Ian Blackburn of WineLA (formerly Learn About Wine) has done it again – rallied a stellar list of wineries to offer samples of their latest vintages at this year’s Stars of Santa Barbara event, once again held at the prestigious Peninsula Beverly Hills Hotel. (Watch the event in a slide show here.) STARS also included…
Nearly 300 pages of continuing education, that’s how I saw this book. I took diligent notes through to page 180 (below) of key items that I thought would be of interest to wine 101ers. The second section of the book, however, was very subjective as Bonné covered many popular California grape varietals, and growing areas,…
PINE MOUNTAIN CLUB, CA – Leave your troubles behind and travel to an oasis – only an hour or so north from Los Angeles. Pine Mountain Village, at the crest of the 5-freeway, has a unique venue that wine, beer, food and music lovers have enjoyed attending for more than a decade: Wine in the…
Getting ready to hit the road for a weekend in Santa Ynez and Lompoc wine country I did what I always do: I asked Facebook friends where to eat. Once on my weekend, with plans for a picnic with one winemaker and at least one dinner at Hitching Post II I was looking for more…
The middle of June 2015 was truly a wine-soaked weekend in the Los Angeles area, with Wine in the Pines on Saturday, June 13th at Pine Mountain Club followed on Sunday, June 14th by the Ojai Wine Festival. First – Wine In The Pines The annual Wines In The Pines festival was started in 2003…
Pioneering Santa Barbara-based vintners Stephen and Cathy Pepe have announced that they have entered into a long-term partnership with WALT Wines, a St. Helena-based specialist in vineyard specific Pinot Noir from California and Oregon. The 29-acre winery and vineyard was founded in 1994 on Highway 246, just 8 miles east of Lompoc, CA. “My wife…
A Favorite from the Lompoc Ghetto, Arcadian will Feature Five Wines from the Collection to Pair with the Four Course Tuscan Dinner WHO: Executive Chef Hugo Vasquez, Wine Director Emily Johnston of TOSCANA, and Winemaker Joe Davis, Arcadian Winery WHAT: TOSCANA welcomes Joe Davis of Arcadia Winery, who will introduce wines from their exceptional winery…
Wine and Fire – probably one of the best wine tasting events. Terry and I went with four of our friends, Jim and Pat Hansen and Diane and Allen Eggers, to Lompoc for the Grand Tasting at Wine and Fire in August. (Here’s some of us there.) I’ve never been to Wine and Fire before,…
During a recent trip to the Lompoc Ghetto (see story in the Oct/Nov issue of Elite magazine) the first ghetto room owner that I interviewed, with 30 years of experience in the wine business, was Antonio Moretti. Moretti said that he “moved here for the wine that is produced here,” with a special nod to…
Writing about wine tasting sometimes doesn’t always leave a lot of room for other important things, like where we dined and where we laid our heads at night. This article will cover that part – something very important to travelers whether wine is involved or not. For this trip, to the Lompoc Wine Ghetto and…