by Jeff Miller of Artisan Family of Wines (Seven Artisans, Sly Dog Cellars, Red Côte Rosé)
Every Wednesday I post my recommendations of the best of last week’s postings concerning wine, whether blogs or news. I list them in the order I read them, so you shouldn’t infer anything about the order in which I list these posts.
What a difference a county line makes…or doesn’t
Steve Heimoff
http://www.steveheimoff.com/index.php/2009/10/12/what-a-difference-a-county-line-makesor-doesnt/
Being on the wrong side of the county line can make a big difference, even if the grapes don’t know the difference. Being just on the wrong side of the Napa County line, I can sympathize.
Vampire Wine - Quality Marketing not Wine
http://www.whineaux.com/2009/10/vampire-wine-quality-marketing-not-wine/
There’s a trend to use gimmicks to sell wine. That would be ok, if there was quality in the bottle as well. All too often, that’s not the case.
Circling the drain
Winesooth.com
http://www.redwinebuzz.com/winesooth/2009/10/12/circling-the-drain/#more-3829
The latest on Arthur’s vineyard in Los Angeles.
Not all the vines took. Arthur’s questions about that (and my answers):
1. Is what’s happening with my vine something you’ve seen before? Yes. It looks like the rootstock is what’s growing, not the variety that was grafted onto it.
2. If you had to speculate, what would you say is the problem? See above.
3. What is the rate of failure of newly-planted vines? Only a few percent, but the more challenging the site, the higher the failure rate.
4. What causes failure of newly planted vines (parasites and pests excluded)? Too many things to list. A couple of them: poor graft union, poor soil.
For keeping up to date with what’s going on the in wine world, the best all around source is http://winebusiness.com.
[...] from the expired plant and a few from its neighbors. I wanted to compare the leaves later to see if Jeff Miller’s hypothesis, was [...]