There is so much to love about summer! One of our favorite summer activities? Wine club release parties, of course! The great weather lets a winery really spread out the tasting stations, which helps with the crowd. Ruby Hill Winery’s club parties are VERY popular, so the addition space makes their summer parties truly amazing!
The Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association hosts an annual festival of food and wine called Taste Our Terroir, which highlights the very best of the Livermore Valley’s unique wine and food scene. This multi-day event kicks off with a food and wine pairing competition that really gets the creative juices flowing!
They say that in wine there is truth. Is there also wine in art? Pinot’s Palette in Livermore celebrated their Grand Opening last Friday, and we were invited to unleash our inner artist!
The Oakland wine scene is vibrant and growing. One recent addition that is getting a lot of attention is Oakland Crush. Fine wine in a fine setting, this is definitely a wine shop worth exploring.
So how do you pamper Dad on Father’s Day? The restaurants are jammed, the highways are parking lots, and even the wineries are over subscribed. If you are a Wine Tasting Bliss family, the answer is obvious: stay home and put on a vertical wine tasting! What more could Dad ask for, surrounded by family while enjoying wonderful wine!
The Livermore Valley has an ever-growing roster of wineries, benefiting from a climate that supports a wide range of grape varietals. Look hard enough, and one can find nearly every style of wine represented. The Rhone style of wine raises the complexity bar a bit, but Richard Dixon, owner/winemaker at Les Chenes Estate Vineyards is up to the challenge!
Darcie Kent Vineyards is known for fine wines, a beautiful tasting room, and fun wine club parties. A recent special event showed yet another reason to visit: a free concert on the lawn! To start off the 4th of July festivities, Darcie Kent Vineyards hosted a concert by The Novelists. A bit of research on the internet let us know that this band had skills, so we made our plans to attend. It turned into an amazing evening!
Talk winemaking and wineries in Livermore, and before long Earl and Linda Ault and their Cedar Mountain Winery come into the conversation. One of the founding families of the Livermore wine scene, they started their winery in the ’90s and were a source of inspiration and advice to the dozens of winemakers that followed them into the region. After pouring wine for decades from their Tesla Road tasting room, they relocated several miles east to Reuss Road. We recently had the chance to check out the new tasting room and catch up on their new releases!
A week ago, we enjoyed a tasting at Leisure Street Winery, a newcomer to the Livermore wine scene. During that visit, we noticed that a second winery shared the address, with a distinct and separate tasting room. Intrigued, we investigated a bit and learned that McKahn Family Cellars was even newer to the area than Leisure Street Winery! Since McKahn did not pour on most Fridays, we promised ourselves that we would return soon. When it comes to visiting wineries, we tend to keep our promises!
Painting while drinking wine: both fun activities, and I’m pretty good at one of them. It seems that I’m not alone, though, because a franchise called Pinot’s Palette is successfully launching locations across the country. A new location is about to open, right in the middle of Livermore wine country!
Naming a winery can be challenging. Many of the “good names” are already taken. Winery names can be inspired by family names, pets, local history or local points of interest. Sometimes the answer is easier, though, like when your winery is literally located on Leisure Street.