Most California winemakers are far too busy tending their bubbling tanks and barrels to hold press conferences at this time of year, but trust me when I say those press conferences are going to...

Workdays start before dawn this week across Northern California, as this year's harvest gets underway with a massive sigh of relief shared by most vintners on America's west coast. After two years...

Imagine: it's speed-dating night for wine geeks. 'So, are you five, 20 or 100?' A nice gambit - or is it? Is asking someone their preferred scoring system an innocent way to break the ice, like...

'Panic! Wine Prices Due to Rise' read a recent headline on TIME Magazine's website. Welcome to the absurd states of America. That TIME Magazine , not generally known for sarcastic titling,...

Next week we'll publish a collection of nearly 100 tasting notes on some more fine California wines. They were tasted by Richard and me at a recent generic showing of wines from the Golden State...

Clumsy. Overripe. High alcohol. Over oaked. Fruit driven. Massive. Sweet. Made for Mr Parker's Palate. The historical stereotype of California wine, like all stereotypes, has a basis...

For some typically lively discussion on this article, see our members' views on the forum . A quiet revolution has been taking place on the California wine scene, driven by refugees from the...

Yesterday 1,000 of the major players in Silicon Valley and the global media gathered at the Tuileries in Paris for eG8, President Sarkozy's pre-Deauville online initiative. Attendees at the...

The 2007 vintage was one in which most California Cabernet Sauvignon producers made delicious and, in many cases, superb wines. Even the value-priced companies produced competent - and sometimes...

It is rare for California to have a mediocre Cabernet Sauvignon crop. Typical abundant sunshine, high summer temperatures and absence of rain during the growing season usually guarantee ripeness...

After one of the coolest springs and summers on record (see California 2010 - lean and mean? ) , heat has finally arrived in California, sending sugars soaring and winemakers gearing for an...

Could it be that the 12.5% alcohol California table wine, a regular feature of the 1970s, will return? That's quite a stretch, yet the 2010 growing season is, as of now, one of the coolest...

Once again, Northern California-based Silicon Valley Bank has peered into its crystal ball to prognosticate what's ahead for the US wine industry in 2010-2011. Last year, it predicted quite...

The annual California Grape Crush Report and Grape Acreage Report show that the 2009 vintage was the second-largest wine grape crop in the state's history, at 3.696 million tons, second only to...

See full tasting notes on Purple pages .   California wine can be frustrating for those of us who live outside the United States. Thanks to recent swollen crops and...