Growing grapes on a steep hillside is quite challenging. First of all, planting along the hillside requires terraced farming. The soil is infertile and the drainage systems are often complex. Stressing for water, the grapes often have smaller berries and higher...
If you’re like most people in this world, you enjoy your wine with whatever glass is on hand: the unbreakable tumblers at your friend’s house, the standard wine glass from your local restaurant, or just straight from the bottle (that counts as a glass right?)....
With Harvest here, wine country is buzzing and alive. If you’re planning on visiting some Calistoga wineries or Sonoma CA wineries, now is a great time to learn some wine lingo. Check out these commonly used terms in the wine world. Veraison You’re walking through a...
Syrah, Petite Sirah, Shiraz . . . they’re all the same, right? Not quite. While all of these grapes produce big, bold, spicy red wines, one of these things (varietals) is not like the others. In short, Syrah and Shiraz refer to the same type of dark-skinned...
Size matters apparently. So does color! Veraison is that time of year when we look for the largest, most ripe grapes and start gearing up for harvest. Winemaker Matt from Kendall-Jackson explains in his blog that veraison is a physiological stage in the vine life...
Greetings from Platypus Wine Tours and welcome to our lovely new blog. Here you’ll find all kinds of information about our wine tours to the most beautiful wineries in America’s premier wine regions of Napa Valley, St. Helena and Calistoga, Sonoma Valley,...
