Harvey Finkel

Although the American Indian word zaca means “restful place”, it appears that Zaca Mesa Winery in Los Olivos, California, founded in 1972, entered a blessedly restful phase only a few years ago. It’s original owners, a group of investors led by oilman Louis Ream, gave way in 1986 to the... Read More

European regulators are shooting themselves in the foot, yet again. To begin with, France’s INAO (Institut National des Appellations d’Origine) is reportedly set to ban mention of grape variety from Alsace labels. When I mentioned this to a seasoned and wise international wine merchant, an éminence grise, he exclaimed, “Insane!”,... Read More

‘Twas not so long ago that the wines of Sicily, always a generous producer, were almost entirely sold anonymously in bulk, the reds tired, the whites oxidized. No longer. Although much is still passed along to who-knows-where in bulk, even that has become largely acceptable, and the bottled wines of... Read More

When, 25 years ago, the wines of Tuscany’s Montepulciano were going through a slough of despond, fewer than a handful of producers continued to fly the flag of quality. Notable among them was, and still is, Poliziano. I was, therefore, most pleased to visit recently with the owner/winemaker of Azienda... Read More

The Cecchi family has been making and selling wine in Tuscany for more than a century, now in Umbria, too. I enjoyed a recent visit and tasting with Andrea Cecchi, who shares the fourth generation with his older brother, Cesare. Andrea, who holds a master of enology degree, is in... Read More

After a tasting some years ago three of us were schmoozing –  a winemaker from California, one from Italy and me. The Californian commented that my house must be very old. He “wowed!” when informed it was first occupied in 1913. His “old house” had been built in 195O. Then... Read More

Syrah or shiraz as it’s called in Australia and some elsewheres, is bursting its erstwhile boundaries, and emerging all over the world’s wine scene. It remains, however, a dominant grape only in southern France and in Australia. Since I’ll be focusing on Australia today in response to a visit from... Read More

Let’s examine some background and discussions from the program that seem of general interest.  The technical presentations had a narrower focus and for the wine tasting you had to be there. The contributors to those segments of the program I shall extract included: for the Association, Kip Kumler of Turtle... Read More

So much of the information reported about the relationships of cancer to alcohol consumption is conflicted and confusing that the comprehensive 2OO-page meta-review from the Australian Cancer Institute in New South Wales (www.cancerinstitute.org.au/cancer_inst/publications/pdfs/pm-2OO8-O3_alcohol-as-a-cause-of-cancer.pdf) is most welcome.  We must keep in mind that cancer is not one disease, but many, and... Read More