Santa Cruz Mountains

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Detox Then Retox in Wine Country

Photo credit: Aubrie Pick The first time I heard of a winery offering a yoga class was in 2008, at Periscope Cellars in Emeryville, CA.  This was actually a yoga class where you sipped wine as you held various poses.  We shot a session for an episode of In Wine Country and I love the shot at the end of the woman holding the wine glass with her foot. Since then it seems that no matter where you are in American wine country you’re not far from a yoga class at a winery.  You can do your best downward dog at wineries in Temecula, CA, in the Lehigh Valley, PA wine country or along the Loudoun Wine Trail in Virginia.  The trend has also taken off in Canada, especially in the Niagara grape growing region where there’s a Yoga in the Vineyard Facebook page with 239 “likes.” In addition to yoga, you…

New Kids On The Wine Block

The Santa Cruz Mountains American Viticulture Area (AVA), in northern California, running along the Pacific coast south of San Francisco to Santa Cruz, is one of the most diverse wine growing regions in the world.  This wine country is also one of the oldest in California, dating back to the mid 1880’s when pioneers like Paul Masson were growing grapes and making wine here.  There are nearly 70 wineries that call the Santa Cruz Mountains home, and a few new kids on the block are noteworthy newcomers. Silvertip Vineyards   Silvertip Vineyards is what you would call a destination winery — but not because you’ll find a fancy chateau or Michelin-starred dining there.  You have to work to find this Santa Cruz Mountains winery, tucked away among the redwoods, only a few miles as the crow files from Silicon Valley, but a world away in this forested setting.  You do…

Deep into Santa Cruz Mountains Wine Country at Fernwood Cellars

Talk about off the beaten path. This has to be one of the most scenic drives to a winery I’ve ever been on.  I’m not talking sweeping, panoramic views. Instead the road is shrouded in morning mist, and the oak trees form a tunnel above the pavement and redwood trees touch the sky. The atmosphere is eerily romantic. That Fernwood Cellars is nestled into northern California’s Santa Cruz Mountains is an understatement. It sits on the site of a former retreat, at the very end of the historic Redwood Retreat Road in Gilroy, a town more famous for garlic than wine. Arriving at the barn that houses the small Fernwood winemaking operation, you feel you’ve really gotten away from it all – and discovered really good wine as a bonus. The Fernwood property has been in winemaker Matt Oetinger’s mother’s family since 1860. His great grandfather homesteaded here and started…

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