We’ve been supporters of the Historic Vineyard Society (www.historicvineyardsociety.org) for a long time. The work they do preserving and cataloging California’s old vine plantings provides an important service to our state’s heritage, especially when so many of these vineyards end up being replaced by more profitable grape varieties or become victims of real estate development….
When we were looking for our final winery to visit during our most recent trip to the Dry Creek Valley area, we really wanted a place that would be new to us and to our readers but at the same time be of extremely high quality. We think we did pretty well. Tim Bucher grew…
We were actually planning on visiting Bella Vineyards and Wine Caves back in 2017, but a fractured kneecap got in the way. Fortunately, we were finally able to rectify that and it was definitely worth the wait. Bella Vineyards is in the far reaches of the Dry Creek Valley. The scenic drive is beautiful –…
Dry Creek Valley has some amazing wineries. Some of the wineries are pretty large and offer multiple experiences with winery staff. But if you are looking for something more personal, there is nothing more personal than Frick Winery. Bill Frick’s wine journey started at the ripe old age of 7. Yes, you read that right…
As we were finishing up our tour of the deLorimier Winery property and winemaking facility, we had the great pleasure to meet with winemaker/owner Diane Wilson. Diane is in charge of winemaking at several of the eleven wineries owned by her and her husband Ken. At deLorimier, some of the winemaking duties are shared with…
We’ve opined in the past that, when possible, the best place to stay in wine country is at a winery. We recently wrote about staying at the Briar Cottage at Mazzocco in the Dry Creek Valley. This time we did it one better by staying at the guest house at deLorimier Winery in the Alexander…
We’ve been spending most of our wine country trips lately in northern Sonoma County, specifically the Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys. There is an abundance of wonderful wineries in these areas, with a great focus on some of our favorite varietals, such as Zinfandel and California Rhones, among others. First on our list this trip…
We received permission to share with our readers these insider deals from Wilson Artisan Wines to stay at two of their beautiful winery properties located in beautiful North Sonoma County. We’ve stayed at the Mazzocco Briar Cottage in Dry Creek Valley and loved it and are looking forward to staying at the deLorimier Guest House…
We recently wrote about a wine dinner at Tam O’Shanter restaurant featuring Carol Shelton Wines that we were unfortunately unable to attend. At the time, we had resolved to do our best to make it to the next wine dinner at The Tam, and that opportunity came sooner than expected when Tam O’Shanter paired up…
Zaca Mesa Winery just celebrated its 50th anniversary. That’s quite an achievement in this relatively young wine region. The land was purchased in 1973 by John Cushman and five of his friends. It was only the third winery in Santa Barbary County and served as the training ground for many winemakers who then went on…