If you’ve visited the Napa/Sonoma wine country lately, you’ve probably noticed that most of the wineries are now charging (sometimes hefty) tasting fees to try their wines, often standing elbow to elbow with a bus load of tourists, all jockeying for position. In scenic Healdsburg, the Mayo Family Winery has opened a second Sonoma County…
Want to make your own wine? Invest a few million in some rich soil in nearby Sonoma, Napa or Contra Costa County, plant your wine grapes, wait for them to mature, pick them at the height of ripeness, worry about birds and pests ruining your crop, crush them, put them in oak barrels, and wait…
A mere 1,000 years ago, giant flightless birds called moas inhabited the islands of New Zealand. There were more than a dozen species of moa and the largest of these may have weighed more than 200 kilograms and stood 2 to 3 meters high. The different species of moa probably became extinct at different times,…
What’s your number one favorite wine or your top 10? Do you prefer Sauv Blanc or Cab Sauv? Chard or Sparkling? Pinot Noir or Merlot? Zin or Petite Sirah? Or perhaps you like another blend? After tasting thousands of wines during 2006 from California, Oregon, Washington and Idaho, The Chronicle was able to hone its…
It started as a wine appreciation club in Boston for and by African American women. Now they have their own wine, as the #1 hottest small brand –– the Mendocino Wine Company — has blended Divas Uncorked Chardonnay so sisters who sip can “uncork your inner diva.” It’s now on sale for $13/bottle and has…
Just got an email from Site59.com featuring last-minute weekend getaways with savings of up to 70% on wine stomping activities from the US to Europe. Deals that you can customize from your home city include: • Maui; • California; • New York; • Paris (France, not TX); • Texas (San Antonio, not Paris), and more….
I’ve bought $100 bottles of wine and $10 bottles. Mostly the latter. But to some, $500 for 25.6 ounces of fermented grape juice and yeast is a price well worth paying. These are the “baseball card collectors” of wine who buy some to save, some to trade and some to sell. According to an article,…
Do you feel that each summer is getting hotter than the one before? Well, global climate experts at the National Academy of Sciences are predicting that California’s $2.9 billion wine industry could be in jeopardy by the end of the 21st century because of continued warming affecting grape crops in Napa, Sonoma and Santa Barbara…
Whether you’re grilling beef burgers, turkey burgers, chicken or hot dogs this Fourth of July weekend, you’ll probably wish you had some patriotic domestic wine to go with them. Read “California bottles spark fireworks,” from the SF Chronicle that suggests a number of low-priced California wines, from 2005 Mirassou Monterey County Riesling ($10) to NV…
We’ve got legs and we know how to use them. That’s the bottom line on a taste-off yesterday of California wines vs. French in a cross-continental contest of wines that have matured for three decades. The occasion was 30th anniversary of May 24, 1976, , AKA “The Judgment in Paris” or the “slosh heard round…
Vintage wine, fine cuisine and classic car afficionados can all enjoy a few days at the races as the 20th Anniversary Jaguar Wine Country Classic zooms into Sonoma on June 3rd and 4th. Your ticket includes a souvenir program, entry into the COPIA Wine Coutnry Pavillion and the chance to see 300 of the finest…