Wine Information

The Town of Mendocino – Want to really get away?

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Our first trip to the town of Mendocino was way back in 1969. Since then we’ve traveled to this town perhaps as many as 30 times. Each time we arrive in the town, we marvel at the sameness of the place, just as it was on our first trip there. Time seems to have ceased … Read more

Medlock Ames Winery Bell Mountain Ranch

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The tour and tasting is done in a small group; there were six of us on our tour. Our host was Colin Sinclair and he welcomed us with a refreshing glass of Sauvignon Blanc.

The Emerging Amador Wine Country

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A look at Amador Wine Country

image of Amador wine country
Wineries on Steiner Road in Shenandoah Valley

We have been traveling to Amador wine country in search of wine, food and other delights since 2001. We have always enjoyed this wine region for these reasons: The wines are very good and affordable. The majority of wineries are very small and family owned. The backroads are beautiful, lined with vineyards, oak trees, and grasslands. It is a quiet wine country with few crowds and little traffic. We love the Napa Valley and Sonoma, but sometimes you need something a little more down-to-earth, less chic and swanky.

On our last few visits to this region, we’ve seen signs that the sleepy Amador wine country is beginning to emerge as a popular destination spot. For folks who love this hidden wine country, this may not be a good thing; but we are predicting that within five years, wine tourism will absolutely boom in this area. Here is why we think this will happen.

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Steven Kent Mirassou Talks Cabernet

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His mission as a winemaker at Steven Kent is to make “the best Cabernet Sauvignon wine and Bordeaux Blend in the world.” He is not slightly hesitant about his commitment to accomplish this lofty goal.

Lake Chelan Wine Country

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You undoubtedly know about the fine wines coming out of the state of Washington. Walla Walla, Washington, is the center or gateway to the Washington State wine country and that is where most people vacation when touring the wineries of Washington. Lake Chelan wine country is an altogether different venue for wine tasting tourism. The … Read more

Santa Barbara Wine Country Travels

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We spent the entire day traveling the Foxen Canyon Wine Trail and visiting five wineries on this route. The first very thing we did was purchase a picnic lunch in Los Olivos at the Panino Deli.

Santa Barbara Wine Country

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It’s been too long since our last extended visit to the wonderful Santa Barbara wine county, so we decided to spend an entire week in this beautiful region. We rented a gorgeous home in the wine town of Los Olivos with two other couples who love wine and wine country just as much as we … Read more

Santa Cruz Mountains wine country

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Our first stop was at La Nebbia Winery on Highway 92, a stone’s throw from the Pacific Ocean, and very close to the main drag in Half Moon Bay. La Nebbia is one of the few wineries that offer “bottle your own” events throughout the year. They also have a Bocce Court for your enjoyment. Check the La Nebbia Website for the remaining seven Saturdays for “Bottle and Cork Day.”

Winery Bocce – Just Play it!

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image of Bocce at a winery
Winery Bocce
Several years ago I unofficially declared May as “Winery Bocce Month.” So with May just a few months away, it is now the time for you to start planning your own Bocce tournament at a winery. You and your wine friends will have an absolutely wonderful time in wine country, centered around a friendly Bocce competition. In May we will host our Ninth Annual WCG Bocce Tournament. We have 8 couples who play. We make it a two-night affair in wine country. We have so much fun that throughout the year we recall many happy moments from our Bocce games.

How to Organize a Winery Bocce Tournament

Select friends who like drinking wine, like to party, and are competitive. Bocce takes just five minutes of practice to learn how to play. At our level of play, most of it is luck anyhow.

Find a Bocce court to play on and start small
We started out playing at the Larson Family Winery in Carneros. There were just 4 teams the first year. We only needed one Bocce court to complete a double elimination tournament. We stayed over that night in the Napa Valley and had dinner together at Don Giovanni’s. Over the next few years our Bocce Tournament grew to eight couples, a round robin schedule, and the need for four Bocce Courts. We stay two nights and plan social activities around the Bocce tournament. Here is a complete listing of wineries in California that have one or more Bocce Courts. Find one to your liking and call to discuss your plans with the winery.

bocce court at Armida
Single court at Armida Winery

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Trends in Wine Tourism

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We were delighted to attend the Wine Tourism Conference last month held at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa. We met a lot of new people in the wine industry, as well as some new winery owners, winemakers and wine bloggers. We especially appreciated the intimate settings of the winery dinners offered as pre-conference visitations.

The Wine Industry Panel discussed the increased interest in visiting wineries in Southern Oregon, the state of Virginia and the Paso Robles wine region of Central California.

We learned that New York’s Finger Lakes is one of the fastest growing wine regions in the country. After having met author Evan Dawson at the European Wine Bloggers’ Conference in 2011, we read his book “Summer in a Glass,” which is a very personal look at winery owners and winemakers in this upstate wine region. We definitely have added that area to our “wish list” of future wine travel.

Wine Tourism in the Finger Lakes wine country
A great read on the Finger Lakes wine country

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