Wine Stars

Wine Stories and News for the Young at Heart

Blind Wine Tasting Battle with SSU Students and Quivera Winery

By Guest Author: Jenna Riggan - The latest SSU Wine Sense club meeting was full of conversation and member participation. Quivira Vineyards and Winery shared three of their lovely biodynamic wines with 23 students, who were both intrigued and impressed with the elements involved in biodynamic winemaking. Our chefs prepared a hearty meal of Lamb Shepherd's Pie, a mixed green salad with fig vinaigrette, and an insanely delicious rum cake to be paired with the Quivira wines. For a fun twist, SSU Wine Sense officers also organized a blind tasting competition, where SSU Wine Sense members (and Quivira guest Nicholas [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T22:42:53-08:00March 12, 2012|

An Intimate Tasting with Schweiger and Bouchaine Estate Wineries

The most recent tasting of the SSU WineSense Club was intimate and relaxed. Schweiger and Bouchaine wineries both presented and poured six of their beautiful estate wines. The group of 18 Millennials in attendance really opened up and felt more comfortable asking questions in the more intimate setting. Favorite Wines of the Evening The favorite wine of the evening from Schweiger Vineyards was the 2007 Schweiger Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain District, Napa Valley, Estate Bottled ($58). This was a rich, full-bodied Cabernet with dark berries, chocolate, and toasty oak. It has a very velvety mouth feel with a long [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T22:43:13-08:00March 2, 2012|

Millennials Toast Toad Hollow Winery

The Spring semester got off to a great start when Toad Hollow Winery agreed to host the first SSU WineSense Club tasting. A total of 46 millennials showed up that evening to learn more about the wines from this Sonoma County winery located in Healdsburg (http://www.toadhollow.com/). The students tasted and toasted to six Toad Hollow wines along with scrumptious food pairings. The wines included: 2010 Chardonnay - Mendocino County, 2011 Rose of Pinot Noir, Sonoma County, 2009 Pinot Noir - Russian River Valley, 2006 Pinot Noir Reserve - Russian River Valley, 2007 Merlot - Russian River Valley, and NV Risque [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T22:43:44-08:00February 7, 2012|

Why I Love Cabernet Sauvignon

Whenever I am asked that question: "if you were stranded on an island and could only have one bottle of wine, what would it be," my answer is always the same - a great bottle of cabernet sauvignon. Cab is always satisfying - big, rich, tannic with complex fruit and a wonderful accompaniment to meats and strong cheeses. A glass of Cabernet Sauvignon on a cold night near a warm fire is almost a comfort food. But I am not alone in loving cab, because it is now the number one selling red varietal in the U.S. market (Neilsen, Nov. [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T22:44:05-08:00January 9, 2012|

2011 Blog Stats Report for Wine Stars – 11,000 views

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 11,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 4 sold-out performances for that many people to see it. Click here to see the complete report.

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T22:44:29-08:00January 3, 2012|

Holiday Wines Millennials Love – Thanks to KJ, Mazzocco, deLorimier, Stryker and Selby Wineries

The last three SSU Wine Sense Club meetings have been packed to overflowing with an average of 50 Millennials attending each tasting. Special thanks to all of the Sonoma County wineries who have participated in these educational events. Kendall Jackson was kind enough to provide a “fermentation style seminar” with Brian Cronin, MS and Jann Cotter. The session included tastings of 5 chardonnays crafted in different styles: 1) fermented in stainless steel with no malolactic fermentation, 2) fermented in stainless with malo, 3) fermented and aged in neutral oak, 4) fermented and aged in French oak, and 5) fermented and [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-01T22:44:50-08:00December 12, 2011|

Wine Poetry: How an Ancient Persian Legend Gave Birth to a Petaluma Gap Winery

“As a child growing up in Persia I heard the story of the discovery of wine,” says Pari Azari, “but it is also documented in my Persian cookbook. In fact Omar Khayyám referred to the story in some of his poetry.” Kamal Azari, Pari’s husband and co-owner of Azari Winery, nods in appreciation as he listens to his wife. “Yes, it is this story, plus the fact that I was born in Shiraz, the ancient city in Persia thought to be the birthplace of the syrah grape, that inspired us to start our winery.” Pari then proceeded to tell the [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-02T13:26:36-08:00November 28, 2011|

Williamson Winery Wows Millennials

Over thirty Millennials showed up to taste the award winning wines of Williamson Winery this past week. Located in Sonoma County with a tasting room on the Healdsburg Plaza and their famous Home Ranch Vineyard in the Dry Creek AVA, Williamson is primarily known for big reds, such as syrah, zinfandel and cabernet sauvignon. However, they also source fruit from other locations and it was these wines that appealed most to the Millennials tasters. Favorite white wine of the evening was the Williamson Winery Joy Sauvignon Blanc ($28) from the North Coast. It had a fresh grapefruit nose with some [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-02T13:26:57-08:00November 2, 2011|

The Ancient Connection Between Women and Wine

Originally published in Wayward Tendrils Quarterly (Vol 18, No. 2, April 2008), Liz Thach, Ph.D. Posted here by request. Most historians now agree that wine was most likely discovered by a woman. However what is often left out of the history books are the ancient stories of the goddesses of wine – most who came into being centuries before Bacchus and Dionysus. Modern technology and carbon-dating has helped us prove that wine from cultivated grapes was being made in what is now modern-day Georgia, in the Caucasus Mountains around 6,000 B.C. There are also reports of wine remains in Armenia, [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-02T13:27:18-08:00October 26, 2011|

The Mystery of the Missing Pinot Noir Grapes

Professor Musings: I have a small hobby vineyard in Sonoma County with 90 pinot noir vines and 30 sauvignon blanc. The vineyard is located in the Petaluma Gap region of the Sonoma Coast AVA which is a cooler climate ideal for pinot noir. Every year it produces a nice crop with the pinot always ripening before the sauvignon blanc. This autumn, however, when I walked down to check on the sugar level of the grapes, I was astounded to see that something had eaten 90% of the pinot noir crop. The sauvignon blanc, which was still rather tart tasting, was untouched. I called my neighbors with [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-05T20:23:20-08:00October 17, 2011|

White Burgundy and Non-ML Chardonnay Top Scoring Wines at Millennial Tasting

Distinctive chardonnays came out on top at the first SSU Wine Sense Club tasting of the semester. Imagery Winery’s “2009 White Burgundy ($29)” received the most votes as the favorite wine. A full-bodied chardonnay with a small amount of Pinot Blanc and Pinot Meunier in the blend everyone enjoyed the tropical fruit flavors and bright crispness. Other Imagery wines tasted included a Malbec, Sangiovese and Sauvignon Blanc. Imagery Winery, located in Sonoma Valley, is renown for its artistic blends and beautiful labels featuring a different California artist each year. For more information see http://www.imagerywinery.com/. The SSU WineSense Board had to [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-02T13:28:11-08:00October 8, 2011|

8 Tips to Increase Online Wine Sales – Lessons from Google

This month even wine business students who had already graduated from Bus 305W showed up to hear a presentation from Google on increasing online wine sales. Fifty Millennials listened aptly to two guest speakers from Google, and many incorporated the tips into their final wine business papers for the semester. "Online wine search queries have increased more than 33% in the past 2 years," announced Google manager, Joe Rosenberg. "In addition, wine searches via mobile phone increased ten times in the same time period." Google colleague, Danny Navarro added, "We see that consumers are increasingly interested in wine online, but [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-02T13:28:30-08:00May 31, 2011|

What Type of Sparkling Wine Do Millennials Prefer? Korbel and Gloria-Ferrer Help Answer the Question

Research studies have shown that in addition to dry red and semi-sweet white wines, another favorite category of Millennials is sparkling wine. With this in mind, the SSU Winesense Tasting Club sponsored a “Battle of the Bubblies” evening and invited Korbel and Gloria-Ferrer to share some of their exciting sparkling wines. Korbel Champagne Cellars Headquartered in the Russian River AVA, Korbel was established in 1882 and is the oldest continually operating champagne house in North America. Head winemaker, Erica Mandl, providing fascinating commentary on the history of the winery, as well as production information on the 4 wines she [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-02T13:28:52-08:00May 9, 2011|

Wine Commercials by Millennials – Which is Your Favorite?

Millennials often wonder why wineries don't use more online videos to advertise their wines. The videos can be produced at a low cost, and if the winery is lucky enough to have their video "go viral," it can attract thousands of potential customers to the winery website. Therefore, with this in mind, our team research project this semester in Bus305W – Introduction to Wine Business was to complete a brand refresh project and create an online video for the updated brand. The target wine brand was Parducci of Mendocino County. CEO Paul Dolan and Marketing Director Kelly Lentz welcomed over 40 students [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-05T14:32:56-08:00April 20, 2011|

Ridge and Topel Wineries Wow Millennials with Big Reds

Another sold out night at SSU’s Winesense tasting this week. This time the lure was big reds offered by Ridge Vineyards of Dry Creek Valley and Topel Winery, located in southern Mendocino county. Seven wines were served with some spicy and robust food pairings. From Ridge Vineyards, the favorite of the evening was the 2008 Buchignani Ranch Carignane ($26). This was a big earthy wine with dark red fruit and spice. Everyone also enjoyed the grenache and zinfandels, but the distinctiveness of the carignane caused it to be a run-away favorite. For more information, see http://www.ridgewine.com/. From Topel Winery, it [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-02-02T13:29:42-08:00April 3, 2011|

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