December 2011




Oak in Wine

I get a lot of questions about oak in wine and its role in the process of aging wine.  At Kokomo we have this saying: "We oak our wine to taste, similarly to salting our food to taste".  We don't want the salt to overpower the dish, but, rather to accent the flavors of the dish.  Same goes for accenting wine with oak.  I have found that you need a percentage of new oak on wines, especially for crafting ultra-premium wines.  However, the amount of new oak to be used varies from varietal to varietal and vineyard to vineyard.  We also like a bolder Eastern Europea

Categories:



"Cocktail" Wines vs. "Food" Wines

I put wines into two main categories – cocktail wines and food wines.  Food wines are self-explanatory in that they are to be paired with the flavors and textures of food.  Cocktail wines, on the other hand, are designated to be consumed å la carte.  You come home from work, kick your feet up and have a glass of wine, or, you have an evening out at your local wine bar, or perhaps you have a dessert wine as an apertif.

Categories:



The Millennials

A hot topic of conversation among wine industry folks are the “Millennials”, also known as the emerging group of wine drinkers that fall between the ages of 21 and 36.  This demo is certainly into wine and the older establishment is wondering how to attract their loyalty.  Being 35, I am at the tail end of this age group, so I guess that makes me an expert!  In my opinion, the way you rally Millennials to support your brand is by NOT trying to target them, a bit of reverse psychology, if you will.  Thi

Categories: