I just returned from Colorado where I attended VinCO. The Colorado Association for Viticulture and Enology (CAVE), Colorado Wine Industry Development Board (CWIDB) and Western Colorado Horticulture Society (WCHS) put on this conference focusing on grape growing, winemaking, and issues pertinent to the business and marketing side of the fruit and wine industries. I came →

Hello Everyone and Happy Holidays! Today, I thought we would look back at the blog posts that generated the most discussion in 2011. I always post my blogs to a few wine groups in Linked In as well, so much of the action is often there. Read more comments there. #3 David and Goliath: The →

It’s the holiday season! Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Cyber Monday,and parties galore. Whether you celebrate Hannukah, Christmas or Kwanzaa…they are all coming up soon. That got me to wondering…do wineries and tasting rooms actually have an increase in traffic and direct sales between Thanksgiving and New Years Day? If your wine is not being distributed, do →

I hear this question from new winemakers and wineries of The Other 46: wine style What is the wine style for my region or AVA? That includes grapes, but also what kind of wine should they make. From a high level there are two primary styles of wine: Old World and New World. From here, →

In my previous blog, Accelerate the Style and Quality of Your Wine Exponentially , we talked about The Other 46 having relatively very few years to gather and review historical methods and processes to pass down through the generations, but that there was an alternative to making just one wine annually from each lot of grapes →

As a winery in The Other 46, how do you make the best quality wine consistently year after year?  By that I mean, let’s look at Bordeaux.  The wineries in the Bordeaux region know how to make Bordeaux wine because they have had hundreds of years to perfect the process.  The same goes for Mosel, →

After many books, articles, classes, and consultations about winery ownership and how to build your own winery, the one important topic I find missing, time and time again, is addressing the WHY.  By that I mean, WHY do you want to own a winery?  There are all sorts of businesses you could go into, so →

After a great career as a helicopter pilot in the Army, June Ritterbusch landed in Salado, Texas.  Upon evaluating the market and the busy tourist industry that Salado commands, she set her sight on becoming a winery owner in 2003.  She purchased land in 2004 and planted a vineyard in 2005. That same year, she →

Over the weekend I had a perfectly refreshing Vinho Verde. It was a perfect heat buster wine for a blistering August day in Texas. I got to thinking about this wine, where it comes from and how it came about in the first place. It is a unique style of wine originally created in the →

I am reposting a letter sent out by Bobby Cox, President-Elect, Texas Wine and Grape Growers Association regarding crop insurance, loss and filing your claims.  It’s been a hard year and many growers and farmers have had unprecedented losses.  Insurance can be a funny thing, so here’s a bit of information for you. Crop Insurance →