Blog | Prima Materia Vineyard and Winery

2019 Lake County Vintage Report

The 2019 vintage was a snapshot of extremes. A cold, wet and lingering Spring dropped over an inch of thunderstorm-powered rain June 1st

The Wine Seminar

Pietro's 3-hour wine seminar covering tasting, descriptors, vineyard practices, winemaking, and food pairings.

10 Ways Fish Sauce Can Make Our Western Cooking Better

10 ways to use fish sauce to make cooking a bit better

A Fried Chicken Research Department Update

I recently spent several days deep in fried chicken R&D for a consulting project and thought I would share a few insights. This recipe de...

Recipe - Pistachio Olive Oil Cake

This recipe has gone through many iterations (as have I) since I started working it in 2007. It was originally based on recipes from Pier...

Learning in the vineyard

If you like wine, this is something cool, something almost no one ever sees. Think you know grapes do you? Well this is the modern Dionys...

Grapevine Budding and Grafting at Novavine

Vine Budding and Grafting Friday night we had a guest lecturer, the very highly respected field graft expert, Daniel Robledo. He learned ...

Doomed Petition to the TTB to Recognize Greco in America

Greco di Tufo - the TTB has spoken and is wrong I have just received the TTB's judgement on my petition to recognize Greco (Bianco or Tuf...

The Restaurant Consulting Files - 10 Takeaways from a Recent Project

I recently opened a restaurant for an unprepared owner. It was an interesting project, but even a small 40-seat opening is very tough and...

On Growing and Making Nebbiolo

I did the snoopy dance when I heard about it. Deep in Napa Valley, on a warm afternoon we gathered at Silenus to discuss making - wait fo...

My Ode to the Oxtail

Here is a hint for those who like to cook - use oxtail. Yes, it looks like a giant denuded penis and yes, it is actually the tail which i...

Espelette - The Devil and the Details

I remember my first espelette. I am only about 50% on the anniversary, and sometimes the car is not where it was left, but I remember th...

Hooray! Another AVA!

Because I fear Mr. Heimoff's tattooed and sleek gym-toned forearms reigning blows upon me I will simply link to his blog exchange with Ja...

A brief chef's biography

This is a rare personal post from 2012 - you have been warned. I hate eating and I hate food. Sometimes. I am getting over it. The best w...

Arneis -

Arneis was not on the original road map for this season (see left), but being flexible is part of the fun. Based in the Roero in Piedmont...

Vintage 2014 - a view from the vineyard

Yup, 17 days of 100F or above in July, so in conjunction with a little water nervousness it has been toasty here in Kelseyville.We are ru...

Rosé or Rosato?

A friend recently asked a flurry of questions about rosé wines, wondering who, what and where they were royally made. Here are a couple o...

Vintage Report - the longest year ever

This was the longest year in so, so many ways. And also the most action packed, intense and almost cerebral, if a winery can claim that. ...

Quacquarini Vernaccia di Serrapetrona = tasty red sparkler review

Well that was interesting. What we have here is a serious, unique sparkling red from central Italy that is a bit of a rarity and definite...

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