Random Rants

...because winemakers need a place to vent

THE No.2 reason we are here is because we do not have a unified voice.   In wine circles, this has been debated for decades. Rather than having an international or, at least national voice that promotes wine as a part of a healthy lifestyle that brings families and communities together we all, ever so politely, step on cadavers in hopes of becoming taller. Wineries all attemp ...

THOUGHTS ABOUT THE WHINE WORLD   Talk around wine country these days is all about declining sales, low visitation numbers, the overflowing lake of bulk wine and grapes and, of course, the “problem” with Millennials not following up previous generations and purchasing more and more wine. Gen “Z”, the oldest being around 28 years-old, is now in the crosshairs too as marketers a ...

I have been thinking about bullies lately.  As a kid in the schoolyard and a teenager growing up in a small beach town on the shores of the Mediterranean, I ran into my share of them.  Whether because of genetics or my family history (most likely a mix of both) – I grew up as a sensitive male who shied away from confrontational situations yet at the same time, I was always very ...

I was never good at Math, as anyone who worked for me in the cellar can attest to – I always tell them to assume I screwed up the math on the workorder and to check for themselves that what I wrote down makes sense.  But I think I’m right in calculating that this past vintage was Longboard’s 15th harvest (with 1998 being the first, please let me know if I screwed up this calcul ...

In the beginning there was wine that came forth from the fruit of a vine.  And the people of the Farmers tribe tended to the vines and nourished the fruit till it burst with flavor and sugars and proceeded to deliver it to the folk at the winery. And the winery tribe folk said: “Thanks” and wished the Farmers tribe a joyful vacation while they toiled in the caves and the tanks ...

“Indy”, the 1967 Ford tractor I use for therapy (and discing the vineyard rows) just received fresh ignition points and a rebuilt starter motor, he now roars to life in seconds rather than the customary 10 minutes of praying and cursing while fiddling around with the wires. The 2003 crop (I can’t believe it is 4th leaf already!) is on the vines, tiny little green condensed clus ...