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Excerpt from The Weekly CalistoganBy: Christina JulianI remain forever flummoxed about how to drink fine wine.Whether I’m throwing open my kitchen cabinet or trolling the aisles of Target looking for the perfect wine glass to receive my grape-filled treasure, I’m transported out of bliss and into confusion over which glass I should use and what brand I should buy.I’ve become so desperate I’ve vowed to never drink wine out of a glass again and to merely pop the cork and drink it straight out of the bottle as the wine gods likely intended.But my rational side steps in. Will a cheap glass make a great wine bad or can a fabulous goblet make a hack wine worthy?Wine expert Robert Parker has said, “The finest glasses for both technical and hedonistic purposes are those made by Riedel. The effect of these glasses on fine wine is profound. I cannot emphasize enough what a difference they make.”This is a lovely sentiment, but this man drinks only the best wines from all over the world, for free. As a laywoman, I have a hard time fully trusting his opinion. He steers us to the right wines to drink, but do we really need to rely on him and his type when it comes to our crystal decisions as well?Perhaps it makes sense to consider the glass holder. Are they a delicate and graceful sort, or a clunky and clumsy someone? If the latter, stemless might be the obvious choice, but if you fall nowhere in between, then what? Click here to continue reading
The Last Licks of Summer
Excerpt from the Weekly Calistogan
By: Christina JulianWhen I moved to the Upper Valley a couple of years ago, I expected to see people bopping to Sinatra while squishing grapes in large vats and folks dancing to midnight serenades in the vineyards. I would’ve gladly settled for strumming sounds as a sidekick to an al fresco meal. But outdoor entertainment wasn’t as easy to come by as I’d hoped, until I moved to Calistoga. As a former New Yorker, I live for outdoor entertainment come summertime. The fact that dandy weather is as abundant as grapes in these parts doesn’t deter my mission. School is back in session, days are growing short, and time is most definitely running out with only two summer concerts at Pioneer Park remaining. It’s time to get out there and enjoy the last licks of summer. Click here to continue reading.
At 11:30 am September 11, 2011, there will be a commemorative ceremony to honor the 10-year anniversary of the September 11th attacks. The ceremony will include a dedication at the future site of the Napa 9/11 Memorial Garden (click here for location). Read on to learn more about the project. Excerpt from the BohemianBeams Of Honor
Scheduled for completion next year, Napa's 9-11 memorial is already causing a countywide buzzBy: Christina JulianPhotos:Michael AmslerThe star-spangled group gathers, somewhat out of place given that it's a week before Memorial Day. Some push ahead with restless anticipation to get a closer look, others hang back. The uniformed stand at attention, and even the mayor is here, decked out in stars and stripes. Someone shouts, "Can I touch it?"On a flatbed truck, giant steel beams are packed tight, each revealing a clear notation, scrawled in chalk: "Napa." If it weren't for the charred, gnarly pieces that protrude at whim, one wouldn't think to look twice at them.But these are no ordinary beams. They're steel beams from the World Trade Center. Artist Gordon Huether walks through the crowd, and all eyes follow as he steps up to the truck. "It's been quite a ride," he says.Indeed it has. Nearly two years, 30 tons and 3,000 miles in the making, the steel will be put to use for a 9-11 memorial sculpture in downtown Napa, located just off Main Street near Napa Creek. A site dedication ceremony is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2011, with an estimated completion of the memorial set for spring of 2012. While some chide the effort and others champion it, the Napa 9/11 Memorial Garden sculpture stands to be one of the largest of its kind, stretching over 23 feet high and weighing over 60,000 pounds.
The project originated in October 2009, when Darren Drake, fire marshal and division chief of the Napa Fire Department, received a communication from the September 11th Families' Association, in concert with the New York and New Jersey Port Authority. The teaming offered local communities around the globe an opportunity to create regional 9-11 memorials utilizing actual steel from the World Trade Center. Drake responded with a formal application, a community coalition formed, and a year later, the group requested the six steel beams that will serve as the nucleus of the Napa 9/11 Memorial Garden. Local trucking company Biagi Brothers donated transport of the steel, which arrived in Napa from New York with a welcoming ceremony on May 21.Huether and landscape architect Gretchen Stranzl McCann each came into the project during its infancy and solidified their commitment by donating time and services pro bono. Huether went in person to New York Kennedy Airport's 80,000-square-foot Hanger 17, where the steel was housed and archived as crime scene evidence. Click here to continue reading
Article excerpt from NorthBay Biz magazine
By: Christina Julian
I may be one of the few meat-eating Americans yet to be seduced by pork’s rise beyond “other white meat” status. And now the “snout-to-tail,” whole animal utilization craze has made pork all the more popular. Who better to tackle the topic with an objective viewpoint than one not so easily swayed by the succulent scent of bacon? The 
preponderance of pork is hard to deny. It receives primo placement on restaurant menus and on the supper plate, and at wine-centric events like ZAP’s (Zinfandel Advocates & Producers) Good Eats tasting in San Francisco, where pork dishes threatened to outweigh Zinfandel pours. Pair that with national pig-out celebrations like Cochon—putting pork at the forefront in exciting and competitive ways. Pork has become a gourmet mainstay.
A name isn’t just a name
Heritage breed pigs are perched at the front of the snout-to-tail movement. These animals descend from bloodlines that date back centuries, to a time when livestock was raised on multiuse, open-pasture farms, and breeds yielded distinct characteristics—from signature marbling and fats to rich and hearty tastes.
Flash forward to the current day, and these same breeds are in danger of being lost forever, because they can’t compete with large-scale, commercial operations. “In the past 40 to 50 years, pigs have been bred to be leaner and leaner,” says Marie Nguyen, one of the owners of Suisun Valley Farm (just east of Napa) that specializes in Mangalitsa, heritage breed pigs.
Luckily, a movement is under foot…er, hoof…with organizations like Cochon 555, a series of annual events with a chief mission to heighten awareness of these breeds on a national level. The initiative started as a way to promote breed diversity among communities through a coast-to-coast competition that connects ranchers raising heritage breed pigs with top chefs known for whole animal utilization. The 555 moniker speaks to the structure of the event that features five chefs, five pigs and five winemakers, each fueled by the mantra: “Eating them to preserve them.” Founder and creator Brady Lowe, also principal and creative director of Taste Network, speaks to the evolution of the touring competition, now in its third year, “When the events started, there weren’t a lot of options in some cities when making chef selections [for the event]. Now everybody is using whole animals.”
Lowe hand selects five competing chefs in each city of the competition (10 total) with an eye on three key ingredients. “First we look for what people are doing in terms of whole animal utilization and if they’re naming farms and breeds on the menu,” he says. “Second, are they a ‘porky’ chef [menus showing dynamic approaches and whole animal utilization]? And third, how do they fit into the food scene? Are they a component of the good food movement, promoting local farms, putting on events and educating? Basically, are they a local ambassador?”
The events continue to escalate in popularity and reach and are receiving widespread, national notoriety while never straying from the initial purpose...Click here to continue reading
It’s true, in moving out of the concrete jungles of New York and 
Los Angeles I vowed to end my days of winding curves and working for my wine. Traffic is long and life is short. Part of the reason why I don’t often venture to tall places despite loving the fruits that those mountains bear is my lack of interest in driving anything but a bike. But adventure got the best of me when good weather busted through one day, calling me to make the small climb up Diamond Mountain to von Strasser winery. This was a hike worth taking, and truth be told it wasn’t much of a hike, a mere mile or two up the road. Regardless, I would climb to much higher altitudes to enjoy a sip amid the stars at this swell spot. Gone are the whizzing cars of the 29 and Silverado Trail, replaced with the buzz of the birds and bees and wind whipping up between the trees. Life is good here, and downright country. We are in the wine country after all despite the look of the valley these days. The woodsy setting of the winery is made all the more sweet with a swig of the wine. Many tasty delights from red to white and even some rosé. Despite being unable to correctly pronounce Grüner Veltliner, the wine captivated me anyway, it was so tasty I became quite content to shut up so I could savor this beaut in peace. A swoon-worthy concoction that is both tropically tart and heady with fruit flavors like rhubarb, an A+. Then there is the Sori Bricco Cab, sinful. I was tempted to slurp this down in one slurp, but the serene setting got the better of me, and instead I decided to relax into my day and swig into night. In a town full of perhaps one too many wineries, it’s great to get a side dish of country served with my wine. Von Strassesr - a climb worth making. Wacky WineSense rating: 4.5 Grapes
While lava can be a beaut to stare at, especially at Hawaii's Volcanoes national park, I typically like to keep my distance, though I found myself making an exception when it came to Brannan's chocolate lava torte. To say this dessert is a flavorful explosion just scratches the surface of this scribe's food wheel. There are a lot of similarities between the real stuff and this confectionary delight. For starters, they booth ooze, Brannan's with deep, dark chocolate, thankfully. Then there is the ducle de leche ice cream that sits on the sideline, begging to be scooped. I vacillate between the two in a chocolate-cream coma wondering why anybody would ever give up desserts. If you, like me, have decided that sugar is the new pork, sidle up to the bar at Brannan's and get yourself a slap of this stuff. You and your soon to be flabby abs will thank me all the way to the gym. Wacky WineSense rating: 4.9 grapes
Article excerpt from Northbay Biz magazineBy: Christina JulianOne fine day, John Kelly woke up with the realization that, despite an advanced degree in biochemistry from UC Davis, a career in academia wasn’t exactly how he wanted to spend his days after all. He contemplated his next move over a glass of wine…one sip led to the next. Wine Country boondoggles then led to helping a bio-chem buddy with some garage winemaking. Said friend, Bert Urch, then made the leap into commercial winemaking in 1984 with Westwood Winery. Kelly’s c
areer aspirations in biochemistry melted away, and his roots in the wine world were planted.
Some roots are hard to ignore
“Being able to think as a scientist has let me pursue winemaking in a very focused manner. It’s also let me interact with wine scientists from all over the world,” says Kelly. “I’ve had very fruitful, intellectual contacts with people at the AWRI [Australian Wine Research Institute] and a number of people in South Africa, Italy and France. I’ve been able to discuss wine production issues at a very high level.”
Kelly credits his scientific background for his formal entrée into the wine industry. “My experience in the academic field gave me direct access to jobs at Stags’ Leap and Sonoma-Cutrer,” he says. “They needed somebody who could do research.” Prior to those posts, Kelly managed a high-end wine shop in Davis. It was here he helped sell the first vintage of Westwood Wine, a 1984 Lake County Pinot Noir. click here for full article and scroll down to Westwood Winery
