Long Beach Grand Cru and the Global Wine Awards. You can email Eve@EveWine101.com to ask a question about wine or spirits.