News and Interest – Ward Kadel

Hall Wines Cabernet Cookoff tastes great, gives help

August 22, 2015August 22, 2015Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo3 Comments

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We're a little late on our coverage of this fine event, but we did want to send out hearty Vinopanion props to Hall Wines (WL, FB, Tw, IG, YT) and their highly enjoyable 6th Annual Cabernet Cookoff charity #foodie and #wine event this past April. Fifteen Napa Valley and San Francisco based chef teams competed to see which one could most favorably pair their small bite with the 2012 Hall Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvigon and the 2012 Hall Napa County Coeur Cabernet Sauvignon red wines. To whet the almost 700 attendees' palates, the festivities were kicked off with a glass of the delicious 2012 Hall Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. On this particularly hot April day, the SB was quite a treat, with its juicy citrus acidity, rounded out with some tropical fruit and floral notes, and finishing with some zingy minerality. Following the SB intro, the Lady and I headed into the array of tents to taste through the many culinary delights on prep.

Le Wine Buff Teaches Wine Finance

November 7, 2011November 7, 2011Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoLeave a comment

My super fine readers would have to be asleep not to know about my longtime wine project as Le Wine Buff (WineLog) for Enjoy Bordeaux (Twitter, WineLog). Well, recently I sat down to lunch with reporter Ryan Flinn alongside my fellow 'Buff Rebecca Chapa (Twitter, Facebook) and we discussed our efforts to get the word out about the quantity of affodable, high quality Bordeaux wine. Lo and behold, Ryan Flinn put together a great article discussing just how relevant affordable, high quality Bordeaux wines within the context of the sky-rocketing prices of über-premium wines due to the rise of fine wine culture in China. The article has already been picked up by Bloomberg, BusinessWeek and SFGate, so check it out at any of the prior links. Cheers!

In Pursuit of Balance: Pinot in the Spotlight

March 24, 2011March 24, 2011Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoOne Comment

Following on the heels of my panel workshop at the very successful 9th Pinot Noir Summit this past month, I'm involved in another new, rather exciting Pinot adventure this month. California Pinot Noir: In Pursuit of Balance (Twitter) is a revolutionary new partnership intending generate dialog about balance in Cali Pinot. The partnership was founded by Jasmine Hirsch (Twitter) of Hirsch Vineyards and Winery (Twitter) and Rajat Par, longtime wine director for the Michael Mina family of restaurants including his own Rn74 (Twitter). As a well-respected family winegrower and an international restaurant wine director respectively, they are knee deep in the world of Pinot each and everyday. It is through this dedication to a single varietal that they realized a conundrum: is California Pinot becoming too big and unwieldy?

5 Questions with Three Thieves

February 24, 2011February 24, 2011Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo2 Comments

It's not every day that we as wine lovers get to stumble upon a truly good show about wine. I'm not talking about something that involves some guy dressed in tails and swishing aged, thin wine in his mouth and spitting...no, I'm talking about three renegades digging deep around the world to find new wines to grow, to sell and to chug by the bottle: Three Thieves (Twitter) aren't here to mess around. Already known around the wine biz as the triumvirate to buck any stodgy trend with their affordable and tasty jug wine, Bandit Tetra Pak wines for that on the go tipple among many other fun and innovative wine brands, the guys have fully branched out with their first tv gig, Three Thieves now on The Cooking Channel. I managed to hunt down thief Charles Bieler (Twitter) to chat about his Cooking Channel adventures with his fellow vino amigos, Joel Gott (Twitter, WineLog) and Roger Scommegna.

Clos LaChance, the PGA & Original Wine

October 13, 2010October 13, 2010Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo2 Comments

Yes, yes, yes...I *know*! It's been some time since my last post. Well, that's just what going on vacay for 2+ weeks to Carmel Valley, Spain and Portugal will do to you. Actually, I take that back. It's what going back to work AFTER that vacay, that will get ya! Anyhow, I'm back and ready to reengage my fellow vinopanions and boy do I have two cool pieces of vino news to disseminate!