Wine: Art, Science or Just Personal Preference?

For a viticulturist or winemaker, growing grapes or making wine is mostly science – at first. There are certain things one must know about farming, including weather, soil, elevation, drainage, etc., that without that knowledge, quality grape growing for wine would not be possible. Also, there are...

Perfect Hill Country Wine Days

From Houston, San Antonio or Austin, the perfect wine day begins at 11 am at the Fall Creek Tasting Room in Driftwood, about 25 minutes south of Austin. Fall Creek owners Susan and Ed Auler are the co-pioneers of the modern Texas wine industry. Ed, an Austin attorney, was instrumental in working with the...

Allen Shoup, Long Shadows, Seattle and Woodinville

By Denman Moody – Allen Shoup is firmly ensconced in my list of “Top 20 Most Important Wine Luminaries of the World.” While he is modest about his impact on the world of wine, his achievements are worthy of praise. He almost single-handedly created the second-largest wine state in the U.S. Allen...

Lodi

OENOPHILE | By Denman Moody – Much has transpired since I visited and wrote an article about Lodi and its wines in 2010. For one thing, my favorite Lodi winery, Michael David, sold its 7 Deadly Zins and a couple other lines to focus on its more upscale wines. In a way, this resembles Sutter Home...

Great Red Wine Values

YOENOPHILE | By Denman Moody – In the last three months of 2019, I tasted about 200 red wines looking for great values in all price ranges. Most of the wines were good to very good, and I’m sharing my favorites just in time for Valentine’s Day. All were tasted with the proper glassware. Pinot Noir...

Fall Creek Vineyards

YOENOPHILE | By Denman Moody –  Skipping over the slow-moving history of post-prohibition winemaking in Texas, the shining stars are Susan and Ed Auler of Fall Creek Vineyards in the Texas Hill Country. These two have seen the results of years of passionate and dedicated work – traveling across the...

Cuvaison A Napa Valley Icon Embraces its Next Fifty Years

YOENOPHILE | By Denman Moody – In 2016, Robert Mondavi became the first post-Prohibition Napa Valley winery to celebrate its golden 50th anniversary. In the few years since, a handful of other famed wineries have joined the “golden” club, among them such icons as Trefethen, ZD Wines and Chappellet....

Chateau Margaux and the 1855 Red Bordeaux Classification

By Denman Moody – This month, I digress from the great American wine estates. For a historical understanding of red Bordeaux wines, one must be familiar with the 1855 Classification, almost all being from the Médoc, or left bank, which is where most of all the great Bordeaux reds were produced at that...