Silver Oak’s Post

BOXT, the female-founded, direct-to-consumer winery, has launched its first-ever limited-edition, signed, small-vineyard press. Founder & CEO Sarah Puil and the BOXT master winemaker meticulously crafted these exceptional wines, sourcing grapes from family-owned vineyards and perfecting the blends over months of tasting sessions. 'We spent months perfecting these limited-edition wines, sourcing each grape from family-owned vineyards up and down California and Washington, fulfilling my vision of what I wanted to create: making wines that would honor the terroir – the sense of place – unique to each vineyard, each grape,' said Puil. Sustainability is a core focus for BOXT. The winery aims to reduce the astronomical waste produced by single-use glass bottles in an industry where 90% of wines are meant for consumption within a year. BOXT's innovative packaging allows wines to remain fresh for over 30 days after opening. The limited-edition wines join BOXT's collection of whites, reds, and rosés. Each bottle is numbered and hand-signed by Puil. Vineyards were carefully selected, grapes handpicked and sorted in the meticulous crafting process. @drinkboxt #sustainability #winemaking #limitededition

“Allegretto Vineyard Resort - the vineyards here are planted in different directions, and with different spacing between the vines and the rows. It was sensory and metaphysical in determining what each grape variety desired. You may think this is rather esoteric; however, when you taste the wines, the magic will enlighten you in your experience.” Read more about it in the newest edition of the book Exploring Wine Regions: The Central Coast of California. #winelover #winetasting #winesofcalifornia

Great article about Napa Cabs. I personally love a Cab with more structure reminiscent of a Bordeaux, but there is a huge following behind Napa Cab producers that make a less terroir driven, more winemaker-driven (or dare I say consumer-driven) Cab. Winemakers probably wouldn’t make if ppl didn’t buy it, but I love that an honest conversation about the wine in our region is being had. What are your thoughts?

When the owner of a winery is referred to as 'The Dirtman,' there's a good chance he has a deep relationship with the land, as is the case with rob gibson, founder, viticulturist, geologist, and winemaker of Gibson Wines 🍷 in Australia's Barossa Valley. Gibson Wines was awarded the best varietal at the London Wine Competition for its Reserve Shiraz 2019, scoring an impressive 95 points – the first time the winery had entered the London Wine Competition. 😍 On a five-acre property in Light Pass, North Barossa, the vineyard produces Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Fiano at an elevation of 280 metres above sea. They also own Burke's Hill, an old vineyard in Eden Valley that is planted with Shiraz and Riesling. Rob explains what impact winning the award meant 👉 : “Receiving the news that our little winery in the Northern reaches of the Barossa has taken out the Best Shiraz/Syrah of show is incredibly humbling,” said Gibson. He adds: “South Australia, and particularly the Barossa, is home to some of the world’s most renowned Shiraz expressions, so there is an immediate sense of fulfillment when judged as a standout from within our own viticultural neighborhood. Add to that the international benchmarking that comes from competition with global wine region representation, and it’s even sweeter.” Gibson believes that the London Wine Competition is unique among global wine events in that it judges not just the quality of the wine, but also its value for money, packaging, and quality, making it an even more impressive accolade. “The combined criteria of quality, value and packaging criteria that the London Wine Competition employs to determine award winners really do frame the assessment of wines through a real-life consumer perspective. That’s a really interesting way to approach wine assessment.” London Competitions 🤝 Gibson Wines 🍷 #winebusiness #wines #barossavalley #successstory #wineindustry #gibson Gibson Wines | Chad Elson | Carol Moore | Mat Lewis | adam Fiegert | Kate Wilsdon | adam fiegert | Deb Hartigan | London Drinks Guide

New article on the hybrid wines of Canada! Link in bio

The worldwide journey of American wines started in those Revolutionary May in 1976. This Paris tasting will forever be remembered as the day that transformed the wine industry. To everyone's surprise, the two wines (unknown before) came out in the blind testing on top, both were from Napa Valley: Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignion (vintage 1973). It was an awesome start not only for well known and highly respected until now California Chardonnays and the Cabernet blends, but also for whole range of New World wines (from Chili, Argentina, New Zealand etc). But when it is coming to red wines … For many years Napa valley has been a pioneer with its vineyards and renowned vintages. But seems, Oregon became a new star wine region worth exploring and the adobe of New World of Pinot Noirs. Oregon-grown Pinot Noir is truly one of the outstanding New World Pinot. After the New Zealand ones, of course. Nothing compares to these two, like they can not be compared to each other.

Understanding German wines is NOT easy. When I moved back to Germany from New Zealand to study oenology, it confused even me as a native German speaker. We even had to take a whole semester of wine law, because it is so complex. Probably the dryest class during my entire oenology studies... I will start small here and show you the latest version of a quality pyramid that many wineries use to structure their portfolio these days. At the base of the pyramid are the Gutswein (Estate Wines) followed by Ortswein (Village Wine) and the 🍒 "grapes" at the top are the single vineyard wines, Lagenweine. The classic Prädikatsystem (predicate system) is still in place but it is up to the winery whether they want to use it or not. If they choose to use it, the wines have to be submitted and are judged blind to see if their wine fits into the system. You probably have heard of Kabinett! More and more wineries are choosing to make "Landwein", which is technically a table wine and they refuse to follow any of the quality guidelines. They make wines free of rules to show the purest expression of their vineyards, vines, microclimate and cellar. Curious or do you have comments, let me know! #tupetzwine #winesofgermany #winelaw #predicatewine #drinklikeagerman #learningbydrinking

Big wineries or small wineries: which produce better wines? The quality of wine isn't determined by the size of the winery but rather by factors like the winemaker's skill, philosophy of the winemaker, the quality of the grapes, and winemaking practices. Larger wineries may have more resources for consistent quality control, while smaller wineries can offer unique, artisanal products. Ultimately, both big and small wineries can produce excellent wines, depending on these factors.

The Endless Pursuit of Perfection in Winemaking   For every idyllic moment you see of Team Di Costanzo amongst the vines or working in the winery, there are countless others filled with uncertainty and the nagging feeling we could have done better with a particular wine.   ❓But do you want to know the frustrating, shake-your-head-and-quietly-laugh-to-yourself thing about that?   ☑️ It means we're doing it right.   The best winemakers we know, the women and men whose work we admire so much, are all the same. We are never satisfied with our work.   There's never a sense of being done, or having nailed a vintage or even one particular wine. Even many years after those grapes were picked and crushed into wine, often we still question what we might have done to make that wine better.   It's downright torture! A relentless journey without a final destination. 🤪   While we don't revel in this torment, understand that when you buy from an independent, winemaker-owned winery like ours, you're tasting the fruits of our unwavering determination to improve constantly. It's a lifelong pursuit of perfection in every bottle.

Such a beautiful vineyard. Some of the most desirable wines in the world will come from these vines. A true story - I recently met the winery team at this vineyard and they viewed the vines quite differently than I did, at least initially. What I saw was a beautiful vineyard and the vision of wine tasting at the end of the tour. The winery team viewed the vineyard differently. They treated each vine as a product of their year-long blood, sweat and tears, to assure that the grapes maintained healthy and quality growth, and would be perfectly ripe for the harvest and eventual wine. They explained in detail that process. We all know that the harvest takes place at the exact moment when the grapes are perfect for picking. It takes constant monitoring and maintenance to get to that point. Many speed bumps and even predators along the way that must be kept out. What I learned on that visit was the significant physical effort and work ethic that was required to create each bottle of wine. Without the focus and hands-on approach by the winery team, there would be no harvest and no wine. Another true story – the top producers I have known and worked with over my career have the exact same focus, work ethic, and hands-on approach with their clients and prospects as discussed above. The obvious observation, and one that you have probably heard before in some fashion, is that no matter which profession you are in, it takes hard work and a hands-on approach to create strong roots for your harvest to bear quality fruit. Just hoping for a good harvest – or for the phone to ring, doesn’t make it happen. YOU make it happen. Curious if anyone recognizes this vineyard and grape variety. Probably an impossible question unless you happen to be an industry expert who has visited this particular vineyard. All the best! afriedman@iservelending.com