Wine Stars

Wine Stories and News for the Young at Heart

Chateau St. Jean’s Chardonnay and Gewürztraminer Win Top Votes from Millennials

“Who doesn’t like chardonnay?” was one of the daring questions Jessica Schmit, Chateau St. Jean Tasting Room Rep and recent SSU Wine Biz grad, asked the audience of 40 Millennials who showed up to last night’s SSU Wine Sense Club tasting.  When only one person was brave enough to raise his hand, Jessica dared him to a taste off of two CSJ chardonnays.  In the end, he selected, along with the rest of the Millennials, the 2008 Ch. St. Jean Chardonnay from Durell Ranch ($28) as the favorite of the evening. This was the Magic of White Wine Tasting (red [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:37:26-08:00September 24, 2010|

Peterson and Nicholson Ranch Wineries Wow Millennials with Sonoma Varietals

Last night we had our first tasting of the semester for the SSU Wine Sense Club.  Approximately 30 students turned out for the “Savoring Sonoma” tasting featuring famous Sonoma County varietals.  In order to represent the range of Sonoma grapes, we invited two wineries to pour.  Peterson Winery in Dry Creek represented the warmer appellations and Nicholson Ranch Winery located on the border of Carneros and Sonoma Valley highlighted cooler regions. Nicholson Ranch Wines Charles Whittaker, tasting room manager with Nicholson Ranch, described how their wines were made and the different locations for sourcing grapes.  We started with the 2007 [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:37:44-08:00September 10, 2010|

Exciting Fall Semester 2010 Wine Tasting Schedule Set for SSU

We have a great new SSU Wine Sense Board of Directors with 9 people!  Wow -- that is the largest Board we've ever had, and they have developed an exciting new tasting schedule for Fall 2010.  All wine tastings will take place on campus from 7 to 9pm at Schultz 1121.  Must be 21 to attend.  Cost for each tasting is $10 at the door, plus ID.  Glasses and food will be provided, as well as fascinating guest speakers from our featured wineries.  Hold the Dates! Sept. 9: Savoring Sonoma:  Nicholson Ranch & Peterson Winery (Sonoma), plus food pairing Sept. [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:38:05-08:00July 17, 2010|

Arista Winery Arouses Respect for Russian River Pinot Noir and Anderson Valley Gewürztraminer

The last SSU Wine Sense Club tasting of the semester featured pinot noirs from enchanting Arista Winery in the Russian River Valley.  Approximately 30 Millennials showed up to taste through several different Arista pinot noirs, ranging from the classic 2007 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir ($42) with appealing raspberry fruit and silky body to the massive and complex Longbow Pinot Noir with dark berry fruit, earth and tobacco and the Mononi Single Vineyard Pinot Noir with brambly fruit and spice.  When we took a vote at the end of the tasting on favorites, it was split evenly around the room [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:38:24-08:00June 23, 2010|

Where are You on the Wine Tasting Continuum?

Have you ever wondered why some wines taste great to you, but not to your friends?  Perhaps you like big tannic reds, and your friends prefer sweet rieslings.  This doesn't have to do with a lack of palate sophistication; it just has to do with the fact that everyone has different tasting preferences.   It is a recognized fact that there is wide diversity in tasting due to both genetic and environmental influences.  However, anyone can learn to taste and appreciate wine – it is just a matter of understanding your palate first.  There are no right or wrong answers – [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:38:42-08:00May 11, 2010|

Blackstone and Ravenswood Delight Millennials

Each semester our Intro to Wine Business class schedules a fieldtrip to a local winery in order to see and hear about cost/quality issues with the various vineyard farming methods and cellar operations.  It is always more useful to see actual equipment and trellising systems, and hear about their impact from vineyard/operations managers than just learn about it in class, from a book, and/or via video.  In order to be fair, we generally flip-flop back and forth between Napa and Sonoma wineries, as well as change winery size each semester.  This Spring we were scheduled to visit a large winery [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:39:22-08:00April 6, 2010|

Flowers and Ledson Top Picks for Millennial Red Wine Tasting

The classic red wine tasting this week was fabulous.  We had some great wines that were donated – and in fact, two of those won top favorites for the night with 47 Millennials present at the tasting and final voting.  Of course, there are only 4 classic red wines:  pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and syrah.  However, being that we live in California, we had to throw in a Zinfandel.  For the mystery wine of the night, I selected a Malbec from Argentina….because Malbec is so popular now.  The students did a great job of guessing the varietals correctly in [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:39:46-08:00March 11, 2010|

Millennials Pick Top White Wines for Spring: Rombauer & Husch

This week in Bus 305W, 48 millennial students tasted through 6 excellent California white wines.  It was the beginning of the semester introduction to classic white varietals:  chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling, chenin blanc, and semillion.  We also threw in a 6th “extra credit” wine, which was a gewurtraminer.  The class did very well guessing the varietals correctly – even though we tasted blind.  Just to refresh your memory, there are only 5 classic white varietals in the world, even though there are more than 24,000 different names for grapes, and 150 commercially produced varietals.  However, in order to be considered [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:40:08-08:00February 28, 2010|

Iron Horse Wines Sparkle With Millennials

One of the highlights of this semester was the SSU Wine Club tasting with Iron Horse Vineyards located in the Green Valley AVA of Sonoma County.  Green Valley is a small special section of the Russian River Valley which has a cooler climate and more fog than surrounding areas.  Located just 13 miles from the Pacific Ocean, it is an ideal place to grow chardonnay and pinot noir.  Iron Horse is one of the largest of the 8 wineries in this appellation, and has become quite famous for its sparkling wines.  The wine tasting was hosted by Joy Sterling, CEO [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:41:16-08:00December 5, 2009|

Millennials Love Pinot Noir from Anderson Valley’s Navarro Winery

If you haven’t visited Anderson Valley yet, in Mendocino County, you are missing a magical wine region of California.  About an hour’s drive north of the Sonoma State University campus (and 2 hours north of San Francisco) you will enter the enchanting Anderson Valley.  It is filled with rolling vineyards tucked into the hillsides and hollows of the valley, with many charming small family wineries.  Legendary for their highly rated pinot noir and chardonnay, the cooler climate of the Anderson Valley also sets itself apart by being one of the only wine regions in California to specialize in white Alsatian [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:41:37-08:00November 21, 2009|

The Future of Wine – Chile-Lime Riesling?

All of us at the SSU Wine Business Institute are very proud of Wine MBA student, Leah McNally, who won a scholarship to attend the recent WineFuture Conference in Rioja, Spain.  Leah was lucky enough to rub shoulders with Robert Parker, Jancis Robinson, Gary V., and other famous wine industry experts.  Fortunately for us, she has published a very insightful article on her experience at the conference....and what the experts predict on the FUTURE of WINE -- including flavored wine, such as chile-lime riesling!!  Read all at http://palatepress.com/2009/11/winefuture-2009-la-rioja-spain/

By |2021-01-05T20:26:19-08:00November 21, 2009|

Michel Schlumberger Wines Rock at SSU

The SSU Wine Tasting Club met recently to taste some of the magnificent wines of Michel Schlumberger located in the Dry Creek AVA of Sonoma County.  This winery specializes in Bordeaux varietals and organically grown grapes.  When I visited you enter through some very impressive gates, and are invited to go on a vineyard tour to learn how they farm organically.  Afterwards you enjoy an informal tasting of their wonderful wines.  You must call in advance to schedule an appointment, but the tasting and tour are definitely worth it! (http://www.michelschlumberger.com/)  The two favorite wines of the 53 Millennials tasting at [...]

By |2021-01-05T13:52:13-08:00October 29, 2009|

Putting Pennies in Your Wine

Last night in my wine business class we evaluated 4 interesting wine from Greece and South Africa.  The last South African wine, a deep red pinotage with the distinctive red berry, greenstick, earth and spices that it is known for, also included a very strong smell of rotten eggs.  Immediately one of my students suggested we put a penny in our glass, and I agreed.  In less than 10 seconds the stinky smell had dissipated in the wine and we were able to evaluate it more fairly.  Looking around the classroom, I saw some puzzlement on the faces of other [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:42:58-08:00October 15, 2009|

SSU Wine Club Starts the Semester with Sebastiani Wines

What better way to start a new Fall semester on campus than with a wine tasting of Sebastiani wines.  For this first tasting, the room was filled to capacity with over 50 Millennials.  Julie Butler from Sebastiani’s Hospitality group brought 6 wines to taste.  Three were from Sebastiani Vineyards and Winery located in Sonoma, California, plus an additional 3 wines from Firestone Winery in Santa Barbara County.  You may not be aware that the 100+ year old Sebastiani Winery was acquired by Foley Family Wines in December of 2008.  Foley Family also owns 8 other wineries, including Firestone, Merus in [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:43:13-08:00October 11, 2009|

Tolosa Winery – A Favorite Millennial Tasting Room

(By guest author Pete Lobash) Tolosa Winery is located in San Luis Obispo (www.tolosawinery.com). I went here with some friends and had a great time. Tolosa has a tasting room some wineries would die for! Think of an extremely nice wine bar and then add even more. On entry of this tasting room I immediately noticed how modern looking everything was. In most tasting rooms a rustic or Italian look is sought after -- yet at Tolosa it’s all about a contemporary look. This room really caters and attracts those from the ages of twenty one to mid thirties. I really [...]

By |2021-02-02T13:43:36-08:00August 15, 2009|
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