VINIKÍTAS Marketing & Media Companies: Vinfluent, integrated wine marketing; Vinterviews, the online wine magazine

Mountaintop Winery Takes Pride in its Command of Elevated Site Diversity.An Interview with the Lead Winemaker of Pride Mountain Vineyards.One striking fact with which visitors to Pride Mountain Vineyards are immediately met is that the 235-acre estate actually straddles the line between the two otherwise distinct appellations of Napa and Sonoma. But while having grapevines and production facilities located on either side of that border might present a logistical challenge or two, its position…See More

Napa Winery Elaborates Two Styles of Cabernet from its Steep Hillside Vineyards.An Interview with the Talent Behind Spring Mountain Vineyard.Grace and Complexity. Power and Intensity. These are the discrete expressions of Cabernet Sauvignon that we tend to associate respectively with the Old and New World. Yet one Napa Valley winery, in tapping the fullest potential of its mountainside grapevines, seems to have succeeded in articulating both. In doing so, Spring Mountain Vineyard, located on…See More

Napa Trailblazer Continues to Reshape New Identity with Mountain Cabernets.An Interview with the Winemaker of Atlas Peak Winery.Throughout the 1990s, Atlas Peak Winery built and enjoyed renown in the marketplace for the Sangiovese varietal wine it produced from the elevation after which it was named. But with the new Millennium came broad changes to Napa's wine industry, not the least of which was an upsurge in the production of super-premium Cabernet Sauvignon. This, combined with the vision…See More

Former Chateauneuf-du-Pape Producer Conveys Efficacy of Biodynamic Viticulture.An Interview with Wine Consultant Philippe Armenier.Biodynamic viticulture was something with which I'd been vaguely familiar when I first learned about the work of wine consultant Philippe Armenier. It was during an interview I conducted some time ago with one of his clients that I began to suspect that this once-obscure approach to winegrowing was becoming increasingly practiced among premium producers. In fact, in…See More

Budding Wine Brand Articulates Burgundian Varietals in the Russian River Valley.An Interview with the Winemaker of Benovia Winery.The business of wine production is frought with considerable challenges. Beyond these, launching a premium brand is a monumental undertaking requiring a tremendous amount of resources, talent, experience, planning, and above all, a clear vision for how that brand will position itself among the seemingly countless others vying for consumer attention these days.…See More

Former Neurosurgeon Cultivates Prized Vineyard Land in Calistoga.An Interview with Tom Kenefick of Napa's Kenefick Ranch.When Tom Kenefick first got into the business of raising vines over three decades ago, he had no idea he would eventually be growing grapes for some of Napa Valley's finest wine brands. In fact, tending vineyard land had only been a weekend endeavor for many years, which he balanced with a full time schedule as a practicing neurosurgeon for the University of California, San…See More

Perspectives on the Wine Industry & Reflections on Winemaking.An Interview with Five Northern California Winemakers.Any enthusiast will agree that wine has the potential to inspire our minds, fulfill our hearts, and arouse our souls like few other things in life do. But in experiencing the magic of wine at its best, it's not very often that we stop to think about the very people whose talent and skill are essential in making it all happen. Curious to learn firsthand about the personal…See More

The Future of U.S. Wine Distribution and its Three-Tier System.A Provocative Viewpoint by an Online Wine RetailerThe climate is altering. The landscape is shifting. Momentous change is unfolding in the wine world around us. And it's being induced by something subtle yet powerful in its capacity to affect the way we think about wine in the marketplace: the internet. Traditional distribution under the three-tier model, which has long held a stranglehold on the availability of wine we consume in…See More

Sonoma Winery Perpetuates Its Style Amidst Geographical Complexity. An Interview with the Winemaker of Chalk Hill Estate.Very few premium wineries in Northern California can boast of vineyards that lie on a single estate of nearly 1,400 contiguous acres. Even fewer enjoy the advantage to their wine production afforded by an expansive landholding that features widely diverse vineyard soils and sharply varying topography. Chalk Hill Estate, however, proudly claims both. Situated within a small…See More