This actually happened: at the Intel Developer Forum (I’d never heard of it either) they used a glass of red wine to power a computer. Are you kidding me??? Wine is the best. Apparently, the acetic acid in red wine acts as an electrolyte that produce a small current. I stole that straight from geek.com, … Continue reading
People and places are still feeling the effects of Hurricane Sandy, but grapefriends have come to the rescue! The New York Aquarium was badly damaged by Sandy – they finally reopened on a partial basis in May and plan to be fully reopened in spring – of 2016! That’s a long time. They’ve already raised $100,000 but … Continue reading
Robert Mondavi always said that sharing wine and food with friends and family is one of life’s greatest pleasures – who wouldn’t agree with that! Today would’ve been his 100th birthday, so there have been lots of events in honor of it since he is largely responsible for forming Napa Valley’s reputation, which basically served … Continue reading
So here’s a fun one for Friday: Spirit Airlines is now serving wine in a can. It’s from some wine company called Friends Just Wine. As if canned wine doesn’t sound bad enough, it comes in barfy flavors like Grape Melon (um, yeah, all wine is “grape”) and Strawberry Moscato. Apparently cans are easier to … Continue reading
So Ace of Spades now has this thing called Armand de Brignac Dynastie that’s a collection of every available bottle format it comes in. It goes for the low, low price of half a million bucks. Why’s it called Dynastie? Wouldn’t have anything to do with Jay-Z’s Dynasty album, would it now? This Dynastie includes nine … Continue reading
Here’s the most important thing you need to know about biodynamic wine: it’s often exceptionally, potentially mind-blowing good. I applaud anyone farming organically, but don’t usually taste a difference. With biodynamics I usually do. OK so what is it? I went to a whole talk with Nicolas Joly, one of biodynamics’ passionate pioneers who makes … Continue reading
In the 50s, Jack Cakebread had a car repair business, Cakebread’s Garage. But he’d also studied with photographer Ansel Adams and, in 1972, was hired to take wine country photos for a book. While snapping pictures in Napa, Jack visited some old family friends and wound up buying their property. Cakebread Cellars was born. Now it’s an iconic … Continue reading
It’s Earth Day, and we’re going green all week! The latest study with news we should pay attention to: suitable winemaking areas will decrease between 25% and 73% by 2050. That’s the impact global warming will have on some wine regions, creating potential water conservation issues. There are all different levels of how green wineries can … Continue reading
Love stories like this – the random grapes, the entrepreneurship via social media, the awesome attitude in video slate cards. This winemaker Regan Medor is a dude who likes weird grapes. I have literally never even heard of Teroldego, but it’s a red grape from Alto Adige (which I’m mildly obsessed with) and that’s what … Continue reading
Mouton Rothschild is probably the most famous wine that gets artists to do their labels, but Ornellaia has done their “Vendemmia d’Artista” series for the past five years and it’s awesome. They get an artist to produce a special label that reflects the character of the vintage. Every year they auction off a salmanazar (that’s equivalent to 12 … Continue reading
