Bring Me Little Water, Sylvie April 21, 2015 Organolepticians # 90 We went for a hike in the hills south of Mt. Diablo last Saturday, in a group of eleven that meets yearly to walk for a few hours in one another’s company, get some fresh air and work up a sweat, then change into […]
AS TIME GOES BY- March 8, 2011
Organolepticians Number 85 After a certain number of vintages, keeping track of them all becomes more and more difficult. But don’t ask me what that number is, I’ve long since lost track. I liked 2010 a lot, mostly, though it wasn’t without problems (which I’ll get to momentarily). In 2010 conditions were, generally, cool enough, […]
The Crucible – August 9, 2010
Organolepticians Number 83 “I’m not sure just how I’m supposed to play this scene, but I ain’t afraid to learn…” (Wildfire, copyright 2004) You might think that by the time our 25th harvest rolled around we’d have everything figured out pretty well, maybe even have it all down to a science. And it’s true, I’d […]
Beauty In The Beast (The Baby and the Bathwater) – July 27, 2009
Organolepticians Number 78 For hundreds of years, countless winemakers throughout Europe have vinified their grapes in concrete. It’s a material that, when formed into a large vat, or tank, is sufficiently thick so that its thermal mass will counter the heat generated by a fermentation, keeping the rate of ferment relatively slow and even, and […]
August 30, 2007
It must be ninety in the shade in Berkeley. The skin on my right hand has turned a little blue from grape pigment, from punching down bins of Gamay and Syrah. The Syrah from Wylie looks like black bean soup, except the liquid is a purple that seems almost electric. I’m well into Harvest 2007, […]
November 25, 2007
ONCE AGAIN WE’RE PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE EDMUNDS ST. JOHN’S 16th Annual Post-Harvest, Pre-Holiday Fete du Vin Extravaganza Edmunds St. John, with Eno and Harrington Saturday December 1st and Sunday December 2nd, 2007 12-5pm 805 Camelia St., Berkeley between 5th and 6th Sts. RSVP: (510) 981-1510 As always lots of […]