Bottle shock. Crushed. Shaken, not stirred. Whatever word you choose to describe it, the 6.0 magnitude earthquake that rocked Napa Valley early Sunday morning has left behind more than spilled wine. More than 100 homes and buildings red-tagged. The facade of the beautiful Vintner’s Collective building gone. Homes shaken off foundations, cracks in walls, chimneys toppled. Countless glasses, plates and other personal possessions shattered. Gallons and gallons of wine lost. All this happening as harvest is underway. Winemakers who lost tanks and barrels are scrambling to find ones they can borrow or rent so they can press, ferment and store the new wines coming in as we speak. Some producers lost freshly made wines from the current vintage, but they also lost library wines — collections of wine going back years, if not decades. Wineries also lost wine in barrel that hadn’t made it to bottle yet, as barrels…
At Le Metro, Wine Goes Underground on #WineStudio
Wine clubs are popping up all over the place. My inbox is full of pitches from start ups touting their specially curated selections, wines that no one else has and the experts selecting their wines, all for a monthly or quarterly fee. Hello, this is so boring. Maybe I’m super critical because I’m lucky enough to get to taste a lot of wine. Plus I have no room for more wine bottles. I’m storing them under the bed for gods sake. So for a wine club to get my attention, and especially my dollars, it has to be offer more than just a monthly or quarterly selection of wines with a newsletter. I want something more. Aaron Epstein must have felt the same way I do, because he, along with business partner Tina Morey, has created more than a wine club. Le Metro – Wine. Underground is an experience, an…