Jim Moore's ship is on its way in. He has been named one of five Winemakers To Watch by the San Francisco Chronicle and the popularity of his Cal-Ital wines are gaining popularity - we've even included them in a couple of our shipments of the Sideways Wine Club, and they can now be found in our affiliated wine bar Tastes Of The Valleys.
In today's interview, Jim tells us about how he got his start in the business and where he plans to go from here...
For our bi-monthly wine club shipments, we reject dozens of wines for every one selected. Our tasting notes cover decades of tasting, and form a stack several stories high (which presents some challenges when negotiating limited storage space with other household members!)
My point being that the following wines have run the gauntlet. They were selected as the best and most unique expression of available wines within the designated price range. We have a limited amount remaining, and hope you can get an order in before shipping closes down for the week on Wednesday (bad weather still limits our shipping days to Mon - Wed for West coast orders, Mon only for anything farther!)
Ready to Vote? Scroll to the bottom and enter a comment in the comment form! Many Thanks - Dave
I'm going to share a secret. The wine world is a bit short on fun and a bit long on seriousness. OK, maybe it's not a big secrect. But one thing I learned at Bonny Doon is that wine is more popular when sold with a healthy dose of fun.
So I'm thinking a series of wine videos would be a wise addition to our efforts - part education, part demonstration, part entertainment. But before I leap off the cliff of time-consuming fiascos, I need your feedback.
Many approaches are not right for us. For example, here is a short list of wine videos representing a wide range of styles and options. Which one works best? Which ones miss? Do you like the talking head in front of the camera? Or the "travel video" with a narrator behind the camera? Please add your comments, and let me know what you think we should begin doing...
According to a very recent and brilliant social theory *, the U.S. population is made up of just three types of people:
Tax Creditors - Those who have paid too much, and look forward to a refund upon filing their return. Not surprisingly, these people tend to file early. They also tend to purchase wine with which to celebrate their windfall.
Tax Debtors- These are citizens who have chosen to use their funds themselves instead of letting the fine folks at the National Treasury hold onto them for a few months. For these folks, it is time to pay the piper. This painful reality tends to make them seek the comfort of friends and family with which to share a good bottle of wine.
Tax Delayers - A temporary state often visited by Tax Debtors, who stay for as long as possible. This temporary state of reprieve is best enjoyed with a good selection of wine. I have just the thing...
The doorbell rang, disturbing my concentration at my work desk. I launched into my usual mad dash - sock-encased feet slipping along hardwood floors, sliding to a stop in the approximate area of our door buzzer. It's important to reach the buzzer before the UPS man grows tired of waiting - the demands of their rounds limit their stockpile of patience.
But this buzzer brought a surprise. Instead of our usual UPS man, it was a young woman from a local delivery service bearing a package from Tsar Nicoulai Caviar. It contained two 2.5 ounce tins of the precious eggs, a package of blini mix, a cast iron blini skillet, Crème fraîche and two mother-of-pearl spoons. Since our 4-year old can eat her body weight in caviar (and Leslie and I are rather fond of it ourselves) it was a most welcome token of apology from my absent cooking partner during last week's Chef Challenge. She was unexpectedly detained by three hours at work, leaving me to fly solo.
Fortunately I was ready, stockpiling as many wines as I had menu ideas - ready for whatever ingredients showed up on my counter...