California's Wine Regions, Terrior, Day Trips, Wine Tasting
Cooler regions for California wine are usually found along the coast, areas like Lompoc, Santa Maria, Monterey & Alexander Valley. They are considered cool by California standards, home to Pinot … Continue Reading Lompoc Winery Shows Why Santa Barbara’s Not Just About Pinot Noir & Chardonnay
In California’s world of wine there are two competing camps sprouting up from Temecula to Paso Robles to Napa. The first camp of wineries are estates, places where you can … Continue Reading Rising California Winemakers Eschew Estates For Industrial Space
What’s with California wine regions tearing out wine grape vines? Fields of California wine grape torn asunder along with smaller wineries putting themselves up for sale. What is going on … Continue Reading Winemakers Hammered By Declining US Consumption & Exports
Yes, California wine is a dominant force in the world of wine. But will California wine be available during our cruise traversing the Pacific Ocean through the Panama Canal to … Continue Reading Plying The High Seas With California, New World & Old World Wines
Some California wine regions have big wines (big, bold, chewy) and some winery areas are known for their subtleties (softer tannins, more fruit flavor.) Monterey Country winemaker Ian Brand falls … Continue Reading California Wine For A Softer Palate At Monterey’s I. Brand & Family Winery
Somewhere, somehow, you’ve come across a Michael David Wine. You’ll find this California wine in Costco, Total Wine, BevMo and other big box emporiums. They favor names like Freak Show, … Continue Reading Misfits & Mavens of Lodi’s California Wine Show Off Zins, Syrahs & Barberas
California wine is found in many isolated areas. Like Harmony Cellars right off California’s infamous Highway 1. Sitting west of Paso Robles this coastal town named Harmony hosts a total … Continue Reading California Wine On Highway 1 – PCH (Pacific Coast Highway)
California wine regions were pummeled by wild weather spouting atmospheric rivers drenching us in the winter of 2022-2023. The big question all year has been, ‘What affect will that water … Continue Reading Water Into California Wine: Is This 2023 Vintage the Best Of The Decade?
You’ve seen people’s ‘pour’ behavior in California winery tasting rooms. Don’t be this person. When you become the ‘ugly wine taster’ you’ll end up with short corporate pours and pointed … Continue Reading 10 ‘Pour’ Behaviors to Avoid While Tasting California Wine: Don’t be The Ugly Wine Taster
To explore California style Rhône varietal wines, Tablas Creek Vineyards in Paso Robles is one of the Central Coast wineries focused on Rhône style blends. Grape varietals like Mourvedre, Syrah, … Continue Reading California Wine And The Rhône Rangers
“None of these wines are ready for prime time.” “That’s why we blend them: Syrah, Grenache, Malbec and Cabernet.” “We think we should add Malbec to the Cabernet.” “We’re thinking … Continue Reading Blending California Wine: A Multitude of Ways to Create Savory Wine, Or Ruin It
When you sell 16 million cases of California wine each year, do you really need a tasting room? Delicato Family Wines still maintains one. Most wineries we visit sell 500 … Continue Reading 16 Million Cases of California Wine From One California Winemaker
While it took Damian Grindley, a man from Wales, to bring the laid-back Australian style of comfort to Paso Robles, his Australian wife Amanda Grindley surely has a piece of … Continue Reading An Australian Vibe For The Love of California Wine
California wine tasting rooms in Sonoma, Napa, Monterey, Lodi and Paso Robles continue proliferating in downtown city centers or in clusters of industrial areas like Lompoc’s Wine Ghetto or Paso’s … Continue Reading Downtown Wine Tasting: It’s Not Your Parents’ Wine Tasting Style
Drinking California wine doesn’t make you smarter, it just seems that way. That’s why we take notes on our wine tastings. Writing tasting notes on a wineries’ flight sheet seemed … Continue Reading Notes On California Wine: Keeping Your Head Straight While Tasting
Roll Out the Barrels of California Wine means different things to different people. At Still Water’s Winery in Paso Robles it means club members evaluate wine right out of a … Continue Reading Rolling Out Barrels of California Wine – Tasting Before Bottling