Tag: Wine

  • How to Be a Wine Blogger (and get free wine)

    A couple weeks ago, the annual Wine Blogger Conference wrapped its fifth year, presumably in a puddle of plonk and pixels. According to their official release, there was a “dip in attendance” from previous years, which organizers attributed to the conference’s location – Penticton, Okanagan Valley of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Which…

  • Beards, Berets and Bottles: What the Cuban Revolution Can Teach Us About Wine Marketing

    The difference between “winemaking” and “wine marketing” amounts to more than handful of letters. One is an ancient artisanal practice to which the other adds its variation on the oldest profession.  Americans have long excelled at both, however, that doesn’t mean we can’t learn more tricks, including those that come from such an unlikely source…

  • March Madness Bracket: Belgian Ale & Pork Rinds

    Work with me here: Until recently, I assumed “March Madness” was a reference to Alice in Wonderland a la “as mad as a March hare.” Turns out it’s about college basketball, which, this time of year, enjoys its own pseudoscience in the form of Bracketology. Apparently, Bracketologists predict the winner of the annual National Collegiate…

  • March Madness Bracket: Belgian Ale & Pork Rinds

    Work with me here: Until recently, I assumed “March Madness” was a reference to Alice in Wonderland a la “as mad as a March hare.” Turns out its about college basketball, which, this time of year, enjoys its own pseudoscience in the form of Bracketology. Apparently, Bracketologists predict the winner of the annual National Collegiate…

  • The Vintners of Our Dissed Content

    It all began, as these small odysseys often do, with a misunderstanding. In this case, the issue was entirely my own, and the fact that it persisted for nearly 40 years is not only embarrassing but rather damning to any gustatory gravitas I might’ve claimed. It went like this: I was strolling through our namesake…

  • Cannabis Sauvignon? How to Grow a Hydroponic Vineyard in Your Closet

    Typically, in Wine Country we only crush grapes. And dreams. Now, however, thanks to new vineyard rules approved by the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors this week, we may also put the squeeze on the vineyards themselves. At question is soil erosion and the benefit deeply rooting trees provide in this regard. Vineyard owners tend…

  • Sonoma International Film Festival Cometh

    Daedalus Howell Come every April, there are four words that get uttered here in Sonoma – “the film festival returneth.” Well, no one actually says it quite like that, but the annual cinematic juggernaut is such a transformative presence on the town that it deserves biblical-sounding lingo. Or at least something vaguely Shakespearean, like: “Is…

  • Letter Frequency Learned by Typing with a Sliver

    Fast Company blogger Emily Heyward suggests forgoing business books and indulging some fiction.

  • When Marketing Turns Evil

    I have an evil streak in me – a certain low-grade sociopathy that emerges in my personality whenever notions involving “marketing” cross my consciousness. As a teenage telemarketer, I was exposed to the dark arts of the hard-sell and as with any gateway drug, I quickly progressed through a series of marketing-related experiences that I’ve…