With so many wonderful wineries in Livermore, it is a worthy challenge to check with even half of them on an annual basis. Only through rigorous planning and focus (yeah, right) that we are able to keep up with even a fraction of the new things happening with Livermore wine. We discovered that we were overdue visiting a perennial favorite: Nottingham Cellars!

With harvest complete, wine lovers start thinking about the wonderful new vintages to come. With these wines months or years away, the best way to deal with this anticipation is to visit some tasting rooms to sample their current releases. That is exactly what brought us to McKahn Family Cellars.

The day after Thanksgiving, known everywhere as Black Friday, is a shopping extravaganza without compare. Instead of fighting the crowds, we pursued a far more pleasant goal: visiting Dante Robere Vineyards to sample their latest wines.

A highlight of any wine club membership is the associated wine release parties. In fact, we typically choose our memberships based primarily on the fun factor of these parties. The wine matters too, of course, but the parties are a real benefit of club membership. A recent proof point was the fun (and delicious) wine club release party at Eagle Ridge Vineyard.

Exploring new wineries is an unrestrained joy! Livermore recently welcomed a new winery, and we couldn’t wait to check it out for ourselves. Here is our first visit to Embodied Wines:

With the vineyards shifting from green to yellow and red, one might think that the wine season is over. But to quote the late comedian John Pinette, “Nay, Nay!” The very next weekend featured a wine club party at Ruby Hill Winery! Party on, wine lovers:

Wine release parties can be a lot of fun. Wine release parties the combine great wine, fun people, live music, and a great vibe? That’s not to be missed. That’s why we rearranged our schedule to be sure to attend the wine release party at the Eckert Estate Winery.

A new winery releasing some new wines — what is not to like? We were thrilled to be invited to attend the recent release party at the Omega Road Winery.

So it was the “Bonus Monday” part of the Livermore Valley Harvest Celebration and we were ready for a change of pace. We had visited a dizzying number of wineries on Sunday, so we were ready to slow down and really savor a tasting experience. We dropped into the Cedar Mountain Winery and found just what we wanted!

Classics come in many forms. One particularly intriguing combination of classics is a mainstay in the Livermore wine scene, combining classic cars, classic wine, and classic tasting experiences. That’s right, we are talking about Cuda Ridge Wines!