Vineyards Archives - Dr. Liz Thach, MW

3 Days in Burgundy

Originally published in the Huffington Post as A New Reason to Visit Burgundy. After several days in Paris, when you begin to long for the beauty of the French countryside, head south to Burgundy. In addition to legendary wine and gourmet food, there is a new reason to visit – the recent UNESCO classification of the ancient vineyards laid out by the monks, called “climats”. This is unique because the climats and tiny wine villages that link them are considered to be a “living cultural landscape.” Visitors can experience this by walking through the vineyards, tasting the wines, and visiting [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T12:51:05-08:00May 23, 2017|

Who Needs Chickens in the Vineyard When You Have California Quail?

May 2016 – One of the downsides of living in the country on the foothills of Sonoma Mountain is that you must haul your garbage bins up and down the hill once a week when the garbage truck comes. It was about 7:30pm this evening when I remembered I had not yet hauled up the recycle bin because it is so much larger and heavier than the regular garbage can. Therefore as the sun was sinking below a fog bank rolling in from the Pacific Ocean, I decided I should force myself to walk down the hill and roll the [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T13:46:02-08:00June 4, 2016|

Owl Vines & Wildlife: A Tour of the Famous Stag’s Leap Vineyard (S.L.V.)

This post is in honor of the 40th Anniversary month of the 1976 Judgment of Paris tasting, and is an excerpt from my book: Call of the Vine: Exploring Ten Famous Vineyards of Napa and Sonoma. California Poppies Near the Vineyard Neon orange poppies appeared in clusters along the Silverado Trail as I drove to Stag’s Leap Vineyard on a breezy April day. The sky was a clear porcelain blue, not as vibrant in hue as it would become in the hotter Summer days ahead, and the temperature matched the Spring season with a moderate 68F. Vineyards marched along both sides [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T13:47:08-08:00May 17, 2016|

A Snapshot of Wineries and Vineyards in the Ningxia Wine Region of China

(Dec. 10, 2013) According to our host, Mr. Cao, Ningxia now has over 100 wineries, with a plan to grow to over 1000 in the next decade. I visited 6 wineries on this trip as part of the conference, in which we lectured on best practices in wine tourism in the morning and visited local wineries in the afternoon. Each of these wineries is described in more detail in other posts. Vineyard Acres in Ningxia Now Equal Approximately 57,500 Acres We were informed that Ningxia now has 300,000 to 400,000 mu of planted vineyards. A mu is the term for [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:40:07-08:00December 21, 2013|

Average Vineyard Worker Wages in South Africa – Emerging as a BRICS Country

Sept. 2012 - Several times throughout my wine trip to South Africa I asked winemakers the average wage they paid their vineyard workers. The answer was it depends on the region, as well as whether or not the workers have housing and benefits on the property. In terms of regional pay differences, it appears that Stellenbosch pays the highest wages at 170 Rand ($21) per day for a basic vineyard worker who does not live on the estate. Wineries in Cape Point and the Constantia region said they paid 120 – 150R per day ($15 - $18). In Swartland I [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:58:09-08:00November 11, 2012|

Visiting the Cape South Coast Wine Region and Gabrielskloof Winery, South Africa

Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 – My alarm did not go off, so I barely managed to throw on some clothes, pack my suitcase, and wolf down some eggs before we boarded the bus at 9am to drive to Elgin. This is about an hour outside of Capetown to the southeast and is part of the Cape South Coast Wine area. In addition to Elgin, it encompasses Bot River and all of the sub-pockets of Walker Bay, and is considered to be the coolest wine growing region in South Africa. It’s wine are known for the freshness and high acids. Baboons [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T16:25:51-08:00October 9, 2012|

Visit to Chateau Helan Qingxue and Daylong Organic Vineyards, China

Sept. 1, 2012 – After a buffet breakfast at the hotel we boarded the van for a day of visits to vineyards and wineries located near the foothills of Helan Mountains, about a thirty minute drive from Yinchuan. Unfortunately we woke up to drizzly rain that day, instead of the humid heat of the previous days. Therefore we spent much of the tour huddled under umbrellas and trying to avoid the mud in vineyards. The first stop was the Decanter award winning Chateau Helan Qingxue where winemaker Zhang Jing greeted us very warmly. She is a small, bubbly Chinese lady [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T16:24:43-08:00September 12, 2012|