Friendly, Accessible Winemakers

[Rebel Rose]

Can you name winemakers that have a lively online presence and are available to answer questions about their wines, and wine production in general?

Of course we'll have to start with eGullet Society member 'Don Giovanni.'

* John Zuccarino (aka 'Don Giovanni') Silver Springs Winery, Finger Lakes, New York

John not only answers questions online here and elsewhere, but posts interesting and thought-provoking topics gleaned from our industry news feeds.

* Mel Knox, barrel broker and winemaker

Mel is well known in the industry for his quirky sense of humor. See our Guest Conversation with Mel. Mel also produces wine, and posts frequently online.

[Rebel Rose]

Oops, and of course our eGullet member Casey Hartlip of Eaglepoint Ranch! Casey is both an accomplished Mendocino grower and a winemaker, who posts frequently in our California Wine Blog 2007 thread.

[dinwiddie]

I don't know about here on eG, but on some of the more winecentric boards like Wine Spectator, vinocellar.com, and winodepot.com there are quite a few winemakers who regularly participate and are very accessable. Ones that come to mind off hand are Brian Loring (Loring Wine Co.), Andrew Vingiello (A.P. Vin), Jared Brandt (A Donkey and Goat), Jamie Kutch (Kutch Wines) Randy Sloan (Match), Andy Peay (Peay) Adam Lee (Siduri Wines), David Dain (Dain), Mark Neal (Neal Family Wines), Paul Frank (Gemstone) and many more.

[Rebel Rose]

Good list. Din, have you had an opportunity to try any of the above producers' wines?

[Brad Ballinger]

Not mentioned yet...

Fred Scherrer

Andrew Schweiger

Mat Garretson

Carole Meredith

[dinwiddie]

Good list.  Din, have you had an opportunity to try any of the above producers' wines?

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All except the Gemstone and the Kutch.

[dinwiddie]

Good list.  Din, have you had an opportunity to try any of the above producers' wines?

←

All except the Gemstone and the Kutch.

←

Actually, I regularly purchase (I'm on the allocation lists) Loring, A.P. Vin, Dain, Donkey and a Goat, Neal, and Siduri.

It is interesting to note that several winemakers who have started recently after working for others are also fairly active on some of the boards. In fact, they often use the boards to let us wine geeks know about them. I remember when Michael Brown of Kosta-Brown was first starting out. He participated in discussions about their wine and now it is one of the hardest lists to get on.

Chris Matheny of M2 and Bob Bressler of Bressler Wines is a regular participant too.

Edited May 1, 2007 by dinwiddie (log)