Updates from The Greats – Donelan Family Wines

  If you have plans for being in the Sonoma area in early August, add this event to your itinerary, NOW. For ME, when it comes to selecting the top 5 or so greatest experiences my palate has enjoyed, considering wines from America, there will simply not be a better offer to come our way [...]

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TODAY’S REBELS OFFERING A DIFFERENT APPROACH

Back in 1994, I joined a small, dedicated French-wine import company that would later change its name from International Gourmet Corp – as we moved away from including olive oils and vinegars in our offers – to European Wine Group. Our focus was bringing to America what we discovered in the artisanal, family-owned and operated [...]

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DONELAN FAMILY WINES – CHATEAUNEUF AND HERMITAGE FROM AMERICAN LEGENDS

  If price alone predicates your daily “quaffer” selections, vinously speaking, then perhaps this collection will fall somewhere outside your comfort zone. But for ME, when it comes to selecting the top 5 or so greatest experiences my palate has enjoyed, considering wines from America, there will simply not be a better offer to come [...]

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A Life’s Work

It was the late 1980s… Our “unabashed Francophile” leader – as he has been described by the local wine writers in Houston – was just beginning his career in the wine business working in one of the most upscale dining establishments in the Dallas area – Riviera. Christopher Massie found himself under the wing of [...]

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A Tale of Biodynamics, Feiring and the Death of the Chronicle

  Blog Update #72 A Tale of Biodynamics, Feiring and the Death of the Chronicle The power of the bio-dynamic wine movement first revealed itself as I witnessed a surge in my social network connections that can only be described as unprecedented.  On the 1st of May, I was leisurely working away on my latest [...]

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Big Establishment Acknowledges the Blog-O-Sphere

  Blog Update #71, 2009: Big Establishment Acknowledges the Blog-O-Sphere My first introduction to the concept of applying numerical value to a wine as a way of declaring its worth came in the Summer of 1984.  I was working as a bar back at one of the most prominent Continental restaurants of its time in [...]

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Thoughts from Days Past as the Future Begins

This blog is authored by a middle-aged man with more than 25 years of his professional life dedicated to the wine industry….in 1999 I opened a boutique wine shop after deciding my life’s passion had brought me to that point…now, as of 2009, I’m re-writing my entire plan, refocusing all my energy and  inviting those [...]

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Tomorrow’s 1st Tasting at the “New Winery”

Afternoon, Well it’s certainly been interesting out here for the past few weeks, that’s for sure!  I’ve witnessed countless hours of research, paperwork and travel, all aimed at the final goal of launching a new winery permit.  For the folks following the blog, you’ve come to understand the heartaches, the headaches and the occasional triumphs [...]

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Groundhog Day

  With aching muscles and a tired mind I return to the keyboard again, a glass of wine and a worn out telephone beside me.  The last two days and a total of 20 working hours saw me organizing a former client’s home wine cellar.  The wines being stocked were nearly all from my old [...]

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Houston Wine Idealist Introduces French Country Wines (The Shop)

One of the finest aspects of this country’s fourth largest city, this city known as Houston Texas, is its inhabitants’ eager ability to embrace new and exciting trends.  “Feast”, that funky, fantastic creation by the eclectic, tattooed English duo of Knight and Silk, where diners will be just as shocked as overjoyed by the culinary [...]

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