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…
The last time we visited Tobin James Cellars www.tobinjames.com was in 2012, when I had a great conversation with Toby that I wrote about here: http://evewine101.com/2012/07/07/michael-perlis-reports-tobin-james-cellars/ We’ve visited Paso Robles a few times since, but with so much going on there all the time, we had not stopped in to the always busy and fun…
In this, maybe my sixth visit to Del Dotto, I knew winemaker Gerard Zanzonico had a plane to catch so I suggested we skip the barrel tasting and limit ourselves to whatever he had in bottle. So what did he do? He pulled barrel tastings and put them in bottles for us to taste. The…
Of course, if you think about it, there is only one person that owns one wine bar that has had ten annual Halloween parties and ten annual Holiday Tasting events: Guy Lelarge and Valencia Wine Company. Read on to see what is new and what will, and never should, change at the VWC. First up…
When I’m in for the night with my husband, we often split a bottle of wine on our front porch at 5 PM Wine Time with just enough in our glasses to carry through our dinner. Fast forward a couple of hours later, we might be watching a movie with our daughter and my husband…
Making the most of my two-day Paso Robles media pass to cover the inaugural Cab Collective, I planned to attend four media events. However, arriving a wee bit early for the first, I stopped in to visit with Terry Hoage and taste some Rhones before the all-Cab/Bordeaux blends. During our interview, first with Terry and…
If you’re new to reading me I try and do these one-bottle-posts because I firmly believe that the time it takes to review a wine in no way compares to the time a winemaker takes in making said wine. That seemingly obvious statement is my way of paying due respects to any and all winemakers. …
Valencia Wine Company (VWC) hit its tenth year in business this year, and with it we’ve seen their location on Town Center as the continual bright light among other storefronts that have come and gone. And while the changing landscape could have daunted any business owner, Guy Lelarge just keeps on going. His most recent…
For some reason, when I mention Tobin James to certain wine people [snobs?], they turn up their noses. Why? I’m not really sure. Is it because Tobin makes wines for a wide range of wine lovers, at lots of price points? Or is it because people have fun in his tasting room? Or is it…