I don't get into the whole vampire culture. I didn't see Twilight, don't watch True Bloods, no Vampire Diaries or even Buffy. But I must admit, I was pretty excited to go visit a place called Vampire Vineyards. For one thing, we were in Beverly Hills. The Vampire Lounge and Tasting Room is the...
Los Angeles is known much more for its traffic than for its boutique wineries. In Burbank, we found both in the same place. D'Argenzio Winery's Burbank tasting room is located on a fairly busy thoroughfare; if you're intending to turn right into the parking lot, be aware that the turn for...
As I've reviewed wineries, I've sometimes described newer wineries as still needing some time to find their direction, learn the complexities of making and marketing wine, and make wines that taste mature. If I see a winery with a start date of fewer than five years ago, I usually lower my...
During our recent trip to San Diego, we took the ferry to Coronado Island for two reasons: to visit Zilaro Cellars and to walk on the beach. The beach was amazing -it was close to sunset, we happened upon a wedding taking place in the sand, and the waves were rolling in so quickly that we got...
This winery is the embodiment of the American dream. Andre Van der Heyden lived the earliest years of his life in The Netherlands. He recalls being given a taste of really good wine and saying, This is what I want to do. By 1984, he was in Napa, bottling his first vintage. The Place: If you've...
When my Jewish friend Karen wanted us to visit a kosher winery during our wine tasting trip to Napa Valley, I wasn't terribly excited. After all, kosher wine doesn't exactly have a great reputation. Not that I knew that much about it; once, years ago, I had a little Manischewitz at a Seder, and...
I've been to Monticello -Thomas Jefferson's home in Virginia, that is. I was a kid, on that obligatory Washington, D.C.-area vacation with my family, but I vaguely remember it. I felt a bit turned around when I learned that Monticello Vineyards is in Napa Valley, California, not Virginia at all....
I must admit that I wasn't terribly excited about visiting Napa's Beaulieu Vineyard. I think that's because BV wines are so widely available, and somehow in my mind I equated that with being over-commercialized, impersonal, and somehow not as good. After all, they make 240,000 cases a year, so...
By 1985, V. Sattui Winery was able to build a beautiful stone winery amid the venerable 250 year-old oaks, reminiscent of the late 19th century wineries in Italy and France. With its two stories, tower, wine caves and underground aging cellars, its completion was a fitting tribute to help...
When my fearsome foursome was planning our trip to Napa and Sonoma, I expressed an interest in visiting Conn Creek because my sister-in-law has poured us some of their cabernet at family parties, and everyone liked it quite a bit. So I wanted to see what else they had. That was quite good enough...
Bruce Cohn has apparently lived a charmed life. In 1969, he began to manage a little local band called the Doobie Brothers, and we all know how that turned out. In 1974, he purchased land in Sonoma County, California that housed a 145-year-old grove of Picholine olive trees. Now he makes...
New Year's Eve was a gorgeous day in Sedona. Doing the tourist thing as part of our honeymoon, of COURSE we went wine tasting. It's what we do! I'm so glad that we can now find a winery just about everywhere we go. There are nearly 70 wineries in Arizona, 11 of which are represented at Art of...