Wine Information

Kick Ranch Vineyard and Wine Bloggers Conferencing

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I’m attending the first annual North American Wine Blogger Conference in Sonoma County. The event has attracted 170 wine bloggers and we have been wining and dining from the get go. The opening event was a wine tasting and lunch held in the vineyards at the beautiful Kick Ranch Vineyards.

Kick Ranch is located in Sonoma’s Rincon Valley at the foot of Spring Mountain off Calistoga Road. It is a spectacular plot of vineyards with a great view of Sonoma County. Some very well-known wineries such as Paul Hobbs, Rosenblum, and Lynmar source their grapes from Kick Ranch. There are also a number of very small wineries, some just emerging, that have contracts with Kick Ranch.

Twelve wineries were represented at the luncheon, pouring wines all made from Kick Ranch vines. We enjoyed all the wines we tasted but a few were really impressive.

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Yosemite – Mixing Wine and Nature

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No, thank goodness there are no vineyards in the Yosemite Valley, but if you like wine and nature you can put the two together by attending the Vintners’ Holiday. This is a series of sessions with winemakers that takes place each year at the beautiful Ahwahnee Hotel in Yosemite Valley. We have attended the Vintners’ Holiday in the past and the event is well done and the package price is a very good bargain. This event has been going on for over 25 years and is always well attended and well received.

The Vintners’ Holiday takes place from November 2 through the first week of December.
Being in Yosemite during the fall and winter months is very special. There is a beauty in the Valley that brightens and rejuvenates the spirit. Put this together with fine wine and you have yourself a great getaway.

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The Tale of Two Harvests — Russian River Valley

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We have been here on Limerick Lane at the northern end of the Russian River Valley for three weeks. Our stay is over and we have witnessed an amazing frenzy of harvest activity the first ten days of our stay. Several days of over 100 degree weather ripened grapes, especially Zinfandel, almost all at once.

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Healdsburg — Best Wine Town in California

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We have been to all the great wine towns in California including Yountville, St. Helena, Calistoga, Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, Los Olivos, and others, but Healdsburg remains are favorite wine town by a wide margin. In the Russian River wine region, all roads lead to the town of Healdsburg.

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Wine Traveler at Family Winemaker Event

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There were 400 wineries represented at the Family Winemakers event held on August 23 and 24 at Fort Mason in San Francisco. On Sunday the media and trade were allowed into the pavilion from 12:30 to 2:00. It was nice and quiet during that time period and then at 2:00 pm came the masses. The public paid $45 to get into this event and they surely wanted to get their money’s worth.

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More Organic Wine Tasting

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Continuing to taste the organic wines I purchased at Whole Foods in their “Eco Friendly”wine section, we paired a Frey Vineyards Sangiovese and a Parducci Sustainable Red with herb roasted chicken with a pasta and vegetables. The Frey Vineyard Sangiovese is labeled an “Organic Wine”because it was made from certified organic grapes and no sulfites were added in the winemaking process. The Parducci was also made from organically certified vineyards but to better preserve the wine, sulfites were added. For this reason, the term “Organic Wine”cannot be placed on the label. However, it is allowable to put “Made from Organically Grown Grapes” on the label.

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Frey Vineyards Petite Sirah

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After attending the Commonwealth Meeting in San Francisco on “Wine: Sustainable, Organic, Biodynamic – What Does it All Mean?,” we purchased several bottles made by Frey Vineyards and Parducci Winery. Jonathan Frey of Frey Vineyards and Paul Dolan of Parducci were featured speakers at this Commonwealth Meeting. We found the wines at Whole Foods in … Read more

Wine: Sustainable, Organic, Biodynamic. What Does it All Mean?

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Last night we had the opportunity be present at the Commonwealth Club meeting in San Francisco to hear winemakers Paul Dolan, Jonathan Frey, and Phil Larocca enlightened us on this very popular and important topic in the wine industry today. Each of these three individuals is considered to be a pioneer in the field of … Read more

Paso Robles Wine Country: Our two day getaway

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Paso Robles Wine Country, August 19 to 21, 2003 The Paso Robles wine country is truly exciting. It is a vast wine region divided by Highway 101, with several different microclimates and grape growing regions that enable wineries to produce many different varietals of wine. We have visited the Paso Robles wine country several times … Read more