Very soon, two of our favorite things, wine and chocolate, come together for a weekend of pairing bliss. Get excited, because the Lodi Wine & Chocolate Weekend is almost here!

Gertrude Stein said that “A rose is a rose is a rose.” It turns out, though, that a Pinot Noir is not exactly a Pinot Noir or a Pinot Noir. We spent an evening learning about some of the many clones of Pinot Noir. Let the battle begin!

As the harvest season come to an end across wine country, the best way to maintain our happy glow is to focus on the coming holidays. That brings us to our favorite way to welcome the coming season: Livermore’s Holidays in the Vineyards.

The days of sweating through your sundress are over for the year, and it’s officially fall in California wine country. Luckily for us, it never gets too chilly, and we can still have fun with our outfits! Every time I go wine tasting, I’m almost as excited to dress up as I am to taste some delish new wine. Think about it: almost every borderline clothing purchase can be justified by saying, “Eh, I can wear it wine tasting on the weekend or something.”

Autumn has come to Lodi, so it is time to celebrate some Spanish inspired wines! Mark your calendars, Tempranillo Weekend is coming!

An upcoming event has us very excited: the Food and Wine Affair along the Wine Road of Northern Sonoma County. What a perfect way to recover from eating too much Halloween candy!

When wine tasting, a lot of time is spent savoring the aroma, the appearance, the flavors, and the finish of the wine. Often, though, very little thought is given to the impact of the wine glass on every aspect of the wine tasting experience. We recently learned more on this subject through a guided exploration of Riedel wine glasses.

Grüner Veltliner may not be a name on the tip of the tongue of the average wine lover, but there is quite a bit to like about this somewhat obscure varietal. Growing in popularity around the world, here’s what you should know about this potential rookie of the year:

An upcoming fundraiser combines chef Tyler Florence and winery chef Jeff Mosher to present a multi-course dinner paired with Robert Mondavi wines. Following the meal, there will be a private screening of Tyler’s film Uncrushable, a documentary on the wine country communities affected by last year’s wildfires. Some of the proceeds will go to fire relief. That’s a pretty great night!

It is not often that one can go into a hotel to reserve some rooms and leave with wine! That is exactly our experience when we recently visited the hotel Posada de San Juan in beautiful San Juan Bautista.

Labor Day Weekend means just one thing to Livermore wine lovers: the Harvest Festival. With so many wineries offering special tastings, live music, food, and crafts, the only problem is deciding which winery to visit next! Here are some memories from our sampling of the Festival.