After a cool growing season, harvest 2025 was sprinkled with unwelcome weather events, making even ripening merely a dream for many winemakers. As fermentation wraps up, the young wines may still express raw or green tannin character, needing time to mellow and come into harmony. Post-fermentation aging and finishing tannins are an essential tool for taming those unruly characters to achieve balance, structure, and true aromatic expression. These post-fermentation tannins refine green or unripe fruit characteristics, improve mouthfeel, and smooth rough edges, to bring the wine back into harmony. Red Wines: From Green to Graceful If the winery has the cooperage space and time, extended aging is used to refine rough young red wines. Alternatively, aging tannins address gaps in structure or smooth the perception of green fruit, particularly in this cooler vintage. Carefully selected tannins can build mid-palate weight, stabilize color, and add complexity for a wine that will age gracefull

During tastings, your guests engage their senses of smell and taste of the wine as well as hearing your tasting room staff educate them on the wines. Now imagine enhancing that sensory journey with a stunning visual story – a beautifully crafted map of your vineyard locations with AVAs, or of your estate vineyard blocks. More than just a decorative piece, a custom-designed map transforms the tasting experience into an immersive journey. Your map is a wonderful way to increase your customer’s appreciation of your vineyards and wines. You can include whatever information is important to your wines - elevation, varietals, age of vines, clones, etc. – to convey the info in an easy-to-understand and visually pleasing way. A true enhancement to how your staff is educating.  When an out-of-town visitor who is not familiar with the geography of the area struggles to grasp why locations matter – such as why the Pinot Noir vineyard is in a totally different locat

Wine touches all the senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and sound. At wine competitions, we judges use all our senses and the “S” system to evaluate the wines: See—observing the wine’s color and clarity Swirl—exposing the wine to air to release its aroma Sniff—”You can tell by the smell” is what I like to say when assessing when a wine is likely to taste good; and aroma is at least half the pleasure Sip—Take a good sip and swirl it around so it touches all the taste buds for a full impression Spit—Judges do this because they typically taste about 100 wines per day, but obviously this does not apply at home Swallow—This is what we do at home Savor—While the liquid may be gone, a good wine lingers in the mouth with a “long finish” Oh, and for sound? Clink your glasses with a toast!  Obviously you don’t need to do all this with every sip at home, but the point is to fill your senses with the ma

Afternoon Brief, May 13th

US Wine's Tricky Path to Recovery: Prices are down and regulation is up, offering a outlook bleak to US wine producers – but there are faint signs of hope...

Entry by May 20th to take advantage of the  Early Entry Discount (extended by 1 full week)   International Women’s Wine Competition, judged entirely by wine industry professional women. NOTE *** This competition is not limited to Women Winemakers! We encourage and welcome ALL Wineries to enter Enter Here   Congratulations Best of the Best 2023 New Clairvaux Vineyard Petite Sirah Poor Souls Block 2020   ENTRY DEADLINE: MAY 30th (extended) Competition Judging: June 11th - 12th Wine Shipments Due: June 3rd $10 Discount for Early Entry (May 20th) - Plus - $5 Discount or Entry Online. (enter online below) Shipping Labels  Enter Online   Paper Entry Form  Award for Best Woman Winemaker Congratulations on having a woman winemaker at your winery! We would love for you to send us an email to register her at the time of entry. At our competition, we judge wines based on their own merit, regardless of the gender of

Looking for a great tool that your tasting room staff can use to educate and engage your customers? A beautiful map of your vineyard locations & AVAs designed with your style and branding is a wonderful way to increase your customer’s appreciation of your vineyards and wines. You can include whatever information is important to your wines - elevation, varietals, age of vines, clones, etc. – to convey the info in an easy-to-understand and visually pleasing way. When an out-of-town customer who is not familiar with the geography of the area struggles to grasp why locations matter – such as why the Pinot Noir vineyard is in a totally different location than the Cabernet Sauvignon vineyard – your branded map will provide the missing link. Your customers will see where they are in the tasting room on your map and their relation to the vineyard close to the ocean and the far-inland vineyard; they will also see the variety of hills, valleys and terrain in the are

Esteemed Figures in the Wine Industry Set to Grace “Vine, Wine and Dine” on CRN Digital Talk Radio in March

Healdsburg, CA (March 6, 2024) CRN Digital Talk Radio, in partnership with Sonoma County Vintners (SCV), is thrilled to announce an exciting lineup for the March episodes of “Vine, Wine and […]

For hundreds of years, wine drinkers have been enjoying wine with cheese. The process of pairing the perfect wine with the perfect cheese has become an art that continues to evolve as wine and cheese experts continue to create new combinations.  The Early Pairings The earliest pairings involve wine and cheese choices from similar regions. The grapes and cows that produce the wine and cheese were often grown and raised on the same farms, so they offer some flavor similarities. For example, French Beaujolais is often paired with Brie, while Italian Chiantis is often paired with asiago cheeses.  The Science Behind Wine and Cheese Scientifically, there are several reasons why wine and cheese taste so good together. Wine offers an astringent flavoring in the mouth and the fat from cheese cleans the palate for the next flavor or another sip of wine. Wine and cheese have opposite flavor profiles, making them a pleasant combination – almost like opposite colors on a color wheel

If you had a favorite brand of cereal as a kid (who didn’t, right?), then you must remember the visceral disappointment you felt when your parents bought a generic off-brand product instead of your favorite. You didn’t even need to taste them, did you? The mere fact they did not have the familiar mascot on the box made you hate them. The fact that most of us can relate speaks volumes about the power of labels and branding. Before a customer has had a chance to try your product, they judge it by its appearance. When it comes to premium products like wine, spirits, craft beer, or cannabis products, the appearance is pretty much everything a brand has to bet on for attracting new retail consumers. THE POWER OF LABELS FOR PREMIUM PRODUCTS Branding has always been important for any product claiming to be premium. But the importance of labels has grown in recent years as new technologies have allowed us to create brand experiences even for people who have never bought the product

Designing a wine label is an intensely personal undertaking for most wineries. The label is your opportunity to communicate the winery’s spirit and your passion for creating a unique product. Relying on the brand logo and information about the wine alone, however, misses a critical opportunity to convey a more emotional message about the quality and uniqueness of your wines. Words are critical. They can tell the story of your winery and describe the taste of your wine. But emotions can play a role, too. Once a consumer opens the bottle, the wine’s aroma draws them in through their sense of smell and then, as they take a sip, fully engages them through their sense of taste. The senses evoke visceral responses by engaging the emotions. It is less rational and more intuitive, something they feel in their gut. They simply ‘know’ they like it. In this same way, the colors and images you use on your label speak to consumers’ sense of sight and the texture of the