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From Tom's Wine Blog

February 26, 2008
"Napa Valley Premiere has come and gone again and it really has become an event that almost sets time in these parts. With so many wholesalers in town for the event, so many vintners all together in one room and so much media scrutiny (the cherished "press pass" fully engaged), it's a major business event. In our case, it also means we get to catch up with many of our wine grape customers, as well. There's a lot of insider stuff going on and hype galore, but the beauty is one wine per winery, a special barrel sample for this event, and a minimum of marketing accoutrement to dizzy the participants."

January 7th, 2008
"Now, I've made wine for almost 30 years and I don't claim to be a food and wine expert but I have been around the subject for a good, long time. I have had many mismatches in the past but here is my revelation: while a wine's aromas and flavors are normally in-line with each other, and while food flavors and wine flavors may agree or disagree, the AROMA of a wine has little to do with the food in a pairing sense. It certainly matters that you should be enjoying the combination, but, on a weighted scale, the flavor and flavor only are the factors that make a wine truly food-friendly. So, in a sense, when selecting a wine with a meal, it really is just the flavor profile that is the key and, downstream of that, the varietal aromas are more of a "fielder's choice" scenario."

October & November 2007
See the new video blog entries from the Farella harvest: the Pinot Noir crushing, and Cabernet fermenting and pressing off!

September 19, 2007
"The Merlot is in, safe and sound. Some of our grape customers have decided to wait a bit more and that's no surprise. Our section of Merlot is on top of a little hill, the "Coombsville Divide" which stands between the Tulocay Creek and Sarco Creek watersheds. The soil here is thin and very chalky so these vines wrap up their growing season a little before the rest of the block."

September 7, 2007
"I often get asked questions about harvest decisions and there are as many special criteria as there are winemakers. The percent sugar, or "Brix," is a popular indicator but almost irrelevant these days since winemakers are looking at many other parameters. Taste is a biggie (go figure!). The level of phenols is a popular talking point. There is a lot of discussion about "mature tannins" meaning a lack of herbaceous characteristics. But I keep finding that the pH of the juice sample pretty much tells the whole story."