Hosted by the Napa Valley Vintners, the 30th Annual Auction Napa Valley raised more than $8.5 million, smashing the results of the previous year. Over the course of four days, bidders, industry professionals, and members of the press from across the country and around the globe gathered in Napa Valley to enjoy fine wine and raise money for charity. Continue Reading »
A Twitter tasting frenzy on Day 1 gets morale up. Continue Reading »
With less than two months to go, the 2009 Wine Bloggers’ Conference is right around the corner and already has 180 participants signed up and preparing their palates for a truly exceptional weekend of all things new wine media.
The Mutineers are sponsoring and will be there in full force to connect with bloggers, cover the action, and hopefully have a showdown between us and Steve Heimoff and his non-existent entourage of irrelevant writers. Heimoff was a speaker at last years WBC, forcing me to choose between challenging him to a duel or actually learning something in another seminar being held at the same time. I chose the latter, and the wily Heimoff snuck out the back before I could call him out. Like Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, Batman and Joker, and Energyologist Jeff Dorenbush and non-caffeinated beverages, all arch-nemesis’s must eventually meet… Continue Reading »
Mutineer Magazine Issue 6 has hit the presses and will be available to purchase at a major bookstore near you the first week of June.
This massive story on absinthe is spectacular indeed. We got the Wormwood Society involved to get the gospel on all things absinthe, including enjoyment, culture, history, and which absinthes you absolutely need to try.
Things got crazy when the Mutiny spread to Kentucky for the Thoroughbreds and Redheads Weekend. Mutineer contributor Hunter Lea tells his tale of international rivalries, karmic judgment, and legendary Maker’s Mark Bourbon. This is a new feature for us, and we plan on featuring a different iconic fine beverage company in each issue.
We went big time yet again with the Mutineer Interview, with Riedel’s Maximilian Riedel talking to us about everything from how living in America has changed his approach to glass design to his favorite mountain in the world to ski. We are pumped about this.
Regular Mutineer Contributor Shelley Flanders takes you on a journey to some of Napa Valley’s most beautiful wines. With stops at the “inverted jewel box” Opus One to the pillars and columns of Darioush and a special preview of the hospitality center at Hall St. Helena that is being designed by legendary architect Frank Gehry.
Fine beverage is a relative term, and for the children served by water relief organization “A Child’s Right”, fine beverage is simply clean drinking water as a means of survival. With behind the scenes photos and an interview with ACR Executive Director Eric Stowe, this article changes the way you think about water.
Mutineer Contributor Amy T. Granite explores Anat Baron’s controversial new film, Beer Wars, which contrasts the craft beer industry from the big beer industry. Craft Beer’s biggest stars came out in support of this film, which brings a lot of ideas out in the open to be considered.
Regular Mutineer Contributor Erin Jimcosky has become a consistent voice at Mutineer Magazine, with this being her second article and her showing no signs of slowing down. In this issue, Jimcosky explores the exploding craft distillery scene of Washington, Oregon, and Idaho and provides some killer cocktail recipes to make with these inspired spirits. For more from Jimcosky, check out her blog, The Endive Chronicles.
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The barrel room at Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Greystone is filled with merchants, vintners, press, guests and one woman in an impossibly blue dress wearing leopard wedge-heeled shoes. Everyone’s here to taste the 200 auction lots for the Premiere Napa Valley wine auction. Not all of the wineries in the Valley can participate and some partnerships have formed to produce auction lots. You can blindside your palate by trying to taste all of the auction lots on Saturday morning. However, some vintners produce tasting events the day before. The Spring Mountain appellation vintners did a group tasting at the Spring Mountain winery. The host vineyard’s auction lot was a 100 percent Petit Verdot, which vineyard manager Ron Rosenbrand said is “something we’re proud of.” Continue Reading »
The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers packed off to the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone for the second day of activities. The morning was occupied by discussions of readable wine writing from Frank Prial, the pioneering wine writer at the New York Times and the impact of climate change on global wine styles. Lastly, a discussion of how great topics gestate. Corie Brown, who recently parachuted out of the sinking Los Angeles Times, said she never had a passion for The Great Wine Tasting Experience, but found stories at events such as auctions and the people who were there. She also reminded all present that they were not the story. Continue Reading »
According to Louise Kiernan from the Chicago Tribune, you shouldn’t be reading this. At the opening session for the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers, Kiernan suggested that bloggers and writers step away from the screen and go out and have a life, and meet people (drinking wine optional but encouraged). Her presentation encompassed things to do less (work, write and make assumptions) and things to do more (ask questions – the harder the better and learn how to search court documents and doing FOIA requests, read and surf). Although some of this is a bit contradictory, it’s common sense. Reading other wine blogs has taught me things I have stolen and used and things I would never do even if water boarded. Among those soaking up this advice included Eric Asimov of the New York Times, Tyler Colman, author of “Wine Politics” and Alder Yarrow of Vinography.
In photo, left to right: Thea Dwelle of Luscious Lushe’s blog, Lisa de Bruin of Hahn Estates, Jeff “El Jefe” Stai of Twisted Oak Winery, Wine Mutineer Alan Kropf, Russ Beebe of the Winehiker blog
On December 7, Wine Mutineer Alan Kropf stopped by the Hahn Estates sales office in Napa, CA to participate in a session about wineries and bloggers collaborating. Cheers to the fine people at Hahn Estates for putting this on. In addition to Hahn’s new media guru Lisa de Bruin attending this session, Hahn President William Leigon, Winemaker Adam LaZarre, Director of Vineyard Operations Andy Mitchell, VP of Sales Evelyn Pool, and Lisa Adams-Walter from Public Relations also attended. Continue Reading »
