Wine is such an interesting thing. I know that most people are familiar with the concept of ageing wine, or “laying it down” in the lingo of our times. We bandy that phrase about, and talk about how a wine “will age for 10-12 years”, or about how it “needs a few years to open [...]
What does “social media” mean for a winery?
Mine won’t be the first, last, or definitive perspective on this topic, but since I’ve never cared much about that anyway, I’m going to take a moment to weigh in on the topic of “Social Media” as it pertains to the wine industry, and more specifically, to our company. Lets start by defining a couple [...]
Keg me!
I’m moving pretty slowly today. The two-day lag from my keg-wrestling match on Monday has finally caught up to my muscles, and I am walking around like the tin man without a grease can. The good news is, that at the conclusion of the 15-hour ordeal, I was left standing victoriously over three pallets of [...]
Drink more different
I have been spending considerable time of late speaking to grape-growers around California and Oregon (and even Washington) to find sources for new varietals and new profiles of fruit that I would like to work with (don’t worry, this has nothing to do with our Chenin Blanc…we love our Clarksburg vineyard). This quest immediately reveals certain [...]
The MusCAT’s Meow
My first encounter with the Muscat grape came in the ampelography (defining varietals in the field) class at UC Davis. In this class we were asked to determine the varietal of each vine in the field simply based off visual and gustatory cues. Amongst the 30 odd varietals we were asked to differentiate, 2 were [...]
first bottles of 2011 cb!
Scenes from our bottling line, March 1st, 2011.
blue plate kitchen Episode #4
Chenin Blanc roasted chicken with Chenin-Apple-Potato mash! Yum.
Part 2 with Bruce Cass
Our email conversation cut off with a tale of a few Sonoma winemakers “highjacking” a train and forcing the passengers on a wine trip through Napa Valley to drink Sonoma Cab. Refresh your memories, or start from the beginning by checking out part 1 before proceeding… Jeff: Ha, talk about guerilla marketing! Good luck [...]
Interviewing Wine Legend, Bruce Cass
To mix things up a bit on the blog, I thought an interview with a notable wine professional might be fun. Lucky for us, Picnic Wine Company has just such a friend in Bruce Cass. Bruce has been involved in wine since the early 70’s after graduating from Stanford, and has played a unique role [...]
Anyone parched?
While I’m not ready to write off the season, the dry start to 2011/2012 winter has many worried about the repercussions of a severe drought. I’m frequently being asked the question: How would a drought affect the upcoming vintage? To fully address this valid concern, you’ve got to understand the intricacies of a vine’s water [...]
blue plate 2.0! Here comes the 2011!
The 2011 blue plate Chenin Blanc from Clarksburg, CA is as beautifully crisp and layered as it is affordable.
Available now at:
blueplatewines.com 
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