Jeff Jenssen

4 days ago | robbreport.com | Mike DeSimone |Jeff Jenssen

History of Wine in Sicily While it is thought that wild grapes grew on the island prior to the first Phoenician settlements around 800 BCE, that merchant and sailing civilization cultivated the first vines here and sold wine from Sicily throughout the Mediterranean during its reign.

5 days ago | robbreport.com | Mike DeSimone |Jeff Jenssen

This story is from an installment of The Oeno Files, our weekly insider newsletter to the world of fine wine. Sign up here. James Hall didn’t intend to buy back Patz & Hall, the Sonoma winery he cofounded in 1988, any more than he meant to sell it in the first place. When Patz & Hall was sold to Washington State’s Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in 2015, Hall stayed on as director of winemaking while his former business partner went on to establish Maritana Vineyards in Sonoma.

1 week ago | robbreport.com | Mike DeSimone |Jeff Jenssen

Pinot Noir was first planted in various parts of California during the 1849 Gold Rush, finally made it north to Oregon 1965, and yet it didn’t become popular until Domain Drouhin started cultivating it in 1987. Today Drouhin has a stunning 235-acre estate in the Dundee Hills AVA of the Willamette Valley and the domain was the impetus for many other French families and investors to move to the area. Other current French-founded wineries include Nicolas-Jay, Lingua Franca, Chapter 24, and Résonance.

1 week ago | robbreport.com | Mike DeSimone |Jeff Jenssen

Speaking with a winemaker recently and asking about indigenous yeast, she cut us off and asked why she would leave a major decision about her winemaking—fermentation—up to chance. When we delve into what goes into making a particular wine, enologists often talk about their yeast program, including the decision to use native yeast that is living on the skins of their grapes or chose a different strain of yeast to achieve a specific fermentation target.

1 week ago | buff.ly | Mike DeSimone |Jeff Jenssen

Speaking with a winemaker recently and asking about indigenous yeast, she cut us off and asked why she would leave a major decision about her winemaking—fermentation—up to chance. When we delve into what goes into making a particular wine, enologists often talk about their yeast program, including the decision to use native yeast that is living on the skins of their grapes or chose a different strain of yeast to achieve a specific fermentation target.