A week ago it was 100°. The photo shows what it was like yesterday, when we got 0.80" of rain. It's supposed to be 100° again this weekend. Weird. So far this season, we've had about 50% more rain than normal. It's been even more extreme in June, when we've ... [»]
Castello di Amorosa, Napa Valley (Flickr via el_finico) This article is Part 5 of a series on Ultra-Premium Value wine. In Part 1, we defined what Ultra-Premium Wine is, and in Part 2 we looked at what's involved in making Ultra-Premium Wine. In Part ... [»]
In a previous article (Making Ultra-Premium Value Wine), I discussed the category of Ultra-Premium Wines. These wines are made using the best grapes and winemaking techniques, and typically cost $100 per bottle and up. I also defined a category called Ultra-Premium Value Wines. These are wines made to the same exacting standards as other Ultra-Premium wines, but that are priced at less than $100 ... [»]
Photo via Flickr by James Fee ATYQG3NAS5XV Sorry for the gap in posts. We've been moving our website from one hosting service to another, and didn't want to change anything while the move was underway. The move is complete, so look for a new item soon.
Screaming Eagle (logo to left) is a good example of what is commonly called a "cult" wine. Cult wines are made in minuscule quantities and sold at very high prices to a select mailing list of people with very high disposable incomes (or who are investing with no intent to drink). There are probably one or two dozen California wines that can truly be called "cult" wines. Although scarcity and exclusivity play a part in their mystique, there's no doubt that in order to become a cult wine the product ... [»]
In the recent article What Is Ultra-Premium Wine I tried to clarify what an ultra-premium wine is, but didn't go into detail about how to make one. Since you're interested in ultra-premium wine, I thought you might like to know a little more about such wines are made. I'll concentrate on Napa Valley and ... [»]
We talk a lot about "Ultra-Premium" Cabernet Sauvignon. What exactly does the term "Ultra Premium" mean? It's used in at least two different, but related, ways: A wine market segment A wine quality description Let's look at each usage, and see if we can come to ... [»]
There is an unfortunate tendency in the media to latch onto a word and use it as a code word for a trendy topic. The result is that the word loses its original (perhaps useful) meaning. In the wine world, this seems to be happening with the word "value". And this phenomenon has been going on for ... [»]
I've been reading a lot lately about how important it is for businesses to be mobile-friendly. The theory seems to be that everyone is out-and-about and using their iPhone or Blackberry to get their information. Since I do web design, I decided to set up our website (http://www.charnuwinery.com) to work on an iPhone. I'm hoping that this also makes it work well on a Blackberry (which I can't test). If you have one of these, check it out and let me know what you think. But the skeptic in me wonders how useful this really is for wineries. I can see it for some businesses, say restaurants. You're with some friends and on the spur of the moment decide ... [»]
We're finally taking the plunge. This is the first post to the Charnu Winery Blog. It's about time. Why are we doing it? We'd like more direct contact with Charnu friends, fans and supporters. Since we can't always meet face-to-face, we hope that our blog and other social media efforts will fill the gap. The emphasis here will be on interaction, not simply broadcasting information. We ... [»]