Oregon Wine Country is a scenic and romantic destination for wine tasting. And fall is the perfect time to escape to the Willamette Valley. Every year at Thanksgiving, Oregon’s wineries host special events during the long holiday weekend. A number of wineries that don’t usually open their doors and cellars to the public welcome visitors…
New French oak, small production, dense California fruit, and an attentive, niche-savvy negociant. Is that enough to make great wine? What if we throw in some bandwidth? As consumers grow even more restless of their local liquor stores and opt-in to more mailing lists, wine clubs, and virtual megamarts, one company has decided to market…
If you live anywhere from San Jose to San Francisco, you may or may not know about a hidden gem up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Easily accessible from 101 or 280, Thomas Fogarty Winery boasts an amazing view of the peninsula. If you do know about us, then you are aware we also feature…
My family and I recently returned from Africa. The three of us visited South Africa, Zambia and Botswana and I’ll be sharing some of my stories and photographs from the road with Vagablond readers. It was an amazing adventure! CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA — This is a beautiful and dynamic city, with more mountains than…
It was just a matter of time. Nearly 5,000 top-end bottles of wine and champagne were auctioned yesterday from the Paris City Hall collection that dates back many decades. Auctioneer Dominique Giafferi mentioned that it was “the perfect cellar” because the vintage wines were kept at 54 degrees F with 87% humidity… impeccable wine storage…
Plungerhead. Used Automobile Parts. Hey Mambo. Mia’s Playground. Believe it or not, these are names of new wines from one of the oldest winemakers in Sonoma County. In fact, Don Sebastiani, patriarch of the 104-year-old Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery was once a Republican legislator. Now, he owns the 14th largest winery in America and hopes…
I’m blessed to live about 20 minutes from Viansa Winery in heralded Sonoma county. Located amid rolling hills reminiscent of Tuscany, this winery touts a huge Italian Marketplace that celebrates the marriage of fine wine and gourmet food. One of my favorites here is the Dark Chocolate Dolcetti, a rich chocolate syrup blended with Cabernet…
Squaw Valley, which put itself on the international ski map by hosting the 1960 Winter Olympics, is going to the dogs. Big time. Next weekend, September 16 and 17, from 11am – 5pm, the Village at Squaw Valley will host the Third Annual Art Bark Festival with FREE admission as a benefit fund raiser for…
Imagine a cafe with a 5,000-bottle, 20-ft. spiral wine tower. Sounds like a grape lover’s dream, doesn’t it? Seattle is now home to the third Puget Sound location of the Purple Cafe & Wine Bar, which opened in July on Fourth Avenue and University Street across from the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. My husband and I…
The Dutch make great beer, so I was surprised that they now also make a wine refresher just for women called Sophie & Sophie, a rosé sold in the small bottles shown here. Ingredients: • Wine (51%), • Dealcoholized wine (31%), and • Grape must (juice made from freshly pressed grapes,18%). Alcohol content is only…
Now I’ve seen everything. The Japanese, who have always had a fascination for robots, have created a two-foot tall “Winebot” that costs about what a new car costs. But this robot can supposedly taste wine by firing off a beam of infrared light from its left arm to a bottle of Shiraz, and tell you…
With the new airline ban on carry-on liquids, traveling wine lovers are faced with a dilemma. They want to buy their favorite vintner’s bottlings and them on board, but how do they do that legally? This recent article in USA Today offers some suggestions: • Put bottles in padded shipping cartons provided by wineries and…