Author Archive

Southern Wine & Spirits Seeking $2 Billion Loan to Endure Financial Crisis

 
Mark Aselstine
My Website · My Articles
Posted: May 10th, 2010
It was just a couple of days ago that reports leaked, explaining that America’s largest liquor distributor, Southern Wine and Spirits has asked for a $2 Billion Loan from Bank of America to get it through these tough economic times. Given that they represent approximately 20% of the wine distribution in the United States, this is clearly a huge story with a wide variety of implications for the wine industry itself…

Wine Tasting Rooms: What a difference a reservation makes!

 
Mark Aselstine
My Website · My Articles
Posted: April 9th, 2010
Last week I had the opportunity to take my wife to Napa and Sonoma for the first time since I started my new wine club business and aside from having an outstanding trip, I realized what a difference a reservation makes.
Our visits started by having an outstanding experience at Vineyard 29. We spent an hour with winemaker Keith Emerson tasting both the ultra exclusive Vineyard 29 wines as well as his own label, Emerson Brown, maybe the only way to find a $100+ Napa Cab being sold for about $50….

California’s Central Coast region, Los Olivos, Gets Its Day In the Sun

 
Mark Aselstine
My Website · My Articles
Posted: March 24th, 2010
During a recent trip to California’s Central Coast, I had the opportunity to taste with a few wineries in Los Olivos, a small town about 15 miles east of the ocean in the Santa Ynez Valley. What I found was some outstanding value, especially among Rhone varietals. It’s an especially nice place to taste because of the small town feel and 20+ tasting rooms situated within walking distance of each other. Here’s a quick run through of wineries that really make an impression.

Getting acquainted with the wines of Paso Robles

 
Mark Aselstine
My Website · My Articles
Posted: March 9th, 2010
I had the pleasure of spending a few days along California’s Central Coast last week, two of those days spent in one of the most talked about wine regions of the world of late, Paso Robles. I probably have a predisposition for Santa Barbara County wine. Not only do they suit my palate, but I also spent five years living in Santa Barbara. I left incredibly impressed!

Under-appreciated Sonoma Wineries

 
Mark Aselstine
My Website · My Articles
Posted: February 26th, 2010
Over the past few months I’ve had the pleasure to take a couple of trips into the wine country of Sonoma. These trips have helped me find a few, little known producers, crafting some truly world class wines, often without much fanfare or publicity.