A 100 Point Webinar: Vinous, Phil Coturri and a Cast of a Thousand Sips

For awhile, I was binge watching wine webinars.

With the debut of VirtualWineEvents.com, it was easy.

Who could resist getting up close and personal from the anonymous comfort of one's boudoir with Michel Chapoutier, explaining his approach to terroir driven wines? Or fail to thrill as Elin McCoy revealed wines exemplifying Napa's newer styles?

The hits kept coming..."Master Sommelier Larry Stone [of Lingua Franca] Explores the Volcanic Landscape of Willamette Valley..."Masterclass on Organic and Biodynamic Wines with Britt & Per Karlsson"..."Heitz Cellar with Carlton McCoy"..."Rioja with Tim Atkin"...and on and on.

(Thank you to 67PallMall.com where most of these videos can be found. Note: though the videos are on YouTube, you must enter through the 67PallMall.com website to find them, as they have cleverly marked them as "unlisted" on YouTube so they do not appear in search results on YouTube. Is that just so clubby!)

At a certain point, I hit wine webinar fatigue zone and reverted to my previous programming - my real life - but made it a point to watch one last webinar: Moon Mountain wineries with Antonio Galloni and Phil Coturri, who has made the region an organic heartland for mountain grown Cabs.

And there they were - the gazillionaires and their highly prized blenders. The well heeled guys lucky enough to strike gold and spend their riches on Phil growing their grapes - and on the top tier talent to pick and press and age those purple globes into yielding their refined, subtle, thrilling flavors.

The history flowed, as did the camaraderie. Where else are you going to see screenwriter Robert Kamen egging former Disney chief John Lasseter about getting a case of wine? Or masters like winemakers Erich Bradley and Jeff Baker talking terroir? Or hear what happened the day Moon Mountain Vineyard caught on fire?

And at the center of his world, like a North-South Pole, was Phil Coturri, who persuaded these guys to let him rip soils, break boulders, and tap the volcanic treasures deep in the soils of Moon Mountain.

Galloni's new map of the Moon Mountain AVA was originally supposed to be two sided, showing the Mayacamas and Mount Veeder on the opposite side, but that county line cut it into two - an artificial boundary that annoys everyone on Moon Mountain. On the other hand, for wine buyers, it cuts the price of world class Cab in half.

The map definitely sparks insights. I had never realized just how close B Wise is to Monte Rosa. Or exactly how related Amapola Creek is to it, as well. See for yourself in the map in the video which also reveals the soil types of each vineyard and what's planted in them, block by block. What it doesn't show you is the real place, which you'll have to see for yourself with your own two eyes.

I spent my 60th birthday on Kamen's estate deck and had been totally unprepared for what I would find. Cosmic? Panoramic? Sweeping? Words don't begin to describe it.

The Lasseters spoke about their new Trinity Ridge vineyard, too, and released their first Syrah from it this spring, too. Those mountain grapes don't come cheap - it's $125 a bottle.

So if you're looking for some engaging YouTube wine viewing, and a little more fun than the typical, technical "these are the soil types" webinar, tune in and drop down on Moon Mountain in this special bit of live theater.