The Launch

Aging and Decanting: When is a wine ready to drink?

March 03, 2020

A wine has not finished evolving simply because it is in the bottle. Like a living, breathing thing, it changes and takes on new characteristics as it ages.

Where Does Our Wine Come From?

April 03, 2019 2 Comments

About 18 months after making our first vintage of wine, we were approached by a friend who works for a high-end winery with some excess Cabernet to sell. This was some amazing wine, and we had the opportunity to buy it at a great price.

4 Tips for Choosing Good Wine in a Wine Store

January 16, 2019 3 Comments

Wine stores can be overwhelming, especially if you don't know what to look for. Here are 4 tips to keep in mind whenever you are shopping for wine.

A Winemaker's Tips: I Buy Wine at Costco and You Should Too!

January 13, 2019 5 Comments

I always look for quality wine at a great price. Costco provides excellent value that even a winemaker can appreciate. Here I share my current favorites.

5 Essential Wine Gifts for Wine Peeps

December 01, 2018 1 Comment

As the recipient of many well-intentioned but unused wine gifts, I feel compelled to speak up on behalf of all wine drinkers.

Is a $100 bottle of wine better than a $20 bottle?

September 15, 2018

When you spend $100 on a single bottle of wine, you're paying for more than just really good juice. Perhaps you don't need all of it...

Let's Talk About "Diamond Mountain"

May 21, 2018 1 Comment

There are only 11 wineries on Diamond Mountain, many of them with hard-to-find wines with “cult” status.

Lance and Spence’s Napa Recommendations (with a little help from our friends)

March 28, 2018 1 Comment

The following is a list (by region) of some of our favorite wineries, restaurants, shops, and activities up in Wine Country. This not an exhaustive list (by any stretch of the imagination), but simply some places we have discovered and enjoyed during our travels around Napa Valley!

Points taken: Understanding the Wine Rating System

February 07, 2018 1 Comment

The family of Claudine Wines are thrilled to share some exciting news: Our 2014 Napa Cabernet Sauvignon received a 92 point rating through Wine Enthusiast! So what does it mean to be a 92 point wine? Let us pour another glass of celebratory bubbly and we’ll tell you!

Why Stemware Matters

November 20, 2017 1 Comment

There is nothing more frustrating than going to a decently nice restaurant, perusing the wine list for the perfect wine to go with dinner, only to have the waiter bring out a small, thick-rimmed glass for my wine. Ugh. Restaurants do this because **newsflash** glasses break. However, you deserve better!

Top Five Wine Movies for a Friday Night (with a bottle of Claudine, of course)

October 24, 2017

If you’re like me (and I’ll assume your reading a wine blog because we have AT LEAST that in common) then you might find yourself on the couch on a Friday or Saturday night flipping through the Netflix or Amazon files looking for a nice way to mindlessly work your way through that nice bottle of wine you’ve rewarded yourself with.