New Hampshire is one of those northern states that has really blossomed due to the creation of the cold-hardy “Minnesota” varieties, many of which were developed by Elmer Swenson in Minnesota. Those varieties, plus native fruits and maple syrup, make for a fascinating selection of wines. Averill House Vineyards farms organically, growing Native American varieties like … Read more

August in DC: Zzzzzzzzz August is a month when nothing happens in Washington, which can be both good and bad from a policy perspective—good in that no new bad ideas will be introduced, bad in that good measures are stalled until September. That’s also the month when the government runs out of money (9/30), and … Read more

Nevada is a great example of how a tiny producer of wine still reaps an enormous economic benefit because of robust consumption, and all the activities and jobs that support it. Nevada has only a handful of wineries, largely because the liquor wholesalers have persuaded lawmakers to greatly restrict the operations and economic viability of … Read more

DtC Compliance: Tips from the Pros On Wednesday, WineAmerica hosted a well-attended Zoom listening session on compliance in the all-important area of direct-to-consumer (DtC) wine shipping, a hard-fought privilege for the wine industry. I opened with a brief history of how the wine industry successfully fought for this privilege, followed by Executive Vice President and … Read more

Many years ago, I judged at Bill Moffett’s Grand Harvest Awards in Sonoma, a unique competition essentially based on “terroir”, and open to any wines in the country. When we finally got to the Sweepstakes round, it was a contest among the best sparkling, white, rose, red, and dessert wines for overall “Best of Show”. … Read more