San Francisco Wine School Blog

Check out articles about San Francisco Wine School and read our latest press releases

Pushing the Limit of Cool Climates: Exploring Nova Scotia, Part One

Pushing the Limit of Cool Climates: Exploring Nova Scotia, Part One

Having previously known of Nova Scotia only from tales told me of Cape Breton 30 years ago by a friend who summered often there, it newly piqued my interest upon meeting in England its wine associa...

Meet Karl Storchmann - Wine Economist

Meet Karl Storchmann - Wine Economist

Karl Storchmann came to my attention in 2005 when I received a notification through the Circle of Wine Writers when serving upon its executive committee that the New York City-based German and othe...

Meet Roger Aquilina - Malta's Renowned Oenologist

Meet Roger Aquilina - Malta's Renowned Oenologist

My first, and to date only, visit to Malta occurred this past February when I accepted an invitation from its NYC-based US tourism representative. As most of its produce is consumed in situ by its ...

Meet Greg Jones - Professor and Climatologist

Meet Greg Jones - Professor and Climatologist

Meet Professor Greg Jones, a research climatologist who specializes in the viticulture, focussing on how climate variation influences vine growth, wine production and wine quality.  Read more about...

Meet Madeline Triffon - First American Female Master Sommelier

Meet Madeline Triffon - First American Female Master Sommelier

Madeline Triffon has traversed the eddies of being not only a female pioneer in the until recently male­-dominated US wine business, but more so in being the first Master Sommelier of her gender. W...

MEET MONIKA CHRISTMANN - INSIDER INTERVIEWS BY DAVID FURER

MEET MONIKA CHRISTMANN - INSIDER INTERVIEWS BY DAVID FURER

Prof. Monika Christmann and I met in Chicago soon after she'd completed her time working on Simi Winery's winemaking team having begun as Department Head for both Oenology & Wine Technology and...

Meet Tom Stevenson - The Sparkling Wine Authority

Meet Tom Stevenson - The Sparkling Wine Authority

If anyone on this website hasn't heard and read of Tom Stevenson then they've grossly misstepped. Worth noting is that after a trying time interviewing a previous subject via email I balked at doin...

Meet Richard Smart - The 'Flying Vine Doctor'

Meet Richard Smart - The 'Flying Vine Doctor'

The ‘Flying Vine Doctor’ Richard Smart has been involved with worldwide viticulture since the mid 1960s dating to time spent at Roseworthy College in his native Australia where he once served as it...

Meet Willi Klinger - Wine Marketing Maestro

Meet Willi Klinger - Wine Marketing Maestro

A life in theatre didn't prove daunting enough for the Viennese Willi Klinger, now the Managing Director of the Austrian Wine Marketing Board filling in his spare time moonlighting as a lecturer at...

Meet Beltrán Domecq y Williams - Insider Interviews by David Furer

Meet Beltrán Domecq y Williams - Insider Interviews by David Furer

Beltrán Domecq y Williams has had an illustrious career. His studies included time at UC-Davis with the illustrious Professor Maynard Amerine, training that later led to Domecq co-authoring with Ja...

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Patrick Spencer

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Patrick Spencer

After many years working in restaurant management, later some with a winery near his Oregon home, Patrick Spencer set his sights on a related niche which had at the time been the cause of much hand...

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Aaron Pott

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Aaron Pott

Between officing at home and Quixote Winery where his own label, Pott Wines, are vinified, native Californian Aaron Pott looks to the interests of mostly Napa Valley clients who cherish his ability...

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Paul Hobbs

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Paul Hobbs

Owner/winemaker of his eponymous winery, Paul Hobbs's exposure to farming started as a child where in upstate New York his father presciently had young Paul taste apples of the same variety grown i...

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Leonardo LoCascio

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Leonardo LoCascio

Like contemporaries Terry Theise, Neil Empson, Kermit Lynch, all of whose full names grace the bottles of wines selected and marketed by them, Leonardo LoCascio's timing, business acumen, sense of ...

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Jean Arnold-Sessions

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Jean Arnold-Sessions

Jean Arnold-Sessions' career has been greatly centered around wineries in northern California: Chateaux St. Jean and Montelena, J, Jordan, Chalk Hill, Williams Selyem, Laurel Glen, Rudd, and for th...

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Carole Meredith

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Carole Meredith

Best known for her UC Davis research group's pioneering use of DNA typing in differentiating Vitis Vinifera varieties and elucidating their parentages, Carole Meredith's first career has helped in ...

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Patrick McGovern

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Patrick McGovern

Several years ago, while living and working in London, I attended a Spanish wine symposium at which I made the acquaintance of Professor Patrick McGovern. Upon chatting of the day’s presentations, ...

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Dr. Liz Thach, MW

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Dr. Liz Thach, MW

Dr. Elizabeth “Liz” Thach, MW is a Professor of Management and Wine Business at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park, California, areas of expertise including Wine Business Strategy, Human Resou...

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Charles Banks

Insider Interviews by David Furer - Presenting Charles Banks

Long a wine consumer and collector while working for others in the capital management sector, the once ambitious amateur Charles Banks entered the wine industry in 2000 with the purchase of a forme...

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Stuart Pigott

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Stuart Pigott

My first encounter with the work of Stuart Pigott was as a relative novice to the world of wine in the mid-'90s having read his entrancingly informative book on the Wines of Germany, written with t...

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Alberto Antonini

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Alberto Antonini

Sometimes friendships develop under unusual circumstances. One such example for me was when I’d been invited to visit Armenia’s first modern winery, Zorah, by its owner, Zorik Gharibian. The affabl...

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Lydia & Claude Bourguignon

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Lydia & Claude Bourguignon

Partners in work and life, Lydia & Claude Bourguignon are the most heralded viti-soil scientists in the world with clients extending beyond their native France to include New Zealand, the US, a...

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Debra Meiburg

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Debra Meiburg

Acquiring a Master of Wine accreditation doesn’t come easy. What was the most challenging part of your MW studies? The most rewarding?

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Kermit Lynch

Insider Interviews by David Furer – Presenting Kermit Lynch

Kermit Lynch is one of the most well-known and earliest importers of French wines into the US. He is also the author of Adventures on the Wine Route which was recently re-released.