How Did You Get Here? My # 1 Search Term of the Year.

As the year draws to a close it’s only natural to look back and reflect on what went down in 2010. I’ve had this wine blog for almost two years now and this year showed a marked increase in traffic to Come for the Wine. I’d love to think it’s because of my witty outlook and scintillating take on the wine world at large, but it’s much less honorable than that.

After reviewing my blog analytics for the year it has been revealed that the number one search term that brought people to my site this year was: “nuts and wine”. Nuts & Wine!!!

Apparently there are boatload of folks looking for information on nuts and wine and I seem to be the person to give it to them because about 60% of the people who come to my site with that search parameter stick around… for quite a while!

Nuts & Wine. Make of it what you will. I guess it’s not a complete random act that this search term delivers my blog as a result. After all, I did write a few things that do fit the category like: The Danger of Pine Nuts. And oh yeah my post called Pairing Nut's with Wine probably started it all. Or perhaps it was the Lamrusco incident that lead people to think I was nuts?

Go figure. I guess I will just embrace it. After “nuts & wine” the second most popular search term was “type of blogger” or “crazy type of wine blogger” which lead people to my most popular post of the year:

The Five Types of Wine Bloggers: What Kind of Wine Blogger Are You?

This post of course was a joke but you would not believe how many people took it as a serious treatise on the state of wine blogging. {well maybe it is} But Helloooo! Satire while grounded in the truth is still a parody, humor, and mirth! It’s amazing how many people don’t get the joke.

It’s been a good blogging year though and I have been very fortunate to get the opportunity to taste some amazing wine and meet some incredible people this year.

Highlights include events at:

2010 Diageo Chateau Estate Burgundy Tasting { I'm still thinking about the wines I had that day}

Meteor Vineyards

Willamette Valley

Hands on Harvest at Gloria Ferrer

In retrospect I have to say-- “Wine Blogging has been bery bery good to me.”* In fact I’m off to Portugal in the new year mostly because of this blog, so I can’t wait for that and look forward to blogging all about it in February. *{if you are too young to get that joke Google SNL-- Baseball has been bery, bery good to me}

I want to thank everyone who invited me to taste their wine this year and gave me so many great experiences to write about.

Happy 2011! Here’s to you and a new year filled with less nuts and more wine.

The Holy Trinity of Synchronicity

See that box with the big number in it over here to the right → that’s a countdown clock for the Wine Pleasures International Wine Tourism Conference that will take place in Porto, Portugal starting January 31, 2011.

I have been invited to speak at the conference and join a Blogger/Media Press trip through the Minho and Douro wine regions. So naturally I’m researching the area and looking for information about Portugal before I go. After the conference I plan to spend a week in Lisbon and the surrounding area. I started to follow Portugal related wine and tourism folks on Twitter and searched for key words on the places I would be going. And that’s how I ran into David Hoffmann of DavidsBeenHere.com.

David's site offers a webshow service that allows people to ask questions about locations, trip ideas, or for tips on different destinations—and then David creates a personal video that answer the questions. The service is free and it’s amazing. It’s like sitting down with a friend who just came back from where you want to go and they give you all the inside details on what to see and what to do.

Check them out:

The first one is about Porto and the northern region of Portugal. The second details Lisbon and surrounding area. My screen layout tends to cut them off a bit but you can view them on at facebook.com/davidsbeenhere1 or on David's YouTube channel.

David was in the middle of touring Portugal when I began to follow him. We tweeted back and forth a bit. He asked me where I would be going in Portugal and I told him about the conference and that I was interested in Lisbon and possible day trips from there. As soon as he got back from his trip he made me these videos.

This to me is the perfect example of the power of connection and social media. And the power of wine, travel & twitter. In fact, I just added a slide in my presentation to talk about this at the conference.

To make things even more connected, it turns out the David is from Miami, South Miami to be exact, and his parents live just a few blocks from where my Grandparents lived and less than two miles from one of the areas where I grew up. It gets better… we both belong to the same church- Epiphany and attended the elementary school there although not at the same time. Pretty trippy huh?

So if you are planning a trip be sure to Ask David before you go. You won’t be disappointed. You can follow David on Twitter at @davidsbeenhere and click here to visit his site.

I’ll be posting about the wine and port while I’m in Portugal of course, but before I go I'll post a little preview of where I will be going so stay tuned. In the meantime, you can click on the box at the right and it will tell you everything you need to know about the conference and how to register. Or just click here.

Thanks again to David Hoffmann for his time and for making these videos for me.

Coombsville is Coolsville

Last Sunday I went to a little harvest party for the release of Meteor Vineyards 2007 Perseid Cabernet Sauvignon in Coombsville. This southeast section of Napa used to be relatively unknown. Practically off the grid. But it's possible the days of Coombsville being just under the radar are over. Coombsville is Coolsville in many ways.

Located on a rocky knoll in sight of Mt. George, the soils around Meteor are an unusual combination of volcanic and clay, with a heap of cobblestones thrown in giving the vines a unique foundation to grow in.

Coombsville is Coolsville with a mild climate and consistent temperatures that keep the growing season long and the fruit less prone to the heat spikes common in surrounding AVA’s. That means the grapes benefit from a long hang time and get the chance to grow up to be the grapes they were meant to be.

Maybe that’s where the idea of the zip line came in? If hang time was good for grapes maybe it would be good for people too. That concept was put to the test with the Meteor Zip Line.

I did not partake of the zip line due to the fact I was wearing a skirt and I could just imagine it billowing up over my head as I crashed into an oak tree at end of the line. But next time I hope to do the Coombsville Sip n' Zip. You’ve probably never seen a zip line at a regular harvest party have you? Like I said, Coombsville is Coolsville.

Adjacent to the Meteor vineyard is an exquisite residence constructed entirely of glass, stone, hardwoods and rammed earth. At first glance it looks like an elaborate structure from the elite levels of Angry Birds. Airy, open, and in harmony with the land, it’s the perfect complement to the vineyards that surround it. I mention the residence because it’s here that you see attention to detail is everything.

For example, only a mad genius would think to embed a circuit board artifact in the Fu-Tung Cheng countertops, but crazy cool touches like that are everywhere in the home just waiting to be discovered. And that philosophy of nuance and integrated detail shown in the house also seems to be what vineyard owners Barry Schuler and his wife Tracy had in mind when they collaborated with winemakers Bill and Dawnine Dyer to create their wines.

The wines I tasted at Meteor were all 100% Cabernet Sauvignon estate grown. I tasted the 2007 Perseid new release and the 2006 Special Family Reserve that was recently featured in Savuer magazine. I also got to taste the 2005 Special Family Reserve. The Meteor Estate Special Family Reserves are extremely limited production wines with just a few barrels made of each.

The 2007 nose changed quite a bit in my glass as it opened up from bright plumy notes to a rich tobacco scent. I tasted fresh blackberry and a bit of violet and clover on the palate with good tannins. I’d certainly love to try this wine again in a few years but it was quite successful in the moment.

The 2005 and 2006 Special Family Reserves were beautiful. Full, steady, and balanced, the structure reminded me of a chord progression--a Lou Reed riff—deep, dark, and haunting. I’d like to play these lush notes over and over.

Schuler may be a kingpin of the investment and tech world, but beneath his business savvy is the soul of an artist. Actually, he is an artist, a potter, and it seems to me that Meteor wines reflect the same careful hand shaping and artistry as his ceramic pieces.

Also at the party were a selection of Coombsville wines from other producers in the area. I wish I had taken more careful notes because I tried several that were outstanding. The Coombsville folks all seem very supportive of each other’s winemaking efforts. Who knows, maybe there’s a serious feud going on somewhere, but it all seemed very Kumbaya to me. Must be that Coombsville is Coolsville vibe at work.

SIDE NOTE: Some wine bloggers may be wondering how the heck I got invited to such a cool Coombsville event at Meteor. Well I guess you could say it’s because of Twitter.

I first met Mr. Schuler at a meeting with AOL back in the dark ages of the early Internet. Before he became the CEO of AOL, Barry led their Interactive Services group and I was working for a company that was soon to launch Travelocity. I think in the meeting he showed us the door and told us to get lost. Just kidding, to be perfectly honest I really don’t remember the details of the meeting. But I do remember he seemed like someone who was going to make interesting things happen.

Fast forward to 2009-- Barry gave the keynote at the Wine Bloggers conference. Now he owned a vineyard and was making wine and I was a wine drinker blogger. We followed each other on twitter. Everything had come full circle.

So kids, it pays to connect on twitter but even more than that, it helps to have had a real job at least once in your life.

The Five Types of Wine Bloggers -What Kind of Wine Blogger Are You?

1. The Amateur Professional

Has an actual paying job in an industry other than wine but is a knowledgeable, studious and zealous blogger.

2. The Mad Libber

Reviews wine by using a rotating list of adjectives to describe the “nose” and “mouth feel”. Posts are identical with the exception of the photo. Writing style mimics a Mad Libs game.

3. The Know-it-All

Pompous and ingratiating, the know-it-all really does know it all; but it does not make them any less annoying.

4. The Wild Card

Crazy anarchist self-styled lunatic loves the “juice” for it’s higher power. Writes incomprehensible posts about harmonic convergence, interpretive dance and numerology that inspire the wine god within.

5. The Interloper

Cares little about wine blogging but pumps out enough posts to play the game and actively solicits wineries to send them samples.

Symmetry Vertical Tasting and Blend-O-Rama

On October 21st I had the opportunity to taste three past vintages of Rodney Strong’s Symmetry Red Meritage, 2004, 2005, 2006 (past), plus the 2007 (current), and the 2008 (pre-release). The event took place at Jackson’s Bar & Oven in Santa Rosa and was hosted by Robert Larsen of Rodney Strong. It turned out to be a seriously fun evening with some seriously nice wines

We began with the vertical tasting of Rodney Strong Symmetry Meritage. My favorites were the 2007 and the 2005.

Winemaker Rick Sayre spoke to us about the challenges and rewards of higher elevation fruit, and how over time, the Meritage blend has changed to include Malbec and Petit Verdot in the mix. Rick also spoke about tannin management with mountain fruit, and noted that Meritage from high elevation vineyards can be a tannin monster if not carefully blended.

The 2007 was peppery with balanced tannins and a deep garnet color. As Rick mentioned, this wine has many years of happy cellaring ahead of it, but I’m impatient and like the way it’s drinking now. My other favorite, the 2005, had a rich dark cherry and plums on the palate and I found it to have stronger tannins than the 2007.

Next we got to engage in one of my favorite wine activities—blending. The last time I blended was at Conn Creek Blending AVA Room and we made full bottles. This time our task was to blend the perfect glass.

Each table competed in teams, first we made our own individual blend and then we selected one blend from the table to move on into the final judging. My table, Team Tannin included @winebratsf @sharayray & @20dollarwine -- and if you know them, you know that spells trouble for our table already. Moving on….

It’s fun to sample the wines and decide what will make the best concoction. It's a great way to learn about each varietal and how they can add a different dimension to a blend. I love the blending part, but the backwards math converting of millimeters part… not so much. This time I cheated a bit and just used the big beaker to measure right off and that made the whole process easier and less messy too.

But the problem I encountered was that I kept losing track of what glass I was blending in. I really needed a grease pencil to mark the blending glass. Instead it all devolved in to a “Where’s Waldo” of blending.

Eventually I got it together and my blend {40% Cab Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 20% Petite Verdot, 5% Cab Franc & 15% Malbec} moved to the finals. But I could tell from the wince on Ricks face when he tasted my “Fox Force Five” blend that it was a bit too tanninlicious for his taste.

The ultimate honor of top blend went to wine writer Tim Teichgraeber. Well done Tim.

Afterwards we adjourned to the bar downstairs for dinner and to watch baseball on the big screen.

They have a great menu at Jackson’s, but their fancy hotdog seemed an appropriate choice given the baseball and all. Plus it paired perfectly with the 2007 Rodney Strong Reserve RRV Pinot, which had a beautiful lavender nose and a lush, balanced peppery hit that knocked it out of the park for me.

Big thanks to Robert Larsen and Rodney Strong for hosting the event and to Rick Sayer for taking time out from his busy harvest schedule to join us.

Pinot on the River 2010: Festival of Mud

On October 24th, the 7th Annual Pinot on the River Festival took place at the Rodney Strong Vineyards estate. It promised to be a day of singular sensations with over 100 Pinot Noir master crafters pouring their wines. It turned out to be a perfect day for pairing Pinot and Gortex. Luckily I arrived dressed for the occasion in knee high argyle rubber boots, but for some folks less prepared, it was a sloppy event to negotiate through ankle high mud.

I was already very familiar with many of the wines from the Russian River Valley, but not so much with those from the Santa Lucia Highlands. I was very impressed with everything I tasted from the Santa Lucia Highlands and after this event I plan to investigate the AVA further.

Here are links to some of my favorites of the day:

Cartograph

Arista

C.Donatiello

Keefer Ranch

Kosta Browne

Laetitia

McIntyre

Lucienne

LaFollette

Littorai

Meiomi

They Do Things Different In Wine World

99 bottles of beer, 60 bottles of Grenache, 200 bottles of Red, White & Whatever, 3 Fire Dancers, 1 pot of Gumbo from Zin Resturant, and a Beer Wench on the Roof.

That's the partial list of what I encountered at a recent Birthday Bash for William Allen (aka @SonomaWilliam) here in Wine World-- the mystical devils triangle of wine, food & people in Sonoma County, or SoCo as it’s affectionately known.

Back in the day, before I lived in Wine World and became acquainted with the wine blogging elite, dinner parties were a more somber affair. We’d dine, we’d talk directly to each other, actually look people in the eye as we conversed. When guests arrived a bottle of bubbles might be poured. Then with dinner an appropriate wine for the meal would be served. When that sole bottle was done, and if the meal was still in progress, the host might say-- “Should we open another bottle?” The guests would demure “Oh, I don't know. Well, maybe, but don't open it unless everyone wants more. Don’t open it just for me.”

How quaint! Perhaps those were the days to which Mr. Thoreau was speaking when he said--"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." Maybe they were just waiting for the host to open another bottle. Ha!

Not anymore. Welcome to Wine World! Since moving to SoCo dinner parties, in fact all parties are an all out wine-o-rama. Ten dinner guests? Expect to see 30 bottles or more on the table. In SoCo the bottles seem to multiply faster than tribbles on the Star Ship Enterprise.

Things are different here.

Parties in Wine World are not drunk fests. (Well okay, actually some of them are, or I should say for some people they are) but the majority of the guests are just true oenophiles, so enthusiastic about a wine that they want to share it with you, and tell you all about it.

In reality, although there may be hundreds of bottles out at a party, not all are opened or even finished. Save for the really exceptional wines which are drained quickly. It’s like the salad bar. You taste a little of this, try a little of that, then maybe go back for some more bacon bits and skip the jello.

Add to all this the furious tweeting that goes on and you may find you spent half the night looking at your phone instead of the other guests. Unless of course there are fire dancers in attendance--then everybody is looking up at the show.

Often at these parties you'll find a few folks walking around with bottle held close to their chest, they’ll pull you aside and say- “Hey--You gotta try this.” A small amount is poured into your glass. You swirl, sniff, sip and nod your approval. Before you can thank them, they are off pulling aside someone else like some guy in Times Square clandestinely selling watches from the inside a trench coat.

Thankfully for my health and sanity, I don't attend too many of these bacchanal’s. But it always amazes me when I do. It’s made me re-think what wow-factor really is. After you attend one of these blow-out affairs with first rate food and fire dancers providing the entertainment, you realize your idea for Pony Rides and Happy Meals at your birthday party is just not going to cut it.

With some things it’s best to know you can’t compete.

C'est la vie' – That’s life.

Ridge Lytton Springs Wine Blogger Tasting III

This past Sunday Christopher Watkins, the Tasting Room Manager for Ridge Monte Bello, held a vertical tasting of Zinfandels from the Ridge Lytton Springs Library as well some select Cabernets from the vault at Ridge Monte Bello. This was an exceptional line up of wines and one might expect a formal setting and a hushed silence of reverence for the tasting. Instead it was serious amount of fun, a relaxed and casual day of tasting out on the crush pad at Ridge Lytton Springs. It was a scorcher the day we sat down to try the wines, but the crush pad stayed a cool 80 degrees in the shade. Hard to know if this temperature affected the wines on the palate, but I felt the heat made it slightly more difficult to capture the nose.

Chris assembled a terrific slate of writers and bloggers for the event and you can a find a full roster and links to the participant’s blogs here:

It’s great to sit with a group of enthusiasts to talk and tweet about wine on a high intellectual level. Okay, so that’s not exactly what happened at my end of the table. One thing about tweeting is that it makes initial interaction rather stunted. I was actually talking to Liza on twitter @BrixChix_Liza via tweets, even though she was sitting right next to me. Oh what a weird world we live in. Eventually we lifted our eyes off our phones and met our tablemates.

I had the pleasure of meeting David Tong and Richard Jennings among many others. Also in attendance was the notorious Ron Washam who pens The Hosemaster of Wine blog. Ron is an expert blogger baiter calling out the ridiculousness of bloggers and their antics in carefully crafted and parody filled prose, so I was expecting more of a general drubbing from him that day. But instead he merely threw out a few stale zingers and behaved himself for the most part. I think maybe it’s because the people at the table were serious about wine and serious about writing about it and sharing it with others, but for the most part don’t take themselves very seriously. So it’s hard to get your hooks into someone who agrees that what they do is not brain surgery for rocket scientists. Or some other fractured metaphor of false aggrandizement.

Maybe he was just caught up in the moment of sending his first tweet.

Oh dear, Ron tweeted, the world as we know it has ended. Anyway, enough about Ron, on to the wines.

The vintages we tasted included the Lytton Spring Zinfandels from 1987, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, & 2007.

The standouts for me included:

1992– Lavender notes and on the nose and good tannins

1993—A yeasty almost lemon cupcake-y scent with long finish. I was quoted as saying this made me want to have a cigarette and I don't even smoke.

2003—Interesting salty soy like quality. Umami as Chris says. Perhaps would make for a good sushi Zin.

2005—Hints of green pepper and fruit forward with a touch of grapefruit. Me likey very muchy.

2007—Full lush and worthy of an animal sacrifice on the BBQ.

We also tasted Cabernets from Ridge Monte Bello 1991, 1992 & 1994.

I thought all the Monte Bello Cabernets were complex and multi-faceted, but the 1994 had the perfect aligning of the planets for my palate.

We discussed foods that would pair well with the wines and came up with everything from tempura to guinea pig. We also theorized that if wine had been aboard the Apollo 11 moon launch they might never have left the capsule for the first moonwalk. Imagine what might have resulted. —

“That’s one small sip for Man and the rest of this Zinfandel from Monte Bello for Me. Huston, I’m staying here in the capsule and drinking this Monte Bello. It’s literally out of this world.”

How we got on to the subject of space travel is probably my fault, but that’s the fun of tasting. Everyone has a unique frame of reference to call upon in describing wine.

Here are a few screen shots of what others had to say:

You can search twitter for the hashtag #Ridgewines and read more of the tweets that where unleashed during the tasting.

Thanks to Christopher and also to Brandy Alexander (yes, her real name) for organizing and hosting the event.

Hands on Harvest PART II

As I said in my last Hands on Harvest post, I learned more about the land and vines at Gloria Ferrer's Carneros region estate than I thought possible in two days. My palate was put through some rigorous paces as well with a parade of wine and food pairings.

I am a big fan of Va de Vi the sparkling wine Gloria Ferrer introduced last year, and familiar with all their sparkling wines as well, but I did not know they also made still wines, Pinot Noir in particular. You can find out more about the wines and history of the Ferrer family on their site. But for this post I wanted to focus the aspects of the land in the Carneros area that I found most interesting on the tour.

Walking Tour with Mike Crumly

Sustainability is a big buzzword these days. It’s bandied about for everything from hotels to shampoo. Sometimes is hard to know what exactly it means. During the Hands on Harvest we were led on a walk around the Circle Bar Ranch property by Mike Crumly, VP Vineyard Management, and given some insight into what sustainability can mean for a vineyard.

The Riparian Corridors & Land Conservation

I didn’t know that some species of birds won’t fly over big tracks of open land. They prefer to flit from tree to tree, so it’s important to break up big plots of vines with some trees to give the birds and other animals a path across the land. The riparian corridor at the Circle Bar Ranch was man made. Native trees and shrubs were re-planted in the gulch that cuts across the ranch and reinforced with mesh fabric to control slit build up that protects the watershed downstream and rocks to prevent erosion as from rainfall run-off in the winter months. Preserving the land is sustaining the land. You wouldn’t know from looking at this that is was all recreated.

Bluebird Boxes

The western Bluebird is most threatened when Oak woodlands are reduced by commercial development of land. The use of bluebird boxes gives the birds a nesting place and helps maintain their populations in the vineyards. During the rainy seasons the vineyard crew builds bluebird nests. Like the Keebler Elves making cookies, they build the boxes at the winery workshop and then thru a partnership with WillMar Center for Bereaved Children, the boxes are painted by children struggling though grief. Gloria Ferrer sells the bluebirds boxes in the tasting room and all profits go to the WillMar Center.

When Mike held up the bluebird box and told us the story of how healing an act it was for the children to work on creating a “safe home” for the bluebirds, I thought we were all going to bust out in tears. I think I even saw a tiny tear in Mike’s eye. I tell you, that guy is all heart.

The Midden & the Artifacts

One of the most fascinating features on the property was the Miwok midden. During a land survey prior to the vineyard development, evidence of a Miwok Indian Village was discovered. Artifacts including arrowheads made from obsidian and grinding tools made of stone were located and documented. A archeological survey identified the section of land as a Midden, a place where the hunter-gather tribes discarded their “kitchen’ trash such as mussel and oyster shells and an occasional body too. I guess you could say the midden is like a like a huge garbage disposal, a stone age KitchenAid so to speak, with room for any relatives who happen to kick it around the dinner table. Although the midden is adjacent to the active vineyard, the area is fenced off and left undistributed.

The Geology and the Trenches

When I saw the first trench I thought maybe this event was really an elaborate ruse to lure us into a trap and “harvest” our kidneys and other organs and then bury us in the freshly dug trench. I could barely walk at that point anyway so it seemed like a good idea. But that was not the case. The trench was part of an object lesson on the geology of hillside growing conditions.

I’ve been of tours where the geology is discussed before, but there was something about Mike Crumley's presentation and his ability to break down the information into component parts that suddenly clicked in my mind. To see the difference in the soil depths along the hillside slope was amazing. And then to connect that to the stress placed on the vines as evidenced in the differences in leaf canopy created by the shift in soil depths was startling. I’d never noticed that before, but then again no one had ever pointed in out and explained it so clearly either. Apparently it’s dappled light that makes the best Pinot grapes and thus the canopy on the “struggling” hillside vines is most desirable.

The People

One thing that stood out for me was, given the size of the Gloria Ferrer operation, everyone there seemed very relaxed. They seemed to enjoy each other’s company and had as much fun as their guests. I really felt like they would be great folks to hang out with for a few days. Oh wait, I guess I did that. So if the whole point of Hands on Harvest was to give an in depth view to the land, the wines, and the people of Gloria Ferrer, all I can say is—Mission Accomplished.

A Tale of Two Harvests

Last year I participated in my first harvest (which I wrote about here) and all I got was a warm beer and a taco at the end of a grueling day of manual labor. But oh what a difference a year makes!

As I said in my post last year, the most important thing I learned was to politely decline any subsequent invitations to Harvest. But then I got invited to the Gloria Ferrer Hands on Harvest event on September 13 & 14th, and all I can say is OMG! The Hands on Harvest exceeded my wildest expectations. I learned more about winemaking and the particular vines at the Carneros estate than I thought possible in two days. My palate was put through some rigorous paces as well with what seemed like a never ending parade of wine and food pairings.

I live tweeted the event with the hashtag #GFHoH, but later discovered many of my messages were saved to draft instead of going out…oh the joys of technology. There is much to share about what I experienced so I’ve decided to break it up in to two separate posts. For now, here is a quick pictorial of Hands on Harvest.

The Vertical Tasting of Royal Cuvee

Vintages from 1990 -1997, I was impressed by the consistency of color across all the vintages and particularly liked '90, '92 and '94.

"Champagne is like a bed, it's meant to be shared" ~ Bob Iantosca

Wake up and smell the vineyards

The “Gentleman’s” Harvest

Breakfast Al fresco

Left to Right: Tom Burnet, President; Elvia the Cake Lady; Bob Iantosca, VP Winemaking; Harvest Guest, Gerald Murphy of Revival Bar & Kitchen

Sustainability Walking Tour with Mike Crumly

Artifacts from the Miwok Midden

The Riparian Corridors

The Bluebird Boxes

Mid-morning replenishment-- Oysters & Bubbles

Grafting Demonstration

Geology Lesson in the Trenches

Pinot Pairing Lunch!

The Crush

The Caves

The People

I 'd like thank the entire staff of Gloria Ferrer Caves & Vineyards for an exceptional event, forever changing my idea of a harvest experience.

Stay tuned...next post will go in-depth to the history & geology of the Circle Bar Ranch including the particulars of our Sustainability Walk led by Mike Crumly. If only Mike had taught my high school geology class I'm sure I would have attended more often and learned something along the way!