The story of the Overshine Collective is a fascinating one. Former Google executive David Drummond had become familiar with and very fond of Healdsburg and the surrounding area, having visited it many times to enjoy his brother Ray Drummond’s performances in the Healdsburg Jazz Fest. Ray, an acclaimed jazz bassist, lived in New Jersey, so…
I’m always both thrilled and cautious when I have wine samples from a new-to-me winery to review. Today it’s samples from Hamilton Family Wines. I received a press release from their public relations agent – and a handwritten note from Greg and Lindsay Hamilton – ahead of the wine so I knew a few things….
A few years ago, we were scheduled to meet with winemaker Chris Barrett at the Pezzi King Estate. Concerns over inclement weather resulted in moving the visit to the Pezzi King tasting room in Downtown Healdsburg, which we wrote about here: Perlises Pick: Pezzi King Winery – Eve’s Wine and Spirits 101 Admittedly, at the…
When we visited the Dry Creek Valley last fall, we gave a full report on Mazzocco Sonoma winery and winemaker Antoine Favero along with our stay at its onsite Briar Cottage: Perlises Pick: Mazzocco Sonoma in the Fall of 2025 – Part 1 – Eve’s Wine and Spirits 101 Perlises Pick: Mazzocco Sonoma in the…
You may have seen Pedroncelli wines in wine stores. Those are tasty wines but they don’t begin to tell the whole story. Those wines you see in stores might be considered their workhorse wines, allowing this fairly small family-owned historic winery property to produce about 50,000 cases per year. Much of the grapes are purchased…
We spent Thanksgiving week wine tasting in Napa again this year, also adding in some time in Healdsburg in Sonoma County. It had been over ten years since I was in Sonoma, as Napa is my husband’s preference, but that has actually changed with this long-overdue visit for more than one reason. For one, the…
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…
When we first began going to the Dry Creek Valley about a decade ago, the very first winery in the area we visited was Mazzocco Sonoma and its winemaker Antoine Favero was the first winemaker we met in the region. The only problem with this being our first stop is that the bar was now…
Do you remember the movie Sideways, the comedy film set in Santa Ynez? Memorable for wine lovers was the time the two despicable pals spent wine tasting at the Hitching Post…and things changed forever. Fast forward to today, last week in fact, when Eddie and I spent the day in the Danish-themed town of Solvang,…
I usually stick to wine and spirits for review, rarely dipping my toe in the low and non-alcohol pool of drink choices. But, to change things up, and because a product piqued my interest, we have something new to review today: Wine Water. It is sparkling water blended with wine with no added sugar, vegan,…