Hip Tastes Blog

Shakespeare once wrote, "all the world's a stage." But a bard savvy in today's Web 2.0 world - in which online video viewing is up an impressive 53 percent in 2009 - would no doubt say, "all the world's online - and in video!" With online video assuming the place of the most-hyped medium in today's already saturated media space, it's no wonder everyone and their winemaker is scrambling to produce a halfway decent wine video.

Fortunately, there are a growing number of wise wine ambassadors doing online video right. Whether by way of clever storylines, stellar technical skills or outstanding subject matter (in some cases a combination of all three), my top picks for oenophiles doing online video succeed in bringing brands to life - not to mention furthering viewers' knowledge, appreciation and enthusiasm for the good stuff. And that benefits everyone in the wine biz - cheers to that.

Continue reading more about A Really Goode Idea, Days of Thunder, Paradise Found, I'll Drink to That
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Cheers everyone!

Posted by Courtney at 09:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Chere Rose, you mean the world to me. You are so pure, your flavors so balanced (More approachable than red! More filling than white!) I find myself fantasizing about you day and night. Often I picture myself, feet up at the end of a long day, meditating on your pale pink robe, pausing to savor a sip so lush it takes my breath away.

O Rose! You are so refreshing, you are so lively, you are the perfect companion to a slice of pate or nutty frommage comte.

I love you just as you are - never change, Rose!

Signed,

Your Biggest (AKA most loyal, ahem) French Fan

Mon Dieu! Rose At Risk
You don't have to be a die-hard rose fan to know there's something enchanting about the appealing style of wine that's neither white nor red. And while much has been made over the years about pink wines' romantic appeal, pitch-perfect summer coloring and remarkable flexibility in food pairing, little fuss has generally been raised about the way in which it's made.

Until now, that is.

Continue reading at WineCountry.com

pictured: moi, sipping rose on Sunset with great pal Alexis in LA earlier this month

Posted by Courtney at 01:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My latest at WineCountry.com is a fantastic read for anyone looking for an excuse to jet away (okay, drive away) for a one-day trip to the city of Napa. Seriously: there's so much to do there now! And in this economy, we can all use a little fun that doesn't break the piggy bank. Enjoy.
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With the economy bumping along as uncertainly as the box office receipts for latter-day Lindsay Lohan pics, it's no surprise Americans are embracing staycations in record numbers. An amusing portmanteau of the words "stay" (as in stay-at-home, or near home) and "vacation," the staycation offers Wine Country travelers an escape that's long on pleasure but short on planning and out-of-pocket expenses. And with its convenient location just 50 minutes north of San Francisco, the city of Napa makes an ideal destination for Bay Area staycationers of all stripes. So read on for the low down on top spots for sipping inside the Napa City limits, and click here for more on the dos and don'ts of staycations - including tips on how to make yours a smashing success.

Featuring:
Olabisi Wines
Vintner's Collective
Oxbow Public Market
Gustavo Thrace

Read on!

Posted by Courtney at 06:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What's the word? Andiamo! Andiamo Italia, that is. Now through June 24 I'll be in Puglia (though I took the pic in a SF parking garage some months ago - how cool is this plate?!) - that's the heel of the boot for those of you unfamiliar with the place, which the New York Times recently dubbed "the next new Tuscany." Read all about it (and watch a very cool slide show from the Times' resto critic Frank Bruni called "The Heel Is Rising") here.

Ciao for now!

And click the "continue reading" link for pics of my boyfriend (yes, he's Pugliese) and I enjoying one of our first lunches in Puglia.

Posted by Courtney at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following is based on an article I recently penned for Appellation America.com. It includes a longer intro section than the edited version at AA...enjoy, and be sure to click over to read the rest and comments!) ;)
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The other day, while multitasking on three different projects with looming deadlines, I felt the uncontrollable urge to Tweet. And so instead of squashing the urge to deviate from my pressing (not to mention paying) workload, I mumbled something to myself about connectivity being good for business and logged on to Twitter.com. Within seconds I was typing a quick message (140 characters max, natch) to inform the 250 or so people who "follow" me on the site about what, precisely, I was doing or thinking at that very moment.

Procrastinate = Procrasturbate?
As it turns out, I was thinking that I should really be working on my three other projects with pressing deadlines, and so my tweet went something like this: "Should be working but on Twitter instead. Sign hanging in office says 'procrastinate = procrasturbate'; not working?"

Ah, the irony.

Fortunately, irony isn't the only thing this tweet's got going for it.

Besides reminding my 250 Twitter followers that I am, in fact, alive and producing product (articles to which they'll no doubt be receiving links very shortly via tweet), my message was doing some multitasking of its own: Thanks to an optional feed I'd activated on my Facebook page, my tweet was also simultaneously published on that other bastion of social connectivity, where some 700 more "friends" of mine were made aware of my problem with procrasturbation (and, it follows, the fact that I am alive and kicking and producing product, soon forthcoming).

Hopefully these folks also realize, thanks to the post, that I am far more than just an elusive journalist: I am also a real person, subject to error and neuroses and the occasional episode of procrasturbation. This (I hope), makes me more interesting, and the product I will eventually produce more compelling to them all.

At least, that was the inner monologue I was telling myself when I hit "post," and I'm sticking to it.

Wine Connection
Winemakers, it turns out, aren't so different from journalists. They, too, benefit from the demystifying benefits of the web's latest social tools, including Twitter. Here are few facts to back this up:

Read on

Posted by Courtney at 12:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As the locavore movement gains speed and strength, it seems only natural its philosophy would make its way to the wine world. Enter Kevin Kelley, founder of Natural Process Alliance, an organization dedicated to producing wines with minimal waste and additives - and then distributing them solely within a 100-mile radius of his Santa Rosa winery. Sound kooky? I think it's anything but.

Continue reading

Posted by Courtney at 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)