Gift Baskets

It seems that every year the gift basket business gets bigger and bigger. From corporate gift baskets to those of us who simply don’t know exactly what to buy for our loved one’s…..gift baskets offer a real alternative and the industry is growing as a result. While I can appreciate that every business (like every [...]

Source: http://winewithmark.info/archives/668

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European Wine Bloggers Conference Begins October 14, 2011

This evening we set off to Italy for the European Bloggers Conference IV. We are very excited because the agenda of conference sessions and wine country excursions are ?molto fantastico.? We can only wonder how we will be able to manage the consumptions of so much fine wine and food that the Italian wine consortiums have in store for the 216 wine bloggers that will attend this amazing wine soiree. The conference headquarters are in Brescia, Italy, which is situated in the heart of the Franciacorta wine territory, notably known for its fabulous sparkling wine. Continue reading

Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/european-wine-bloggers-conference-begins-october-14-2011/

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Tasting Report: 2009 Roar Pinot Noir

Garys', Rosella's, Pisoni... While exploring top California Pinot Noir producers you'll inevitably bump into a short list of vineyards that supply folks like Kosta Browne, Loring, Siduri, A.P. Vin, and Miner with grapes. When you dig a little deeper you'll find that Gary and Rosella Franscioni are the owners of these vineyards and they produce wine under their own label: Roar.

The vineyards are within the Santa Lucia Highlands AVA in Monterey County California, which has become one of my favorite regions for Pinot Noir. The Russian River Valley, Anderson Valley, and the Sonoma Coast are up there too, but I'm really enjoying the bold fruit-forward Pinot Noirs from SLH.

The Franscionis have been farming in the area for over 100 years before getting into wine. They planted Rosella's Vineyard in 1996 then decided to make their own wine in 2001. It's amazing how quickly Pinot Noir quality has risen in California.

The name Roar comes from sound winds make as it tears through their vineyards. Roar recently released their Spring 2010 offer to folks on their mailing list. Their Pinots sell for $40-$50.

The winemaker here is Ed Kurtzman (Freeman, August West, and his own label Sandler) with consultation from Adam Lee (Siduri). They also make Syrah and recently added Chardonnay to their lineup.

Here are my thoughts on their 2009 appellation bottling.

2009 Roar Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir
994 Cases Produced
$40 Release Price
14.9% Alcohol

I had high hopes for this wine and it didn't disappoint. At all.

Opened it to help decide whether to buy their 2010's and I think I will. It's ready to go immediately upon opening but boy does it reveal more with time. Each sip was better than the one before it. Tremendous.

Started off as a very good/outstanding Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir but evolved into much more.

Brimming with incredibly ripe strawberries with supporting notes of dry kindling. Like imagine you're starting a campfire in the desert and you grab some mesquite and snap one open. Wow. But not doubt - the fruit dominates. It's just always followed up with enough savory complexity to keep it interesting.

Unfined and unfiltered, and it shows at times with slight siltiness throughout and occasional rogue sediment. The mouthfeel is silky smooth and in keeping with its category. Long finish. Tremendous wine. Carries its price tag ($40) and then some.

If it were an NFL running back it would be Barry Sanders - starts off looking like it's going to be just a solid effort and ends up breaking it wide open. So fun to watch it in action.

94/100 WWP: Outstanding

Based on this experience I'll be buying their 2010s and looking forward to trying more of their wines. You can find them around at retail, but you've got to look around.

Further Reading:

Question of the Day: Have you tried Roar Pinot Noir? If so what did you think? If not, what other producers in this category would your recommend?


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/15--RvKmI6w/tasting-report-2009-roar-pinot-noir.html

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Good Grape Goes on Hiatus

“Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans” said a very wise John Lennon and that’s exactly what has happened with me.  My life has kept apace, even as I’ve made plans to be a respected wine writer.

By most standards, 2011 has been a very good year.  I was a three-time finalist in the Wine Blog Awards, earning notice in the Best Overall Wine Blog, Best Industry Blog and Best Writing categories.  I started contributing a wine column to Forbes.com.  This site was named the 2nd most influential blog (and most influential wine blog) out of 4,000 blogs in a 2011 Wine, Beer and Spirits study by eCairn, a software company specializing in community and influencer marketing.  I was a panelist at Vino2011 in New York City, I won a scholarship to the Wine Writer’s Symposium in Napa Valley, and I turned down enough worldwide wine trip offers to fill a two-month calendar.

Yet, wine writing has exacted a toll.  I approach anything I do with a zeal and fervor that ensures me the success that I want and I’ve treated my wine writing as a full-time second job, to go alongside the job that I already have that requires 50 + hours a week.

Balance isn’t something that I’ve ever been very good at—possessed of an unassuming mien, a Midwestern work ethic, and a mental make-up whereby I cast myself as the underdog means that I am continually trying to prove something to myself, often times at the expense of real, true priorities.

Even more challenging is the fact that my standards for myself have been raised even as I’ve honed my writing chops.  Instead of figuring out a system to find time shortcuts, the amount of time it takes for me to write has become more deliberate and expansive while my interest in writing has become more professional in nature – less blogging and more credible journalism requiring more work to exceed the bar that I’ve set for myself.

The net result of this, after full-time job plus wine writing, is the rest of my life has received scant attention for nearly seven years and I’ve created a nearly untenable situation for myself, a set of internal expectations that I can’t live up to, requiring a time commitment that I can’t manage.

However, most importantly, the expectations and time commitments that I have assigned to my wine writing isn’t fair to the other people in my life – notably, my incredibly supportive wife, Lindsay.  She has been a saint the past six years, my blogging encompassing nearly the entire duration of our 6.5 year marriage.  But, she is long overdue a husband that takes the trash out without prompting!

I’ll be around the Internets – commenting on wine blogs, doing the Twitter thing, staying connected on Facebook and I’ll probably start engaging more actively on CellarTracker and on the WineBerserkers message board, but I’m taking a hiatus from wine writing to recalibrate, shifting my time to the things that are the most important to me:  Family and career.

Jeff

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/good_grape_goes_on_hiatus/

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Bang & Olufsen Beosound - The classic music system from Stuart Hughes

Stuart Hughes is here to strike your eardrums with the elegant and most expensive music system. Even if you don?t listen to music regularly, you will feel like possessing this exclusive music system. But the question is whether you can afford it, because the manufacturer is a luxury brand that has taken nearly 210 days [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/gOTRlH761qY/

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Eversave: $35 for $70 at Wine.com

Wakefield, MA based daily deal site Eversave is offering $35 for $70 at Wine.com. See - I told you Wine.com was making the rounds with these deals.

Like other Wine.com social coupons, the voucher value can't be applied towards shipping or tax, can't be combined with other offers, and is said to be invalid for shipping alcohol to MA.

I've bought from Eversave in the past without incident. They're not as famous as Groupon and LivingSocial - but they're legit.

Deal expires Thursday, December 15th. Promotional value of voucher needs to be used by March 5th, 2012. 

Click here to have a look at this deal


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/oodOsmz65Qc/eversave-35-for-70-at-winecom.html

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Case Study ? Social Media Works for Tea

One of the problems with the “should I use social media” discussion is that people who do not, and never will, use these tools natively are the ones making the decisions. ‘Digital Natives‘ are people who were born in a world where the landscape was always “digital”. If you extend this thinking you then have “social [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/BN3Zh3DzU30/

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