When we muse about carrying on the family business in North America, we generally collectively refer to the second or third generation. “My dad was a farmer and I’ve taken over the family farm.” If you’re tracing your inherited
Jean-Claude Mas was born in a winemaking environment in the Languedoc, in Pézenas. At the age of three, during the harvest, he escaped from his mother and ran 2.5 kilometres to meet his grandfather in the cellar. It was a moment never forgotten
Cooler nights, shorter days, festive gatherings, celebrations; whatever the reasoning, Vintage Port and winter pair well together. In 2015, an additional reason for Port celebrations: the 200th birthday of Fonseca Port. Now firmly established and seated
Carlo Mondavi is enjoying a bit of lunch, before heading out for some appointments among clients who love the wine he and his father Tim Mondavi have made each year since 2005. It is called Continuum, for ample reasons, not the least of which is Carlo’s
Jimmy McEwan began his career at the illustrious Bowmore Distillery on the island of Islay, the southwesternmost part of Scotland, in 1963. He was an apprentice cooper. An aptitude for all things single malt whisky was one thing; a gift for communicating
A case-full of years have passed since Allen Shoup launched a highly ambitious Walla Walla project designed to catch the wine world’s imagination. Preposterous is one way to describe the idea: seven acclaimed winemakers, who didn’t need any
The son of two chemists, himself trained as a microbiologist, Joel Peterson may not be the most likely winemaker and brand marketing executive, but that’s how it all shook out. He founded, with then-partner Reed Foster, the Ravenswood winery, in
A mere moment with Michel Chapoutier is enough to change for life the way you think about wine. The northern Rhône producer and fierce defender of the notion of terroir is a veritable encyclopedia of wine knowledge and he has that rare gift
You need only meet Nicolás and Elena Catena once to sense they are as genuine as the towering Andes Mountains that frame their Mendoza vineyards. Speaking to a sold out crowd at the 2014 Wine Summit Lake Louise at the Post Hotel &
There's never a dull moment in thewine business and fresh off the heels of a week in the Barossa Valley in South Australia, I can report 2014 will be at least a good vintage for the regionthat lies about 60 km north and slightly east of Adelaide. Heavy
Telmo Rodriguez is not a physically imposing figure, but the diminutive Spanish wine grower has to be on any short list of the biggest names in wine. Born in Rioja, he's travelled Spain from one end to the other and back, and has made as many as 20 different
Jefferson Alvarez loves to travel. "Because then I can eat in a lot of different restaurants, try all the best places." He pauses, and smiles. "We get paid to cook, so you need to keep learning." Jefferson is executive chef at Fraîche,
The black currant jelly alone was worth the price of admission. As were the foie gras sauce, beurre rouge with grains of paradise (one of the aromatics in fine gin, by the way), celeriac, salsify and pumpkin seed pesto. Just another night, to absent Phil
The weather outside was frightful. Inside, however, delightful. Paul Hobbs was content, when reminded of Mark Twain's comment that the worst winter he ever had was a summer in San Francisco; he smiled and said, "There is doubt now as to whether
It was February 20, 1962 when astronaut John Glen piloted the "Friendship 7" spacecraft on the first, US manned mission completing a successful three-orbit tour around the earth. Four years later in a seemingly unrelated event the Robert Mondavi Winery
Passion is a word you hear a lot in the wine business, but finding it is quite another thing. Incredibly, I've met two growers in the last week who embrace their work with a passion and a commitment so strong it permeates everything they do. On Monday
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