Wine Regions – Page 12 – Ward Kadel

Le Wine Buff in France, Bordeaux Day 1

June 24, 2010June 24, 2010Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo6 Comments

Air France window over the outskirts of Paris

Finally. It's quite similar to that feeling of gloriously painful anticipation that you once experienced before every birthday as a child...I was finally going to Bordeaux as part of Le Wine Buff program for Enjoy Bordeaux! I have been a 'Buff since late last year when the pilot program first kicked off. The Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB) sponsored the trip and we've been working for and with them and CreativeFeed to help educate the public on the thousands of affordable, high quality and downright tasty Bordeaux wines that are imported to the US. These wines are the majority from Bordeaux and don't cost the same amount as the many techno gadgets I brought along with me on the trip. So there I was...in Bordeaux and yet I had never even been to Europe!

Today's Bordeaux BBQ & Le Wine Buff in France!

June 10, 2010June 10, 2010Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo2 Comments

One of the best parts of being Le Wine Buff for Enjoy Bordeaux is that I get to try a lot of very wonderful, high QPR wines from Bordeaux. Indeed, all five of the Buffs have been very busy filming short tasting videos of each of Today's Bordeaux: The Top 100 Affordable Bordeaux for 2010. Later this year we will have 100 Days of Bordeaux and debut a new tasty and affordable wine from Bordeaux each day, all hand-picked by none other than the Bordeaux Wine Council, itself. During Memorial Day Weekend here in the States, I was able to taste and film 8 of these wines all in one gigantic HD-driven swoop. Clearly however, this created a major conundrum...what to do with the leftover wine?? Hmm, holiday weekend, sun and no work...DUDE we should BBQ!! And thus driven by vino need, The Lady and I set about inviting friends over and purchasing copious amounts of food with which to eat with our many bottles of opened Bordeaux.

Wine Aerator Air-Off

May 5, 2010May 5, 2010Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo25 Comments

As a certifiable (different from certified, mine requires a psychiatrist!) wine geek, I get a lot of questions about serving and preparing wine so that it can be happily sipped. One of the biggest questions concerns the aeration of wine...how do I like to aerate my wine, whether young or old and what do I like to use to do so? For the most part, I tend to decant my wines, but that isn't always the easiest thing to do every time I open a new bottle. Sometimes I might only want part of a bottle and then the wine is hard to store once decanted. Or, I might just have more than one bottle open at a time and I'm pouring like crazy because I have some thirsty friends, ready to partake. In that case, I find that a wine aerator tends to do the trick, i.e. a wine gadget that actually works on a per glass basis and usually by being inserted into the bottle. The larger question looms...which one is the best?? This article is here to try and tackle that vinoquery!

Le Wine Buff Returns

May 2, 2010May 2, 2010Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo8 Comments

Many of you delightful readers may remember a very cool pilot project that I worked on late last year called Le Wine Buff, part of Enjoy Bordeaux (Twitter, Facebook). Sponsored by the Bordeaux Wine Council (CIVB), it was an innovative re-introduction of affordable Bordeaux wine to the American public. As one of the six original "Le Wine Buff's", I helped spread the word about the great value and QPR that can be found in red, white and dessert Bordeaux wines at all price points below $25 via email, FAQ and live video chat. The program took a winter break to expand and get even better and we're now ready to relaunch our BDX mission! Look for an expanded schedule of live video chat from our team of six 'Buffs. I'll be starting off the new program 05/03/10 with my time slot every Monday night, 7-10pm PST. If you need a refresher, check out this great Preview of previous footage by Le Wine Buff Mollie. Simply sign up and become a member to participate in any of our video chat sessions. You can follow the Twitter feed of with the hash tag #LeWineBuff.

The Inaugural Napa River Terroir Project Launches!

April 22, 2010April 22, 2010Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo19 Comments

The Napa River has been a source of agricultural bounty in the valley for hundreds of years, dating all the way back to the Wappo Native American tribes that used it's tributaries as their water source. Modern viticulture has certainly benefited from the rich alluvial soils that are carried in its current year after year, providing a mixed gradient of robust soil into the various soil types that permeate the Napa Valley. Therefore the river has a wide-ranging influence wines that are made from grape varieties that are grown near its banks and influenced microclimates.