Tag Archives : Wine


wine-candy

What Wine Pairs With Starburst Candy?

It is almost Halloween. Instead of wondering about how harvest is going, or what the wine makers might be doing with their grapes to make the wines better this year than they did last year, here’s a question somebody decided needed answering: What wine goes with what candy? Seriously? Is this what we’ve come to? […]


keep-calm-and-blog-on-10

3 + 1 Great Wine Blogs

I know you await my posts with a fervent desire, for which I am very appreciative. But, sometimes it is useful to get a different perspective. In the same way that travel broadens one’s mind, so too can reading outside of one’s usual comfort zone. In the spirit of helping out my friends, and I do […]


Eggs Aren’t Just For Easter

The folks at Wine Country Getaways recently published this look at Andis’s concrete eggs as wine making vessels. I wrote about this same subject back in 2011. The Wine Country Getaways post has a nice photograph of Andis’s concrete egg. The concrete vessel provides an ideal wine aging environment. Because of the thermal mass of […]

Checking Quality of Wine

The cover of my Wine Journal

Wine Journal Published

I am pleased to announce the publication of the Opinionated Wine Guide’s Wine Journal. The journal features blank tasting notes forms which I developed over the past few years for my own use. I am a proponent of keeping tasting notes. Over the years I have used blank books, and various wine journals. But nothing […]


Wine Is A Beverage Not A Financial Investment

I recently read a blog post by the engaging Madeline Puckette, the moving force behind WineFolly.com which irked me.  Madeline is a fun and knowledgeable wine expert and her posts rarely irk me.  Check out her site.  I recommend it highly.  But the post in question offered tips for those wanting to collect wine. The […]

Use wine to invest in relationships. The pay off will be huge!

Tasting at Mount Aukum

El Dorado Passport 2012 – Recovery Day

Just back from an outstanding Passport 2012.  This post will have to act as a placeholder and tease for upcoming posts about the event and the wines tasted.  A visual log perhaps? Our merry band of wine tasters managed to visit 11 wineries in two days. We were able to visit David Girard – where […]


Old Growth Vines in Amador County: Posts I Wish I’d Written

Oh, man, there are times when I read something really phenomenal about a subject I’m knowledgeable about and think, “Man, I wish I’d written this”.  Well, today I had just that experience. Patrick Frank, one of the writers at Palate Press, wrote a great piece about the old growth Zinfandel vines in Amador County that […]


Three Wineries to Carry Pour Me Another

I am happy to say that Pour Me Another: An Opinionated Guide to Gold Country Wines will be available for purchase in three Gold Country wineries! In El Dorado County, Jodar Vineyards and Winery will be carrying my book.  In Amador County, both Sera Fina Cellars and Amador Cellars will be selling my book.  All […]