Link to article on Cremisan Wine Estates

Back in August I reviewed three wines from Cremisan Wine Estate. They're a Catholic winery located northwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank of Palestine. Here are the ones I reviewed:
Cremisan "Star of Bethlehem" Hamdani Jandali 2012
Cremisan "Star of Bethlehem" Dabouki 2012
Cremisan "Star of Bethlehem" Baladi 2011

Recently Kevin Begos of The Big Story published a great article on the winery (with pictures) that, if you've read my reviews on their wines, you should take a look at. Awesome stuff. Check it out here:
Palestinian winemakers preserve ancient traditions (http://bigstory.ap.org/article/d5cac8e6e85744acaf959df0c65ae4a9/palestinian-winemakers-preserve-ancient-traditions)

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Wine Review: Lieb Cellars Reserve 2014 Pinot Blanc

Aaaaawww craaaap! New York wine being reviewed by a Masshole! Time to slap on the Red Sox hat, put on the foil and come out fightin'! Nah, I wouldn't do that. When you really think about it this wine is almost local. Northeast represent, suckas!

This is Lieb Cellars from Long Island, New York. Did you know they make wine on Long Island? Well they do and there's even two regions: the North Fork and the Hamptons. Long Island sticks out kinda like a claw and the upper claw is the North Fork while the lower claw is the Hamptons where Howard Stern saves birds on beaches.

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Cisco Brewery on Nantucket - September 24, 2015

Photos of my trip to Cisco Brewery / Nantucket Vineyards / Triple Eight Distillery on September 24, 2015.

Nantucket Vineyards tasting room

The Notch is considered one of the best whiskies in the world

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Cocktail Wine

It was an incredibly short-lived "trend", but I doubt it was ever actually "trendy".

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Carolina Wine & Spirits grand tasting in Boston - September 16, 2015

Photos that I took during the Carolina grand tasting for the fall of 2015 at the Boston Symphony Hall. Had a really good time!

Carolina Wine & Spirits tasting book

The Moet table!

Boston Symphony Hall

Jarvis 2011 Cabernet Franc

Diamond Creek

Chateau Montelena Estate 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon

Hopler 2008 Trockenbeerenauslese (Austria)

Joseph Drouhin Gevrey-Chambertin

Conde de San Cristobal Ribera del Duero

NOW THAT'S HOW VIOGNIER IS DONE!
Stag's Leap Cellars Napa Valley 2013 Viognier

Tricked somebody into taking my picture

Nigori Unfiltered Sake

Can Deixes Blanc Seleccio 2014

The First Church of Christ, Scientist

Looking up.

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The Harsh, Drunken Truth on Wine Trade Tastings

We like to think of grand wine tastings as classy events where the people in the trade gather to act all classy and taste the classiest form of alcohol. Lamb chops, bacon-wrapped scallops and stuffed mushrooms are delivered right to you as you peruse your options.

The truth is it's usually a room full of drunks being impatient because they can't get a pour at a packed table. The food part of the room is always fun to watch because that's where you really get to see how intoxicated one is. Lots of struggling to get food in the mouth.

At a trade tasting I recently attended I saw a few men clearly under the influence of alcohol purposely bump into or press up on highly attractive women and then act surprised like they didn't see them there. Scouts honor. "Oh, I'm sorry!" they said with a sleazy smile. Congratulations! You're a pig!

Back in May of this year a man driving home from a wine festival in Livermore, California killed a woman and her 14-month-old daughter, and injured two other children. The photos from the accident were absolutely horrific. That was a festival and I'm specifically talking about trade tastings, but this incident is the reality of what can come from these things.

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Wine Review: Matahiwi Estate Holly Wairarapa Pinot Gris 2012

I can hear you already: what the hell is going on here? What's up with all these strange names? Wairarapa is a winemaking region of New Zealand in the south-eastern-most part of the North Island, across the water from Marlborough. Matahiwi Estate is a family-owned winery in Wairarapa. Matahiwi produces several tiers: Mt Hector is their introductory level, the self-titled Matahiwi is their "premium range", and Holly is their limited production and reserve level.

I'm be reviewing four of their wines (hopefully), two at a time, and I've already done Matahiwi Estate Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc 2014 and Holly Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc 2013, and today I'll be tasting Holly Wairarapa Pinot Gris 2012 and (hopefully) Holly Wairarapa Pinot Noir 2013.

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Wine Review: Matahiwi Estate Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc 2014 & Holly Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc 2013

I can hear you already: what the hell is going on here? What's up with all these strange names? Wairarapa is a winemaking region of New Zealand in the south-eastern-most part of the North Island, across the water from Marlborough. Matahiwi Estate is a family-owned winery in Wairarapa. Sauvignon Blanc is a wine grape, and 2013 and 2014 were years that you should probably remember. Unless you drank way too much Sauvignon Blanc, which is completely understandable.

Matahiwi produces several tiers: Mt Hector is their introductory level, the self-titled Matahiwi is their "premium range", and Holly is their limited production and reserve level.

I'll be reviewing four of their wines, two at a time. Today I'm doing Matahiwi Estate Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc 2014 and Holly Wairarapa Sauvignon Blanc 2013. In another review I'll be tasting Holly Wairarapa Pinot Gris 2012 and (hopefully) Holly Wairarapa Pinot Noir 2013.

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Beer Review: Dogfish Head Brewery Chateau Jiahu & Theobroma

Patrick McGovern is an archaeologist and the scientific director at the University of Pennsylvania Museum's Bimolecular Archaeology Project. His personal specialty is finding alcohol in ancient sites. This isn't as easy as you would think because ethyl alcohol starts evaporating immediately, but you can use modern science and technology to find ingredients and put the pieces together. The presence of certain polyphenols and esters are indications of wine, while other organic molecules are indications of honey. You really need to know your chemistry.

When the tomb of King Midas was discovered, McGovern used the residue of a beer bowl to pin down what was used to make that beer: barley, honey and Muscat grapes fermented together. It was a common recipe back in those times because honey ferments quickly, grapes carry yeast on its skins and have antioxidants, while barley is high in nutrients. The mead-wine-beer hybrid was a brilliant way to avoid drinking unhealthy water, getting some useful substance in your stomach, and getting your buzz on.

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October Wine Pick: Landmark Vineyards Overlook 2013 Chardonnay

This WINE PICK of the month was written for the Luke's of Cape Cod website.

This month I'm going with one of my favorite Chardonnays. And I do realize that the picture says 2012 but this really is for the 2013.

Landmark Vineyards was founded in 1974 by Damarise Deere Ford, the great-great-granddaughter of John Deere. Yes, that John Deere. The inventor of the steel plow whose name is now on yellow and green lawnmowers or something. In 1989 they started growing in Sonoma Valley and a few years later they decided to focus solely on Chardonnay. They recently expanded their varietal options by one when they released a 2014 Pinot Noir.

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