A wine lover's fantasy Jim Natsis, chairman of the Consumer Wine Awards at Lodi, needed a favor Saturday. “Hey, do you want to be a judge? We’re a little short-handed. And you could write about the experience. What do you say?” “I’m washing glasses with JoEllen’s crew,”...

It’s that time of year again – the Christmas parties are done, the presents have been un-wrapped, the cookie and eggnog recipes filed away for another eleven months, and now you scratch your head in wonder as to where to put the new framed cross-stitch from Aunt Sally and who...

Usually when we speak of wine, we talk about vintage and varietals, aroma, notes and flavor. But we never really use the B-word.  I’m not talking bouquet.  I’m talking buzz. Ever notice how the atmosphere surrounding the first sip in a tasting room or at a party differs vastly...

Sometimes we just fail to realize how very lucky we are to live smack dab in the middle of not one or two, but several wine regions. Napa, Lodi, El Dorado and Amador all lie within a short drive. In fact, if you’ve done much traveling around northern California, you’ve already...

Quite often when I’m cooking I will open a bottle of wine to have with dinner. My goal is to let it breathe just a bit but I’ll admit my intentions are not all that pure. I want a glass to enjoy while I cook. A Chef’s Taste I call it. And I never pour this taste that I...

Working in a downtown Lodi tasting room, I recently had the pleasure of pouring wine for one of the Stockton Thunder hockey players and his wife and mother-in-law.  They came in, they said, because they were new to wine tasting, and my tasting room was currently empty.  Turns out they...

I was at one of those women parities recently. You know where you buy tupperware, jewelry, clothes or other stuff that I can never get the nerve to go to the party and buy. One of the hostesses brought out a bottle of merlot and began to peal off the capping. She (nearly) shrieked in horror...

I was talking to a good friend the other day; one that knows more about wine than I do. That’s not all that hard because I don’t know much after I know I like to drink it. But his living in Lodi, hanging with winemakers, and drinking lots of solid local wine, pretty much makes...

We all know the names…Gallo, Woodbridge, Beringer, Sutter Home, and more.  Sometimes we think of them as the “Big Guys,” the corporate wineries.  But go back in time…way back.  They were once the small personal winery, just starting out and getting their names...

Hello readers!  You may not know me yet, but if all goes according to plan, you will soon at least know my thoughts on all things wine.  I’ve been an wine drinker for many years, which lead me to become a more educated wine drinker as the years went on.  And the one I’ve...