Go on the website for Crawford Family Wines and you will see photos of a family that look torn from a fashion catalog…surely they can’t be that good-looking and produce amazing wines. But, they are and they do. In fact, the quick snap I took of winemaker and family head, Mark Horvath, during our group…
I just had a very nice tasting with a female vintner new to me – and I bet new to most for making wine here and in Bordeaux? Really? Read on as all will be revealed after the tasting. Tasting RareCat 2014 Grenache Rose “Brigitte”, California (East Napa Valley, sourced near Davis) $24 With a…
It is rare to go to a major tasting event and have one winery, one family’s story about how they came to make their wines and why they make what they do, stand out long after actually tasting their wines. As tasting events go, the Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles is simply fun. Smallish, intimate…
Earlier this year, in a vast hall in downtown LA called the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, the growers and vintners of the newly-designated Malibu AVA came together to fight for their futures. The County Board of Supervisors was voting to decide whether the Coastal Commission’s ruling that no new vineyards be planted or expanded…
Now and then I actually write about wine. Well, take that back, I go to a blind Syrah tasting, hosted by my friends in the Santa Clarita Vintners and Grower’s Association, ask them to take down notes and send them to me. So this really is a wine review column, but not just from a…
To provide a little change during this trip to Paso we decided to visit new wineries that we had not tried. One winery that we visited just outside of Creston was Chateau Margene. I have had many Paso residents that know the types of wines that I enjoy recommend this winery; lucky for me we…
From the heart of the maguey, and the soul of the village, Del Maguey Single Village™ Mezcal presents a new arrival to its Special Cask Finish Series, Del Maguey Mina Group Blend, released in the USA exclusively for Mina Group, a San Francisco-based restaurant management company led by James Beard award-winning Chef and Owner Michael…
The tasting room at Hammersky Vineyards and Inn is currently sharing samples from their all Estate 2010 vintage: four reds, and then a second line called Naughty Princess. Right away I was wondering about that second label, and owner/wine blender Doug Hauck said that he designed the line for his dental office staff that wanted…
Dating back to antiquity, most of what is now the Republic of Macedonia was known as the Kingdom of Paeonia. The peoples who inhabited these lands were primarily of Thracian stock. In 356 BCE, Phillip ll of Macedon took control of Paeonia. Under his reign, King Phillip not only brought in Greek culture, the tradition…
The Balkans are an ancient land that has given rise to such heroes as Orpheus and Spartacus. Since the Iron Age, some 3500 years ago, Thracians have long dominated Bulgaria and developed it into a mighty kingdom. The Thracians, legendary warriors of antiquity, were ready, willing, and able to hold their own against any foreign…