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Press Release

SANTA CRUZ, CA - In an effort to promote wines produced in the Santa Cruz Mountains, Capitola's landmark Shadowbrook Restaurant is offering Winemaker Wednesdays, featuring half-price wines from the appellation now through May.

Each week Shadowbrook will be featuring two to four wines from a Santa Cruz Mountains winery, offered by the bottle or glass.  Wednesdays, beginning at 5p.m. a representative of that week's winery will offer tastings and information from a table set up in the restaurant's Rockroom Lounge.

That night all wines from the week's winery, whether ordered in the bar or dining room, by the glass or bottle, will be 50 percent off the regular price.  Featured wines will also be available in flights (about 2.5 oz, also half-price), accompanied by complimentary appetizer.

ST. HELENA, CA - Great news for wine enthusiasts anticipating the tasting of the 2007 Châteauneuf du Pape vintage at The Culinary Institute of America at Greystone with Robert M. Parker, Jr. Three more wines have been added to the flight, making a total of 21 wines from this excellent vintage to be tasted. This annual event has generated an endowment in excess of $1 million for Wine Advocate scholarships for the CIA's Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies. This year's tasting is scheduled for Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 1:30 p.m. at the CIA's Napa Valley campus.

When Parker first reviewed the 2007 Châteauneuf du Pape wines, he awarded them ratings in the mid to high 90s. According to Parker, "the entire vintage will be very long-lived given the extraordinary balance in the wines. (And) given this quality, the high demand and limited supply from these producers makes 2007 one of the most collectible vintages in recent memory."

After scores of wine tasting and much deliberation the results of the San Francisco International Wine Competition were announced over the weekend. According to the press release "Forty-five wine industry professionals from throughout the United States convened June 19th, 20th and 21st to taste, score and rank 4,274 wines from 1,195 wineries" and "judged from 26 states and 21 countries".

Several domestic wineries took home honors.

Explore Sonoma Valley with a passport to over 50 wineries showcasing the very best of their current wine releases, library wines, and special bottlings!  The event is next weekend May 16th & 17th from 11am to 4 p.m. and promises to be two fun-filled days of wine tasting festivities including food pairings and entertainment.

Your passport includes a commemorative wine glass, unlimited wine tastings at participating wineries, discounts on wine purchases, and entry to some of Sonoma Valley's wineries normally not open to the public. Additionally, for the first time, participating wineries are partnering with their growers and pouring their best wines in the vineyards where the grapes are sourced giving Passport holders the ultimate grape to glass tasting experience.

On the day of the event or if you wait to buy tickets, check in at one of the four designated "start" locations - Viansa Winery & Marketplace, Sebastiani Vineyards & Winery, Valley of the Moon Winery and Ledson Winery & Vineyards.

Don't miss out on this wine tasting event, buy your tickets online today!

What: Passport to Sonoma Valley

When: Saturday, May 16th and Sunday, May 17th

Time: 11:00 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day

*Price: $55 Weekend Passport/$65 at the Door
            $50 One Day Passport/$60 at the Door
            $10 Designated Driver
            *Save $5 off ticket prices if you have a Visa Signature Card.

BUY TICKETS ONLINE

By Courtney Cochran

Come April 22nd, enviro-friendly oenophiles will have ample opportunity to celebrate Earth Day among the vines. Read on for our top picks for where to go green in wine country on this feel-good holiday.

Green Valley
What better place to fête this fabulous day than in Green Valley!? To wit, Iron Horse Vineyards and several of its Sonoma County neighbors will host "Celebrate Earth Day In Green Valley" a few days early on Sunday, April 19th. Highlights of what to see and do at various stops include a sparkling wine and salt tasting at Iron Horse; biodynamic vineyard tours and sustainable fashions created from recycled wine packaging at DeLoach Vineyards; and docent led tours of the Laguna de Santa Rosa, Sonoma's richest wildlife preserve, starting from Dutton-Goldfield and Balletto Vineyards' joint tasting Green Valley room. Get the scoop here .

By Courtney Cochran

I've always admired second-generation Napa vintner Judd Finkelstein's penchant for marching to his own beat.  Whether playing the ukulele in his wine country band, The Maikai Gents Featuring The Mysterious Miss Mauna Loa , or producing award-winning Cabs at his family's Judd's Hill winery, Finkelstein doesn't do things the typical wine country way.  And so when I bumped into his wife, Holly, several weeks ago at Premiere Napa Valley at the CIA Greystone in St. Helena, I was thrilled to hear that Judd has undertaken a refreshingly "out there" new adventure: an online wine show featuring his family's winery and his very own brand of quirky humor.

By Robert Farmer

Sitting as it was without bothering anybody in my wine cellar, the bottle of 1999 Silver Oak had been resisted long enough. So on Christmas last year, I decided the time was right to open 'er up. Frankly, I have not been the rabid advocate for Silver Oak as are many folks among the legion of fans the winery can proudly claim. I've been impressed, but also under whelmed by some vintages. And while I know the oak notes are the wines' signature, my experience has occasionally been akin to running headlong into an oak barrel.

Ring in the New Year at Chandon! 

Join Chandon for a Roaring 20s party on New Year's Eve. Enjoy a decadent six-course tasting menu paired with Chandon wines. Then, dance the night away to live music with  Soul Project. It will be a party to remember for ages. Don't delay, tickets are selling fast. Buy Online toay!

More Details:

• December 31, 2008
• Dinner & Party Tickets: $225 (plus tax & gratuity)
• Party Tickets Only: $75
• Formal Portraits Included
• 1920s Cocktail Attire (Black Tie Optional)

Call 888.242.6366 for more information and to make your reservation or visit Chandon.com for party tickets only!

CLICK HERE for more Details.

Selling Lots for a Little
by Robert Farmer

Sometimes it's about the craft and sometimes it's about craftiness. For Cameron Hughes, making and selling wines has been about ample doses of both. Most people who peruse the wine aisles at Costco know the company. And it is his relationship with the big-box bulk retailer that really put Cameron Hughes and his eponymous wine company on the map.

By Courtney Cochran

In a city that's practically synonymous with fine food and wine, it seems only fitting that San Francisco should play host to a highly anticipated series of November wine events known collectively as SF Wine Week. And with a bevy of chic nightlife venues lined up and a who's-who of winery and industry sponsors clamoring to get behind it, the unprecedented week-long celebration of wine in the city seems primed to catapult San Francisco to still greater heights of vinous renown.

Press Release: Kenwood, CA, --Following a sold out event in May, Kunde Estate has scheduled a second dog-friendly hike on Saturday, October 18th, 2008. The hike offers a chance for animal lovers to enjoy wine country with their dogs while raising funds for Canine Companions and the Humane Society & SPCA of Sonoma County (HSSC). Both non-profit organizations provide vital services to people and animals in the region.

October's Dog-Friendly Hike consists of a three mile trek through the Kunde family's 1,850 acre estate, led by fourth generation winegrower Jeff Kunde. The hike is $45 per person and dog and concludes with a wine country gourmet picnic and wine tasting, with treats and a "water tasting" for dogs.

By Robert Farmer

Boulder, Colorado: If you're like me, the beverage you equate most with the Rockies is beer - one particular type of beer, more likely. For as long as anyone can remember, the taste of the Rocky Mountains was a hops-and-barley taste. Beer in Colorado is king. That is, until now.

Like each of its 49 neighbor states, Colorado, too, has an emerging wine industry. And now that industry is starting to inch into the territory of its dominant sister beverage. While it will certainly be some time before beer is replaced on the throne, wine in Colorado is proving to be a worthy prince.

By Robert Farmer

Those familiar with this space know that I am a fan of "immersion learning." Especially when it comes to wine appreciation, there's no better way to "go deep" into it than to live it for a few solid days. Wine camps are a great way to do it. And increasingly, regions are offering innovative, educational, and above all fun, opportunities to experience wine like you never have.

Mendocino gets into the act with Wine Camp 2008, a three-day, three-night immersion into Northern California wine and all of its various nuances and tendencies. I like this Wine Camp because it takes place in one of California's lesser-known regions and provides "insider info" to the intrepid camp-goer about one of Northern California's under-discovered gems. And, with each camp limited to just eight campers, it promises to be an intimate excursion, with ample opportunity to get one-on-one contact with winemakers and other participants.

By Courtney Cochran

It's tough for a gal not to get all gushy about Chanel, and for this gal, an auction item including some Chanel, a private jet to Paris and accommodations at the über luxe Hotel Plaza Athénée is about as good as it gets.  Add to all this fabulousness a vertical of double magnums from one of Napa's most sought-after new wines and special perks in Par-ee (think fashion show tix and a tour of Coco Chanel's private apartments), and you've got the stuff of wine-loving fashionista fantasy. 

By Courtney Cochran

Known variously as The American Wine Classic and "the granddaddy of all wine auctions," Auction Napa Valley 2008 went down on June 9th at the lavish Meadowood resort, though the vibe was decidedly more subdued than in previous years.  Whether you blame the scaled back fanfare on the tough economic climate, the heat (though it's typically scorching in Napa every year around Auction time) or the recent passing of Napa scion Robert Mondavi, the auction was without a doubt more mellow than usual.  

Napa Valley, CA - This summer solstice, wineries at the heart of the solar power trend in Wine Country will celebrate the day of the year when the sun shines the longest with the first annual Solarbration.

On June 21, from 5:30 p.m. until sunset, ZD Wines, Honig Vineyard & Winery, and Peju Province Winery will host a solstice celebration, with special wine tastings, sustainably grown gourmet cuisine, and live entertainment at each of their facilities. Guests are invited on a behind-the-scenes tour of the solar energy systems that power the wineries. Ticket price includes entry to all three wineries. All proceeds will be donated to The Land Trust of Napa County. Land Trust personnel will be at the wineries to answer questions about their land-saving work.

By Courtney Cochran

Rock, paper, scissors, that is.  Playfully dubbed by its hosts "Wine Country's Sporting Event of the Year," Roshambo Winery's (roshambowinery.com) raucous annual Rock, Paper, Scissors Tournament will take place this year on June 7 at the winery's hip new tasting room at Sonoma's Cornerstone Place (www.cornerstoneplace.com).

By Robert P. Farmer

Most people rightly associate Wine Country - no matter which region you're talking about -- with the country. It's hard not to think about with Wine Country experience and not think about the bucolic countryside. It's the most common setting when one thinks about wineries and vineyards. But there is a growing trend in cities around the nation that is shaking that perception by its rootstock. The Urban Winery Phenomenon has recently been making more noise in the wine industry than a traffic jam in the heart of Market Street. And not only is it changing the way people taste wine, it's changing the entire concept of what constitutes a winery.

There's just something about Pinot Noir that inspires near fanaticism in both winemakers and wine drinkers. Some say it's the inherent difficulty of growing the grapes that makes the reward all the sweeter. Others insist that, unlike other grapes, Pinot Noir holds the imprint of the grower and winemaker like no other varietal. Whatever the case, hordes of Pinot lovers will converge in Oregon's Willamette Valley this July to celebrate their passion for this amazing grape.