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You are here: Home / Archives for Carneros

The Vintner’s Daughter – Great escape book for wine lovers

May 29, 2015 by Joe Becerra

vintners daughter

A glass of Chenin Blanc from Vouvray is mandatory while reading “The Vintner’s Daughter”

Do you like wine, wine history, the Loire Valley, the Napa Valley, and a love story? This is an easy read book that is sure to please anyone who has a strong interest in wine.  Janelle first spotted this book at Books, Inc. The beautiful cover (designed by Alan Jones) is what first grabbed her attention, and once she started reading, she was hooked. Janelle and I do not always have the same taste in books but once she was finished with the Vintner’s Daughter, she said “You’ll really like this book.” Sure enough, it was right up my alley. The Napa Valley is practically in our own backyard. We have been to the Loire Valley on two occasions, so the book really made a connection with our wine travels. In fact, last October in the Loire Valley, we visited a very small winemaker and grower. He had just taken over the winemaking duties from his father at Domain de Veilloux.  This is just as the main character in the book wished to do.

In the Loire Valley in 1895, we are introduced to Sara Thibault, a lively and strong-willed young lady who helps her winemaker father with his Chenin Blanc vineyards near Vouvray. She develops an intense passion for wine: “Sara was born to make wine. Nothing else made sense.” Pholloxera takes hold in part of the family vineyard and the main wine merchant rates the wine poorly, hoping that he can drive the family into debt and then buy the land cheaply. A double tragedy ensues, and Sara and her sister Lydia flee to New York and experience the difficult life of immigrants in turn-of-the-century Manhattan. Sara does everything in her power to make her way to the Napa Valley and pursue her dream of making wine. She’s destined to cross paths with her old neighbor, Philippe Lemieux, who has also come to the Napa Valley to become a winemaker. Love is in the air, but Sara’s past comes back to haunt her.

I enjoyed reading about the winemaking and vineyard issues. Many are the same as they are today. There are problems with workers, buyers, vine pests, and trade issues.  The vineyards that Sara gets involved with in the Napa Valley are actually in Carneros. I checked the Carneros Association Website and indeed there were vineyards in Carneros at that time. Bouchaine Vineyards in Carneros has vineyards that date back to the late 1800’s.

The author, Kristen Harnisch, will soon publish a sequel entitled, “The California Wife.”  Kristen indicated in an email that she’s available to Skype book club members who read her books. “The Vintner’s Daughter” is available at Amazon for about $14.  Check this link to Amazon:

Additional good books on wine and food

  • Best wine books
  • Best cookbooks for wine lovers

Filed Under: Carneros, Napa Valley, Wine Books Tagged With: Vintner's Daughter

Napa Valley Tidbits – Ovation TV and The Art Of: Wine Country

April 3, 2014 by joe

Ovation TV – The Art Of Wine Country

Ovation TV is available on most cable companies, i.e. Comcast, Uverse, and Direct TV. This Sunday evening Ovation will broadcast “The Art of Wine Country” at 7:30 p.m. ET. I checked out a couple of preview videos and it looks like an exciting show. I watched a clip of Napa Valley’s Gordon Huether and his amazing sculptures at the Artesa Winery in Carneros. In another clip, Chef Cindy Pawlcyn talks about the art of her vegetable gardening and its importance to the success of the food she serves at her restaurants.

Each weekly show, The Art Of Introduces viewers to “a new artistic medium explored through profiles of boundary-pushing artists. Focusing on the celebrated as well as the undiscovered, this series explores the creative process behind each featured art form and uncovers how and why these artists do what they do.” If you are a lover of wine country and art, tune in to The Art Of Wine Country.

To find the specific channel for viewing The Art Of: click on this link to the Ovation Website to find Ovation in the area where you live. Here is a preview of the show.

Gordon Hunter and Artesa

Yountville Hill winery stirs controversy

There is a proposal on the docket to build a winery atop the northwest area on Yountville Hill. It sounds like a massive undertaking. The plan calls for a 100,000-gallon production facility and 36,000 square feet of caves. Also proposed is a 12,800-square-foot admin and visitor center. This site is just north of the main town of Yountville and just above where Mustards restaurant is located. Prescott Ashe and Eric Sklar, the former owner of Alpha Omega, have filed the application. Wine Travelers to the Napa Valley wine country should be concerned. Yes, it looks like another wonderful winery to visit, but remember there are four wineries in this immediate area and who needs more congestion on highway 29?

Luxury Travel Package

For you, wine country travelers in search of more indulgence, The Plumpjack Group and the Carneros Inn have teamed together to offer “Plumpjack’s Ultimate Napa Valley Experience.” The itinerary includes:

• One-night stay in the Harvest Cottage at The Carneros Inn

• A tour and tasting for two people at PlumpJack Winery, CADE or Odette

• A six-course tasting menu for two at FARM from highly acclaimed Chef de Cuisine Andrew Budnyj

Starting rates for the “PlumpJack Ultimate Napa Valley Experience” begin at $1,285 plus gratuities. For booking or more information, please visit www.thecarnerosinn.com or call 707.299.4850.

Underground Cellars New Idea

Underground Cellars has beta tested for 6 months a very different concept for online wine sales. It has officially launched this week, and it’s a novel way for wineries to sell wine they might otherwise release to flash online wine sites or the big discount stores. Nothing could be more galling for a customer to purchase a wine at a winery and find it a week later at a deep discount at Costco or the like.

undergroundcellars

This is how this site is different from a flash sale site. For the winery: Underground Cellars negotiates with the winery to sell off inventory along with a small number of their current wines, library wines or even magnums. When the Underground Cellars customer buys say six bottles of this wine, that customer receives upgrades. Example, they may have purchased six bottles of the entry level wine but now they get an upgrade to a higher-priced bottle. That could be a $100 bottle of wine they receive at no extra cost. If you go to this page on Underground Cellars you might get a better visual of the this concept: How it works.

To entice wine shoppers to sign up for an account, the Underground Cellars has a giveaway for one lucky wine shopper. “Grand Sonoma Wine-cation,” where a lucky winner and their 3 guests will be flown out to wine country for an all-inclusive and unforgettable VIP wine country weekend (value of this is $10,000). Note: One should know that the value of the prize will always turn up as income on a 1099. Wow, what a surprise when you find out you will be paying state and fed tax to treat your friends!

For more information in the giveaway, go here:

Filed Under: Carneros, Wine News Tagged With: Art of wine country, Carneros Inn, Ovation TV, Plumpjack, Underground Cellars

Black Friday in the Carneros Wine Country

November 13, 2012 by joe

Forget about spending the day after Thanksgiving at your local shopping mall. Give yourself and your family a chance to unwind by taking in the sights and sounds of the Carneros wine country. From San Francisco, Oakland, the Peninsula or anywhere else in the Bay Area, it is an easy day trip to the Carneros region and there are many wonderful wineries to visit and things to do

Here are some great ideas to make your Black Friday Carneros trip a success:

Read More »

Filed Under: Carneros, Tasting Rooms, Wine News Tagged With: Black Friday, Carneros, Carneros Backroads, Larson Family winery

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