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Thursday, October 30, 2025
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  • Video: the Port harvest in the Douro, 2025, with Taylor’s
  • Cruse x Hirsch, tasting some Californian gems from this star partnership
  • Hatzidakis: a deep dive into these top Santorini wines
  • Yarra Valley (5) Yarra Yering
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California

California Features TOP STORIES Wine Science 

Matthiasson: a masterclass in modern viticulture with Steve and Jill, plus tasting their wines

June 26, 2023January 16, 2024 jamiegoode 11281 Views

Steve Matthiasson is a farmer first, winemaker second. With his wife Jill, they look after several vineyards in Napa and

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California Features 

A blind tasting of California Cabernet Sauvignon, including some of the best-sellers in the USA

March 23, 2023April 28, 2023 jamiegoode 7832 Views Cabernet Sauvignon

This was a chance to taste 8 Cabernet Sauvignon wines blind, which is always fun. Below are my notes and

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California Highlights 

Highlights: Jolie Laide Dans le Vide 2021, California, USA

January 28, 2023March 7, 2023 Treve Ring 3929 Views

Jolie-Laide is a one-man operation based in the Sebastopol winery of Pax Mahle, where winemaker Scott Schultz (Pax’s cellar master),

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California Profiles 

The wines of Louis M Martini, California

December 10, 2022March 7, 2023 jamiegoode 3241 Views Napa, Sonoma

Website: https://www.louismartini.com/ Louis Martini established the winery named after him in 1933, just after the repeal of prohibition. He’d established

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California Features Latest Regions 

Californian Pinot Noir: 38 wines tasted and rated

September 13, 2022September 13, 2022 jamiegoode 6387 Views pinot noir

California is one of the most exciting destinations globally for Pinot Noir. But it’s only a subset of the state’s

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California Features Latest Regions 

Keep Wines: small batch Californian elegance

August 12, 2022August 14, 2022 jamiegoode 4494 Views

Website: https://www.thekeepwines.com/ Keep Wines is a small Californian winery that was started by Jack Roberts and Johanna Jensen in 2009.

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California Features Latest Profiles 

Donkey and Goat: Californian wines with a natural twist

August 2, 2022August 3, 2022 jamiegoode 9149 Views Natural wine

Jared and Tracey Brandt have an urban winery in Berkeley, California, called Donkey and Goat, which they started in 2003.

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California Features Regions 

California does Rhône: 20 top wines tasted

April 11, 2022 jamiegoode 8910 Views

The Californian climate (and I realize this is a generalization) seems well suited to grape varieties from the Rhône, and

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California Features 

Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, some of the world’s most expensive grapes

January 31, 2022February 11, 2022 jamiegoode 12983 Views Napa

Grape prices are really interesting. They vary quite a lot, dependent on region, variety, health of the grapes, the vineyard

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California Highlights Latest 

Highlight: Arquils Maestro 2019 California

December 14, 2021December 14, 2021 jamiegoode 4863 Views

https://arquils.com/ Carlos Caruncho’s story is an interesting one. He was born in Cuba, attended university in Russia, and then defected.

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Features

Cruse x Hirsch, tasting some Californian gems from this star partnership
California Features Latest 

Cruse x Hirsch, tasting some Californian gems from this star partnership

October 28, 2025October 29, 2025 jamiegoode

Californians Jasmine Hirsch and Michael Cruse are partners in life and wine, and they came to London to share their

Hatzidakis: a deep dive into these top Santorini wines
Features Greece Latest 

Hatzidakis: a deep dive into these top Santorini wines

October 27, 2025 jamiegoode
Yarra Valley (5) Yarra Yering
Australia Features Latest 

Yarra Valley (5) Yarra Yering

October 25, 2025October 26, 2025 jamiegoode
Tarrawarra winery, Yarra Valley
Australia Features Latest 

Yarra (3) Tarrawarra

October 25, 2025October 26, 2025 jamiegoode

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About Us

Wine anorak is one of the leading wine websites. This is the latest version of the site that began life in 1999, and was founded by Jamie Goode, who at the time was working as a science editor.

Since then it has grown, and Jamie is now a full-time wine writer, lecturer, wine judge and book author.

This is an explanation of what an anorak is.

Disclosure: unless otherwise clearly marked, the articles on this site are free of conflicts of interest. Any sponsored content will be clearly marked, and potential conflicts of interest will also be disclosed. As is normal in the wine industry, many of the wines tasted here are free samples and some travel is sponsored by others (for example, regional bodies or groups of producers), but in these cases no guarantees of coverage are given.

As an Amazon Associate this website earns from qualifying purchases (for example, the links for purchasing books). Wineanorak also earns from Google AdSense display advertising.

You can contact Jamie at drjamiegoode@gmail.com Also, through my accounts at Twitter, Instagram and Mastodon

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