The First “Bottle Shock” Was in the Midwest
Many of us are familiar with the prestigious wine judging that took place in Paris in 1976 in honor of the American Bi-Centennial. The event was commemorated, or should we say celebrated by the...
Author: John Marshall
John Marshall’s Favorite White Hybrid Grapes
I was invited to a wedding some years ago now, outside Phoenix, Arizona. Since I arrived in Arizona a day early, I was interested to see what the famous varieties of Europe might do...
Grape Pickers Make Great Wine Salespeople
When selling wine at a local winery, it is important to realize the customer has not come into your tasting room to buy a bottle of wine. It is a truism of winery marketing...
John Marshall: Tips for Getting Grapes Ripe
It seems like only yesterday- well last year- when we saw conditions like this; a chilly spring, no heat to bring the buds along and a late blossom which got our crops off to...
Labrusca Wines Deserve More Respect
When discussing wine, it is close to fatal to suggest a wine is a Labrusca or even has some Labrusca characteristics. Winemakers, enthusiasts and sommeliers will drop the discussion like it was a cold that is...
John Marshall: My Favorite Red Wine Grapes
This article is a companion to an earlier piece describing cold hardy white grapes that seem to have found their niche in a crisp, flowery and fruity style. Cold hardy reds, on the other...
Red Storm Rising Across Northern Wineries
Cold hardy red wine grapes appear to be in a kind of limbo, looking for an identity, a style, a flavor profile to call their own. Unlike the hardy whites that seem to have...
Northern White Hybrids Form a New Class of Wine
I was in Arizona years ago attending a wedding and I sought out some local wineries to satisfy my curiosity. It was fascinating seeing vineyards clinging to arid mountainsides, some bordered by impossible looking desert...
Northern Hybrids- A New Class of Grapes
There is no shortage of hybrid grapes or classes of hybrid grapes these days. French hybrids, German hybrids, California hybrids, Cornell hybrids, Labrusca hybrids, Riparia hybrids; the list goes on and on. However, a...
Overuse of Multiple Trunks
When I began growing grapes in the 1970s at an experimental vineyard near my father’s orchard, it was routine to train vines to more than one trunk, a practice known today as ‘multiple trunks.”...