In the Middle of the Night, Thinking of Wine
I was awoken in the middle of the night last night by a vision of the life I live — one that is beholden to the fates of Nature
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Lineage: Life and Love and Six Generations in California Wine
by Steven Kent Mirassou
Hardcover – June 2021
Steven Kent Mirassou received his BA in American Literature from the George Washington University and his MA in Literature from NYU. He was born in the Salinas Valley and grew up in San Jose and Los Gatos before going east to college. Lineage: Life and Love and Six Generations in California Wine is his first book.
Mirassou started his wine career in sales but found his true passion after moving into the production side of the business in 1996. Steven has made the highest rated wines from the Livermore Valley, is a founder of the Mount Diablo Highlands Wine Quality Alliance, and the President of the Livermore Valley Wine Growers Association.
Steven has four adult children, April Coffey, Aidan Mirassou, Katherine Mirassou, and Sara Mirassou. He lives in Livermore, CA with his wife, Beth Murray Mirassou, and their two dogs
A Day at the Press
Newest post on Wine Saves Lives!
Press days can be long, requiring a number of steps to get wine from the fermenter, decanted off of the skins, and the skins into the press. But it is also one of the most fulfilling days of the wine season.
As my love and wine co-conspirator, Beth, says:
On press day, your relationship with the wine changes and you start to understand it more intimately. Once the wine has been pressed, you know more about its it-ness and structure and character and aromas. You feel more connected to it and there’s still so much excitement (and still so much wonder) about the future of this wine and your relationship with it.
When your goal is to truly create something beautiful, the press process takes time and takes all your energy and takes your undivided attention. It is undeniably exciting and thrilling, and you’ll end up wet and sticky and sore and tired AF at the end of the day. Everything has led up to this, it’s hard but wonderfully fun work, and it is glorious.
The best wines have stories – not just the story of the producer and the site and the family history, but more intimately…the story of how you perceive the wine, how its entry and mid-palate, and finish (its beginning, middle, and end) conspire to add richness and joy to your life – and those tales all must start at the press.
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In a new post on Wine Saves Lives!, Steven Kent Mirassou and Beth Murray of The Steven Kent Winery talk about the new release of The Premier, Steven Kent’s best
Dosage Trial: Putting Finishing Touches on New Sparkling Wine
Yesterday, Em and I had the opportunity to evaluate a dosage trial done on our new méthode champenoise Pinot Noir from the Santa Cruz Mountains. A dosage trial consists of adding different levels