What is this Man Doing?
Whenever I come across images of this statue figure which lives at the south end of Napa I smile because I know the name of it is, "The Grape Crusher". My smile however is not one so much of local fondness but rather of eye rolling frustration. Why? It's innacurate! This man is not in the process of crushing grapes. He is in fact operating a piece of equipment used at the next stage in a wine's life. He is using a press. (An early version of one.) So why would this annoy me? Read more
No, it’s not that kind of cola…….
You may have heard of the term “cola” used frequently in the wine industry around wine labels. Perhaps you thought, what does soda have anything to do with wine? Do soda drinkers also tend to be wine enthusiasts? Is is a descriptor term in some way? None of these are the case. The acronym COLA stands for certificate of label approval. All wines, (actually all alcoholic beverages to be sold in the US) are required to have one of these. These approvals are given by the same federal agency that regulates the wine industry, the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau. (they of course get an acronym too, thank goodness, as the TTB for short.) Read more