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
As you plan your wine adventures, this column could be helpful……. 3 tips for navigating Wine Country without a reservation Here’s wine reporter Jess Lander: We published an article on 25 Sonoma County wineries that don’t require a reservation on Wednesday, a counterpart to our June list of walk-in-friendly Napa Valley wineries. These articles represent a major pendulum swing in Wine Country toward a reservation-only system. … Continue reading Esther Mobley’s San Francisco Chronicle column this week…….
This could quite possibly have been my favorite Sunday activity of all time – Iron Horse Vineyard’s Magnum Wine Tasting. Iron Horse Vineyards is high in the hills between Forestville and Graton, California. They offer a number of tasting opportunities and the added benefit of a spectacular view of Green Valley. You can read more about the winery in our previous post. The magnum tasting … Continue reading Exceptionally Fun Bubbly
On one of the hottest days this summer we visited Gary Farrell Vineyard & Winery. It’s located in one of the coolest regions in Sonoma’s wine country but we were experiencing a heat wave. The temperature was hitting 100 degrees. Tasting outdoors was not going to be an option. Their facility sits well above the river off Westside Road and on a normal day you’d … Continue reading Russian River Valley Winery
John's Wine Cellar 