http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34 Blog 10 <p>Is it really June already?&nbsp; How did that happen?&nbsp; We have wrapped up bottling all of the white wines; 2008 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc (it’s already making its way into the market…check it out!), 2008 Rutherford Sauvignon Blanc and the 2008 Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc.&nbsp; The cellar crew is now patiently waiting for me (Brett just has to set up countless trials for tasting so the blend will be just right), to put the final touches on the 2007 Napa Valley Cabernet blend.&nbsp; We will...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/162"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/162 This past weekend we participated in the 2009 Spring Rutherford Passport Weekend. For those of you who are not familiar with Rutherford Passport, it is a bi-annual event celebrating the wineries of Rutherford, put on by a group called the Rutherford Appellation Wineries <a href="http://www.rutherford-appellation-wineries.com">www.rutherford-appellation-wineries.com</a>. The purpose of this group, the consumer arm of the Rutherford Dust Society, is&nbsp;to educate consumers on this historic appellation...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/161"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/161 <p>Last week I decided to make a distributor change in New York.&nbsp; We had been with our previous company for many years, but they were purchased by a much larger company and Honig was no longer a good fit.&nbsp; As I sat on the phone, making&nbsp; hundreds of repetitive introduction calls, I started thinking about how sometimes people view the wine industry as a glamorous business. &nbsp;I have never understood why farmers that make wine are viewed any differently than someone in another profession.&nbsp;...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/160"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/160 Spring! Oh, what a beautiful time of year,<br>For all your good time cheers!<br>Let's forget about our sorrow,<br>And drink wine for tomorrow!<br>The days are longer,<br>The economy will come back stronger!<br>Life is first rate,<br>So come everyone let's just celebrate! http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/159 <p>Growing up I ate potatoes for breakfast, lunch and dinner (just about every day), listened to “Oh Danny Boy” at nearly every family event, and always laughed at every one of my grandfather’s jokes. With his thick accent we would always get the “What is the largest city in the world?” And how could the answer be anything but “Dublin, because it’s Dub-lin everyday!” (it still makes me giggle).&nbsp; It would be a fair assessment to assume I came from very proud Irish roots. </p> <p align=center><img...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/157"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/157 My name is Steven Honig and I wanted to put down some of my memories of Rutherford as a young child.&nbsp; As I am now 44, we are talking about more than thirty-five years ago.&nbsp; I recall Rutherford as being a very bright and dusty place.&nbsp; If anyone has seen the movie Traffic, there were many scenes shot in Mexico which were filmed through a “yellow-tinted” lens –that’s how I viewed this place.&nbsp; There wasn’t much noise at that time – I call it a “tumbleweed silence”-&nbsp; The crackling...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/156"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/156 I was recently talking to some guests about wine (hard to believe, right?), when two women from other wineries popped in to the tasting room to say hi.&nbsp; They had just finished taking their Certified Wine Educator exam and were out celebrating.&nbsp; This, seemingly insignificant event intrigued my guests and led to a discussion about <span style="COLOR: black">how/why wineries cooperate with each other</span>.&nbsp; What makes a winery comfortable sending a customer to visit another winery (i.e....<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/155"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/155 Valentine's Day is just around the corner and it got me thinking about the part wine plays in romance. Not just as a gift, or part of a romantic dinner, but the art of wine, the way it makes you feel, and the beautiful areas of the world where wine is made. At Honig, we have had our share of romantic encounters happen right here at the winery. There have been guests who have "popped the question" on our patio, couples who met at Honig events, and many, many anniversaries spent in our tasting room....<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/154"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/154 <p align=center><img alt="" src="/client_files/harvest2008.jpg"></p> <p align=left>Happy New Year Everyone!&nbsp; Harvest seems but a distant memory as we are preparing the delicious 2008 Sauvignon blanc for bottling.&nbsp; What a roller coaster of a year it was.&nbsp; The growing season seemed to have a record of about everything, except for maybe rain.&nbsp; Wind, spring heat, spring cold, dry, lightning, fall heat, fall cold…you name it.&nbsp; Grape vines are amazingly resilient and while the...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/153"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/153 The blog (or web log) has evolved into one of the hottest new tools in the winery marketing arsenal. With that said, there are (in my opinion) way too many blogs out there. And some of them, I have to say, are more like a blahg - the same old information, rehashed over and over again, by lots of different people on lots of different websites. <p>But, even oldies like me realize that the younger generation of wine buyers is looking for the information they want and need online. They are no longer...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/152"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/152 <p>Thank you for visiting the Honig blog in 2008. The web has extended the world we live in beyond imagination.&nbsp; It has changed many of the ways we interact with others, broadened our networks and given us a new way to share and find information.&nbsp; We started our blog in the fall of 2007, and created a Facebook group for our fans in 2008.&nbsp;&nbsp; This is just the beginning and I can hardly wait to see what this next year will bring.&nbsp; <div id="toggler" class="toggler" onclick="$('#panel-566dcc8a-5255-4fef-bd3f-aad95a52d403').slideToggle();">View...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/151"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/151 <p>With the end of year upon us, I decided to celebrate the vine by addressing what it does all year long.&nbsp; Harvest occurs once a year, but we work with the vine all year round as it prepares to provide us with its delicious fruit that will become wine.<div id="toggler" class="toggler" onclick="$('#panel-1ddd92fa-eb91-4ae0-bd59-f04021ce5c37').slideToggle();">View More</div><div id="panel-1ddd92fa-eb91-4ae0-bd59-f04021ce5c37" style="display: none;"></p> <p><u>Pruning</u><b><u> </u><br></b>The...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/150"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/150 <p>On December 5^th, 1985, a record was broken at the Christie’s auction house in London.&nbsp; A dark green, hand blown bottle, hand etched bottle etched with the year 1787 and with the word “Lafitte” and the letters “TH.J.” was sold for $157,000.&nbsp; <div id="toggler" class="toggler" onclick="$('#panel-39cb8859-fc9c-41f5-8a9e-99376ddc6f9c').slideToggle();">View More</div><div id="panel-39cb8859-fc9c-41f5-8a9e-99376ddc6f9c" style="display: none;"><br><br>The buyer was Christopher Forbes,...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/149"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/149 Although we know that Christmas is on December 25^th every year, we always wait until the very last minute to buy gifts.&nbsp; Is the stress of shopping part of the Christmas thrill?&nbsp; <div id="toggler" class="toggler" onclick="$('#panel-5fc65bcd-a581-40d3-a570-eadf8fe4e77f').slideToggle();">View More</div><div id="panel-5fc65bcd-a581-40d3-a570-eadf8fe4e77f" style="display: none;"> <p>Since gifting is on everyone’s mind these days, I thought I would share more about what wine clubs...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/148"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/148 <p>Everybody is talking about what to do for Thanksgiving, but I think that is pretty settled and we all have our own traditions (more or less). I don’t believe there are ideal wine and food pairings in any situation, but especially for Thanksgiving.&nbsp; The most ideal pairing occurs when people drink what they like (of course, there are some basic paring rules of thumb but those don’t apply for this holiday, see my food and wine pairing blog post).<div id="toggler" class="toggler" onclick="$('#panel-d93e9124-cc60-4199-8a8b-86d583fe82af').slideToggle();">View...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/147"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/147 <span class=tx1><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: normal; FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial">Beer started my career. Somehow, at about age one, so my mother tells me, unbeknownst to her, I put a full, unopened beer can in the oven. She innocently placed a mystery casserole in the oven to heat (or possibly reheat) for dinner, the beer, heating to critical temperature, exploded, dousing said casserole, and more than likely improved the flavors. I still enjoy IPA’s to this day.</span> <div id="toggler" class="toggler"...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/146"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/146 Prior to joining Honig Winery, I started my own wine project which&nbsp;was importing a wine from Argentina.&nbsp;&nbsp;I recently received two lovely write ups, one from Fred Tasker at The Miami Herald and the second from Julie Brosterman from Women &amp; Wine.com.&nbsp; Please click on the links below to view these stories.&nbsp; It can be done, take my word for it. <br><br><a href="http://www.miamiherald.com/living/story/757090.html">http://www.miamiherald.com/living/story/757090.html</a><br><br><a...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/145"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/145 Kristin Belair, Winemaker at Honig, just ended her 28^th harvest. With all its twists and turns, she feels the best way to describe the 2008 harvest is that it was “random”.&nbsp; When asked for her take on the 2008 harvest for the Napa Vintners Association, Kristin replied “Weather patterns have been random, crop levels have been random, order of when vineyards are picked has been random, and work load has been random.&nbsp; What a roller coaster ride”.&nbsp; <div id="toggler" class="toggler"...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/144"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/144 Prices of many wines, both domestic and imported, have gone up this year.&nbsp; I’ve seen some European wines increase up to 40% in 2008.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; These increases can be partially attributed to the weak dollar and to the high cost of fuel used in transportation.&nbsp; However, recent events make me wonder if this will continue to be the trend.&nbsp;<br>&nbsp;<div id="toggler" class="toggler" onclick="$('#panel-f832d20a-a2cc-4985-9169-d4b148cc54ea').slideToggle();">View More</div><div id="panel-f832d20a-a2cc-4985-9169-d4b148cc54ea"...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/143"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/143 <p>If you are looking for an excuse to taste lots of outstanding wines, network at a venue in the wine world, or just visit New York, here is your opportunity! <div id="toggler" class="toggler" onclick="$('#panel-1ef40b2e-8933-4de0-bb80-ed5e837e0d76').slideToggle();">View More</div><div id="panel-1ef40b2e-8933-4de0-bb80-ed5e837e0d76" style="display: none;"></p> <p>The Wine Spectator Magazine holds their annual “Wine Experience” in a different location every year, inviting a select group of 200 wineries...<br /><a href="http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/142"><strong>Read Full Article...</strong></a> http://www.honigwine.com/blog/34/142