April 17th is an under-appreciated day. A few days past tax day, but there isn’t much else to savor. Until you consider that the 17th of April is officially Malbec World Day! Now that is something to celebrate!

Cupertino is the heart of Silicon Valley, famous as the birthplace of technology giants. It does, however, have more than computers to offer. The Chamber of Commerce and the Historical Society recently celebrated another point of pride: their winemakers!

Regular visitors to the Bliss recognize that most of our wine tasting takes place in Northern California. This is not much of a limitation, given the incredibly diverse range of wines to be celebrated. It is quite exciting, though, to venture out of our own backyard and experience the wines of other regions. Today’s focus: Burgundy France!

In the beginning, there was no Champagne. Well, there was a PLACE called Champagne, but there was no bubbly known by that name. Through happy happenstance, wine makers in the Champagne region of France mastered the art of producing sparkling wine and everything changed. But what is the deal with all of the different terms for wine with bubbles?

We love discovering new wineries, especially the less well-known, smaller ones. We rarely venture too far from home, but we were recently treated to an introduction to quite a few European wineries — without leaving California!