“We will be relentless in our pursuit of perfection. We won’t ever be perfect – but in the process we will achieve greatness.” – Vince Lombardi. That quote from the great coach could just as easily have been said by Daniel Daou, winemaker and co-proprietor of Daou Vineyards in Paso Robles, California. Daniel, and his brother Georges, have set out to make the very best wine that can rival the best of Napa or Bordeaux, and Advinetures got to hear their fascinating story first hand when we visited with Daniel at their gorgeous hilltop winery.
The wine world has always made a point to differentiate its various different terroirs, as the differing conditions of site, soil, temperature, aspect, sunshine, rainfall and a myriad of other factors have a big influence on the wines that different terroirs produce. Across the world it is well known that different sub-regions produce different styles of wine, and, perhaps even more importantly, different quality levels of wine. These sub-regions are generically referred to as Geographical Indications or GIs. Across the world, these GIs have more local names. In France they have the AOC (Appellation d’Origine Controlee) system, Italy has Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) and two others, and the US has the American Viticultural Area (AVA) designation.
When you have a name like Grapevine and you’re in the heart of an emerging wine region, living up to the expectations a name like that provides can be daunting. Combine Grapevine with GrapeFest, the largest wine festival in the Southwest, and you have the makings of a pretty great opportunity to taste what Texas winemakers have to offer.
In 1965 David Lett planted the first Pinot Noir vines in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. Fifty years later the region is home to more the 400 wineries producing some of the best of this varietal worldwide along with other cool climate wines such as Chardonnay, sparkling and Syrah. But while Pinot Noir is certainly what put Willamette Valley on the wine map, it is their experimentation with some surprising ones that makes visiting this area truly intriguing for wine lovers.
EFESTĒ (pronounced eff – ess – tee) is a true family winery: two generations of the Ferrelli family work in it and they learned the trade from a third. When you go to visit them at their Woodinville, Washington tasting room, as we recently did, the sense of family comes through loud and clear.
Grape varietals indigenous to the Rhone Valley have been grown elsewhere in the world for years. Notably, Spain has roughly ¾ of the acreage planted to Grenache that France does and Australia has about ¾ of the Syrah that France does. But the USA has been the late entrant to the game, and while it does not have nearly the amount of acres under vine of Rhone varietals, it has certainly become a force to be reckoned with for lovers of Rhone wines.
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Most of us wine enthusiasts have harboured, either secretly or not, the dream of some day owning a winery. Cristom Winery, in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, is the story of a man who actually pursued that dream and created one of the top wineries in the state.
Although we’re not vegan ourselves, we live in a bona fide vegan-friendly city and are used to having to cater to different food preferences when entertaining guests. Recently, a very dear friend brought to our attention that his wife was worried about having to give up wine when she found out many are not technically vegan. Surprised?
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