Archive for September, 2009

Last Monday evening, I went to the Valencia Wine Company to have Eve Bushman pour a glass of wine for me and to support her charity. I had so much fun, and at the same time met many fascinating people. There is something about wine drinkers that makes them fun to be with.

One of fascinating people I met was Denise Lowe of WineShop at Home.

Over the years I have owned and operated several businesses, but sadly had never thought about doing wine tastings for people in their homes. But that is what she does! As a young man in college, I sold Aristocraft waterless cookware in homes to make ends meet.
Wine would have been so much more fun.

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If you have never tasted a Curtis Winery Rhône-style wine, you are in for a treat!

I had the great fortune of visiting a friend over the past weekend, and he shared a glass of Curtis Syrah with me.  Wow!  I loved it.

I went to their website upon my return home and found the following.

Under the guidance of Winemaker Chuck Carlson, Curtis Winery is exclusively committed to the crafting of Rhône-style wines. We are inspired by the extraordinary terrain of Santa Barbara County’s Santa Ynez Valley, which is today recognized as one of the world’s leading appellations for Rhône varietals. Since 1995, Curtis Winery has built a reputation for wines of quality and distinction, with an emphasis on the authentic expression of vineyard and vintage.

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Wow, I must have hit a nerve with my blog “Wine Tasting on a Bicycle”

I have never had so many people hit the “Ask John” button and email me.  Most of the emails were from people who said that when they smelled their wine, it smelled like wine to them too.

They said they couldn’t  distinguish the aromas of flowers from oak off an outhouse door.  I was asked over and over again “How do you know what to look for and how can I learn to be a real connoisseur of wine?”

This was a problem I faced because I was heavily into wine accessories and needed to have the answers for my customers.

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I am a great believer that we must all help and support the community in which we live.

Eve Bushman is a gifted wine writer here in Santa Clarita, CA and is donating her time and experience at a wine tasting at the Valencia Wine Company next Monday,  September 28 for charity.

Here is the press release, and if you are in the area, be sure to stop in between 4-9pm and have a glass of wine with Eve.  I can promise that you will be glad you did!

SANTA CLARITA, CA – 05 August 2009 – On Monday September 28 from 4 to 9 PM, Santa Clarita’s very own wine writer will be working alongside the professionals at Valencia Wine Company on Town Center Drive for a

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I love riding a bicycle!

This surprises many people I meet because I am of large girth, as my mother used to say.  At 6’4″ and 250 lbs it would seem that I would be too big for a bicycle, but it is a great sport for anyone.

And, I love wine!  So what could be more fun than touring wineries on a bicycle?  So, in 2000, that is exactly what I did.   I toured the wineries in Napa and Sonoma counties in California by bike.

I registered with a bicycle touring company called Backroads who arranged for the lodging, provided maps and basic support.   It’s the lazy man’s way to tour wineries by bicycle.

On the second day out, I arrived at the Charles Krug winery along with one other rider.  I was excited to see the winery as I love their wines, and wanted to see how they are made.  We asked if we could take a tour, but were told that they couldn’t give a tour for two people and we would have to wait for more people to arrive.  About 10 mins later, a bus full of German tourists arrived, and although I spoke not one word of German, we joined their group.  Fortunately, the tour guide only spoke English, so it was up to the interpreter to keep the German group happy.

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From the Readers Digest – October, 2009

The night we took our three young sons to an upscale restaurant for the first time, my husband ordered a bottle of wine.

The server brought it over, began the ritual uncorking, and poured a small amount for me to taste.

My six year old piped up, “Mom usually drinks a lot more than that!”

Every once in a while, I find an article that just gets me laughing.
Maybe it’s the cleverness that I like. Who would have ever thought there was room for goats in a vineyard.
Now I don’t know why I find this so funny, but hopefully you’ll get a kick out of it as well.

WAYSIDE — Massey Ferguson and sheep — maybe — are proving useful tools at Steve De Baker’s winery in southern Brown County.

DeBaker, owner of Trout Springs Winery, has adapted a hay mower for hedging his grape vines and is testing whether sheep can be trained to eat everything green except grape vines.

Custom-made equipment is available for trimming vines, but would be considerably more expensive than DeBaker’s adaptation of the decades-old mower.

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I found this wonderful article on Eve Bushman’s blog – evewine101.blogspot.com and thought you would enjoy it.

The internet has allowed us to find wines that we otherwise miss.  For example, I had found a red table wine at Trader Joe’s called ‘Jest Red’ that was fantastic.  They ran out, but through the internet I was able to find it.  Eve found a winery that sells through the internet.  Enjoy -

On a recent trip to Napa, and staying at the guesthouse of winery owner Suzanne Phifer Pavitt along the Silverado Trail, I wondered how a small 300 case producing winery that stays away from retailers, restaurants and tasting rooms markets their 95 point scored wine. Through the web.

I met Suzanne Phifer Pavitt (www.phiferpavittwine.com) at a well-attended wine tasting event hosted by a website earlier this year in the Hollywood Hills. Her only label, literally hand attached as it’s almost a 360 degree circumference, Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon “Date Night”, was being poured. (www.datenightwines.com )

Suzanne enraptured me with stories from the winemaking business in Napa that night and extended an invitation for me to stay at her guesthouse, anytime. That time was last weekend. And I got a few more questions about how a business markets itself on the Internet answered.

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