Wine Club Appreciation Weekend is a big deal along California Route 116 in the Russian River AVA near Santa Rosa, California. The concept is simple: any member of a participating winery receives, for this one weekend, membership privileges at ALL participating wineries. An incredible way to learn about new wineries! Step one: check in at your club winery. For us that meant another fun visit to Balletto Vineyards.
Making wine is a complex blend of art and science. No visit to Monterey Bay is complete without a visit to Blue Fox Cellars, a shining example of blending these elements to produce amazing and unique wines.
Monterey Bay is known for its incredible aquarium and Cannery Row. Not to be missed, however, is equally wonderful winery scene. Our first winery of the day: the Carmel Ridge Winery.
It was a beautiful spring day in Livermore, and we were enjoying some of our favorite Vasco Road wineries. We had time for just one more tasting, and we were excited to learn about the new wines at Occasio Winery.
Livermore has so many fun and growing wineries! Keeping up with them is a challenging and rewarding activity, requiring focus and stamina. A goal that is well worth the dedication. We recently realized that our last visit to Nottingham Cellars was too far in the past. It was time for another visit!
It is great to see a new winery burst onto the wine scene. Even better when the winery gains recognition and respect for the quality of its wine. McKahn Family Cellars is a perfect example, serving great wine in their wonderful new tasting room. We returned to find out what was new!
One of the Livermore wineries successfully making the move from “rookie” to “established” status is Dante Robere Vineyards. Now fully settled into their beautiful tasting room and building a respected library of award-winning vintages, this winery is showing that they have what it takes to take their place among the premier wineries of Livermore.
Sometimes familiarity breeds neglect. Never was that as evident as our coverage, or lack, of our visits to Eckert Estate Winery. We love everything about Eckert Estates: the wine, the vibe, the people. That means that we visit quite a bit, but have somehow forgotten to write about their new wines for far too long!
Wine tasting has its own community of like-minded fans. Over time, connections are made that can lead to even more wine tasting fun. We had a recent example of “six degrees of wine tasting separation” when we received an invitation to attend a party at a new winery called Vidovich Vineyards. That was one great connection!
So 2018 was just around the corner and we had a shocking problem: not enough champagne! Always problem solvers, we voyaged north to Schramsberg Vineyards to avoid this potential apocalypse.
With 2017 drawing to a close, it was only appropriate to celebrate the new as well as the familiar in wine tastings once more before the new year. For a new tasting experience, we ventured into the Carneros AVA to visit Bouchaine Vineyards. What a great choice!