by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Don’t you just hate it when everybody jumps on a new fad, but what about the guys who started that fad? Many times they are overrun by the imitators and then are forgotten. Not so with wines. The current fad is organic farming, which entails the use of natural...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Flipflop Wines: normally we would condemn Flipflop for using a silly name for a serious product, but not this time. This time, the name has a reason; to help supply foot coverings, in the form of flipflops, to the barefoot children of the world. The makers of Flipflop...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
It’s always great when you run into an old friend and if that old friend happens to be a wine it might be even better. Such is the case with us as we recently sampled the latest vintages of the wines of Folie à Deux. If your high school French is not totally...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Don’t you just hate it when everybody jumps on a new fad, but what about the guys who started that fad? Many times they are overrun by the imitators and then are forgotten. Not so with wines. The current fad is organic farming, which entails the use of natural...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
No matter what your political preference might be, rabid Republican or fanatical Democrat, you can find solace in the Korbel California Champagnes. These are the California sparkling wines that have been chosen to celebrate the inaugurations of six presidents at both...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Clos Du Bois (Klo D’ Bwah) has always been known as “that California wine with the French name.†The wines of Clos Du Bois are pure California, and they glory in their California heritage and style of winemaking. The winery has been at the forefront of the fruit...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
We have often said that the pinot noir grape is so difficult a variety to work with that it has been responsible for some of the world’s most astounding successes and most dismal failures. It is a grape variety that is referred to as a shy grower because of the...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
It has been a long time since Italian wines were the vogue. Their time was the 1960’s when Chianti was king. Every bistro, pizzeria and college dorm room had the ever present straw covered Chianti bottle as a candle holder, resplendent with multicolored melted wax...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
It’s always great when you run into an old friend and if that old friend happens to be a wine it might be even better. Such is the case with us as we recently sampled the latest vintages of the wines of Folie à Deux. If your high school French is not totally...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Take the obvious and reverse it; an ancient Japanese motto that Andrew Quady of Quady Vineyards seems to have taken to heart. The obvious was to start a winery and make “the usual suspectsâ€, cabernet sauvignon, merlot, chardonnay, etc. Quady headed in the opposite...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Whats in a name? We havent got the foggiest idea, but we do know when we see the name Martini on a label we know we are going to be in for a treat. The Martini winery has been around for over 100 years and could be considered one of the founders of the California wine...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
It was one of those days you never forget. It was not a great or catastrophic event that shakes history but rather a quiet, mundane but very memorable occurrence; we drank a bottle of wine. It was in the late eighties, we were lunching with a winemaker when a wine on...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
It is a common practice to pair wines with foods; but why stop there? How about pairing wines with movies? With that in mind, we will proceed to give our recommendations on what to drink while you are watching what. The most obvious choice would be a chardonnay with...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Spanish wines; a riddle, a puzzle and a huge question mark. For over a century, the wine industry has known that Spain should be a top producer of wines, but unfortunately, it has never lived up to its potential. It is only in recent times that Spanish wines have...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
There are mysteries and conundrums to be found even in the wine industry; this one concerns the durif grape. The grape was discovered by François Durif, a botanist at the University of Montpellier, in France, who found the new grape variety at the experimental...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Hey, where were you when the malbec hit the fan? Unless you don’t know it, the current red wine rage is malbec from Argentina. In the early 60’s it was the iron hard, tannin loaded Bordeaux blends that were the rage. Even if you were not particularly in tune with...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Wine is a luxury and as a luxury it was one of the first to feel the effects of the recent economic downturn. The industry is facing a situation similar to the economic recession of the early seventies. At that time, business was so bad that there was a standing joke...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Black Swan, to some it’s the name of a 1942 classic swashbuckling Caribbean pirate movie starring Tyrone Power and the imposing Laird Cregar as Captain Henry Morgan. To others, it is the name of a fine wine coming out of Australia. The latest vintage of Black Swan...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
It is with great pride that we announce to one and all, that the official Missouri State Grape, the Norton, has finally been recognized as a fine wine grape. It can now be considered in the same league as the pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, chardonnay and the rest of...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Wine is changing dramatically and it may not be for the better it also may not be the fault of the winemakers and vintners. The problem lies with global warming. Whether a natural cycle of the Earth or induced by man, there is no doubting that a major change in our...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
After a damp, cool spring that led to some mold and mildew, the vineyards of California have now been hit with a terrible heat wave. The weather for most of the growing season was cool, so growers thinned the leaves of the vines to allow for more sunlight. A heat wave...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews, Wine and Food
In each one of our lives there is a quest. It could be to run the fastest mile, climb the highest mountain, write the greatest novel or compose the ultimate melody. Few ever attain their goal, but for those who have achieved the impossible dream, there are monuments...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Concannon Vineyards, founded in 1883, is the oldest continuously operating winery under the same family name in California. Today it is the fourth generation of Concannon still turning out outstanding wines. There is something to be said about longevity in any...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
How about a WICKED WEEKEND? Three days of total abandon planned around sensuous dinners, seductive foods and incredible wines. Well, we would love that too but as an old married couple we will have to settle for a good diner, a good wine and a comfortable bed to sleep...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Port is a naturally sweet, fortified red wine which achieves its sweetness by adding brandy to the fermenting grape juice thus stopping fermentation before all of the grape sugar has been converted to alcohol. Port wines are blessed with a full, fruity flavor, and...
High Vacuum Engineer: Senior Technical Adviser and Feature Writer for Modern Photography Magazine (1967-1973), co-founder of Together Vineyards, an experimental vineyard in South Florida which was the southern most registered vineyard in the Continental United States. Co-Author of several books on Home Wine Making, Home Beer Making and Distillation of Spirits. Co-owner of Camera & Video Repair Institute in Sunrise Florida.