Author Archive: Catherine Fallis
It's all about wine at planet grape®, your go-to source of wine news, wine knowledge, wine reviews and recommendations. The online home of one of the world's top wine experts. The creation of Master Sommelier Catherine Fallis, aka grape goddess®. Extraordinary wine aficionado, amazingly informative and plenty of fun. Wine scholar, expert judge, consultant, and writer. A remarkable woman who has well deserved the highest accolades, and the most coveted award in the wine industry. Master Sommelier! Available for keynote speaking engagements, wine tastings, weddings, parties, all sorts of events. All about, or enhanced by, the joy of wine.
KEVIN ZRALY SAYS HE HAS TO “LET GO” OF WINDOWS
by Dorothy Gaiter, Grape Collective Photo collage by Piers Parlett “First,” Kevin Zraly explained in that calm way of his, “I’m not retiring.” Forget the headline, “A Heralded Wine Instructor’s Last Class Before Retiring. “Let me tell you what’s going on,” he offered, and so I stopped hyperventilating. Thank goodness! The world’s most famous […]
AWARD WINNING CHEESE EXPERT LAURA WERLIN HOSTS SEMINAR AT DUTTON-GOLDFIELD WINERY
Press Release Sebastopol, California, October 18, 2016 – Dutton-Goldfield Winery is pleased to announce their upcoming wine and cheese pairing class with award winning cheese expert Laura Werlin on Saturday November 12 at 3pm. In this rare opportunity, guests will taste limited production, single vineyard Dutton-Goldfield wines alongside some of America’s greatest cheeses in a sit-down […]
ITALIAN WINE SCHOLAR PROGRAM RECEIVES ENDORSEMENT FROM THE ITALIAN TRADE COMMISSION
Press Release The Wine Scholar Guild’s Italian Wine Scholar Program received official endorsement from the Italian Trade Commission (ITA). The Italian Trade Commission is a governmental body whose role is to promote the internationalization of Italian companies in line with the strategies of the Italian Ministry for Economic Development. It identifies and connects Italian and […]
MOVE OVER BACCHUS, AND MAKE ROOM FOR THE GRAPE GODDESS
Hotelie Magazine, Fall 2016 By Sherry Negrea Read this interview with Planet Grape’s trailblazing Master Sommelier Catherine Fallis here: http://pubs.sha.cornell.edu/i/738678-hotelie-fall-2016
YACHT CRUISE CELEBRATING FERRARI-CARANO’S 35TH ANNIVERSARY
Last Thursday a small group of wine merchants, wine writers and wine bloggers was invited aboard the Eldorado, a luxury yacht belonging to the Ferrari-Carano winery in Sonoma, to celebrate the winery’s 35th anniversary. We set sail for a two-hour tour from Schoonmaker Marina in Sausalito, and made our way into the San Francisco Bay under […]
BONNY DOON VINEYARD PRESENTS ‘GRAPETIONARY A-Z’
Press Release Charles Communications Associates San Francisco Wednesday October 5, 2016 Taste 26 wines representing each letter of the alphabet from A-Z at Bonny Doon’s Popelouchum Estate Vineyard in San Juan Bautista Saturday, October 29, 2016 WHAT Swirl, Sniff, Savor. Repeat x 26. Bonny Doon proprietor Randall Grahm invites you to stroll […]
BAROSSA GI ZONE AND OLD VINE CHARTER
San Francisco, September 2016 At a tasting recently organized by the Barossa Grape & Wine Association we had the opportunity to learn more about this high-powered Australia appellation and it’s wines, especially those savory signature Shiraz reds. According to the group: “Geographical Indication (GI) is an official description of an Australian wine zone, region or sub-region. The […]
LABOR OF LOVE – Wine Family Women of Piemonte
BOOK REVIEW BY CATHERINE FALLIS MASTER SOMMELIER Suzanne Hoffman first visited the northern Italian region of Piemonte with her second-generation Sicilian mother, Frances Castrogiovanni Manale, in 1999 while her husband was away in China. Upon arrival, they found it cold, wet, foggy and not very inviting. At table, however, the real pleasures of this region […]
ORGANIC OLD VINE GRENACHE PLAYS A STARRING ROLE AT CHATEAU LA NERTHE
Kick starting the week was a delicious and informative tasting with Chateau la Nerthe Export Manager Christophe Bristiel and Pasternak Wine Imports West Division Manager Ben Cuaresma at the San Francisco home of Planet Grape Wine Review co-panelist Deborah Parker Wong. Christophe explained that Chateau la Nerthe owns Prieure de Montezargues and Domaine de la […]
MARLBOROUGH MOVES BEYOND SAUVIGNON BLANC
By Master Sommelier Catherine Fallis Last week the Planet Grape Wine Review team attended a tasting of New Zealand wines at 1760 in San Francisco hosted by Chuck Hayward with Marcel Giesen and Giesen’s Chief Winemaker Nikolai St. George. The title was “Searching for the Crus of Marlborough” and through four flights of wines it was clear that […]
CARACCIOLI CELLARS A Rising Star from California’s Central Coast
November/December 2015 Glass of Bubbly Read the latest column by Catherine Fallis Master Sommelier Recently I stumbled upon a very fine, elegant and dry sparkling wine from a winery I hadn’t heard of before, Caraccioli Cellars in the Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey, California. I had been hired to saber a magnum of Champagne […]
WANNA GET RICH? MEET OUR PANELIST MASTER CICERONE RICH HIGGINS
Meet Planet Grape Guest Panelist/Contributor Rich Higgins, Master Cicerone and Brewmaster. Rich was the third person in the world to earn the Master Cicerone distinction, the highest of four levels of certification. He is also a Certified Sommelier with the Court of Master Sommeliers. His consulting practice includes Restaurant Beer Program Implementation, Beer Dinners […]
ZINFANDEL FANS ENJOY WINE AND MUSIC AT ZAP CELEBRATION IN SONOMA COUNTY
By Liz Thach, MW, Planet Grape An energized group of Zinfandel fans gathered at Trentadue Winery in Sonoma County this past Sunday for ZAP’s Simply Summer Celebration. ZAP, which stands for “Zinfandel Advocates & Producers” is one of the most active grape varietal organizations in the US, hosting many exciting events for members and guests […]
BEACH WINES AND EXOTIC BURGERS
Please indulge me and let me start out with a little story from my days as Wine Director/Sommelier at a famous Bay area restaurant. One day a new owner appeared, a French Chef who had his own Somm coming in a few months. I felt obligated to stay on, though it became more challenging by the […]
MONTEPULCIANO THE GRAPE VS MONTEPULCIANO THE REGION
By Master Sommelier Catherine Fallis With so many clonal names like Brunello, Sangioveto and Prugnolo Gentile, in Italy, and around the world, Sangiovese is still Sangiovese. The grape is the grape. So wouldn’t it make sense that across to the Adriatic coast in Abruzzo, Montepulciano the grape would be the grape in Vino Nobile di Montepulciano back […]
CELEBRATE SUMMER WITH MADAME LILY BOLLINGER
Rose is chic and easy when it comes to sunny summer entertaining, but to take it up a notch, add Champagne. After all, the ultra chic Madame Lily Bollinger famously said, “I drink it when I’m happy and when I’m sad. Sometimes I drink it when I’m alone. When I have company I consider it obligatory. I trifle with […]
ROCK THE BOX
Summertime, and the living is easy. What better time than now to try a few wines in that portable package, the box? Today’s box wine is everything from organic French Chardonnay to premium Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. Pick up a few different boxes just for fun. Write down the name of the wine and price, […]
24 0F 72 PASS ADVANCED SOMMELIER EXAM IN PHOENIX
After a grueling three days of exams, including a timed blind tasting of six wines, a practical tableside service exam with multiple tables to attend to, a Business of the Sommelier written exam and spirits tasting and finally a theory exam, 24 of 72 candidates made it through to become Advanced Sommeliers last night at […]
THE MONTEFALCO CONSORTIUM ANNOUNCES IMPORTANT CHANGES IN WINEMAKING REGULATIONS
July 2016, Italian Ministry of Agriculture The 2016 harvest will bring with it new bottling and blending opportunities, as well as a wine with a brand new name Authenticity and territorial recognition have always been the key elements for the promotion of the distinct and unmistakable wines from Montefalco. An important turning point in the […]
MELVILLE – ALL NATURAL BEAUTIES IN SANTA BARBARA
by Fred Swan Kurt Amman, GM of Melville winery in the Sta. Rita Hills AVA, leans down to show me their new under-vine weeder. Not every winery tour begins this way. But Melville is serious about organic growing and, especially, about avoiding stuff like Round-Up. Cover crop is necessary to do organic right in this […]
THE FATHER OF PROSECCO
Glass of Bubbly Issue 12 May June 2016 by Catherine Fallis Antonio Carpenè is often referred to as the father of Prosecco, founding Carpenè Malvolti, the first modern winery in the Veneto and the winery that created the style and character that is Prosecco today. He also founded the Istituto Conegliano, now the largest […]
MALBEC – MAKE MINE FRENCH
Cahors has a soft, supple style all its own. Planet Grape The SOMM Journal April/May 2016 Malbec is a rock star in our industry. That is if it is from Argentina. There, the transformation from shy, sensitive, earthy and awkward to rich, ripe, super clean and beautifully balanced was so spectacular the wine drinking world took […]
FROM TUSCANY TO SONOMA – MARTINELLI WINERY & VINEYARDS
The Martinelli family has been growing grapes in the Russian River Valley since the 1800’s, when Giuseppe Martinelli and Luisa Vellutini eloped and moved from Tuscany to Sonoma County. In the 1970s third-generation vintners Lee Martinelli Sr. and Carolyn Martinelli assumed leadership and began developing vineyards on family properties throughout Sonoma County. In 1992 they brought on […]
WRATH – A DAILY WALL OF FOG & WIND ROARS INTO SALINAS VALLEY
By Fred Swan Wrath’s San Saba estate vineyard is not in the Santa Lucia Highlands. It’s darned close though. The vineyard is located at the junction of Foothill Road and River Road, but on the wrong side of Foothill to be within the AVA. The boundary isn’t arbitrary in this case. There is a difference […]
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