El Bloggo Torcido - Twisted Oak Winery: Posts from May 2006

Main | June 2006 »

Posts from May 2006

May 30, 2006

Steer to Starboard

Today's drama is brought to you by the EU and US governments....

In 2004 we were able to score a little bit of Touriga Naçional, which is one of the grapes used in the fine Porto wines of Portugal. We naturally made our own version of p*rt from these grapes. And, it has turned out quite yummy so we will be bottling it soon. (If you have been poking around on the web site lately you might have seen we quietly added a page announcing it.)

Today we found out that because of an agreement between the EU and US, we can't put the word "p*rt" on our label. Something about our "questionable" American winemaking practices and their objection to American "champagnes"... a little too deep even for me!

So, if you wondered why we steered away from that word and put POUR'T on the label, now you know.

And 'cuz y'otta pour't 'n enjoy't - y'know?

Posted by El Jefe on May 30, 2006 at 12:46 PM in our wines! | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Technorati Tags: calaveras, port, portugal, touriga nacional, twisted oak, wine

May 20, 2006

How To Subscribe To El Bloggo Torcido

No, you don't have to pay and we won't mail you anything. But if you enjoy this little attempt at web logging and want to stay up with it without having to remember to visit all the time, you can subscribe.

The first thing you need is something called a "news reader" or an "aggregator". An aggregator is a program or web site that allows you to subscribe to "RSS feeds" which are updated automatically.

I can tell you right now that when I finally got one of these aggregators going, it got much easier to read online newspapers and columnists. Now I just visit my aggregator web site and get a direct, permanent, updated connection to all of the sources of web content I enjoy. No surfing and no spam!

There are stand alone programs that do this, but I like a web site version called Newsgator, which you can find here: http://www.newsgator.com/ . Another similar popular web site can be found here: http://www.bloglines.com/ .

Whichever one you choose, after you get set up you can subscribe to this feed or any other feed you choose. I have made it easy for you to subscribe by providing both Newsgator and Bloglines subscribe buttons in the right column. Just click and it's done!

If you find you need some help, please do email me and I will do my best.

If you want more information on aggregators and RSS feeds, here are some links:

explanation on wikipedia

new google news reader

humongous list of aggregators

what is rss?

Posted by El Jefe on May 20, 2006 at 11:08 AM in news | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

May 18, 2006

Press Hit!

Twisted Oak is featured in this great article on Murphys, CA:

"Queen of the Sierra" by Christopher Caskey, Modesto Bee

Usually the feeling of being on vacation while living here passes after the first phone call, but hopefully you get my drift...!

Oh, and since this is my chance to clarify these things, my quote, "Some people wonder if it is going to turn into one big tasting room" should have been followed by, "but I think a lot of folks like being able to walk safely to so many good tasting rooms."

Or something like that...! - j

Posted by El Jefe on May 18, 2006 at 06:03 PM in news | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)