Thank you for the article. Now I want to taste her wines.

Argh! I'm leaving it open until I have time to read it properly. an awful lot I've read about viticulture sounds more like superstition than fact, so I think it was ripe for a disrupter. Thank-you for sharing your fascinating reads, again.

plllog, It's very interesting and not about superstition at all. She just has a different way of making grapes into wine.

Kate, I didn't mean that. I've heard too many wine guys talking about their versions of washing their faces in moonlight to ensure a good crop.

Too much about wine is just pretentious and it panders to those who have more money than sense. So many who pay these extortionate prices for wine don't have the palate to taste the nuances. I'm sure it's delicious but it would be wasted on me LOL. Give me a lovely, chilled Cinseau Grenache rosé any day!

OTT, how come sparkling wine made in the US can be called Champagne? It's a protected name and place.

The US has different appellation laws, and some wines (hams, cheeses, etc.) which have been made since before the regulations are ”grandfathered” (as are many things here) to continue as before the regulations started. “Imported wine labeled with a foreign appellation of origin must conform to the requirements of the foreign laws and regulations governing the composition, method of production, and designation of wines available for consumption within the country of origin.“ https://www.ttb.gov/labeling-wine/wine-labeling-appellation-of-origin So you can be sure that the French champagne legally sold here is the real thing. The link is a page from the federal agency involved and explains how American place names are used in wine, As I understand it, there are a few specific, protected appellations, but that general place names, like Sonoma or California just means where a designated percentage of the grapes were grown, and are more about consumer transparency than protectionism.

Here is a whole history of the issue (it shows the weeniedom of various American functionaries): https://vinepair.com/wine-blog/loophole-california-champagne-legal/#:~:text=The%20100%2DYear%2DOld%20Loophole%20That%20Makes%20California%20Champagne%20Legal,-words%3A%20Joshua%20Malin&text=For%20a%20bottle%20of%20sparkling,must%20carry%20a%20different%20name.

It's understandable why the French are perturbed. OTOH, decent California ”champagnes”, like most other wines, are a lot better than bad French (imported) ones. I base my druthers on what I taste, not on fancy prices, and, generally, good table wines in the $10-25 range (California prices which because of taxes, transport, and economies are orders of magnitude less than the same bottle in sone other states) are fine for me, no matter their origin. What I consider a ”good” (by my tastes) champagne is French and costs at least $50 per bottle here unless it's a holiday time loss leader (sold below the profit point to entice shoppers to spend more on other things in the store). At least one can imagine that it was handled correctly getting here at that price. I've only had one that had suffered in transport, and did get a refund. The best California champaignes are okay to drink, but not delicious like the real good stuff. Personally, I don't care about names. The horror of ”real French (cheap and bad) champagne” served at weddings and other banquets has convinced a lot of Americans that champagne is disgusting. I will toast with water—not being superstitious about alcohol—before I'll drink that stuff.

This was fun to read. One of my good friends was involved in the food and wine scene in Santa Barbara many years ago and I remember her talking about this woman and then her move to OR. I think she stopped and visited her on a trip up to WA to see me one time. I wish I could remember if she brought me some wine! She's brought me some extraordinary bottles over the years. I'm going to write to her now and see if she remembers. My friend is now living back in WA, and probably could arrange a visit to the winery - I'll have to ask.

Thanks Plllog. I agree with you about bad champagne. There's a lot about. I prefer a Crément d'Alsace or a good Vouvray. England makes some fantastic still and sparlkling wines now. Very expensive but good. I remember drinking some lovely wine while we were in the US.

I finally had a chance to be still and read the article attentively. The profile was very interesting, and the writing, itself, was a deep pleasure. So good! And the idea that she's making wine as art is so spot-on for what had the writer so bemused. In making real art, it's not about what you can churn out. It's about doing the hard stuff, because that's where the real art is. It's about bringing a vision to life no matter what you have to do (legally and morally) to make it happen. Being me, I don't get what's up with the traditionalists. If you're selling fab cupcakes in chocolate, vanilla, lemon, etc., and a new neighbor is baking ”cupcakes” like muffin tops with bumps sticking out, in flavors like burnt brandy & citron, goat cheese & hemp seed ball, and arugula & kumquat, and people love 'em, does that diminish your chocolate cupcakes? Really? They're not even from the same planet. And the proof of value is that people love the new ones as well as the traditional ones.

We're all looking for new sensation - there's nothing wrong with that. There's just something about the wine industry..... smacks of the Emperor's new clothes too much.