Sustainable Writing...Improved

Posted 05/06/2008 at 09:54 AM by Dirk

It's here and it isn't easy. Only the most dedicated writers are practicing it. Of course, I am referring to the latest improvement in our industry: Biodynamic wine-writing. Biodynamic wine-writing is far more involved and difficult than the more common or "standard" writing associated with the industrialized production of wine descriptions. Biodynamic wine-writing shares obvious similarities with organic wine-writing. Both are sustainable and neither allows the use of man made scores. After all, a score such ...  
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Before and After...

Posted 04/25/2008 at 10:56 AM by Dirk

What is it about "Before and After" pictures that always makes us look? Maybe it is just the "people watching" nature that lurks inside each of us. It could be our societal obsession with diets. Since most of us don't check out vineyards or viticulture magazines, I thought it was time to mention that we are thinning (This is not a personal weight loss statement nor is it any indication of how "folliclely challenged" I ...  
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Lost and Found...

Posted 04/18/2008 at 04:26 AM by Dirk

This is the last entry this week about desserts. (Next week I may be able to get back to what is going on in the vineyards.) I thought you should see something that came out of our tasting group that includes chefs, winemakers, hospitality and even management! Face it, when Abi said that he was going to make "French Toast", we didn't do back flips or say "stop the presses". Actually, he was too cultured and ...  
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Beware: Dessert Development in Progress

Posted 04/16/2008 at 03:36 AM by Dirk

After mentioning Mustard's desserts last time, I thought I should say that we spend a lot of time thinking about desserts, and even more time about what desserts go best with Dolce. (I fall into the school that sometimes Dolce is dessert enough on its own...) While I am used to tasting wines for work, (It is part of my career and it lets me complain about how unpleasant young red wines are at 8 a.m.) ...  
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Recommendations from a Sweet Tooth

Posted 04/14/2008 at 02:51 AM by Dirk

Do you ever get a craving for dessert? I have a sweet tooth. (Since it has always been that way, it must be genetic and I can blame it on my parents.) It could explain the creation of Dolce...a good thing. Heck, as a kid, I used to sell the marbles I won at school so I could finance my after-school pastry habit. (Eclaire, Mille Feuille, Pain au Chocolat were the pastries of choice.) My wife ...  
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Your Futures...(A Baker's Dozen)

Posted 04/10/2008 at 01:42 AM by Dirk

We tend to believe that we can have but one Future and it is mercifully unknown. Maybe I have read too much fiction, but we can prove that you can enjoy multiple Futures ? at least 13 to be precise. No, you don't have to be schizophrenic to enjoy all of them but you do have to make arrangements between now (April) and then (August 31st). You even get to choose your own "Futures"! Each spring we ...  
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Sounds Like...

Posted 03/31/2008 at 03:16 AM by Dirk

Do you ever think about the sounds of a particular place? How about the sounds of a particular time? I just got back from skiing (actually, FANTASTIC spring skiing in Sun Valley with six inches perfect powder on Friday night...). These two valleys, Napa and Sun Valley, sound completely different. Beautiful Bald Mountain in Sun Valley, Idaho © Sun Valley Resort This morning in St. Helena, it was cold. That is, cold for Napa Valley with tender shoots exposed. It was ...  
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It's Not Broken

Posted 03/21/2008 at 03:39 AM by Dirk

"Bud Break" What's that? Usually when something "breaks", it is a bad thing. In the case of buds in Napa Valley, it means only one thing; Spring is here. It means that pruning better be about done, and the frost systems better be working. (Sometimes we don't prune until we see growth because late pruning delays the real growth by a week or two (or it means we are behind and it gives us more time ...  
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Gotta Love It...

Posted 03/12/2008 at 12:30 PM by Dirk

Last weekend we had Nickel & Nickel's Spring Release tasting. There were lots of our wine club members, friends, and even those new recruits who were curious enough to stop in and try our latest single-vineyard wines. The wines were great and people had fun (I think) but there was one conversation that day that stands out in my mind. It reminded me why we work at these wineries. It's simple. We love wine. It seems ...  
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What Counts

Posted 03/05/2008 at 02:28 AM by Dirk

I admit it, I am organizationally challenged. I could be part of a self help group, "Hi, my name is Dirk, and I am messy." But, it wouldn't work. My desk is in need of a small fire, (nothing above three alarms). No amount of suggestions, cognitive behavioral therapy, or guilt has overcome this trait that I realize is genetic. (It's great to be able to pass on the blame to someone else.) My ...  
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Over a Barrel

Posted 03/03/2008 at 11:41 AM by Dirk

I should be writing about the spring release wines because Nickel & Nickel will be showing its newest wines next weekend, but they will speak for themselves, and I had barrels on the brain today. I love barrels. It's hard to be a winemaker and not be fascinated by them. Barrels haven't changed much over the last few hundred years, except that they sure have gotten more expensive. (I know that noticing the price of things ...  
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Finishing School

Posted 02/25/2008 at 08:12 AM by Dirk

While great wines must have a long, even lingering, finish today's blog is addressing the questions people have been asking about our horses that should be in the corrals by Highway 29. Our horses are off at "finishing school." If you ask me, "finishing school" is a misnomer. It seems that the whole idea of "finishing school" is to get one "started"...not "finished." Penny and Pearl , who started as cute little colts last year, have turned into cute ...  
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Premier Napa Valley

Posted 02/22/2008 at 03:30 AM by Dirk

Have you heard of Premier Napa Valley? (PRE-MEER) (They pronounce the second "R" here while in France it would sound like 'prem-ee-yah') In Burgundy they have the Hospice de Beaune (pronounced Bone). They call "Futures" En Primeur (PRE_MUR) Here we have pre-meer! (Confusing) It is a really cool barrel tasting and auction...of course you can't actually attend unless you are a wine professional. (I think there is a chance that you could injure your palate on all these young barrel samples ...  
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New Barn going up...Pass the Trunnel

Posted 02/08/2008 at 04:15 AM by Dirk

If you have driven up Highway 29 recently, you have probably wondered, "What's going on at Nickel & Nickel?" While I would like to think that everyone is thinking thoughts like this, all the time, it's because it's hard to miss noticing the post and beam frame going up behind the Sullenger House. New Fermentation Barn Constrution at Nickel & Nickel Last weekend we had a lot of wine club members stop by to taste. They ...  
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Time Flies...or Crawls, when you are enthusiastic

Posted 01/31/2008 at 03:14 PM by Dirk

Far Niente is releasing its 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon on Saturday. There will be lots of wine lovers, friends and believers in our caves enjoying their first encounter with this special wine. It feels as if it was only a few months ago that we were so thrilled with the grapes and the fermentations that we couldn't wait to tell everyone and have them try this incredible vintage. It also feels as if we have been suppressing ...  
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Hybrid...ization

Posted 01/25/2008 at 12:32 PM by Dirk

News Flash: Hybridization happening in Oakville . Seven affected! Nickel & Nickel winemaker adjusts to hybridization. Far Niente winemaker soon to be hybridized too. My grandfather was a California farmer who loved to hybridize roses and fruit trees. (He went to Davis before it was a UC!) Of course, I didn't know what a hybrid was. Instead, I was fascinated by his apple tree that had several varieties grafted onto it. Stay away from me, fossil fuel! Have you ever asked or even ...  
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It's supposed to look like that.

Posted 01/17/2008 at 03:00 PM by Dirk

When I look at Far Niente, I think "it's supposed to look like that." After all, it does look like "that." (Logical, eh?) We just found some of the original studies from 1980 when Gil was setting about restoring the beautiful stone winery. Ron Nunn was the architect. (Later on, Ron would design the Far Niente "Carriage House" as well as the villa Gil and Beth called home.) We tend to gush when we talk about Ron. ...  
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Pioneer Wine

Posted 01/11/2008 at 04:30 PM by Dirk

I love running into our wines when I am on vacation. (I don't think it is the greedy commercial side of me, but who can be certain?) Actually, finding our wine leads to sharing and making friends. Isn't that at the heart of wine's place throughout the ages? The Pioneer Saloon in Ketchum , Idaho loves Nickel & Nickel. Just about everyone who goes skiing in Sun Valley ends up in The Pioneer Saloon. You should check it out whenever ...  
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Internet May Eliminate the Corkscrew!

Posted 12/20/2007 at 02:16 PM by Dirk

I have seen the future. It is in France and it is on the internet. I could even say that it is the internet. Wine on-line isn't new. Wine in-line is! Even more compelling, it could provide the perfect gift for that wine person in your life. Of course, I am talking about USB-Wine. USB-Wine is the perfect size item to fit in a stocking. It shows clean design and is made out of the highest quality stainless ...  
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Flying Pump

Posted 12/12/2007 at 02:00 PM by Dirk

It usually takes pumps to make wine. Therefore, winemakers notice pumps. We know they are cool...we just don't say it in public because people will look at us in strange ways. Last weekend I got to talk with one of my heroes. Of course, I didn't really know that Guy was one of my heroes until I found out what he does. He flies helicopters and fights fires. How cool is that? He gets to fly ...  
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