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…
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…
To keep myself busy while caring for my injured-yet-again spouse, satisfied more by angry single malt Scotch than the doctor prescribed Vicodin, I called Tanya Green, the new owner of Wine 661 to find out what new things they are offering the SCV wine drinking public, myself copiously included. Okay Tanya, I have been to…
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…
Not knowing what I was going to write about this week for Beaconeers I pondered…over a bottle of 2002 Summers Napa Valley Zinfandel from the Villa Adriana Vineyard, the last bottle from a case we brought home after tasting and picnicking there. Then, after being greeted by a blast of flavor, I had my column. …
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…
In this, the second annual Cab Collective, now called the Paso Robles Cab Collective, the media was given a multi-day schedule. I planned on resting my head for two nights at the Hammersky farmhouse, after days that would be spent doing barrel tasting of the 2013 vintages, vintner panel discussions, library tastings, interviewing winemakers over…
Last Friday night we let our 14 year-old daughter terrorize the mall with her friends from 5-6pm. We figured one hour was not enough time for Paul Blart mall cop to drag them by their heels over to us at the wine bar. (Thrilling being a parent in SCV isn’t it?) Anyway we settled in…
There were more food, wine, lifestyle vendors and appreciative guests this year, in only its second time around, at Reyes Winery for the Sierra Pelona Valley Wine Festival last weekend. While VIPs were given early access and other perks, every guest seemed to be feeling the VIP treatment with unlimited access to both commercial and…
Well, it’s the time of the year where wine tasting events pop up all over California, covering all kinds of grape varietals. Some are wide spread, but others are more focused, like Rhone Rangers (French Rhone varietals), ZAP for the Zinfandel lovers and then a number of events for the fans of Pinot Noir (Pinot…