How to describe Dan Petroski’s Massican wines? They’re from California, but somehow don’t taste like it. Ostensibly they’re modeled on the wines of Friuli, in northern Italy, but they don’t taste quite Italian either. The Massican wines are white wines. They’re crisp wines, high in acid. They’re fresh – neither […]
Massican “Annia” – 94 Points. This is a refreshingly stunning blend of 55% Ribolla Gialla, 39% Tocai Friulano and 6% Chardonnay, the latter (from Hyde Vineyard) finding unexpected companionship with its Napa-grown Italian counterparts. Waxy and floral, it tastes of green apple and white peach with a plush midpalate and […]
How to Achieve Quality and Consistency Over Time with Dan Petroski. After a decade long career in publishing for Time Inc., Dan Petroski got a harvest internship in Italy, booked a flight and didn’t look back. For the next year, he would live as a local in his adopted home […]
2017 “Annia” White Wine – Annia is a blended wine constituted of a little over half Ribolla Gialla, a little less than half Tocai Friulano, and a small portion of Chardonnay, fermented in mostly used French oak. The Chardonnay hails from the Hyde Vineyard in Carneros, where Massican pulls fruit […]
Wine Spectator Insider, July 18, 2018: Massican 2017 “Annia” – 92 points. A complex and inviting white, showing intricate nuances of roasted almonds, matcha, honeysuckle and orange zest flavors, mingling with supple, juicy Asian pear, tangerine and ripe melon notes. The smooth texture and thread of acidity just add to […]
Dan Petroski was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and has the swagger and the accent to prove it. After attending Columbia University where he played football, Dan went to work for Time, Inc. While there, he earned his MBA from NYU and worked his way up the ranks towards […]
Many of the varieties we might consider alt-California have a history in the state that long predates the rise of cabernet and chardonnay. Look no further than the work of Eugene W. Hilgard, one of the great agricultural scientists of the 19th century, who planted and recorded dozens of grape […]
Minerality is the Wine Buzz Word of the Moment, But What Does it Mean Exactly? Some wines, mostly white, have a kind of stoniness. Or mineral character. Or something. The aroma or taste of Chablis can recall the bottom of a box of blackboard chalk (in a good way). The […]
Most Popular Wines in Restaurants Nationwide: To conduct the research for this feature, we ask restaurant buyers to list their ten top-selling wines in order of popularity. We use the total number of mentions a brand accumulates to determine its placement on the list. Sauvignon Blanc: #7 Massican.
Napa Valley Wine Academy: In Episode 9 of our ongoing podcast series, The Stories Behind Wine, we speak to Dan Petroski San Francisco Chronicle’s Winemaker of the Year who makes wines for Larkmead Vineyards and Massican Winery. Dan tells us about his fascinating journey to become a winemaker even though […]
