Old Grenache vines from AOC Maury, South of France

Facts About Grenache

Today marks International Grenache Day! Time for some fun facts about the grape: While Grenache goes by many names globally, one of best (and most hilarious) is “Hairy Grenache” – named for its hairy leaves, not the goatee the grape potentially sports before heading out on a date….

Cameron Hughes Wine's Wine Simplified Logo with hand-drawn wine bottle and glass

Palate

Wine Term: Palate Variations: Entry, Flavor, Flavour, Hint, Invokes Alternate Usages: On the palate, redolent with, on the entry, upon entry, with flavors of, detecting hints of, invokes flavors of What it really means: How the wine tastes Ah!  The moment of truth!  It took forever for your…

An old mission house on the grounds of a Sonoma County Vineyard. California

California Wine Facts

California Wine Month!  Let’s go! Time to dive into some fun and interesting facts about California Wines: California is the workhorse of American wine, making up around 90% of total production. California side stepped prohibition by making sacramental wine and shipping grapes to home producers who had the…

Street view of the town of Saint Helena California in wine country

St. Helena AVA

Welcome to beautiful St. Helena, located in the northern part of the Napa Valley, just north of Rutherford, south of Calistoga, and sandwiched between Spring Mountain to the west and Howell Mountain to the east. Home to over 80 wineries, the St. Helena AVA was blessed in the…

Cameron Hughes Wine's Wine Simplified Logo with hand-drawn wine bottle and glass

Bordeaux

Wine Term: Bordeaux Variations: Bordeaux Blend, Bordeaux-style Blend, Right Bank Blend, Left Bank Blend, Meritage, Claret Usage: Do you have any [insert any of the above]? What it really means: A red wine blend, generally dominated by Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot, made from the grapes of Bordeaux First…

Reverie Diamond Mountain region profile showing a hilltop vineyard row in late summer

Diamond Mountain District AVA

Nestled in the Mayacamas range on the western side of Napa, west of Calistoga on the northern edge of the Napa-Sonoma county line, is the historic, high altitude AVA of Diamond Mountain District. The whole of the AVA encompasses a land area of around 5000 acres and sits…

Cameron Hughes Wine's Wine Simplified Logo with hand-drawn wine bottle and glass

Pours

Wine Term: Pours Variations: Color, Colour, Rim, Core Alternate Usages: The wine pours, out of the bottle, in the glass, rim of, core of What it really means: The way the wine looks in a wine glass Is it clear, cloudy, bubbly, red, white, pink?  Is it thin…

One glass Half of red wine on wooden table laid on its side with the wine staying inside the glass

7 Pinot Noir Facts

Pinot Noir facts to celebrate International Pinot Noir Day, held August 18th each year. To celebrate, we present some fun Pinot Noir facts for you today: Pinot Noir means ‘Black Pine Cone’ – ancient vine growers were pretty literal with the naming of this grape as the grape…

Woman holding up a rose wine glass against the sky to analyze the wine's color profile

Rosé vs. Blush

Today marks International Rosé Day! Not International Blush (or Pink) Day. So what do we mean by that? “Pink” or “Blush” wines represent (in modern times) sweeter stylings whereas “Rosé” indicates the dry stylings found in the greater areas of Europe.  Now from a labeling perspective, they can…

Cameron Hughes Wine's Wine Simplified Logo with hand-drawn wine bottle and glass

Nose

Wine Term: Nose Variations: Bouquet, Aroma Alternate Usages: On the nose, aromatics of, hints of, bouquet of, notes of What it really means: The smell While you’re correct that a wine “smells” a certain way, you’ll never want to say it that way, it is just uncivilized.  Quickest…