Continuously producing exceptional wine – That’s Scherrer – Fred Scherrer to be exact. In the hills outside Sebastopol on a dead end road, in an old apple packing shed is Scherrer Winery. They don’t offer regular tastings. Three times a year Scherrer holds open houses to taste the new releases, pick up wines, and enjoy the comradery of his family and friends. It’s held in … Continue reading A Perfect Spring Release
Napa Valley wines have a well known reputation for being rather pricey. When there is so much terrific wine to be had in California it is difficult to spend the high price tag to taste and to purchase. We were over on Howell Mountain to taste Jon Jones’s newest releases at Paravel and arranged for an afternoon tasting in Yountville at Elyse. Elyse’s tasting room … Continue reading Napa’s Elyse
Looking for something different to experience in Sonoma’s Wine Country? Just outside of Healdsburg, tucked away on a country road in the Alexander Valley there is a coffee roaster. Hand roasted, small batch coffee is made here that has quickly gained popularity in Sonoma County. We had been hearing and reading great reviews of the coffee and of the the tasting experience so we arranged … Continue reading Coffee Break!
Tucked in a corner in Bacchus Landing in Healdsburg is the tasting room of Smith Story. It’s a welcoming storefront with a beautiful garden patio. Ali Smith and Eric Story are the couple behind the wine. Katy Wilson is their consulting winemaker and Dusty Rhodes their hospitality director. And not to be left out in any way is Lord Sandwich, the canine behind it all. … Continue reading Picpoul & Bourboulenc?
It’s ten o’clock in the morning and we are sitting down to taste wine. We’ve returned to the Spire Collection just outside of Callistoga. I wrote about our first visit in the blog entry – Tasting in Napa. It will give you a gracious plenty on the background of the Spire Collection so I won’t repeat myself. It is a modern, tastefully appointed tasting room. … Continue reading Myriad & The Spire Collection
There are always some tastings that stand above all the rest and this was one of those – Behrens Family Winery. High on Spring Mountain outside of St. Helena, in a very comfortable tasting room surrounded by wonderful original art and a killer view, we met Robin Cooper and some exceptional wines! For close to 2 hours Robin painted a full picture for us of … Continue reading Spring Mountain Experience
We headed out of Santa Barbara the next day to Los Olivos and Los Alamos to taste at Andrew Murray and Casa Dumetz. After talking with Noah from the Wine Merchant, we added the Holus Bolus tasting room to our trip. Our first stop was at Andrew Murray Vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley Wine Country. Tastings are held at the winery in a stunning location … Continue reading Day Trip from Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara California not only has a stunning coastal location, beautiful Mediterranean style architecture, amazing restaurants and shopping – it also has its share of wineries! More than 280 wineries are located among the seven AVAs in Santa Barbara County. We made a road trip to Santa Barbara to relax for a few days and explore a few of those wineries and tasting rooms. We … Continue reading Santa Barbara Trip
East of Sacramento and west of Lake Tahoe has become one of our favorite winery haunts. It’s the foothills of the Sierra Mountains. It’s a region that began growing grapes in the gold rush days of 1849 but has more recently begun flourishing into a major wine region of California. We visited a small portion of the region for the third time in October. Over … Continue reading Into the Foothills
This post is a follow up to the previous post – Esther Mobley’s San Francisco Chronicle column – Septemer 6, 2023. Because you were unable to open the link to the 25 Sonoma wineries, I’ve posted them here. You can also read more about many of these in other posts on the blog. The best 25 Sonoma County wineries that don’t require reservations Continue reading Walk in Wineries in Sonoma
John's Wine Cellar 