As you can probably tell by now there are a lot of chateau clustered in the Medoc. Their grand facades, some in better repair than others, are probably the greatest outward manifestation of the high amount of wealth that is concentrated here. Almost all labels of chateau show the picture ...

Another in a series of posts from France by Morgan Twain-Peterson. I am back in Bordeaux, this time stationed at Les Ormes de Pez, the smaller chateau owned by the Cazes. Though I loved living with the other interns at our little villa the village of Bages—the house was like a bad joke or sitcom waiting to happen—a swiss, a belge, an American, and a Mexican walk into a house in France… My new...

St. Julien is home to the highest proportion of classed growths of the four major communes of the Medoc. It is also the smallest of the communes. Located just south of Pauillac, the vineyards of the “Leoville” wines, those of Ch. Leoville-Las-Cases in this case, begin where those of Ch. ...

Another in the Morgan Does Bordeaux series. When I woke up early on Tuesday morning, after the storms had knocked out the power and the alarm, I had a wave of fear run through me. Was I going to be too late for my appointment to Chateau Palmer? Luckily, I heard Antoine stirring in the kitchen, meaning that it had to be before 8 o’clock. My appointment was for 10 o’clock in Margaux...

Another in a series of Morgan’s dispatches from Bordeaux. Look for part two of yesterday’s post on Wine Sediments later this week. This morning I awoke to a heavy gloom. Thunderheads bumped shoulders in the distance, darkening the Medoc from Margaux to Pauillac. Deciding to be optimistic I left the skylight to my room open and left to start taking maturity samples of Merlot parcels from...

I received a great email from Morgan yesterday with this article attached and had to share it. Morgan is currently over in France right now working harvest at Chateau Lynch Bages in Bordeaux. It’s a long article, so I’ve split it up in to a couple posts. I’ll publish the second part over at Wine Sediments later this week. Enjoy. BY MORGAN PETERSON Perhaps the first thing that strikes you...

Forum: Social Hall Posted By: Bob Hudak Post Time: 07-09-2008 at 02:49 PM

A quote from Mark Twain: New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions. I guess Mark Twain knew about drunk dialing before the phone was invented :). I hope you all have a safe and happy New Years celebration with lots of wine, champagne or whatever it is you care to drink...

  One of the quotations that I often seem to hear about the San Francisco Bay Area is also a pretty familiar one to the rest of us who live here, and it comes, rightfully, from Mark Twain: The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco. Twain also said: It is better to keep ... as tasting rooms - to discover and explore. Twain probably would have been hard-pressed to find...

Peterson House is unique to the Hunter Valley, specialising in premium sparkling wines made ... for tastings. The Peterson House Gateway ($17.50) was a stand out wine for me, soft straw ... with a clean fresh finish. Peterson House have an excellent range of sparkling reds, especially ... highly recomend a visit to Peterson House if you happen to be in the Hunter, they have an excellent range...