The Winemakers of A Long Pour {photo essay}

For a second year in a row, A Long Pour is a finalist for the Wine Blog Awards, this time for Best Graphics, Photography, and Presentation (you can vote here). A Long Pour is a lot of hard work and it is nice to get some recognition. But really, all of this made me think of the many great winemakers who have invited me into their wineries and homes, told me their stories, shared their wines, and in some cases let me take their picture.

This is to them…thank you. … Continue Reading

On My High Horse – Analysing the Conversations

I suppose that when I penned my somewhat tongue and cheek “An Open Letter to Those Who Write Open Letters to Millennials,” I wrote out of some frustration. Increasingly, it seems we are called upon to choose a side and then defend it. There are the obvious topics like politics, but the trivial ones too: Mac vs. PC, Cannon vs. Nikon, Country Music vs. Real Taste, etc.

We live in a divisive culture.

{Read the Original Articles:}

An Open Letter to Those Who Write Open Letter to Millennials

Millennials – Things They Actually Say: Illka Siren & Kara Jones

Millennials – Things They Actually Say II: Jennifer Thomson

Millennials – Things They Actually Say III: Brandi Stansbury & Matt Six

Millennials – Things They Actually Say IV: Elliot Karpman … Continue Reading

Wine Blogger vs. Wine Blogger – A Competition!

Here at ALP, we don’t review wines. Partially because we don’t want to, but also, we don’t know how. We like to think we know a good wine when we taste one, but whether that is sun baked leather or fresh truffles lurking under a surface of black cherries and red fruit, we have no clue.

Thankfully, other people do know how to review wine. So we thought, “why don’t we let them tell us what to drink for a change?” So now is your chance. Think you have a wine under $20 that is easy enough to find (thanks for suggesting a wine that was super hard to find Steve!) that will impress our friends and us?  Think you have an elevated palate? Then we invite you to give it a go and test your palate against other fellow bloggers. … Continue Reading

The Regions – Paso Robles {April}

Paso Robles. A city with a long history of pioneers and entrepreneurs, outlaws and hucksters. In Paso, the wine history runs deep too, with vineyards being planted by Spanish Conquistadors and Franciscan Missionaries as far back as the late 1790’s. Andrew York, a settler from Indiana, brought commercial grape growing to the area in the 1880’s and the last thirty years has seen a once sacramental operation exploded into a full-fledged and world renowned wine industry.

Today, some of the most revered American producers (Tablas Creek, Saxum, Linne Calodo) call El Paso de Robles home.

In more than one way Paso is a town of true grit, it always has been. Famed outlaw Jesse James briefly found refuge in Paso Robles before making a hasty getaway when the law caught up with him. Merchants hocked Paso Robles as the home of California’s finest natural hot springs and mud baths which, for a time, made the tiny Central Coast town a destination for tourists the Country over. So there should be no surprise that Paso winemakers know a thing or two about marketing and selling their wine while still doing whatever the hell they want. It’s in their blood. … Continue Reading

Millennials – Things They Actually Say IV: Elliot Karpman

Being a wine blog, A Long Pour is of course mostly here to serve my ego. In fact, the only reason I didn’t start a blog called: “The Reasons Wayne is So Much Better than You” was that my initial post outlining just the main reasons I am better than you (and I am), was over 13,000 words long! Too much writing for me. So wine it was.

Aside from cementing my own legacy in the history of internet blogdom fame, I have actually had the honor to champion a good thing or two on here, namely small family-run wineries and sustainable practices. While sustainable can mean many things and increasingly it seems most wineries are doing something sustainable (many Napa wineries for instance are continuing to sustain an aura of superiority), real sustainability…the hard-core geeked out scientific kind, is a real passion of mine. Stand in a vineyard or two that are crawling with life and vibrancy and you will be converted.

Elliot Karpman shares my passion, actually, he excels at it.

Elliot and I met in a small beer and wine bar in Solvang over a few glasses last summer. He runs a company called True Terroir, advocating small wineries that are making big impacts in the pursuit of terroir and environmentally friendly practices. He his a devotee to the notion of terroir and believes that real terroir, true terroir, comes from a respect for the land. … Continue Reading

Millennials – Things They Actually Say III: Brandi Stansbury & Matt Six

This is the third installment of our mini-series talking to fellow young wine consumers, see also here and here. Today, we have a West Coast and East Coast perspective.

I met Brandi a few months ago at a winery in Paso Robles and we hit it off right away. In addition to her obvious love of wine, Brandi shares a love of hilariousness that is only processed by a small group of people.  I call these people Hilarians.

Although not exactly a Millennial, she is right in-between Gen-X and Millennials, so I thought it would be interesting to get the perspective of someone who has enjoyed wine for more than a few years.  Brandi also brings hands on experience working on the hospitality side of wine. What isn’t mentioned in her response though, is our mutual plot to take over the internets by means of a series of well timed Tweets, several viral videos, a troop of well trained talking cats, and the aid of Tony Danza, who although offered very few skills or ideas to our world-wide plot, really needed a job. Hang in there Tony, we’ll show them who the real boss is.

Also, Brandi can write real nice, whereinto, this is be a plu$. … Continue Reading

Millennials – Things They Actually Say II: Jennifer Thomson

Today, we continue with our mini-series of conversations with Millennials. With so much chatter surrounding what young wine drinkers do and do not want, it is important to take a moment and actually listen to what they are saying.

Part I is here and the kick off article is here.

I came across Jennifer Thomson by way of Peter Hunken at Black Sheep Finds. Peter produces a wonderful Pinot Noir from the Thomson’s Carneros vineyard and he spoke highly of them. He told me in part… “the people we work with, the Thomsons, they’re super nice and even though they are 350 miles away I probably have more communication with them, because they are owners and growers. So it’s just a really nice fit, a nice feel.”

So when I found their Twitter account (@ThomsonVyrds) I was happy to follow. A few weeks later my friends and I were at Hollywood Forever, a cemetery in L.A. watching Explosions in the Sky while drinking Black Sheep Finds Pinot. After mentioning this on Twitter, I received a wonderfully nice email from Jennifer Thomson aka “The Millennial Daughter of The Farmer” thanking me for the comments.

We stayed in touch over the following weeks which led me to the following conclusions: … Continue Reading

Millennials – Things They Actually Say: Ilkka Sirén & Kara Jones

MILLENNIALS!!!!

So you know what I think and say (too much of both), but what are actual young wine consumers thinking and saying? I thought, ‘hey Wayne, why don’t you go to the source? You know other young people in wine, why don’t you ask them what they are influenced by?” Then I thought, “you know Self, you are right, I will do that, and I will gather what they say and immortalize it for all eternity (or until I stop paying my Godaddy.com bill) on ALP for all to enjoy!

So, in their own words, I present real conversations with real wine consumers. … Continue Reading

An Open Letter to Those Who Write Open Letters to Millennials

(the following is a binary code joke, in case you didn’t know)

Hi Internet. How have you been?

011001 1100111110 00111 1000101.

That’s good, glad to hear about the traffic. You have been so busy; I just don’t know how you keep up with it all! You look great by the way! I wish I had your bandwidth!

001 1010 0111001

No seriously, I do! … Continue Reading

By the Side of the Vineyard – A Poem

To the collective critic.

The critic lay dying by the side of an old vineyard. He was once mighty in appearance.

Passersby shook their heads, lowered their eyes.The boys showed no respect, muttered evil under their breath, could not be bothered to care. The old men would pause, attempt to offer assistance, but they too were weak, too faded to offer anything more than a kind word, a remembrance of better times.

The critic lay dying by the side of an old publication. He was once mighty in voice.

Those who hurried passed had mostly forgotten the words or never known them at all. A few, still lucid in their recollection, still vibrant in their affection called to mind the sayings that had beckoned them to follow. These eternal notes, written on paper, written in fields, etched in the memory of vintages.

The critic lay dying by the side of an old legacy. He was once mighty in honor.

In dust he lay, in memory of all that had passed him, in love, in hate, in compliments, in accomplishment. On his side, facing west, facing the diminished sun. In the earth he carved with a vine, “REMEMBER ME,” and then, he expired. … Continue Reading