Frequently Asked Questions

As a subscriber, I would be happy to advise you about specific wineries to visit and I will arrange for private tastings. I can also recommend lodging and restaurants. The "On the Pinot Trail" section of the website provides extensive travel information and soon you will be able to download and print the information from a specific region to take with you on your travels. If you wish to offer any feedback about your experiences, please do so at the Feedback section of the home page.

Pinot Geek: Signifies an exceptional wine of great breeding and a highly recommended purchase. Pinot Value Glass: Signifies a very good or even exceptional wine that is reasonably priced for the quality. The Golden Geek and Chardonnay Value Glass are the Chardonnay counterparts of the Pinot Noir icons.

Please refer to explanation in the Wine Reviews section of the website home page.

There are two main reasons for this. First, an essential element in evaluating a wine is knowing what you are drinking. Second, I prefer to evaluate a wine in the same manner as the consumer experiences them.

Decanting can "open" a young wine, bringing forth the aromas and flavors and softening tannins. Many young Pinot Noirs will benefit from 1 to 2 hours of decanting. A rough general rule to keep in mind is that 2 hours in a decanter is equal to about one year of bottle maturation. You really can't do any harm by decanting a wine. The only exception is very old wines which lose their charm very quickly and should at least be tried first without decanting.

If there is a problem with content, email the Prince at prince@princeofpinot.com. If the problem seems to be a technical one with the website, contact the site webmaster, peter@princeofpinot.com. We usually respond within 24 hours.

Yes, with attribution to The PinotFile. Please confine usage to a specific wine review(s) or featured article on your winery.

Yes, and your visitor will get a bonus: a Winery PinotPass. When you place a link anywhere on your website that links to any place on the Prince of Pinot website, your visitor will be given free access to all articles mentioning your winery as well as all of the tasting notes in that article.

To take advantage of a Winery PinotPass, visit our Winery Directory and click the link for your winery. Look for "Link to this site" near the top of the page. The associated link will take you to a page specifically for your winery.

Contact the Prince by e-mail at prince@princeofpinot.com with any special information you wish to include and your winery listing will be added to the Winery Directory.

Contact the Prince by e-mail at prince@princeofpinot.com and the changes will be made promptly.

Send samples (preferably two bottles of each wine) with relevant tech sheets including case production and retail price to my wine locker at the following address:

Rusty Gaffney
The Wine Cellar Club, Inc.
17162 Murphy Ave., Unit A
Irvine, CA 92614
949-252-1828

Wines will be reviewed within 3 to 4 weeks and the reviews will be sent back to the producer and/or published in the PinotFile.