This is another installment of a series called “Livermore Stories,” which takes a look at the most exciting wineries in this wine growing region located east of San Francisco. More than 50 wineries now call Livermore Valley home. The wines have never been better, and the wineries have great stories to tell. For Cuda Ridge Wines owner Larry Dino, the color “Plum Crazy Purple” has more than one meaning. It’s the color of his restored 1970 Plymouth Barracuda muscle car that he saw one day on the side of the road, driving back to his home in Fremont, Calif, from looking for vineyard land in Sonoma (he eventually bought in Livermore Valley). “My wife said it looked like a bunch of garbage,” he says. Plum Crazy Purple is an original color for the Barracuda, and Larry spent three years refurbing the car, spending both lots of time and money on it. …
E-Cep: An American En Primeur
Ask a wine lover or a serious wine collector what one of their biggest gripes is about the wine marketplace and the answer is often not being able to get their hands on that cult Cabernet from California rated 98+ points. Equally frustrating is having to wait to get on a winery’s mailing list to have a chance at getting an allocation of a highly rated, in demand bottle of wine. What if you could get the wine you want before it hits the marketplace? That’s what E-Cep founders Serge Marquie and Sally Wilkinson set out to discover. As both of them will tell you quite often, “we are not wine people we are finance people,” Serge says. “But we love wine.” Coming from London, the historical birthplace of the en primeur system, Serge and Sally were surprised that there was no formal wine futures market in this country. Once…
WineFashionista is a Finalist in The Wine Blog Awards! Please Vote!
I am super humbled and honored that this blog WineFashionista is a Finalist in the Wine Blog Awards for Best Writing on a Wine Blog. The Wine Blog Awards are given out each year at the Wine Bloggers Conference. I am in great company in my category with some of the best wine writers in the country. This is my first time being a finalist. To be named a finalist, my blog had to be nominated. There were 100+ nominees in my category. Then a panel of judges, basically a panel of wine writing peers, voted for the top six blogs. Somehow mine was one of those six. I was quite surprised and thrilled. Now the general public gets their say. This is where you my dear readers, come in. Click on this link, then click on the big red VOTE button. Voting ends June 19th at 11:59 pm. I would…
Livermore Stories: Darcie Kent Vineyards
This is the first in a series called “Livermore Stories,” which takes a look at the most exciting wineries in this wine growing region east of San Francisco. More than 50 wineries now call Livermore Valley home, and the wines have never been better, and the wineries have great stories to tell. Darcie Kent is back. “I’m still learning Cabernet Franc,” says the Livermore Valley vintner as she’s sorting beautiful grapes just picked from her home vineyard during the 2013 harvest. “This is just a luscious, luscious berry, it’s one of my favorite wines.” I first met Darcie in 2002 when she was just launching her namesake label, Darcie Kent Vineyards. At the time, she was making only one wine, a Merlot, which is was what was planted in her home vineyard. “We were doing a rip-roaring 50 to 100 cases out of my garage,” she says. We taped a story…
Dress to the Vines is Back!
For the second year, Jessup Cellars in Napa Valley is bringing style to Wine Country. That’s right, the fabulous event, Dress to the Vines, is back! And I’ll be joining in once again, pairing the wonderful wines from Jessup Cellars with artisan perfumer Sarah Horowitz Parfums amazing fragrances. This is an olfactory experience you don’t want to miss. “Our belief is that the Napa Valley has more than just influenced the culinary landscape of America, it’s also setting trends for style and fashion from coast-to-coast,” says Joel Quigley of Jessup Cellars. “This is what we’re celebrating!” Yountville, in the heart of Napa Valley and home to Jessup is fashion central for three days and nights June 26th to June 28th. On June 26 the Dress to the Vines weekend kicks-off poolside at the Bardessono Hotel & Spa with the hotel’s Dive Bar Fashion Party2, from 6-8 pm. This is where…
A Personal Journey to Eonian Wine
Wayne Donaldson is a year and two vintages into his own wine label Eonian. After about 20 years in the wine business, working in Australia and California, he “decided it was time to do something personal.” I first met Wayne in 2002, when we he was Vice President of Winemaking and Vineyards at Domaine Chandon, the sparkling wine house in Napa Valley, and we were shooting one of the very first episodes for the show I produced, In Wine Country, on NBC. I’ll never forget him showing us how to saber open a bottle of sparkling wine. It was the coolest thing I’d ever seen. A few years later we shot a story with Wayne going mountain biking on the grounds around Domaine Chandon, another super fun shoot. So when I heard he was launching his own wine label, I had to get the lowdown. “Eonian the name means…
Fundraising with a Coastal View, and Pinot Too
When a charity event celebrates 30 years, no doubt it’s not only been successful but has helped beneficiaries and local community along the way. That’s exactly what Winesong, the annual fundraiser on the Mendocino coast of California has done for three decades. “Over 30 years we’ve raised $6.5 million,” says Jeri Erickson, executive director of the Menodcino Coast Hospital Foundation. “Our beneficiary and our sole purpose is to support the Mendocino Coast Hospital, a 25 bed hospital. We service 70 miles of coastline over 540 square miles, as were are a remote region. The closest hospital is an hour away through windy mountain roads, so a hospital in our community is absolutely vital.” Jeri owes part of Winesong’s longevity to its unique location. “All of our events have a coastal view,” she says. Winesong is always the first weekend of September. The Friday afternoon event is the Pinot Noir Celebration…
A Sommelier’s Secret Weapon
What does it take to pass what is perhaps the most daunting and difficult exam in the world? Master Sommelier Geoff Kruth knows. He sat for the Master Sommelier exam twice – as it is rare for anyone to pass on the first go round – and became a Master Sommelier in 2008. Since then he’s been on a mission to aggregate all the information needed to prepare for the exam in one place. The Master Sommelier (MS) exam is so infamous that a documentary film was made about it called SOMM. It is being given this weekend, May 18 -21, in Aspen, Colorado, the only time the test is being administered this year. So if you don’t pass, you basically have to wait another year to try again. No pressure for the exam candidates, right? There are 211 Master Sommeliers world wide. The pass rate for the exam is…
Wellness in Wine Country
The biggest trend in wine country these days isn’t the latest technology advances in winemaking or the up and coming varietals you’ve never heard of like Ribolla Gialla and Fruliano. In a word it’s wellness. When it comes to balancing mind, body and spirit, look to Napa Valley wineries, vineyards, hotels and beyond for an array of innovative ways to detox. Of course a little retox with a glass of wine afterwards is always allowed. Adjust Your Frequency Upon arrival in Napa Valley, you’ll want to make your first stop The Spa at Napa River Inn. Step into this jewel box of a spa retreat and you’ll feel like you’re worlds away. Hard to believe this little stand alone building was at one time the local Napa police station. Owner Jeanette O’Gallagher has created a calm oasis within. Recover from the stress in your life with the Adjust Your Frequency…
Have a Say in the Oscars of the Perfume World
The Fragrance Foundation Awards, formerly known as the “FiFis” are considered the “Oscars” of the perfume world. Usually awards are chosen by members of the Fragrance Foundation and industry experts. But this year, any scent lover can cast his or her vote for the Consumer Choice Award. A new category since the 2013 awards, the Consumer Choice Award “is the only fragrance award that consumers can vote on,” says Julie Leong of the Musmanno Group. What’s new this year is the subcategory Celebrity scents has been added to the Women’s and Men’s categories. That’s because last year Justin Bieber’s team tweeted so much the last leg of voting that it rocked the vote in his favor for Girlfriend Justin Bieber in the Women’s category. “It’s hard to compete with the power of the celebrity tweet,’ says Julie, so they wanted to give the other brands a fair chance. Also…