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Why Sommeliers Admire The Petaluma Gap Wine Region In Sonoma County

Tasting Wines of the Petaluma Gap at the Annual 'Wind to Wine Festival' PETALUMAGAP.COM I live in the Petaluma Gap wine region of Sonoma County, and have been so impressed with the growth of wineries here. In the last few years it has grown from just a handful of wineries to over 20 different wineries to visit! The cooler, windier region specializes in wines made from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Syrah grapes, but they also make other types of wine as well. For this article I interviewed 6 sommeliers to find out what types of food they recommend pairing with [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:19:49-07:00October 2, 2023|

The Power Of 50 Years Of Mentorship At Chandon In Napa Valley

Reunion of 4 Chandon California Winemakers to Create 50th Anniversary Special Cuvee: Tom Tiburzi, Dawnine Dyer, Pauline Lhote, and Wayne Donaldson DAMION HAMILTON 2022 In 1974, with a degree in Biology from University of California at Santa Cruz, Dawnine Dyer set off to Napa Valley with a dream to enter the wine industry. Not only did she succeed spectacularly with jobs at Robert Mondavi Winery, 25 years at Chandon California, and her own brand, Dyer Vineyards, but through the years she developed a reputation of being one of California’s most important female winemakers and mentor to countless others. This week, [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2023-04-10T18:28:20-07:00April 10, 2023|

How Horses In The Vineyard Help Create World-Class Wines At Cayuse

Horse Plowing the Vineyard at Cayuse Winery in Walla Walla, Washington. ANDREA JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY In the Washington State wine industry many people refer to Christophe Baron as the ‘Crazy Frenchman.’ Who else would buy of field of stones that no one else wanted and plant a vineyard on it? Who else would employ massive-muscled work horses to till the soil in the vineyards? But…. who else would become so successful that his distinctive biodynamic world-class wines typically sell out in the first 3 weeks of release each year? Born in Champagne, France, to a winemaking family, Baron studied viticulture and enology [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:21:39-07:00December 29, 2022|

The Opus One Celebration Dinner for Collective Napa Valley Event

Collective Napa Valley 2022 November Auction Dinner at Opus One Winery. ALEXANDER RUBIN Multiple auction paddles were raised at an elegant Opus One Winery dinner as part of Collective Napa Valley’s November 2022 event. Tickets to the $2500 per person weekend sold out quickly, as supporters from around the nation, as well as some international visitors, rushed to secure the limited seats. The weekend event, along with online bidding and donations during November, easily achieved the $2 million goal set to fund wildfire mitigation and reforestation. This amount is in addition to the $4.6 million that Napa Valley Vintners has [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-12-03T17:52:13-08:00December 3, 2022|

Gundlach Bundschu Celebrates 160 Years Of Winemaking, Grape Growing, And Humorous Tricks

Humorous Trick to Share Sonoma Valley Wines on Napa Valley Wine Train in 1990. GUNDLACH BUNDSCHU In 1858 Jacob Gundlach immigrated from Bavaria and purchased 400 acres of land in Sonoma Valley, California to plant grapes and start a winery. Today, Gundlach Bundschu is considered to be California’s oldest continuously family-owned winery, with 6th generation, Jeff Bundschu, now at the helm as President. But the winery isn’t just known for award-winning wines, but also for its culture of fun, rock ‘n’ roll parties, and humorous tricks played on fellow vintners over the years. It was also on a Halloween evening in [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:19:50-07:00November 12, 2022|

Donum Estate Celebrates How Wine, Art And The Land Unite To Form Unique Wine Tourism Experiences

Richard Hudson's Heart Sculpture 'Love Me' Dominates Vineyards at Donum Estate in Carneros. DONUM ESTATE BY GREGORY GORMAN When Angelica de Vere Mabray took on the position of CEO at Donum Estate winery in mid 2019, little did she know that the visitor’s center and tasting room would effectively be shut down for nearly a year during the pandemic. But thanks to her 20+ years in the wine industry, a strong background in digital marketing, and a talented staff that was cross-trained to assume a variety of winery positions, Mabray and her team were able to create some of the [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-10-09T13:31:50-07:00October 9, 2022|

The Untold Story Of Helen Bacigalupi’s Wild Drive Over The Mountain To Deliver Sonoma Chardonnay To Chateau Montelena

Helen Bacigalupi at Age 96, Co-Founder of Bacigalupi Vineyards & Winery, Sonoma County, CA. BACIGALUPI VINEYARDS I really enjoyed reconnecting with Helen Bacigalupi again after all of these years. I first met her 9 years ago to interview her for my Call of the Vine book when she was 87, and now she is 96! She is still filled with intelligence, grit, drive, and a fun sense of humor. This story below was first published on Forbes.com, with permission to republish here. Go Helen! There is a well-known story in Sonoma County, California that the majority of the grapes that [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-09-19T15:47:34-07:00September 19, 2022|

Tasting History In A Glass With Historic Napa/Sonoma Wineries From The ‘Cool Class’ Of 1972

A Few of the Class of 1972 Wines Served at 2022 Tasting. L. THACH This past week at the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone, six historic wineries from Napa and Sonoma gathered to celebrate five decades of fine winemaking as part of the ‘Class of 1972.’ Considered by some to be the ‘cool kids of California wine,’ these wineries were part of a cohort that helped to put California wine on the map. With such famous players as Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, Burgess Cellars, and Jordan, many of these wineries were established fifty years ago this year, or within [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:19:50-07:00August 11, 2022|

From Foot-Stomping Grapes To Robots, Clos De La Tech Winery Embraces New And Ancient Technology

Clos de La Tech Pinot Noir Vineyard in Santa Cruz Mountains with Pacific Ocean in Distance. THACH In the 1990’s, T.J. Rodgers visited the tiny village of Vosne-Romanée in France and fell in love with the Pinot Noir grape used to make red Burgundy wine. Inspired by the taste of these wines, he decided to plant one acre of Pinot Noir grapes in the Santa Cruz Mountain AVA (appellation) near his home in Woodside, California. However, as the CEO of Silicon Valley based Cypress Semiconductor, he made the novel decision of combining ancient winemaking practices, such as foot-stomping of grapes, [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-07-02T15:17:18-07:00July 2, 2022|

Caprio Winery’s Unique Business Strategy Encourages Customers To ‘Pay It Forward’

Dennis Murphy, CEO of Caprio Cellars and Hayden Homes. CAPRIO CELLARS - GREG LEHMAN Dennis Murphy’s earliest memory of the joy of giving was when he was a child and would wrap up his favorite toys as Christmas gifts for his brothers and sisters. That same sense of generosity stayed with him when he launched his first company, Hayden Homes, with best friend Hayden Watson. Based in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, with every home sold they contribute 10% of profits to charity, resulting in more than $32 million to charitable causes through 2020. So when Murphy decided to expand on [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-06-04T16:29:46-07:00June 4, 2022|

Napa Valley ‘Inspire” Event Raises Over $1.5 Million to Support the Alzheimer’s Association

Inspire Napa Valley Auction to Raise Money to Support Alzheimer's Association. PC: Inspire-Main The 3rd annual Inspire Napa Valley Spring Wine Weekend, presented by Rolex Watch USA, raised more than $1.5 million to support the Alzheimer’s Association. The event has quickly become a staple in the Napa Valley community, bringing together wine industry leaders and enthusiasts to raise awareness and funds to support Alzheimer’s Association research, care and support programs for families affected by the disease in Northern California and across the country. “This event reaches new goals year after year with more guests, more support, and more motivation to continue reinforcing the [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-05-03T14:07:30-07:00May 3, 2022|

Crafting High-Elevation Wine at Jackson Hole Winery

The Grand Teton Mountains Near Jackson Hole Wyoming. Photo Credit: GETTY This past summer my husband and I had a chance to visit Jackson Hole Winery, just a few minutes drive from the downtown elk-horn plaza in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. My former wine business student, Anthony Schroth, started the winery, and I was so pleased to see how successful it has become over the years. Following is the story of how Anthony established the first winery in Jackson Hole, and one of only a handful of wineries in Wyoming. Anthony Schroth grew up in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, spending his free [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-04-13T10:15:43-07:00April 13, 2022|

Ceja Winery – Celebrating Mexican-American Wine Heritage and Strong Female Leaders

At the age of five, Dalia Ceja remembers walking behind her father, uncles and other vineyard workers, picking up fallen grape clusters and putting them back in the harvest bins. As a second generation leader in one of the first Mexican-American wineries in Napa Valley, Ceja Vineyards, Ceja is currently the SVP of Marketing & Sales, and is looking forward to taking the family winery to the next level. In honor of International Women’s History Month, the story of Dalia Ceja and the other strong female leaders in her family, lends inspiration to other women trying to build new companies [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2026-09-14T13:19:50-07:00April 1, 2022|

How Bonterra Winery Leapfrogged Ahead Of Other Businesses To Achieve Climate Neutral Certification

Recently I had the chance to drive the 2-hour drive from Southern Sonoma County to Bonterra Winery in Mendocino County. It was my first time to visit the organic vineyards and taste Bonterra wines in the original old barn that serves as a by-appointment-only tasting room. It was very inspiring to see the cows and sheep in the vineyards, an owl flying through the trees, and the biodynamic free flow fountain to create the biodynamic preps. While there, I interviewed most of the people quoted in this article. What prompted my visit was Bonterra's Climate Neutral Certification that they received [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2025-02-02T16:22:47-08:00January 31, 2022|

A Brief History of Wine in America

According to historical sources, the first wine in the US was made by French Huguenot immigrants in Florida in 1565 using the native American grape, Muscadine (Bates et al, 1989). Though successive European immigrants brought cuttings of vitus vinifera winegrapes from their homeland to the East Coast of the US, the majority did not survive due to phylloxera and other native pests. Greystone Cellars in Napa Valley, CA (now the Culinary Institute of America) - Established 1889. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons It wasn’t until the 1620’s that Spanish explorers successfully made wine from vitus vinifera grapes in what is now [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2022-02-17T13:26:36-08:00November 19, 2021|

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