by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
On or around Saint Patrick’s Day, an Irish friend of ours remarked “that it was more fun playing at being Irish than actually being Irish.” It appears that John Concannon of Concannon vineyards, although three generations removed from his Irish...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Brandy, in all of its forms, is rapidly gaining in popularity in this country. Unfortunately, many brandy drinkers are unfamiliar with some of the other products of a similar type that are available. Have you ever heard of Armagnac (Arm an yak)? To the uninitiated, it...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
At one time in history, about 100 years ago, Lake County California was earning the reputation as producing “the best wines in the world.†All of this came to a grinding halt in 1919 with the enacting of the 18th Amendment which prohibited the manufacture and sale...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Just when we think that we have completely covered a subject, something comes up to change all of that. The subject was the Octavin wines and their ingenious container that we believed we had covered thoroughly in last week’s column. Then, lo and behold, Octavin...
by Ben Bodenstein | Reviews
Are you somewhat peeved by the current practice in the food industry of giving smaller product weight at higher prices. Have no fear, all facets of the wine industry are rigorously controlled so there will be no change in the size of wine bottles or its contents;...