Aperitifs – Aperitifs, or appetizer wines, are generally served before meals. Champagne and sherries are traditional aperitifs, and light white wine is also appropriate. Barbera – Barbera is a red wine grape found primarily in Italy’s Piedmont region. It produces bright, crisp wines with deep ruby colors, full body and low tannin levels.

The reputation Pinot Noir suffers for its fickle behavior has supported the prevailing wisdom among winemakers that deprivation in the vineyard followed by gentleness in the cellar results in a delicate, well-balanced wine. Acacia respects these Burgundian traditions but diverges from the Old-World techniques. The fact that we grow grapes in California’s ideal climate means
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In the March/April 2001 issue of the Chalone Wine Journal, Winemaker Dan Karlsen presented a comprehensive explanation of the abstract concept of terroir, using Chalone Vineyard as an intimate and concrete example to elucidate the complexity of the concept. If we were to coin a word today for terroir, it might be ecology.