hen it comes to serving wine, there is nothing sexier than decanting. The pop of the cork, followed by the glug, glug, glug as you…
We get asked this question a LOT and the answer always is – ‘it depends.’ But, let’s start with the basics: How Long Does an…
Headache or Hangover? Many of us have been there, you wake up the next morning a little foggy with a headache – it must be…
t Koi Zen Cellars, we are constantly trying to make the world a better place. One way we can do this is to reduce our…
ne day you find a great Koi Zen Cellars wine that you just love and want to age it a little but you don’t know…
s the days get hotter, the harvest gets closer and the more a winemaker starts thinking about making wine. The first step to making quality…
“Contains Sulfites” – this little phrase cases a lot of concern and confusion – most of which is inaccurate. ulfites are a naturally occurring molecule…
Storing Wine: As the weather warms, it is time to think about your wine collection and how best to keep it tasting great even if…
Aging: Last time I talked about how varietals that grow together go together – most time, but to really get a nice wine, you have…
Review: Last week we talked about how are we going to take 8 barrels of Cabernet Franc and figure out what went into bottles, on…
Blending wine is easy: Gather some barrels of wine, Gather some friends to taste the wine, Blend the barrels you want together – done. It…
Last Sunday morning a group of us met at the winery and caravanned up to Deer Park Monastery north of Escondido. The Monastery was established…
About 10 days ago, I was up in Sonoma drinking some fine wine and hanging out with some friends in the vineyard. What I didn’t…
I spent last weekend hanging out in Sonoma with some friends planning some really cool stuff that you will hear about in a week or…
5 years ago, I stood in the parking lot puffing on what was to be my last cigarette. I was nervous. My heart was racing…
On Monday, Lisa was opening the winery for a yoga class and discovered that the winery had been broken into. The window next to the…
I have heard the expression “hurry up and wait” over and over while working with the military for over 20 years and the same expression…
Earlier in the month, the NASS (National Agricultural Statistics Service) released the 2018 Grape Crush Report which is an impressive 164 pages of all kinds…
Pre-dawn one cold morning last November, Steve and I were standing in the Camp Four vineyard in Santa Ynez staring at 12 macro bins heaping…
As the weather warms and the winter clouds begin to fade, the grape vines are waking up. The vineyards have soaked up the winter rains…
As spring rolls in, it’s time to rack and roll in the cellar. The 2017 wine is getting ready for bottling and the 2018 wine…
ast week we talked about barrels, but what about bottles? Starting about 6,000 BCE large earthenware containers called “kvevri” were used in the country of…
s a winemaker, I smell a lot of wine. Some wines are very aromatic and others are more reserved. Some smell like fruit while others…
Next week a small armada of Koi Zen Cellars folks will be converging in Sacramento. Nothing starts the new year off as a trip to…
We are so happy to announce that we will be releasing our 2016 Syrah during August’s Wine Club Release Party. Wine club members will be…
This year we are contracting for 5 tons of Grenache which is a new varietal for us @KoiZen and I am getting super excited along…
[ct_definition title=”def” ] “Hurrying and delaying are similar ways of trying to resist the present” – Alan Watts [/ct_definition] ow is the big silence, the…
On July 1, 1863, the Union and Confederate forces met head to head outside of the small town of Gettysburg, PA and over the next…
Our girls have graduated from college and now have their own apartments; however, a lot of their stuff is still in our house. Along with…
have been meditating seriously for about 3 months now. Once per day, I find a quiet spot and focus my attention for 20 minutes on…
ver the last few months I have put on some weight, well maybe more that some. I could blame it on the wine, but it…
was in the winery a few weeks ago and there were two ladies sitting apart enjoying a glass of wine while distracted on their phones.…
ave you heard that Gov. Gary Herbert of Utah signed the “free-range parenting” bill into legislation? This is bill is completely insane! It actually ALLOWS…
have met many wine snobs who think they know everything there is to know about anything but is this really true? Well according to a…
hey say if you want to gain empathy with someone, you need to walk in their shoes. This allows you to understand the way they…
ast night Lisa and I got up at 5:00 am and watched the Super Blue Blood Moon which was really cool. This TRIFECTA occurrence of…
Budai: You can find the Happy Buddha – Budai everywhere in China and it is said to bring good luck and fortune if you rub…
Blame your great-great-great-grandparents for the cost of wine! Between the years of 1920 to 1033, there was a nationwide constitutional ban on the production, importation,…
A Stroke of Luck I woke up not feeling very well. My body was stiff and my whole right side was numb. I guess I…
What are Wine Ratings? If you have been following this series for the last few weeks, we have talked about Seeing, Swirling, Smelling, Sipping and…
My Head Hurts: Is your aching head caused by a hangover or intolerance to wine? When the body consumes too much alcohol it often starts…
So far we have Seen, Swirled, Smelled, Sipped and now we get to Savoring the wine. So if you haven’t swallowed your will from before,…
Tannins Drying your Tounge Out? So you sip that expensive Napa Cab packed with tannin and all of a sudden your lips are sticking to…
Many people grab a glass of wine and just chuck it back while in mid-sentence while being highly distracted; instead let’s learn how to focus…
Is there a Funk or a Skunk in my wine? Hopefully many of you have spent the last week wandering around sniffing all sorts of…
I hope you all had a chance to take a moment to LOOK at your wine over the last week; now we are going to…
If you are wine tasting, or just having a glass, before you take that next sip of wine, stop and take a good long look…
Last weekend we had a small bottling run and bottled about 105 cases of Mourvedre which is a typical run for us. We got the…
Last week Lisa and I took an afternoon and investigated the northern half of the Willamette Valley in Oregon just south of Portland. It is…
On April 24th, 2016 Koi Zen Cellars celebrated our 1 year anniversary. We planned 5 days of events and right now are very tired, but…
Cork Production, Sustainability and Carbon Footprint: This week we will be exploring natural corks and their use in the wine industry. Before opening the winery,…
Last week I wrote about how wine generally can be classified as either Old World, or New World. Well here is a twist I think…
Old meets new at the Judgement of Paris 40 years ago. On May 24, 1976, Steven Spurrier, a British wine merchant organized a blind tasting…
Lisa and I just spent two wonderful days in Paso Robles exploring wine country and attending the WiVi (Wine & Viticulture) convention. It has been…
Is Global Warming causing early Bud Break? A lot of people ask me how the drought and global warming is affecting winegrowers around the state.…
During our Parties, we have been having a lot of fun over @KoiZenCellars; here is a video of some highlights of some club pickups, events…
Terroir is a French word with no literal translation in English and the closes we can come to is “earth”, “soil”, or “place”. This word…
If you haven’t tried our 2014 Pinot Gris from Monterey then you haven’t had to opportunity to taste the fresh fruits and minerality of the…
Check out our new Ferrari convertible! Our Ferrari is a manual corking machine made in Italy and yes it is called a Ferrari. Over the…
LOCAL ARTIST GALLERY SHOWING SAVE THE DATE: Friday February 5, 2016 We are so exited to host Ramon Britton as our next local artist here…
This year, the grape harvest has been a roller coaster for the growers and winemakers; we are just about finished winemaking at the winery! We…
id you know that there are over 100,000 private and custom wine labels in the United States? And how many of them have your name,…
We have been having so much fun hosting meetings and meet-ups at the winery. There are so many interesting people, opportunities and connections. Now I…
They say that winemaking is part science and part art and the artistry shows while blending. We are offering wine blending parties for you and…
We have been so blessed by all of the great people who have come into our urban winery and shared their time with us. All…
Thank You!!!! We cannot extend enough gratitude to everyone who attended our grand opening week, or helped us get ready! On Thursday we had a…
Hi All: Photography Update: Even though the studio has been completely transformed into an Urban Winery, we are still shooting photo sessions. Photoshoots on location…
Update – Winery Construction Efforts: This is an update on the winery construction project that we have started. We hope all is well with you…
Today we are all about Valentines, celebrate with a cool wine pairing technique. Wine and Chocolate…It’s all About Sugar Baby! There is no science…
Hi All, Breaking News: We have just been informed that our TTB federal application is under initial review!!! Let’s hope things go smoothly. For the…
Hi All, This month was all about getting our CA ABC winery license and our TTB license. There are so many requirements and agencies involved.…
We can’t wait to tell you about the status of our first vintage! Monday, October 20, 2014 started off early for Lisa and I as…
Hi All, We just wanted to let you know about some happenings at the Miller residence. Some of you may already know this, but Lisa…