For our latest trip to Paso Robles, my wife Karen told me that we really need to go to some new places. She opined that my readers were probably getting tired of reading about the same wineries over and over. Admittedly, I am a creature of habit, but I suspect her admonition was inspired as…
It’s been hit or miss for me to meet with L’Aventure winemaker/owner Stephan Asseo. Met him at a tasting event once and then missed him at his winery the next time. So when day #3 of the Paso Cab Collective ended and I got a text from writer Michael Cervin inviting me to come along…
The Vineyard Team is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving resources and promoting sustainable farming practices. Their Mission Statement: “The Vineyard Team will identify and promote the most environmentally safe, viticulturally and economically sustainable farming methods, while maintaining or improving quality and flavor of wine grapes. The Team will be a model for wine grape…
Last week I covered all things Justin during Earth Day weekend in Paso Robles. We now leave the vineyard tour and Farm to Fork dinner behind and take a peek at the Creekside Bed and Breakfast and a snapshot of the Earth Day Food and Wine main event. “Charm and Comfort” “Discover why the Creekside…
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…
Simply Wine Festival http://simplywinefest.com/ What started as a dream fairly quickly turned into an amazing reality. Martha Peretz and her team at Great Festivals Incorporated should be congratulating themselves for putting on a practically perfect extravaganza, the Simply Wine Festival, especially considering it was their inaugural event. Start with the venue itself, the Four Seasons…
Family Winemakers of California http://familywinemakers.org (FWC) is an organization dedicated to preserving the diversity of California wine and supporting family owned wineries. Anyone who produces wine commercially or who grows wine grapes can join, although membership is dominated by wineries with an annual production of less than 5,000 cases. These small wineries also get a…
Second Annual Sierra Pelona Valley Wine Festival http://www.sierrapelonavintners.com/ Do you know what an AVA is? It is the abbreviation for “American Viticultural Area”, which is an officially designated wine grape-growing region in the United States. Creation of a new AVA has to be approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau of the…
Were there really men over forty-years-old dancing in my family room to Eraserhead? (Or was it Tortoise Head or maybe even the more discerning, Porpoise Head?) Eddie’e CD collection from the eighties strewn across every available counter top? Middle-aged women discussing random acts of body piercing in my kitchen? An impromptu lecture on getting really…
DAOU Vineyards was next on our list of wineries that I had selected for Jordan and Natasha Siperstein. The DAOU staff welcomed us, as they do all of their guests, with open arms. Lisa Colwell (Assistant Tasting Room Manager) introduced herself and led us to a beautiful private tasting room that was set for a king. …