About Rutherford Dust The photo above shows a portion of the Rutherford AVA. The immediate vineyards in the photo are Cabernet Sauvignon, the signature varietal of the Napa Valley and the Rutherford AVA. Rutherford Dust refers to legendary winemaker André Tchelistcheff who said, “It takes Rutherford dust to grow great Cabernet.” Vineyard and winery owners … Read more
The state of Cabernet in the Napa Valley Veraison is well underway with red grape varietals. In these two photos we see the state of Napa Valley Cabernet as of July 17, 2014. The above photo shows vineyards in the St. Helena AVA, and in the photo below are vines from the Rutherford AVA. Most … Read more
About Bridlewood Estate Winery and winemaker Mark Williams Bridlewood Estate Winery is located in the Santa Ynez AVA in Santa Barbara wine country. It was purchased by the Gallo Family in 2004. We had the delightful pleasure of meeting Bridlewood Estate winemaker Mark Williams this last Sunday. Mark Williams has been the winemaker at Bridlewood … Read more
The Niner Estate in Paso Robles is one of the newer wineries in the Paso Robles wine country. It is high atop a hill overlooking Highway 46 West. The winery began operation in 2003, but it was not until 2009 that the tasting room and cellars were completed. The Niner Wine Estate tasting room and … Read more
Funny Wine Tasting Signage We have been traveling the wine country for more than forty years and have seen our fair share of funny wine tasting signage. We have a slew of photos and will post them from time to time on this area of the Website we have entitled “Wine Country Photo of the … Read more
About Cook in St. Helena Cook St. Helena restaurant is a favorite hangout with locals. Pop in for lunch or dinner and you are likely to be sitting next to one of Napa Valley’s star winemakers. The place is modest in size, seating 29 at tables and another 10 at the counter. Cooks St. Helena … Read more
About Casa Nuestra Winery in the Napa Valley We visited Casa Nuestra winery on Friday and had a lovely picnic lunch along with a glass of the very dry and crisp Casa Nuestra Rosado, made from Cabernet Franc. Casa Nuestra is a rather off-beat winery in the Napa Valley. The tasting room is small and cozy … Read more
About Copain Wines and the Daily Meal The Daily Meal, a popular online Website that covers “All Things Food and Drink” has published a list of what they consider to be the 101 Best Wineries in America. That is a tough job considering that there are over 7000 wineries in America. Nonetheless, for whatever it … Read more
About the concrete egg for fermenting and aging wine Concrete tanks in rectangular cubes for fermenting and aging wine have been in wide use in the old-world wine countries for ages. It is only in recent times that an oval-shaped concrete tank has come onto the winemaking scene. The oval shape means no dead corners … Read more
Robert Mondavi Summer Concert Series Music in the Napa Valley began Saturday evening with the first of the Robert Mondavi Summer Concert Series. This is the 45th year for this fantastic musical event. Once again the Preservation Jazz Hall Band led off the series on Saturday, June 28. All the concerts take place on Saturday … Read more