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How Quintessa Winery Honors The Passing Of Grapes Through The Value Chain
Harvesting grapes by hand. Photo Credit: L. THACH During harvest in wine regions around the world, it is useful to examine some of the practices that go into picking the grapes and transforming them into the delicious wine in your glass. One winery that has a unique practice is Quintessa, nestled in the Rutherford AVA of Napa Valley. Here they perform a harvest opening ceremony to pass the grapes through the value chain. “It’s a practice that we have been doing for many years,” reports Rebekah Wineburg, Winemaker at Quintessa. “Early in the morning, as the first delivery of grapes is [...]
Bears In The Vineyard And Other Challenges Of Being An Emerging Wine Region In El Dorado County
Bears In The Vineyard And Other Challenges Of Being An Emerging Wine Region In El Dorado County
Wine in Belize
Belize is known more for its beer and rum than wine, but when traveling I always enjoy checking out wine lists in restaurants, shops, and grocery stores. As a small Caribbean country of only 420,000 people in 2020, located south of Mexico, Belize has a warm tropical climate that is not ideal for fine wine-grape growing. However, they do have fruit-based wines, with the most well-known made from dried hibiscus flowers, which they call sorrel wine. CocoBeach Resort - View from Our Room, San Pedro, Belize Common Wine Brands in Belize Like most first-time visitors we immediately took the 15 [...]
Materra-Cunat Family Vineyards – A Unique Napa Valley Destination Known for White Wines
Entrance to Materra Cunat Family Vineyards in Napa Valley. Photo Credit: NapaWineProject Napa Valley is known world-wide for its famous wines made from cabernet sauvignon and cab blends, so it is unusual to find an estate winery in Napa that doesn’t grow cabernet sauvignon. Instead, Materra, located in the Oak Knoll AVA, a mere 10-minute drive north from the town of Napa, is known for its white wines. “Many visitors come here because they hear that we have a good selection of white wines,” says winemaker, Chelsea Barrett. In fact their 39 acres of vineyards are planted not only to [...]
Acquiesce Winery – Where the Queen of White Rhone Lives
Earlier this Spring I was honored to visit Acquiesce Winery in the Lodi Wine region of California. Tucked away on a small farm road 13 minutes north of the town of Lodi, you will come upon a charming barn and tasting room, surrounded by verdant green vineyards. After parking in the small gravel parking lot, you will most likely notice a large imposing round sign on the red garage door of the barn. It depicts a woman standing on a grape vine with the words: Awaken, Transcend, Acquiesce. Acquiesce Winery Barn Door with Logo Immediately I was fascinated by the [...]
Migliavacca – Resurrected Napa Winery Focuses on Italian Varieties
“What does Migliavaca mean?” I asked, sitting at the kitchen table of Katie Migliavacca, founder and co-owner of Migliavaca Winery in Napa Valley. We were tasting the wines of her family’s newly resurrected wine brand, Migliavacca. “Roughly translated it means ‘thousands of cows,’” replied Kate, “but it is a common surname in Italy.” “Fascinating,” I said, delighted to have the opportunity to participate in another Covid-safe winetasting during the pandemic. Katie had carefully spaced us 6 feet apart, opened the patio doors and windows wide, provided hand sanitizer, and insisted we wear masks until it was time to taste. “Tell [...]
Rolling Hills and Spanish Varieties at Bokisch Winery in Lodi
Bokisch was the second winery we visited during our tour of the Lodi Wine region, and we were pleasantly surprised at its location on the crest of a small hill overlooking a vast vineyard. While the majority of Lodi vineyards are planted on the flat sandy soil of the Delta, Bokisch is located in the Clement Hills AVA. Here the elevation can range from 100 to 450 feet above sea level, and provides beautiful views of undulating hills covered with vineyards and wildflowers. Bokisch Winery in Lodi, California Liz Bokisch welcomed us, and we followed her to a beautiful outdoor [...]
Oak Farm Vineyards – One of the Most Elegant Wineries in Lodi
As we listened to the voice of our GPS and turned down a narrow road, we were unprepared for the magnificence of the winery we were about to visit – Oak Farm Vineyards. My husband and I were touring the Lodi Wine region for two-days, and all around us stretched row upon row of bare grape vines, their limbs gnarly and black on a grey February day. The landscape was flat, composed of the sandy soil deposited by the confluence of two great rivers – the Sacramento and San Joaquin. Together they created the famous California Delta, home to some [...]
Lodi Wine Region Fights to Save Ancient Grape Vines
Old grape vines are literally living, breathing pieces of agricultural history, with the grace of a magnificent sculpture. In the Lodi Wine Region of California, home to the highest concentration of old vines in America, with many of them over 100 years of age, there is a fight going on to preserve these ancient beauties. Bechthold Vineyard in Lodi Planted in 1886. A Heart-Breaking Choice Unfortunately, due to the increasing costs of vineyard management, low yields, urban developments, and a diminishing financial return, hundreds of acres of old winegrape vines around the world are ripped out each year. For growers [...]
A Visit to the Legendary Eisele Vineyards of Napa Valley
Established in the 1880’s, Eisele Vineyards, nestled in a special corner of Napa Valley is only 38 acres in size. This small size, along with a prestigious history of producing some of the highest quality wines in the valley over many years and multiple owners, has propelled it to the top echelon of Napa Valley vineyards, and is rightly referred to as a “Grand Cru” vineyard by some professionals. Famous Eisele Vineyard of Napa Valley, California I had a chance to visit this “sacred vineyard” for the first time in August 2020, under strict COVID safety procedures, and meet with [...]
A Gourmet Wine Picnic Lunch at Swanson Vineyards on a Toasty Day
We scheduled our COVID safe visit to Swanson Vineyards in Napa Valley on a clear sunny day with temperatures hovering around the 100 degree mark. When we booked the Gourmet Picnic wine-tasting experience online, we didn’t know the heat would be so intense, but with the beautiful shade trees casting dappled patterns over the French style garden, complete with pea gravel and padded chairs, it turned out to be a lovely meal. Whimsical French Garden at Swanson Vineyards in Napa Valley Friends Rave About Swanson Vineyards For years I’ve had different sets of friends tell me how wonderful a visit [...]
Two New Napa Wineries Created by Same Family – Accendo Cellars and Trois Noix
The name “Araujo” is quite famous in Napa Valley, as Bart and Daphne Araujo ran their namesake winery for 24 years, crafting a string of some of the most highly rated Napa Cabs from the legendary Eisele Vineyard. But with an offer “that came out of the blue” from the Artemis Group to purchase Araujo Estate in 2013, they decided the timing was right to move onto another “project.” Fast forward to 2020 with a brand new winery at Wheeler Farms, a private custom-crush facility located in St. Helena, where the Araujo’s, along with daughter Jaime, have created two new [...]
Hawaii Meets Napa Valley at Tedeschi Winery
I first met Emilio Tedeschi as a wine MBA student in a class I was teaching at Sonoma State University. When he introduced himself, he said he was born in Hawaii, but was planning on taking over the family wine business in Napa Valley called Tedeschi Family Winery. At the time I thought this was rather unusual, until I recently visited Emilio at his boutique 2000-case winery near the town of Calistoga – and learned the rest of the story. Entrance to Tedeschi Winery in Napa Valley Arriving at Tedeschi Winery Since this visit occurred during COVID-19, my friend Charlie [...]
Bubbles, Swords and Potato Chips at Breathless Winery
Do you enjoy sparkling wine? If so, consider scheduling a visit to Breathless Winery in Sonoma County, California. As part of our continuing series on supporting local wineries during COVID by scheduling safe visits to winery tasting rooms, a small group of us ventured to the town of Healdsburg where Breathless is located. There we were greeted with a flutes of delicious bubbly wine, potato chip appetizers and a saboring demonstration with a sword. Three Sisters and Penny the Wine Maker - Photo Credit: Breathless Wines Breathless Awarding Winning Wines Famous Even in France I first heard of Breathless several [...]