Wine Bloggers Conference Archives - Wine Country Getaways

Lodi Wine – Dancing Fox Winery, Brewery, Bakery, and Restaurant

August 11, 2016 by Joe Becerra

ß Winemaker and grower – Gregg Lewis

And so begins the 9th Annual Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi, California. Three hundred wine bloggers will converge on the town of Lodi from Thursday to Sunday, August 11 to 14. Janelle and I are here a day ahead to attend a pre-conference in Amador County wine country. Our home base is the Hampton Suites in Lodi.

To get the wine and food festivities going, we stopped in at one of Lodi’s finest dining choices. It is the Dancing Fox Winery, Brewery, Bakery and Restaurant. Put this spot on your list of ‘must’ places to visit when you are in Lodi.

Four of life’s great pleasures all in one spot! That is what the Dancing Fox is all about. Greg and Colleen Lewis are the proprietors of this fun establishment. Gregg is the winemaker and vineyard grower. Gregg has about 110 acres of vineyards in Lodi. Most of those acres are sourced to other wineries and Gregg keeps the best for his Dancing Fox label. There is a tasting room in the back of the restaurant, and tasting is complimentary if you dine at the Dancing Fox.

The Lewis Sons have recently added the brew pub to the Dancing Fox. The Lewis boys have turned a beer-making hobby into a boutique brew pub. Plans call for all the beer to be made in the restaurant, with a showy brew pub in one of the restaurant’s back rooms. We each had one of their pale ale beers with our lunch.

All the breads served at the restaurant are baked on the premises in the early morning hours. Colleen Lewis is the bread-baking wizard. She bakes all of her bread in a unique brick oven imported from Barcelona. It is called the Jllopis oven after the inventor Juan Llopis. Colleen thinks there is only one other Jllopis oven in Northern California, and that one belongs to the Acme Bread Company in Berkeley, CA. The Jllopis oven, plus the local yeast, is the key to her amazing breads. There is a good choice of pizza dishes on the menu and those are cooked in the Jllopis oven.

We had a terrific lunch on the patio at the Dancing Fox. The service was good, and the sandwiches so tasty with the artisan baked bread. The atmosphere is lively and fun. We highly recommend the Dancing Fox in Lodi.

Multi grain bread fresh from the brick oven

Art inspired by wine in Corning, New York

August 18, 2015 by Joe Becerra

One of the many cool stores on Market Street – Gaffer District, Corning, NY

Art inspired by wine

Wine and Design is one interesting art education venue. Lessons are given centered around a featured piece of art. When we popped our heads in, the adult students were in the midst of creating their paintings and enjoying a glass of wine. The wine certainly must improve one’s creativity! Wine and Design is located in one of the coolest boutique shopping areas in Corning, New York. We were able to wander along this street in between breaks at the Wine Bloggers Conference. The Radisson Hotel, site of the Conference, is just one block away from Wine and Design. The ladies in the photo were enjoying a day of Bachelorette activities.

Santa Barbara Fisherwoman Stephanie Mutz

July 22, 2014 by Janelle Becerra

At the recent Wine Bloggers Conference in the Santa Barbara Wine Country, a small group of bloggers enjoyed a wonderful visit to the Bridlewood Estate Winery in the Santa Ynez AVA. The entrance to the winery is impressive, with its Spanish Mission style of architecture. Our Apple Basket lunch of local sandwiches and salads was served overlooking Bridlewood Lake and was complemented by delicious Bridlewood wines.

Bell Tower at Bridlewood Estate Winery in Santa Barbara wine country

Following the lunch, we had a very informative seminar in the Bridlewood cellar. Rather than the usual panel of winery owners and winemakers, this panel included:

Richard Martin (Moderator), editorial director of Food Republic
Mark Williams, Winemaker for Bridlewood Estate Winery
Jeff Olsson, chef and proprietor of New West Catering and Industrial Eats Restaurant
Jake O’Francis, Pig farmer
Christopher and Johanna Finley, farmers for Finley Organic Farms
Stephanie Mutz, Santa Barbara Fisherwoman

Photo of Stephanie Mutz by Fran Collin, francollin.com

Most interesting to me was the inclusion of Stephanie, a sea urchin fisherwoman. As Stephanie’s website states, she’s been fishing in the Santa Barbara area for 7 years and strives to make fresh, sustainable seafood available to the local population.

Stephanie got her undergraduate degree at UC Santa Barbara and then went on to Graduate School in Australia. Her goal at the time was to become a Community College professor in her field of Marine Biology. While she was writing her Graduate School dissertation, she worked on urchin boats. After a part-time teaching job ended, she decided to concentrate on fishing full time.

Being that most of the people Stephanie fishes with are male, she feels fortunate that they are accepting of her and very helpful when necessary. She usually goes out on her boat alone, unless the weather is bad or she needs extra help getting what she needs for the market. In some cases, she joins other fishermen on their boats for fishing or diving. Stephanie fishes for sea urchins and snails and regularly delivers her catch to local chefs when the weather and the catch are good. There seems to be a fad for sea urchin delicacies in Southern California and that demand is keeping Stephanie very busy these days. She also works closely with Jeff Olsson and his Industrial Eats Restaurant. Stephanie does not always know what her daily catch will be and often she will bring Jeff in something different than he asked for. She praises Jeff for being adaptable and creative in making the best of Stephanie’s haul.

After a day at sea, Stephanie unwinds by sitting in her meadow at home with a glass of wine to recap the day with her boyfriend, also a fisherman. They discuss ways to become more efficient and productive at doing what they love to do. She does her best to promote what the industry is all about to the entire community. She thinks its important to encourage people to have a balanced lifestyle, which includes eating local foods.

For recipes and information on how to find Stephanie’s catch, consult her website: seastephaniefish.com

Appetizers prepared by Chef Jeff Olsson. On the right is sea urchin on avocado

Annual Wine Bloggers Conference starts today

July 9, 2014 by Joe Becerra

Serious work ahead for wine bloggers

Fifty wine bloggers will get a head start on the 7th annual wine bloggers conference with a pre-conference adventure to the Paso Robles wine country. The Paso Robles Wine Association will entertain the wine bloggers with several seminar sessions and wine tastings over a day and a half. The purpose is to showcase the Paso Robles wine country to this small group of bloggers before they head off to the main conference in the Santa Barbara wine country. This is good news for wine bloggers. Somebody out there loves us in Paso Robles and Santa Barbara!

Pre-Conference activities in Paso Robles wine country

We begin today in the late afternoon at the Niner Estate Winery for a seminar on the history and terroir of the Paso Robles wine country. Six wineries will present one wine each that typifies the climate and soil of the Paso Robles area. Next we move on to Tablas Creek Vineyard where the focus will be on Rhone Varietals and the wineries that produce these Rhone style wines in Paso Robles. The Wednesday evening session will end with dinner and tasting at Daou Vineyards. Here the CAB Collective of 30 plus wineries will talk about Bordeaux wines from Paso Robles.

On Thursday, the wine bloggers agenda will include a trip to the Vina Robles winery for a seminar on proposed AVA’s, with producers from each of these areas presenting their wines. The wine bloggers will then visit the iconic Zinfandel vineyards at Dusi Ranch. We’ll end the pre-conference with a session at the Wild Horse Winery & Vineyards, with the a sustainability discussions presented by Vineyard Team (SIP Certification) and California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance.

That sounds exciting and that’s just the beginning. After leaving Wild Horse we head off to Buellton, and the events continue tomorrow evening at the Santa Ynez Valley Marriott Hotel with the start of the 7th Annual Wine Bloggers Conference.

Winemaker Andrew Murray

June 17, 2014 by Joe Becerra

Meet winemaker Andrew Murray

Andrew Murray is one of the Santa Barbara wine country’s premiere winemakers. He has been making wine for the past 24 years. His Andrew Murray Vineyards winery is located on the Foxen Canyon Road Wine Trail. While traveling in France with his parents at age 18, he found his passion in the Rhone Valley. Today his winery’s focus is Rhone-style wines. They are extremely well-made and balanced wines in the true spirit of the Rhone. His wines are reasonably priced. Andrew Murray recently acquired a long-term lease for the Curtis Winery facility from the Firestone Family. He is planning on expanding his winemaking capabilities. Andrew Murray Vineyards is open to visitors on weekends or by appointment during the week. Andrew Murray also has a tasting room in the town of Los Olivos that is open daily.

Three years ago, Winemaker Andrew Murray wrote a blog post on Wine Country Getaways about the Santa Ynez Valley.

The North American Wine Bloggers Conference will be held this year in the Santa Barbara wine country. Conference attendees will visit many of the Santa Barbara wineries and we expect that the Andrew Murray Vineyards will be a popular destination.

More information on Santa Barbara Wineries

Santa Barbara wine country will host wine bloggers in 2014

June 9, 2013 by Joe Becerra

At the conclusion of the 2013 Wine Bloggers Conference in Penticton, British Columbia, on Saturday, June 8th, it was announced that Santa Barbara wine country has been selected to host the 7th annual North American Wine Bloggers Conference for 2014. The conference will be held at the Santa Ynez Marriott Hotel in Buellton from July 11 to 13th.

Bloggers a larger impact than the “Sideways” movie?

Until the movie “Sideways” came out in 2004, this area of Santa Barbara had been best known for the Anderson Split Pea Soup factory and for the Danish town of Solvang. How fitting that the Santa Barbara Wine Bloggers Conference will be held on the tenth anniversary of the movie. The movie featured the Santa Barbara wine country as the characters of Miles and Jack moved from winery to winery in search of Pinot Noir. The movie had such a following that it had an enormous effect on Pinot Noir. Because it was so esteemed in the movie, Pinot Noir sales were carried to new heights and higher prices followed. A negative mention of Merlot in the movie did just the opposite for that varietal, with popularity of the grape plummeting. When the movie was released there were five tasting rooms in Los Olivos, the center of this wine country. Today, there are 27 tasting rooms alone in the town. “Sideways” had a huge effect on the popularity of this area. Now comes perhaps an even greater influence, the 2014 North American Wine Bloggers Conference.

There are expected to be 350 attendees at this conference. Most of these attendees not only blog, but tweet copiously, post to Facebook, Google+ and Pinterest. They won’t be doing this just during the conference, but also for months before and long after the conference. As we write this post, the Tweeter feeds and Facebook posts are making their way throughout the digital wine community. This is an absolute bonanza for the Santa Barbara Wine Country Association. It will bring more attention to wine lovers around the globe to the many varietals and styles of wine that are produced in this area of the four separate AVA’s of Santa Barbara.

Watch this two-minute video to gain a perspective of the San Barbara wine country and what it has to offer to wine lovers around the globe.

Napa Valley bashing at the Wine Bloggers Conference

August 23, 2012 by Joe Becerra

The Napa Valley is recognized as one of the top wine regions in the world. When you are top dog, expect to take some shots from your rivals. Napa Valley wineries had their share of good-natured bashing from Oregon wineries at the 5th Annual Wine Bloggers Conference held in Portland, Oregon, this past weekend.

Willamette Valley winemaker

What we heard along the way

“In Willamette Valley the weather cools rapidly from afternoon winds from the Van Duzer Corridor. Night time temperatures drop dramatically. In the Napa Valley it is hot all the time.”

“The Napa Valley Pinot Noirs from Carneros are too big.”

“Here in the Willamette Valley the winemakers and owners share their knowledge and help one another. In the Napa Valley, it is all corporate.”

“One thing that differentiates the Willamette Valley from the Napa Valley is that each year the growing season in the Willamette is very different. The climate varies significantly year to year. Napa does not have that fluctuation so their wines are always the same.”

“Here in the Willamette Valley you are likely to find a winemaker or family member working the tasting room. That is something you won’t find in the Napa Valley.”

What Oregon wineries should be saying to Napa Valley

First Impressions of Virginia Wine – Wine Bloggers Conference

July 21, 2011 by Joe Becerra

When the venue for the 4th Annual Wine Bloggers Conference was announced, many in the audience gasped. Virginia was chosen over Paso Robles and the Finger Lakes region of New York. How could that be, many cried? I heard one blogger shout out “Virginia wine is not that good.” We attended the wine bloggers pre-conference on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and had the opportunity to visit four wineries in the Loudoun County in Northern Virginia. I have to conclude that after tasting wines at these four wineries, the wine is very good in this part of Virginia, and a few of their varietals are stellar. I’m not about to suggest the wines are overall as good as California wines or those of the Napa Valley, but several I tried certainly measure up to our standards. I know these wineries were hand picked by the local tourist office, but this did gives us an eye opener into the quality and potential for Virginia wines.

We visited Tarara Winery, Breaux Vineyards, Chrysalis Winery, and Boxwood Winery. At each winery the winemaker and owner presented their wines, and much like at any winery in California spoke glowingly about their wines.

We loved all the Viognier we tried, and we can easily see why this wine is so popular in Virginia. I wish I’d had some California Viognier on the spot for comparison. These Viognier wines have excellent floral and tropical characteristics and a great mouth feel. I was less impressed with the Chardonnay wines and maybe that is because I just don’t drink that much Chardonnay to begin with. At Breaux Vineyards I rated their Meritage and the Nebbiolo at 90 points. I had not tasted as delicious a Nebbiolo in some time.

Wine Adventures in Washington

June 24, 2010 by Joe Becerra

We are in the state of Washington until Monday for the 3rd annual Wine Bloggers’ Conference. We have tasted Washington wines before but never to the extent that we will be tasting over the next few days. Over 50 wineries are set to pour and entertain 300 wine bloggers. I’m anxious to find out about Washington wines and the geology and climate of the region. I want to learn all about the Yakima Valley and where that is in relationship to the Columbia Valley. And what about the Walla Walla wine region? What makes the Red Mountain such a highly-prized AVA? What issues do these winemakers have compared to elsewhere? It is dry and hot for sure. On Wednesday, a pre-pre-conference day for us, we visited three wineries in the Tri-Cities area near the Pasco airport. The first two wineries we visited had the Alsace Varietals of Riesling, Gewurztraminer, and Pinot Gris. I asked our host where these grapes were grown in relation to the red varietals. “Oh,”she said, “in the same area.” I doubt if that is the case but we plan to find out over the next few days. One thing I do know right off is that the days are much longer here than in California and thus affect the growing season. This morning I was awakened shortly after 5 am with a warm sun piercing through my window. Last evening we had a beautiful sunset overlooking the Columbia River at about 8:45. That is a lot more sunshine than we get in California.

On Wednesday we started our Washington wine journey by visiting three wineries in Richland. They are all in the same area, and all three are within walking distance from each other. There are just a few vineyards in this area, and these three wineries get all their grapes from outside the area. Tagaris Winery is our first stop because they also have a restaurant and we are ready for lunch. With our lunch, we enjoy a glass of the Tagaris Gewurztraminer. The wine was very pleasant but lacked that Lychee nut characteristic that we like so much in this varietal. If you are in the area, we highly recommend Tagaris for lunch or dinner. The patio and inside area are very beautiful. At Tagaris we tasted six wines for $7.00. According to our host, almost all wineries in Washington have a tasting fee. Most return the fee with a purchase of wine.

Next door, we visited the Bernard Griffin Winery. Things picked up here. The staff was very warm and friendly, and the majority of wines were very good to excellent. We thought the Grenache, Petite Verdot, and the Malbec were all very good wines. It is amazing to us that being treated well in a tasting room can make the wines and the experience so much more enjoyable.

Bernard Griffin Tasting Room

Our last stop was the Bookwalter Winery. Here they have two levels of tasting, and we chose the $5 tasting for their three top wines, all Bordeaux blends. Yes, these wines were excellent, smooth, velvety and complex. Perhaps a little too robust but very exciting wines. The price for each of these wines is $50. At Bookwalter, as was the case with Tagaris, our host was wine knowledgeable but lacked that inner quality to make us feel welcome and comfortable.

Bookwalter Tasting Room

Today is the pre-conference day for the Wine Bloggers’ Conference and about 50 of us will be bussed out to the Yakima Valley for a visit to wineries and a vineyard walk and lunch. We can’t wait to be entertained!