Wine Road Podcast Episode 07 - Harvest Time & Farmers Markets

Wine Road EP 07-Farmers Markets / Harvest Begins - In this episode Milly Winehouse and DJ Bethy Beth talk about the start of Harvest, Farmers Markets, Wine Tasting Tips on tasting room hours and picnic grounds, the upcoming Wine and Food Affair event, and we pop some bubbles to celebrate the move to the new Wine Road World HQ.

Listen here:



Show Notes:
• Harvest time on the Wine Road- 0:32
• Wine Tasting Tips:
⁃ Tasting room hours and winery picnic grounds- 0:59
⁃ Winery picnic grounds -1:54
• Farmers Markets (Sebastopol, Occidental, Healdsburg, Cloverdale) - 2:27
• Ring for Wine: Wine of the PodCast - Korbel Natural - 4:35
• Cork pop! - 4:46
• Event: A Wine and Food Affair - 5:30
• Recipe database on Wine Road website- 6:00
• Item of the Day: Capabunga CapaBubbles Champange/Sparkling Topper- 7:10

Links:
• Wine Road Website - https://www.wineroad.com
• Korbel - http://www.korbel.com/california-champagnes/
• A Wine and Food Affair - https://www.wineroad.com/events/wine-food-affair/
• Capabunga CapaBunga - https://www.capabunga.com/Reseal-your-Champagne-s/1827.htm

Music:
“Podcast Theme 03“ Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Epic Blue Danube Wine Croatia Road Trip-- Video Preview

Due to an upcoming print assignment that conflicted with my blog I’ve held back on my posts about my trip to the Dalmatian coast of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina in April 2016. But posts are coming soon. In the meantime here is a preview video of the food, wine, rakija, vineyards, amazing views and wonderful people during the Epic Blue Danube Wine Road Trip with the Blue Danube Wine team - Frank Dietrich, Catherine Granger and Gisele Carig.

I have a separate video devoted solely to the awesome Bibich food and wine pairing in Skradin that I’ll post next. 

Enjoy! Zivili!

Will the 10th Wine Bloggers Conference be the Last?

I had a hunch the 10th Anniversary for the Wine Bloggers Conference would be held in Sonoma, and now that that’s been confirmed, I believe it may also be the last Wine Bloggers Conference.

For me.

I’ve attended 8 out of 10 conferences--all except the 1st and Virginia (sorry Frank)-- but the 10th in Sonoma may very well be my final WBC.

I love seeing my wine friends first and foremost, and meeting new people that share a love for wine is one of the biggest draw for me. I think it's still a great value and experience especially for new attendees, but I feel like I’ve outgrown the format. Most of sessions, beyond the keynote and a few specialized break-outs, are of little value to me.

WBC needs more qualified experts to lead the educational sessions. Peer speakers are fine for certain topics, but often not qualified or experienced with presenting before groups. 

I’d like to see an alumni track that allows greater access to the winemakers and more in depth sessions with regard to terroir and local winemaking. Much like the program at WBC14 in Santa Barbara presented by SF Wine School (although that was not an official WBC event).

I’d even be willing to pay more for qualified content such as the Santa Barbara session.

Overall the WBC schedule is filled with fluff and I think the format needs an overhaul as follows:

Keep the Thursday opening reception. Cut back to the core elements on Friday and Saturday: Keynote, Speed tasting (because people do seem to love it), Winery excursions, Wine discovery tastings, and local winemaker discussions and sessions on terroir, vineyards, grapes, history, and geology of the area.

Leave Sunday open for attendees to visit wineries of the region at their own pace. Provide a “hop-on-hop-off” bus that runs a continuous loop from conference hotel to participating tasting rooms and wineries. This would allow attendees the opportunity to meet new people and actually be able to talk to them on the bus.

I loved visiting Lodi this year, but the separate hotels and conference center was a real drag. Made it very difficult to meet up and connect with others after hours.

I think Zephyr has done a great job over the years and it is apparent they try to incorporate attendee feedback. But the content needs improvement.   

I’ll be posting more about my Lodi experience and impressions soon. 

Wine Road Podcast Episode 6 - Outdoor Activities & Places to Stay in Northern Sonoma

Wine Road EP 06 - Beyond Wine: Activities in Wine Country - In this episode we discuss things to do and outdoor activities that are not necessarily wine specific. We debut the “time for wine” bell and Milly goes crazy for Pinot. And DJ Bethy-Beth admits she loves her name. ;-)

Listen here:



Wine Road— The Wine, When and Where of Northern Sonoma County with news on events, wineries, wines, dining, outdoor activities, and places to stay.

Show Log:
• Another Listener email! - 0:29
• Sonoma County Wine Growers Vineyard Walks - 0:55
• Rivers Edge Kayak and Canoe - 2:27
• Wine Country Bikes - 2:37
• Safari West - 3:12
• Canopy Tour Zip Line - 4:19
• Bodega Head whale watching - 4:44
• Spud Point Crab Shack 5:08
• Kendal Jackson Garden Tours 5:50
• Quivira Gardens - 6:12
• Charles M. Schulz Museum - 6:25
• Luther Burbank Gardens - 6:50
• Wine of Day // Wine of the PodCast - Woodenhead Pinot Noir - 8:24
• Event: AVA Zinfandel Blending/August 13th, 2016 - 10:40

Show Links:
• Wine Road Website - https://www.wineroad.com
• Sonoma County Wine Growers Vineyard Walks Self Guided Tours - http://www.sonomacounty.com/articles/free-vineyard-walking-tours
• Rivers Edge Kayak and Canoe - http://riversedgekayakandcanoe.com
• Wine Country Bikes - http://www.winecountrybikes.com
• Sonoma Canopy Tour Zip Line -http://www.sonomacanopytours.com
• Safari West - http://www.safariwest.com
• Charles M. Schulz Museum- http://schulzmuseum.org
• Luther Burbank Gardens- http://www.lutherburbank.org
• Bodega Head - http://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/sonoma-coast-state-beach-bodega-head-trail
• Kendall- Jackson Gardens - http://www.kj.com/the-wine-estate-gardens
• Woodenhead Winery - http://www.woodenheadwine.com
• Zinfandel Blending Seminar - https://www.eventbrite.com/e/what-goes-into-zin-a-hands-on-blending-experience-tickets-26216144193

Wineries Mentioned:
• Paradise Ridge Winery - http://prwinery.com
• Balletto - http://ballettovineyards.com
• Francis Ford Coppola - https://www.francisfordcoppolawinery.com/visit
• Woodenhead Winery -http://www.woodenheadwine.com
• Quivira Winery -http://www.quivirawine.com
• Kendall-Jackson - http://www.kj.com