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Dave's Soapbox
The following is offered without a whole lot of comment - well, here and there I <strong>may</strong> have added a comment. This is a <strong>by no means comprehensive list</strong> of ATF approved chemicals and processes allowed in U.S. <em>"industrial"</em> wine production: polyoxyethylene 40 monostearate <span style="color:#ff6600;">(I think that's what the formula above is about. I'll have to ask Greg's daughter. She knows these things)</span> dimethyldicarbonate…
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Dave's Soapbox
Sounds rather pedantic, no? But imagine this: Say one of the bottles is "Ragù Tomato Sauce," and the other is a jar of fresh marinara form a little old lady in Italy, made from her own tomatoes. Same difference. The bottle on the left was produced by a person farming his own fruit. And over the growing season he was constantly in the vineyard thinning leaves and making sure each grape met optimal ripeness. The fruit was harvested by…
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Dave's Soapbox
Patrick Brunet of Domaine de Robert, farms roughly 2,500 vines per acre by hand In wine production, oak barrels (<a rel="nofollow" href="../../../../../blog/180/oak-in-industrial-wine">see here for more on this subject</a>) are the second largest expense after grape purchases, unless, of course you already own the grapes, having grown them yourself. In industrial "winemaking," where a company needs to fill its "brand position" in the marketplace with…
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Dave's Soapbox
<strong>The latest schedule for curated trips to Italy: Here's the "scoop!"</strong> <strong>We’re delighted to announce a new service from Moore Brothers Wine Company</strong> in partnership with <strong>Erica Plotegher,</strong> founder of <strong><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.ecatravelconsulting.com/about/">ECA Travel Consulting</a></strong> to provide our customers curated trips to visit our producers and the cultures where the wines evolve. Erica is a U.S. – based, Italian native…
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I've got to hand it to my brother, Greg. He's very brave allowing his daughter Kate to film him as he drives a tractor for the first time. Jochen Ratzenberger Sr. was plowing a new vineyard site in Bacharach, and invited Greg to take the tractor home. Fortunately all have a good sense of humor…
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