Remember the crush of 2012? If you’re young enough you’ll be hearing these words repeated every autumn for a long time to come. This was indeed a memorable year. After two rather meager years when every one was scrambling for enough grapes, this year they were scrambling for barrels to put the wine in.

Because the grapes seemed to ripen unevenly and late this year The Guerrilla and I have been strolling the aisles of vineyards since mid-September trying to determine when to pick. It was obvious early on that this was not your usual year. The plants seemed lusher, the grapes were larger, the clusters were bulging, even the leaves seemed to be reaching their fingers out to resemble bear claws.

It was all pretty exciting until the end. Then it turned into chaos. The phone was never idle. When are we picking? Are you sure they’re ready? Where are we taking them? Can they crush ours that day? Do they have enough barrels? Do they have tanks available until we can find more barrels? And then, back and forth, one call after another….do you have any barrels for sale? Do you know who might? How about racks, we also need racks. Can you pick on Saturday? No? When are you free to pick?

I have to say I was impressed with the extra effort across the board.  And the cooperation and help everyone seemed more than willing to give. The vineyard managers and their wonderful crews of field hands worked overtime, picking at night and at dawn. I hope they are all laid out in hot baths with a glass of wine beside them because they’ve sure earned it.

So thank you Andrew, Judy & Ron, Joe and Zuriel. What a great job you did!!

Over the weekend I had the privilege to get a taste (pun intended) of what it would be like to do exactly what I’ve always wanted to do for a living: attend food and wine tasting festivals as a member of the press–and luckily for me, there would be no better place for me to

Continue reading A review from the Zinfandel Festival:

The come-hither labels of Wine Guerrilla caught my attention, to be sure. Featuring a cadre of Matisse-like nymphs, sans fatigues, they bring to mind the “snakebite!” scene from Woody Allen’s 1971 movie Bananas. Fun stuff, but this is no campy “shiner” schtick; it’s a line of unique, single-vineyard Sonoma County Zinfandels. Curiosity piqued, I went

Continue reading North Bay Bohemian – Swirl – Bruce Patch of Wine Guerrilla