On the Road with the Grape Guy

Report from - Vina Ventisquero wines ... March 5, 2012

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

The second time in a week I'm at a tasting of a winery that is just going into it's second decade of production (see Hall from March 1).  Today we'll be tasting 10 wines (2 whites, 8 reds) from Vina Ventisquero, a winery that started production in 2001 and has grown to be one of the biggest exporters of Chilean wine.  Filipe Tosso, winemaker for Ventisquero since the beginning started things off with a brief history of the winery and make up of the winery:  owner started his business 55 years ago with a chicken farm, 16 years ago he started thinking of getting into the wine business.  Today they have 7 different vineyards spread out from the north to the south of Chile and 5 different lines: Queulat, Grey (single block), Vertice, Heru, Pangea.  It was also pointed out to us that Chile is the only phyloxera free country in the world - there are pockets in other countries that did not get hit by the louse but Chile is fully phyloxera free.

Vina Ventisquero is trying to break into the Canadian market, let's hope we see more of their wines.  (to see reviews of their wines click here)

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.

Report from - Lunching with Mike Reynolds of Hall Winery ... March 1, 2012

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Category: On the Road with the Grape Guy

If you haven't heard of Hall Winery you're probably not alone.  Hall is a fairly new winery just entering their second decade in business, but they have built up quite a name for themselves south of the border, and quite the exquisite operation.  From nothing in 2002 to two facilities (Rutherford and St. Helena) and owners of 500 acres in Napa alone; total holdings of 3300 acres in 6 appellations between Napa and Sonoma.  The pedigree of the owners is quite impressive too: Craig Hall a real estate tycoon from Ann Arbor Michigan and his wife Kathryn whose family once own a winery in Mendocino (California), she was US Ambassador to Austria from 1997-2001.  These two have turned into one of the largest land owners of California vineyards and they buy or grow fruit in all but 4 appellations - though that is about to change.

About the winery ... (to learn more about Hall Winery, my top three wines tasted and to find out who painted the wine label below, click here)

To read about more interesting adventures thru the world of wine check out the On the Road With the Grape Guy blog.