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Kumeu River Wines was established in 1944 when Mick and Katé Brajkovich and their son Maté first came to the small country settlement of Kumeu, about 20 km northwest of Auckland City, New Zealand. When Mick died in 1949, Maté and Katé continued to tend the vines and make the wine. In 1958 Maté [...]

George M. Taber is author of the “Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the historic 1976 Paris Tasting,” a book chronicling the famous tasting where American wines bested the French in a blind competition. George has also authored “To Cork or Not to Cork: Tradition, Romance, Science, and the Battle for the Wine [...]

Enjoy part 2. Click Below to Play the Show: Part 2 Show #251 B (46:13 min 33MB)

It’s always a pleasure to visit Northern California’s Wine Country. There’s so much to see and do – as well as taste and smell. With this in mind, we were quite pleased to accompany a small group recently, and head up to Napa and Sonoma to visit to with some familiar wineries; plus, [...]

It’s always a pleasure to visit Northern California’s Wine Country. There’s so much to see and do – as well as taste and smell. With this in mind, we were quite pleased to accompany a small group recently, and head up to Napa and Sonoma to visit to with some familiar wineries; plus, [...]

Henri Gouges is an important figure in the history of Burgundy. Along with Marquis D’Angerville, he waged war against fraud in Burgundy in the 1920s, in the 1930s he helped delineate the crus in Burgundy for the Institut National d’Appellation d’Origine, and in 1933 challenged the negociants by bottling his wine at the Domaine [...]

What is it that distinguishes the quality and reputation of a fine restaurant? Without question, drive, desire and talent are all necessary – indeed, these would be major components the the restaurant’s success. However, there should also be little doubt that one’s passion for food and wine might be the single most important [...]

More and more frequently, consumers are seeking out natural food products. The reasons are numerous – these products may be healthier, or safer, or more nutritious, or a combination thereof. This in turn has spawned a movement in the grocery industry to focus on carrying such items. With retail stores in the [...]

Jason Lett took over the winemaking reigns at The Eyrie Vineyards beginning with the 2005 vintage. His father, David Lett, founded The Eyrie Vineyards in the Dundee Hills of the Willamette Valley in 1966 becoming the first to successfully plant and vinify Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris in the Willamette Valley. The Eyrie [...]

As the saying goes, all Cognac is brandy - but not all brandy is Cognac. Cognac is distilled wine, or brandy, and often referred to as eau de vie. Of course, in order to be called Cognac, the brandy must be made according to strictly-defined regulations, and it must also come from the Cognac [...]

The scene: Several people bidding during a 1985 Christie’s wine auction for what seemed to be the rarest of wine bottles - a bottle of Château Lafite apparently once owned by Thomas Jefferson. Thus opens Chapter One of a book combining the attributes of a great chase with a who-done-it, and with more than a [...]

Thomas Rivers Brown (or TRB to the Internet denizens) is one of the most well-know young winemakers today in the Napa Valley. Originally from Sumter, South Carolina, Thomas developed his first interest in wine – a Burgundy, of course - while studying at the University of Virginia. Expanding his new found attraction, Thomas traveled [...]

When people think of BBQ, or smoked meats, or even backyard grilling, the thought of pairing the food with wine is understandably not the first thing to cross their minds. Given the various kinds of wood available to cook or smoke the food, as well as many types of sauces and rubs used to [...]

What impact has the worst economic recession since the 1930’s had on the world wine trade and on US wine consumption? Have US consumers changed their wine drinking habits because of the current recession? Or is wine truly recession-proof? Join us, as Ted Burns and Brian Clark discuss wine and the economy with two leading [...]

Have the alcohol levels in wine gotten too high? And, just what is too high? It’s a controversial subject, and one with many opinions about its relevance in today’s wines. Some say it doesn’t matter at all - “it’s just a number.” Others counter that it takes away from the wine [...]