Wine Information

“The Spirit of the Man” Sculpture Exhibit at Paradise Ridge Winery

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This exhibit includes 34 sculptures from local artists as well as artists from other parts of the US. The pieces vary in size, color and style and are primarily abstract in nature.

Paradise Ridge winery – best sunset and sculpture

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Review of Paradise Ridge Winery

Great views, an amazing outdoor sculpture exhibit, and delicious wines is what the wine country visitor will find at Paradise Ridge Winery in the hills of Santa Rosa. We visited Paradise Ridge last Tuesday evening for a special winery dinner event. It is a fun spot and a destination where you can spend several hours; there is that much to do and see. A wonderful excursion!

The winery is located in a residential area in the northeastern hills of Santa Rosa. One would never know a winery is hidden in this modern housing tract. It is far off the beaten path of wineries and is the only winery in this area of Santa Rosa. There are few signs to guide you to the winery, so be sure to have your map in hand, pinpointing the winery on your GPS system to guide you.

Spirit of the man sculpture exhibit at Paradise Ridge
Spirit of the Man
The first thing that catches the eye is an amazing metal sculpture as you drive up the entrance to the winery. It is part of the exhibit “The Spirit of the Man.” Our next article on the Wine Travelers will give you complete details of this not-to-be-missed art exhibit. Once you park your car and head to the tasting room, you will be completely mesmerized by the view from the deck of the tasting room. You’ll have a great look at the vineyards below, the Russian River Valley, and the city of Santa Rosa. On Wednesday evenings during the warm weather months, the winery hosts an event called “Wines and Sunsets in Paradise.” Visitors pack their picnic dinners, savor Paradise Ridge wines, and enjoy the fantastic sunsets. We were lucky enough on our visit to witness one of the more spectacular sunsets at Paradise Ridge.

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Big Surprises at the Chilean Wine Tour

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With stops in Chicago and San Francisco to promote the wines of Chile, the Chilean Pro Wine Tour made a surprise announcement to those attending a seminar for the wine media. We attended this event in San Francisco on Tuesday, October 9, and learned that there is a new appellation law in Chile that divides the country’s wine regions vertically into three distinct viticultural areas. The law is so new that moderator Joshua Green, Editor of Wines & Spirits, stated, “Many in the wine community of Chile do not know about the new appellation law as yet.”

Costa, Entre Cordilleras, and Andes Appellations

The reason for the new appellations is that the old ones were too broad and did not benefit the consumer. The old wine appellations amounted to political areas, with little to do with the regions’ soil and climate conditions. As you can see on the Chilean wine map, the new appellations are divided from West to East. The Costa Appellation is influenced more by its marine climate of the Pacific Ocean and, in many areas of the coast, its limestone soils. The Entre Cordilleras zone is made up of the center valleys of Chile, where there are many microclimates and soil types. In general, the temperature range in this zone will be the highest of the three appellations. On the eastern edge of Chile, the Andes Appellation includes the vineyards that are on the slopes of the great Andes Mountain Range. In order for any bottle of wine to be labeled with one of these three appellations, 85% of the wine must be made from grapes from the new zones.

Chilean wine appellations, Costa, Entre Cordilleras, Andes Zone
The new wine map of Chile

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Count Agoston Haraszthy Returns

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On Sunday afternoon we had the pleasure of attending a wine tasting party in San Mateo at the office of the Honorary Consul General of Hungary, Eva E. Voisin, to announce Count Agoston Haraszthy’s upcoming 200th Birthday Celebration on September 1, 2012, in Sonoma. The Buena Vista wines that were poured were donated by Jean-Charles Boisset, the current owner of the winery.

Buena Vista Winery
Buena Vista Winery
As you may know, the Count is known as the “Father of California Viticulture” and the entrepreneur who founded Buena Vista Winery in 1857. The Count emigrated from Hungary in 1840 and was involved in various business ventures in Wisconsin, San Diego and San Francisco before settling in Sonoma. He spent years experimenting with many different grapevines he had imported from Europe.

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Wine Adventures in Hopland – Mendocino County

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Is the Hopland Wine Country on the rise? There are some interesting happenings in this little wine country town about 30 minutes north of Healdsburg. Janelle and I have been visiting Hopland at least once a year since 2000. We have seen the area go through its ups and downs, but on this last visit it looks like things could be jumping in Hopland.

The most notable change is the redo of Lawson Station Hotel by husband-wife team Gary Breen and Anna Beuselinck. They have reopened the hotel, which was closed shortly after it opened in 2007. The hotel, including its restaurant, has been given a facelift and the new digs are called Piazza del Campovida. Full operation is set to go any day now.

Gary and Ann also purchased the Fetzer Valley Oaks Center that has been closed to the public for at least five years. The new name is Campovida, and the grounds and tasting room are first class as are the Rhone wines produced here. Gary and Anna are hoping Campovida will not only attract a huge following of wine lovers but are also optimistic that it will become a popular venue for weddings and conference events. There is a set of cottages on the property that can accommodate folks for events and that is a big plus for the area. Campovida is located east of the town, about one and a quarter miles on Highway 175. Tasting room is open daily 11 to 5 pm. This is the perfect spot for a picnic lunch.

The Bocce courts at Campovida

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Harvest Film at Sonoma Film Fest and other Wine News

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The 15th Annual Sonoma International Film Festival is April 11 to 15. For you wine lovers and wine country enthusiasts, the festival will debut the film “Harvest,” a feature-length documentary that follows five Sonoma County family wineries and their experiences in the harvest of 2011. I have not seen the film but I have watched the trailer. It looks like a terrific documentary. I won’t be at the film festival, but I sure hope I have the opportunity to see this film later in the year at other venues. Check out the trailer.

Benziger Family and Earth Day
Benziger Family Winery will host a winery event and nationwide wine tastings to spotlight sustainable winemaking in commemoration of Earth Day. At the winery, the event is called “Earth Day at the Estate” and will be a wine tasting with Mike Benziger. The event will take place April 21 from 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Benziger Family Winery, 1883 London Ranch Road in Glen Ellen. The cost is $40.00 for Wine Club Members and their guests and $60.00 for the general public. Seating is limited. To reserve a spot call 800-989-8890 or email buywine@benziger.com.
Throughout Earth Week (April 22-28), select wine shops and stores nationwide will offer “green flights” of Benziger Family Winery’s award-winning wines at in-store tastings sponsored by the winery’s distributor, Kobrand Corporation. For a complete list of participating locations visit www.benziger.com/earthday. Profits from both events will go to supporting the land and the community of farm workers who tend it.

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Touring and tasting in Chianti Classico

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We spent three days in one of wine country’s most beautiful and exciting locations, Chianti Classico in central Italy. We visited several wineries and tasted perhaps as many as 70 different Chianti Classico wines from producers both big and small. Our tour and tasting was all part of the European Wine Bloggers Post Conference sponsored by the Chianti Classico Consortium. They wined and dined 30 wine bloggers as though we all were potential Robert Parkers. They rolled out the red carpet to impress, and that we were. We loved the wineries and producers we visited and had a most memorable time. We learned much about Chianti Classico, its wines, tradition, and its many characteristics. We begin a series of posts with some general information and background about Chianti Classico and its wines.

Chianti Classico wine country
One of the many splendid views in Chianti Classico

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Twisted Oak Winery – Zany Place

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Are you a Twisted Few or a Twisted Freak? These are the names of the two wine club offerings at the Twisted Oak Winery and this very much gives an idea of the fun and frolic at this twisted winery located in Calaveras County. The zaniest comes from owner Jeff Stai, who calls himself El Jefe. He has instilled an easy going, fun loving atmosphere at his winery in Vallecito and at a second location, a tasting room in the town of Murphys.

We ventured into the winery on a Wednesday morning. The winery in Vallecito is located on Red Hill Road. At the lower entrance, an unpaved road meanders through the vineyards up to the top of the hill to the tasting room and winemaking facilities. We mistakingly arrived about a half hour before the tasting room opened, but winemaker Brett Keller came to our rescue. He took us on a tour of the crushpad, the fermenting tanks, and then to the cave for a few barrel samples of aging wines. Brett Keller recently replaced Twisted’s former winemaker, Scott Klann, and it was interesting to hear how Brett will continue the legacy and add his own personal touches, one of which will be the production of an Albariño wine. We love that white wine and can’t wait to try the Twisted Oak version.

Twisted Oaks winemaker Brett Keller
Winemaker Brett Keller

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Which are the best wineries to visit in Paso Robles?

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We first posted our Paso Robles Wine Trails section on WineCountryGetaways.com in 2004. Maybe at that time there were 100 wineries in the area. Since that time, the area has experienced astonishing growth and now the number of wineries stands at over 200. The last couple of years, we have visited the Paso Robles wine country on several trips with the goal of revising and adding wine trails to our Paso Robles wine region.

When we first began exploring Paso Robles, the wine region was most noted for its big and bold Zinfandel wines. Peachy Canyon, Tobin James and a few others were gaining attention and popularity for their Zinfandel wines. But things are changing, and particularly on the Westside of 101, with many wineries concentrating on Rhone-style wines. The pioneer winery in this area is the Tablas Creek Winery. They imported the rootstock of several Rhone varieties from France and planted them on land they felt was similar in soil and climate to that of southern France. Tablas Creek has a nursery, and local wineries can purchase budwood and grafted vines to pursue the making of Rhone wines.

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Brabo Wine Tasting Bar in Old Town Alexandria

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Following the Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, we spent a few days traveling around Virginia wine country. While walking around Old Town Alexandria, we couldn’t resist having lunch at the very inviting Brabo Tasting Room, adjacent to the beautiful Lorien Hotel and Spa.

The tasting room offers a nice selection of red and white wines available by the taste, the glass, or the bottle. The list of wines also includes sparkling wines, dessert wines and a wide assortment of beer. The surprise to us was that there was not a single Virginia wine on the list. We mentioned to our server Bryan how delighted we’d been with all the Virginia wines we’d sampled at the conference, and he promised to pass the word on.

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