CARMEL VALLEY, Calif. — The 2025 growing season in Monterey County can best be described as a Goldilocks vintage, not too hot, not too cold, but perfectly balanced. With only a handful of brief warm spells, this year recalls cooler, classically elegant vintages such as 1998, 1999, 2010, and 2011, years celebrated for their finesse and…
The San Francisco Chronicle named Morgan Twain-Peterson and Tegan Passalacqua their co-winemakers of the year for 2015. Why does this matter, you may ask? Typically, we don’t pay too much attention to these kind of awards. But since Morgan and Tegan are two of our very favorite winemakers (Morgan for Bedrock Wine Company and Tegan…
Visiting Monterey County Wine Country can present some challenges. The area is huge and getting to wineries can result in a lot of driving time. Fortunately, many wineries have established tasting rooms in and around Carmel, often several miles away from their winemaking facilities. Morgan Winery is one of these. While the winery itself is…
The term “embarrassment of riches” is often overused, but it is hard to come up with a better descriptor of the dining options on the Monterey Peninsula. Just the Lighthouse Avenue area of Pacific Grove alone has a dozen or so choices. Here are a few that we enjoyed. Max’s Grill is on Forest Avenue…
SAN FRANCISCO — California wine lovers don’t have to choose between visiting the Golden State’s majestic parks and touring its diverse wine regions. That’s because many of California’s national and state parks are located within or near some of the world’s most famous winegrowing areas. What could be better after a morning hike in the woods than a relaxing afternoon…
NYIWC Winners from CA in 2021 Aimee (Morgan Hill, CA) Gold medal: Petite Sirah- Region lll 2017 Silver medal: Cabernet Sauvignon 2017 Silver medal: Bollicine 2019 Bronze medal: Petite Sirah- Region V 2017 Individual award: Napa Petite Sirah Winery of the Year Benson Marketing Group (Napa Valley, CA) Gold medal: Vermouth di Torino Blair Estate…
From WineLA.com: A Cabernet showcase, bringing the best producers to Los Angeles…meet the owners, winemakers, and executives and taste over 100 top quality cabernet wines…held at The Peninsula Beverly Hills, a 5-star and 5-Diamond property. This is the 10th anniversary of the Stars of Cabernet grand tasting event expertly orchestrated by Wine LA’s founder Ian…
How many times have we covered STARS of Cabernet? A bunch. But why do we cover the same event year after year? Because year after year there are ALWAYS new wineries to discover, new vintages from old favorites and a bunch of wine-loving friends that we’ve made over the years that we get to see…
CARMEL VALLEY, Calif. — Winemaker Josh Ruiz insists he began bottling hard cider out of necessity. So naturally, he believes it’s necessary that we drink it. The longtime owner and vintner at Twisted Roots Wine has branched out (literally) into fermented apples, culminating in the birth of Twisted Roots Hard Cider. Ruiz and his wife…
I did the Carmel-by-the-Sea Wine Walk three years ago. At that time I stayed in nearby Monterey. What a difference not driving makes! Free to finish a taste and not pour out everything, I still split my tasting with my husband Eddie, but this time I enjoyed visiting MORE tasting rooms: We started at the…