Like most retail businesses, the winery business is very quiet after Christmas. While that is tough on the wineries, it is an excellent chance for all of us to enjoy wine tasting in a quieter, more relaxed environment. Less waiting also means that we can fit more fun into our day. So that’s what we […]
One of the many wonderful things to came out of our Christmas was a lovely gift membership in a Wine Club. Our son and daughter-in-law very thoughtfully gave us this gift so that our blogging horizons might be expanded beyond California wines. Thanks to them, every month we will receive two wines from K & […]
Readers of this blog know that we visit Eagle Ridge frequently. The wine matches our palette perfectly, and the tasting experience is always relaxed, fun and informative. We’ve been wine club members for years, and its been fun to watch winemaker Jim experiment with different formats for his wine release events. The latest release featured […]
Wonderful husband of mine got us reservations at Michael Chiarello’s Bottega, so we crossed the valley to Washington Street in downtown Yountville. There we stopped at Cornerstone Cellars, sister-wine to Stepping Stone Cellars, at 6505 Washington Street. Cornerstone Cellars offers 5 tastes for $15, which starts with their 2012 Napa Valley Riesling, Stepping Stone. […]
One of our favorite events in the run-up to Christmas is the “Holidays in the Vineyards” weekend in the Livermore valley. Many of our favorite wineries have special decorations, craft booths, music and food. We spent a fun Sunday visiting as many wineries as we could, taking in all of the sights — and tastes […]
Down a vine- and tree-lined driveway, one comes upon a beautiful stone building that holds the tasting room and more for Signorello Estate at 4500 Silverado Trail in Napa. The proprietor is Ray Signorello, Jr., holding to his father’s dream of quality winegrowing. We were greeted by Nathalie, pourer extraordinaire, who has an enchanting […]
Walking into Hagafen Cellars at 4160 Silverado Trail in Napa is delightful. The buildings are fronted by plantings of flowers and artwork, the latter created from upcycled forks, tools, etc. The owners and vintners are Ernie and Irit Weir. They have established a family-run, sustainable Green Winery – solar-powered, certified organic, with the handsomest of […]
Because of living in the Tri-Valley area, I spend a lot of time at Livermore Valley wineries. Wonderful! Yesterday, my husband (John) and I bumped ourselves off our usual Tesla track and up into the Napa Valley to see what the Christmas season was looking like a bit north of us. Since Napa has a […]
Since many of our clan have endured working retail jobs, we are honor-bound to skip the “Black Friday” sales and participate in other traditions of the season. For us, of course, that usually means wine tasting. This year was no exception. A Distillation Column Our first stop was to the Eckert Estate Winery. The Eckerts […]
In many parts of the country, November brings snow storms and the natural urge to nest. Happily, Northern California offers a different November experience. The days are cooler, yes, but hitting 65 degrees on a sunny afternoon makes for some wonderful wine tasting. Here is how we spent a recent Sunday afternoon. We started our […]
As fans of the Cedar Mountain Winery, we were a bit sad when Earl and Linda Ault sold their property on Tesla Road. We had a lot of good times there, even an amazing wedding! But change is constant, even in wine, so we were excited to see Darcie Kent Vineyards open on the Cedar […]