This story is from an installment of The Oeno Files, our weekly insider newsletter to the world of fine wine. Sign up here. When we recently tackled the idea of how to spot Napa Valley’s next cult wine, two concepts stood out: winemaking talent and fruit sourcing. That’s simple in…

Trefethen Family Vineyards, Dragon’s Tooth Red Blend 2021, 14.2% ABV, 750 ml The Decanter World Wine Awards is among the most prestigious and largest wine competitions in the world. The 2024 judging saw more than 18,000 wines submitted. Just .64%, only 117 of these entries were recognized with Platinum medals…

Courtesy of Cuyama Buckhorn The post COVID world has us exploring our ‘backyards’ in a way we never have before. Finding excitement in unexpected places just a hop, skip, and a jump from our homes is one of the greatest discoveries. If you’re based in Southern California and looking for…

By Thomas Lee, The Boston Globe Chances are, there will be some kind of food and wine festival in Nantucket May 14-18 next year. We just don’t know which version yet. That’s because two parties are laying claim to the annual event at the same date and venue. On one…

Thanks for contacting us. We’ve received your submission. Thanks for contacting us. We’ve received your submission. The dapper-dressed owner of the Chelsea Wine store made his second appearance in Manhattan Criminal Court on Wednesday after being arrested for allegedly stealing vintages from his own posh shop. Michael Gancarz, who was…

Bright Cellars Similar to the proliferation of meal kit startups a few years back, the wine industry saw a surge in the creation of novel wine clubs aimed at attracting the adventurous palates of millennial and Gen Z consumers. And just like the meal kits came the reckoning for direct-to-consumer…

Many classic American holidays have a specific feel and certain rituals about them. Thanksgiving’s all about the midday family feast and lazy afternoons on the couch. Christmas can be a frenetic, exciting extravaganza, especially when there are children and presents involved. Halloween’s all about the candy and the crisp, creepy,…

I’m breaking from tradition for this column to feature a winery, not a single wine, of the month. And for good reason: Masciarelli Tenute Agricole itself breaks tradition with a female leadership consisting of the Belgrade-born Marina Cvetić and her daughter, Miriam Lee Masciarelli. The mother-daughter team took over operations…

Gnarled grape vines bathed in sunlight Ten years. Ten years to get a vine just right, according to the heritage way of growing premium wine grapes. Bush-trained vines during the fog in the Palisades Vineyard First, the rootstock goes into the soil. Two years later, the vine is grafted onto…

In a major development for the wine industry, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency this summer plans to try out new crop insurance coverage in California to protect growers against losses from wildfire smoke exposure. The “fire insurance protection smoke index“ will be available as an optional add-on…