Talk-A-Vino

Meritage Time!

Here is your [extremely irregular] update on the interesting wine (and food) happenings that recently grabbed my attention. Let’s start with some local updates first.

New stories of Passion and Pinot

Last week I published a new interview in the Stories of Passion and Pinot series – this time with David Adelsheim, one of the early pioneers of the Oregon Pinot revolution. This is one of the very best interviews in the series and will be well worth a few minutes of your time – if you will crave a glass of Pinot after reading it, I’m not responsible for it. There are 15 interviews plus multiple updates in the series, and more interviews and updates are up and coming in the series – my conversations with Erik Kramer of WillaKenzie and Bill Sanchez of Potter’s Vineyard will be published soon.

Yelp 100 Top Restaurants

Yes, I’m mostly writing about wine in this blog, but I love food and I’m actually a “yelper”, both as a user of and as a contributor to the popular Yelp website. I rely on Yelp’s recommendations when I travel, and I go out of my way to write a review after visiting a restaurant (I rarely review other businesses or attractions). Yelp recently released a list of the 100 most popular restaurants around the US – it is a fun reading to see what the others like, so you might want to spend a few minutes browsing through. Who knows, maybe you will see your favorite eatery among the top 5…

This Day In Wine History

I love data. It doesn’t have to be anything useful. Just data, information, facts – especially if it concerns subjects that are near and dear to my heart – like wine. As a data collector, do you want to know what happened in the history of wine on a specific day of the month – let’s say, February 1st? Now you can, with the help of the website called This Day in Wine History. For example, I just learned what happened on February 1st. According to the website, “February 1, 1141: On this day, the foundation of Barone Ricasoli, Italy, was laid. The Tuscan winery is the oldest one still in business in Italy”. Or here is another February 1st event: “February 1, 1801: On this day, John June Lewis, Sr was born. He is known as the first African-American winemaker in the United States”. The information on the website is not limited to the singular date events – you can find in-depth articles about the history of the wine decanters or all you wanted to know about widow Clicquot, one of the key figures in the history of Champagne. Check it out, I have a suspicion that you might find it useful and entertaining.

OTBN – Open That Bottle Night

It is never too early to talk about one of my favorite wine holidays – Open That Bottle Night, or OTBN for short. This year, OTBN, which is celebrated on the last Saturday in February, will fall on February 25th. I wrote about OTBN numerous times so if you are not familiar with the concept please click on the link. For the rest of us, the game is on, and it is not too early to start thinking about those special bottle(s) that are waiting and begging to be opened. Yep, start looking in that cellar… If you are anything like me, that special bottle decision will not come with ease…

That’s all I have for you for today. The glass is empty, but the refill is on the way. Cheers!