Beverage Manufacturing

The Golden Glass Cometh: Winemaker Dinner At Fifth Floor

Another San Francisco First: Resident Winemaker Tasting

California Wine-O Efficiency Act

Largest Tasting of California Wines in the World!

Cellar Rat: Week One at Unti Vineyards

City Attorney Joins "SF Weekly = Nostradamus" Bandwagon

By Matt Smith Knowing a bandwagon when he sees one, City Attorney Dennis Herrera today indirectly proclaimed SF Weekly to be a newsprint-based All Being, All Knowing, Mistress of Sight and Sound.In a Dec. 18 press release titled "Herrera, AGs Reach Pact with MillerCoors to Stop Producing Alcoho ... More >>

Wine Bar of the Week: Terroir

Terroir's wines are usually delicious, always interesting, and you won't see most of them elsewhere.

As Economy Leaves Us Crying Into Our Beer, Local Brewery Laughing Its Way to the Bank

Your untaxed dollars at play: Schmaltz Brewing is reporting record sales, despite a crap economyWhen the current financial crunch rumbled into the big time late last year, 499 of the Fortune 500 companies' experienced plummeting stock prices. The one that didn't? Campbell's Soup. The notion of futur ... More >>

Wine & Beer Events, April 3-11

Saturday's all about the East Bay.

SF Weekly Letters

Saturday's all about the East Bay.

Voodoo on the Vine

The origins of the increasingly popular Biodynamic wine are steeped in the occult and bad science.

Wine Elites?

The origins of the increasingly popular Biodynamic wine are steeped in the occult and bad science.

Music from Big Pink

The origins of the increasingly popular Biodynamic wine are steeped in the occult and bad science.

Transmutation and Transformation at Dinner

The origins of the increasingly popular Biodynamic wine are steeped in the occult and bad science.

Bike Rodeo Clowns

The origins of the increasingly popular Biodynamic wine are steeped in the occult and bad science.

Discount Dynasty

After scoring big with "Two Buck Chuck," renegade vintner Fred Franzia once again has Napa Valley's wine burghers in an uproar

The Grapes of Mirth

Jonathan Nossiter's wine documentary is subversive, funny, and humane

Wine Brats

They're young! They're rich! They'll drink anything!

Dish

They're young! They're rich! They'll drink anything!

A Glass of Flowers: Ferry Plaza Pinot Noir Tasting Explores Sonoma's Terroir

jspatchwork via FlickrFlowers Pinot Noir: Where Burgundy meets SonomaFrench winemakers are always talking about terroir, that elusive term that can't really be translated into English, or, for that matter, into American concepts about viticulture. Terroir encompasses all the environmental factors th ... More >>

Two new books explore wine bootlegging during Prohibition

jspatchwork via FlickrFlowers Pinot Noir: Where Burgundy meets SonomaFrench winemakers are always talking about terroir, that elusive term that can't really be translated into English, or, for that matter, into American concepts about viticulture. Terroir encompasses all the environmental factors th ... More >>

Dine About Town

jspatchwork via FlickrFlowers Pinot Noir: Where Burgundy meets SonomaFrench winemakers are always talking about terroir, that elusive term that can't really be translated into English, or, for that matter, into American concepts about viticulture. Terroir encompasses all the environmental factors th ... More >>

Drink the Way the Good Lord Intended: Wine Week Celebrates All-Natural Vino

R. LauristonTerroir: Talking up the benefits of natural.​If you're a bit fuzzy on the term "natural wine," you're not alone. Here's a brief explanation, just in time for the San Francisco Natural Wine Week (August 24-30). Natural wine is similar in principle to biodynamic and organic wines, p ... More >>

California Craft Brewers Represent at the Fancy Food Show

B. YaegerFirestone-Walker Brewing's Brandon Borgel, part of the California brewski cointingent.​For three days (Jan. 17-19), Moscone Center is so full of munchies, it's like a stoner's wet dream. The National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT) is in the midst of producing the 35t ... More >>

Crushpad Leaving Dogpatch for the Napa Valley

InfodivaMLIS B./YelpThe custom winemaker is gettin' the hell out of Dogpatch.​S.F. wine writer W. Blake Gray dropped the news on his blog yesterday that DIY winemaking company Crushpad is leaving its facility in Dogpatch (2573 Third St. at 22nd St.) for more idyllic surroundings in the Napa Va ... More >>

Sunday: Drink Hyper-Local Wines, Donate to Ultra-Local Libraries

JoeyWan/Flickr​Large-scale wine tastings are an odd sort of bacchanal: On one side of the hundreds of tables stand industry reps from around the country, politely pouring tastes and repeating their talking points until they're hoarse. On the other side of the table, the ticket-holders stand three ... More >>

A Winery ― on Treasure Island? Taste for Yourself This Saturday

Treasure Island WinesWinery tour may include dog.​Treasure Island may sound like the most unlikely place for a winery, but the more you think about it, the location makes sense: cheap warehouse space, bay-cooled climate, easy access to vineyards and drinkers. One of the island's few urban wineries ... More >>

S.F.'s Iconic Anchor Brewery Sold to Marin Investment Company

Jesse Friedman/Beer & NoshFritz Maytag revived the Anchor Brewing Co., keeping operations in S.F.​Noah Galuten of our sister blog in L.A. is among a handful of sources reporting this afternoon that local craft beer pioneer Anchor Brewing Co. has been sold to The Griffin Group, a Novato-based i ... More >>

Will the Sale of Anchor Mean the Death of Quality at S.F.'s Revolutionary Brand?

Brian YaegerFritz Maytag in 2005.​Why, Fritz ― why did you sell Anchor Brewing? And does it mean the end of an era for craft brewing both in San Francisco and across the nation? Of the 4,000 breweries operating in America at the end of the 19th century, a little over 1,500 were back up and ... More >>

Winemakers Pouring Into S.F. Next Month for Golden Glass

Slow Food San FranciscoThe yearly Slow Food fundraiser attracts a crush of international winemakers.​Clear your calendar, Slow Food-slash-wine geeks: the Golden Glass is due next month. This is the seventh year for the swirl of sustainable grapes and noshes, the primary fundraiser for Slow Foo ... More >>

Altoids Stout and Chipotle Mead: A Report from the National Homebrewers Conference

Homebrewers AssociationEvery year, beer hobbyists from all over show up to geek out.​MINNEAPOLIS ―Once a year, brewmasters take a back seat to those who brew in the trenches (read: kitchens or garages). At the National Homebrewers Conference (NHC), organized by the American Homebrewers Assoc ... More >>

Are Liquor Companies Stealing S.F.'s Best Bartenders As 'Brand Ambassadors'?

Brandywine HartmanNeyah White left the bar at Nopa to work for Suntory Japanese whisky.​As a career choice, bartending has seen historic ups and downs. It was a genuine profession in the 19th century, an outlaw one during Prohibition. And up until recently, tending bar was a gig you held down ... More >>

Look at Art, Then Drink It

bittermelon/FlickrThe Press Club is offering tastes of wines featured in SFMOMA's current exhibit.​How Wine Became Modern, SFMOMA's new exhibit on visual and design evolution in the wine world, is a fascinating look at both the aesthetics and processes of modern American winemaking, tracing th ... More >>

Old Oak Becomes Almanac Beer Co., Plans February Release

Almanac Beer Co.​When Brian Yaeger introduced SFoodie readers to Old Oak Beer Co. a couple months back, the much-anticipated "farm-to-barrel" ale was waiting patiently in oak wine barrels, mingling with fresh Sonoma County blackberries. While nothing has changed about the beer company's vision ... More >>

Tasting Petite Sirah, California's Little Big Wine

Alastair BlandTasting panelists Noah P. and Eleni K. strike a pose with the Petite empties.​It was born in 1880, and four years later came to California. But for another 80, almost nobody knew it. Petite Sirah is one of California's historical vines and among the earliest varieties introduced ... More >>

Heartswork Winery WELL REaD 2009 California Red

At $5.99, this is one bottle that defies the common wisdom that no-sulfites-added wines justify a higher price.​A molecule called sulfur dioxide ― aka sulfites, a common preservative ― has become the crux of an ongoing disagreement between two schools of winemakers. Those who vouch for the ... More >>

Drink 2011: In Craft Brewing, the Meek Inherit the Earth

At $5.99, this is one bottle that defies the common wisdom that no-sulfites-added wines justify a higher price.​A molecule called sulfur dioxide ― aka sulfites, a common preservative ― has become the crux of an ongoing disagreement between two schools of winemakers. Those who vouch for the ... More >>

City Beer Store Celebrates Five Boozy Years

Jason HenryWanderer, Rouge Baril Baltique, and Open Container, all brewed to mark City Beer Store's fifth anniversary.​With the proliferation of local beer bars, gastropubs, and grassroots brewing operations, it's easy to forget how much our beery landscape has changed in five short years. The ... More >>

New Book Teaches the Alcoholic Art of Beer Brewing

Just Brew It. ​The best part about beer has always been, hands down, drinking it. But for many thousands of Americans, brewing beer is just as rewarding. Brewing is an intellectual experience -- it's an art, a science, a study of history, a mastery of chemistry, and a craft. And while drinki ... More >>

A Field Guide to Sustainable and Delicious Dry Farmed Wines

Whole lotta irrigation goin' on in Napa.​Irrigation is plainly a function of the modern world. Though the ancient Romans built spectacular gravity-driven aqueducts, drip irrigation for agriculture was not invented until the late 1960s in Israel, and only in the 1970s did water-bearing pipes a ... More >>

Dogpatch WineWorks Replaces Crushpad

​Since Crushpad left San Francisco last year for Wine Country, folks wanting to make their own wine in town have had to go it alone -- which, in most cases, meant not making wine. And ripe smells in the Dogpatch neighborhood unfortunately haven't been coming from fermenting grapes. But now, t ... More >>

Napa Winemaker Came from Sports Illustrated for Kids

This is another little extra for this week's review of Bar Tartine in the print edition: an interview with the man who made one of the most impressive wines on the restaurant's very interesting wine list. Liza GershmanDan Petroski​When I called Dan Petroski to ask him how he managed to make M ... More >>

Drink Oakland Wine at the Urban Wine Xperience

Michelle Locke/Palate PressUrban Legend Cellars is one of more than 20 wineries that make wine in Oakland​East Bay Vintners' Alliance 6th Annual Urban Wine Xperience Where: Jack London Pavilion, 1 Broadway, Oakland When: Saturday, Aug. 6, 2-5 p.m. Cost: $40 A lot of wine is consumed in San Fr ... More >>

Family Winemakers Show Offers More Wine Than You Can Handle

Foodgal.com​Family Winemakers of California Tasting Where: Fort Mason Center When: Sunday, Aug. 21, 3-6 p.m. Cost: $65 advance, $75 at the door We can drink a lot of wine, but we find the Family Winemakers of California annual tasting overwhelming, in a good way. There's always about 50 times ... More >>

Tolosa Shows What Chardonnay Smells Like Without Oak

​Earlier this year I attended a fascinating seminar, led by a perfumer, at Tolosa Winery in San Luis Obispo County. Over the course of several mentally exhausting hours, we learned by blind-whiffing essential oils exactly what many of the descriptors we use all the time smell like. For examp ... More >>

California Vintners Infusing Wine with Pot

Wharman/FlickrApparently, it's an easy match with California's other favorite mood altering crop. In a Gourmet Live article last week, Matthew Kronsberg let the Internet in on a little secret that California wine geeks have known for a while: A few of our winemakers are tossing a few ounces of bud ... More >>

Joanna Karlinsky and Popups Take Over Food at the Winemakers' Speakeasy

Joanna Karlinsky/FacebookJoanna Karlinsky, in her Meetinghouse days.​Joanna Karlinsky, former chef-owner of Pacific Heights' much-loved Meetinghouse, has been looking for a permanent venue since closing up Sweet Jo's, her cafe in the Presidio JCC, last year. For the past two months, she's been ser ... More >>

America's Cup: Booze and Boating Unite!

Wine and yachts -- an American traditionWine and yachts go together like PBR and fixies. So you knew this was coming. The organizers of the forthcoming America's Cup and Napa Valley Vintners today announced that Napa will be the "Official Wine Region of the 34th America's Cup." Those toting in forei ... More >>

Shmaltz Brewing's Jeremy Cowan Comes Home for His Beer Book Reading

​What: Beer Beer Book Reading Where: City Beer Store When: Sat., December 3, 4-7 p.m. Cost: Free The rundown: Shmaltz Brewing proprietor Jeremy Cowan, author of the newly released Craft Beer Bar Mitzvah: How It Took 13 Years, Extreme Jewish Brewing, and Circus Sideshow Freaks to Make Sh ... More >>