Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher

06/18/2026

Our new column at grapecollective.com is about our two-year treasure hunt to reunite a winemaking couple with a cherished bottle. As Jerry Seps told us: “Having the ‘81 again in our collection is much more than having one bottle from each year we have made wine. More importantly, it’s a humbling recall that without Sigrid, the dream would not have become reality." Wine is magic. https://bit.ly/3QFal7V Grape Collective

06/17/2026

Very cool to talk with Laurie Forster for The Sipping Point podcast about OTBN and much more. Check it out! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-sipping-point-wine-food-more/id483029592?i=1000773099157 Grape Collective

06/16/2026

06/13/2026

Our column this week, especially the end, says so much about what wine is truly about. We hope you will read it. It's at grapecollective.com and here: https://bit.ly/3QFal7V It's the story of Jerry and Sigrid Seps, who founded Storybook Mountain Vineyards in Napa in 1976. The deadly Tubbs Fire barely spared the winery but destroyed their entire collection of older wines. Then wine lovers stepped in and up -- and this is where, serendipitously, we came in. It has taken us two years to write the end of this story. Grape Collective Napa Valley Vintners

06/11/2026

Talk about a perfect night! We look forward all year to the New York Philharmonic concert in Central Park. We take chairs, blankets, a dinner from Zabar's and special wine. We chose salmon and sea bass this time and it was muggy night, so we decided on Massican's Annia, a crisp, delicious and soulful California blend of Tocai Friulano, Ribolla Gialla, Chardonnay and Pinot Bianco. It's a specialty of Napa winemaker Dan Petroski and was perfect for the night (it's $32,11.8%, and was sent as a sample). Continuing our Cal-Ital theme, we tried a very unusual wine: Centennial Mountain Solera I from Sonoma ($79,14.5%, also a sample), comprised of all of the red varietals grown by the Italian-specialist winery and made solera-style by stacking vintages dating back to 2016 in the blend. The wine, by Director of Winemaking Jeff Brinkman and winemaker Eric Prahl, was multi-layered and complex like, well, like a symphony, this one conducted by Elim Chan and featuring the brilliant, retiring principal cellist Carter Brey. Rain was forecast, but it never happened. When we got home, we checked on the Knicks, who were down by 29 points, a sad way to end the night. But then, Wow! Thanks, Philharmonic, and thanks, Knicks. Grape Collective New York Philharmonic

06/01/2026

For our 53rd anniversary, we returned to Miami Beach and found quite a surprise: an excellent, much-improved wine list at Joe's Stone Crab. Meet the man who helps make it happen. He says: "I mean, it’s just mind boggling to see the amount of wines that come out of here." Our new column at grapecollective.com. https://bit.ly/4uG9Hpx Grape Collective Joe's Stone Crab

05/21/2026

Every bottle of wine tells a story — but most people never hear the heartbreaking chapters. 🍷

Frost hit East Coast vineyards on the night of April 20th, and for some growers, the damage was catastrophic. ❄️🌿Read the column by

Read it at the link in bio — and maybe open something special tonight in solidarity with the growers who lost so much this spring. 🍷 blackank

05/17/2026

Each bottle of wine from a small, personal winery, anywhere in the world, is a risky undertaking for real people who are trying to create their own kind of art in a battle with climate changes, market forces, politics and complex regulations. We don’t know many winemakers whose hearts have not been broken by a weather event over the years -- and yet they keep coming back. One reason we love wine is our admiration for those people. Here's one story from the recent freeze. Our new column at grapecollective.com. https://bit.ly/4dwa52o Grape Collective Black Ankle Vineyards