Carolyn Tillie

No worries! Not a lot of people understand the minute differences and they are rather complicated. Basically there is the 75% rule and the 85% rule. A Cabernet, for example, can be called a Cabernet, if it is 75% Cabernet FROM THE SAME APPELLATION. We can add up to 25% other grape varietals if they are from the same appellation and still call it a Cabernet (and John Q Public might not realize it ISN'T a 100% Cabernet!). If other varietal grapes are used from OTHER appellations, than less only 15% or less can be used to still be able to call it by that grape's name. For example, if I have 75% Howell Mountain Grapes and 25% Stag's Leap grapes (regardless of type), than the best I can call that wine is "Napa Valley." I can't use the sub-appellation of Howell Mountain. If I have 75% Napa grapes and 25% Sonoma grapes, I can't even call it a Napa wine. This is why there is such a huge rise in blends, such as the ubiquitous Meritage. (White, by the way, is NOT pronounced Meri-taaaaahhhhge -- it is nothing other than the combination of the two words, Merit and Heritage, and is thus pronounced Meri-tidge -- and drive me NUTS when people try to make it sound like a European-style word!), Cuvee, or other winery-specific blends like Duckhorn's Paraduxx, Rabbit Ridge's Avventura, or Gundlach Bundschu's Bearitage (pronounced to rhyme with heritage)! I hope this helps!

Good point -- before this week's tremendous news, who else knew that Woodbridge was a Mondavi product???

Added note... When I had just moved here and was desperately unemployed, looking for work, I interviewed to the be Executive Assistant to whomever it was that had just got hired by the Mondavi Corp to head the Woodbridge Division. Am I ever glad I didn't get THAT job (especially after going through NINE interviews over there)!!!!

Additional documents: The Actual Mondavi Corporate Press Release Business Wire.com LA Times version San Francisco Chronicle

Actually you are quite close... For 2002, we were growing both a Petit Verdot and Malbec to be used in blending. Because the 02 Cabernet Sauvignons were so spectacular, very little Petit Verdot, if any (I don't exactly recall) blending was necessary. However, the Malbec was SO DAMNED FINE on its own, that the decision was made to bottle it as its own varietal. I am thrilled, actually -- Howell Mountain is getting a reputation for really oppulent, rich, spicy fruit and a Malbec from the Mountain tastes really, really nummy (trust me). I'm very excited about the prospects of that wine. For Petit Verdot, however, it is not a grape that lends itself well to single varietal bottling. Generally, it is grown because it is an inky grape that lends color to Cabernet Sauvignons, and very little actual flavor. Granted, there are some doing it (notably, Delia Viader, who's winery is on the way up Howell Mountain but not considered mountain fruit due to low elevation, has her version entitled "V" which you can read about here. Her 2001 is not 100% PV, but a blend heavy on PV: 58% Petit Verdot •34% Cabernet Sauvignon • 8% Cabernet Franc). In our case, if we don't use it, we bulk it out.

Some vegans are extremely sensitive to even the smell of meat. After Shawn and I moved in together, his Vegan Sister wouldn't set foot in our house for TWO YEARS because she could sense the lingering smell of meat and it made her nauseous (or so she said...) Whatever.

I have been remiss in my duties... We are picking and sorting and crushing and all is a-buzz. I've been coming in during the wee hours which is why this grape looks like it was photographed in the middle of the night. In answer to your question, Toliver, we are talking at least three years before the grapes that are being grown today will be drinkable -- 24 months in a barrel and then another year in a bottle before the wine gets released. That is, IF what I have been blogging (a Petit Verdot, BTW, not a Merlot) makes it into a bottle. Last year, the Stotesberys were so happy with the quality of the Cabernet, that little or no Petit Verdot was ultimately used in a wine. It might be the case with these little grapes that you have been witnessing. It has been suggested that I continue blogging, but that next year I document the growth of a Cabernet, which we KNOW will be bottled! It is projected that we'll be picking these in the next week or two -- I've been waiting to show you the rest of the process until these little babies are off their vine!

You are indeed correct! I was referring to the lingots du nord which I know as flageolets blancs... Good catch, Cars!

Cassoulet. Cassoulet. Cassoulet.....

Scones and Tea Borscht Minestrone Greek Lamb Stew Cookies and Tea Cakes Okay -- I've figured it out. For me, it is baked goods and pots of soups and stews... I'll eat them all winter long, in fact!

Thank you for joining us, Andrea. I work in the wine industry in Napa, California. The winery at which I work had to completely re-bud over all of its vines due to phylloxera and recently there has been much ado about the glassy winged sharpshooter. In reading the industry news, we read a great deal about this little pest and yet I don't read about it from the European perspective very often, if at all. What are some of the agricultural concerns that you have to deal with? Is the glassy winged sharpshooter an issue or is there another major concern that is uppermost in the minds of vineyard growers in Italy? Thank you so much!

Rabbit Ridge Winery essentially left Northern California for the Paso Robles area several years ago under a similar circumstance to what Cosentino is now being fined for: The Napa County District Attorney's Office is claiming Cosentino Winery in Yountville was too big for its legally-defined britches, in violation of a court injunction fashioned almost five years ago. Prosecutors are seeking a penalty of more than $75,000 against the winery in civil court. The action is a follow-up to the results of a 1999 lawsuit, California v. Mustards, Inc., in which Vintage Grapevine and Mitchell Cosentino promised not to violate any condition of their use permit. The permit states Cosentino cannot produce more than 30,000 gallons of wine each year at the facility.

I guess I'm in the Chinese Food camp -- the whole thing sort of turns my stomach (as I was sitting and reading this while eating breakfast, I've lost my appetite). I would have confessed to the guests and dined on everything BUT the turkey, regardless of how "sterile" urine is.

I was pretty thrilled with what I had already experienced the previous weekend and talked Shawn to a night out there... As we drove up to the building, we saw the "private party" sign and realized it was their opening night. "Rancho Gordo is probably in there," we chuckled to ourselves as we drove on to another less-worty eatery.... We were right. Looking forward to going back soon. Was that your beans in the Hoppin'John? Mighty tasty foodstuffs!

Mea culpa -- just feeling left out of the fun...

Yep - that's the one I mentioned in my previous post. Thanks for the invite...

It has been over two years since I lived in Los Angeles, but these were places I used to frequent: Hua Garden, 301D N. Garfield, Monterey Park Best Szechwan, 230 N. Garfield, Monterey Park Chung King, 206 S. Garfield, Monterey Park Do you see a pattern? Stay out of LA's version of Chinatown (in downtown) and head to Monterey Park!

Yes, yes, and yes. Also (and this is the Religious Historian in me), Three is a Magickal Number...

Nope. Bittersweet is sweetened. Unsweetened has no sugar whatsoever.

For some reason, doubling cake recipes lead to disaster -- and I have never figured out why. Many cake cookbooks (Rose Levy Beranbaum specifically) recommends against ever doubling a recipe. What I WOULD do, however, is make the single batch and bake it. Then make a second batch, bake your single pan as needed, but make cupcakes with the remainder for take-aways for your guests. Problem solved.

I am Who comes up with these quizzes??? Too, too funny...

Kill the bride. Okay, okay, that probably isn't the best idea. I would, however, make her a flourless chocolate cake and top it with the worst grocery store-style icing you can get and show her just how bad it is. Then maybe you can talk her into something good!

Walt, this is just about the greatest thing since sliced bread! Your post - I mean... What do you think of Cellar Tracker? And would it interface with a PDA?

Here's the rub about making anything remotely Mexican here in California... we all eat it way too often. There are so many local taco joints that end up being our fast food, that it wouldn't appear very special at an event like this. I DO like the squash idea, though - I might do that for our upcoming Harvest Party (which is ALL Mexican and so it would be really different!)

You know, I do think these vegetarians have gotten used to eating fish (a lot of world travel necessitated the eating of fish in many countries, I believe). There will be the question of expense, however. Salmon for 40 could get expensive, but I might be able to counter it with all the other Middle Eastern dishes that are vegetarian. I gotta see when my brother-in-law is going fishing... so often he just shows up on my doorstep with whole salmon!