The Wine Road podcast, subtitled the Wine When and Where of Northern Sonoma County, is an amazing source for interesting stories, curated daytrip itineraries, wine recommendations, and so much more.   Birth of a Podcast In 2016, when the Wine Road podcast started, there weren’t a lot of quality, professionally produced podcasts. But, Beth Costa, […]

The sweet smell of rain-freshened air is one of the joys of early spring along the Wine Road, but there are many more.   Wild Mustard in Bloom One of my favorite early spring sights is the mustard blooming in vineyards, along the sides of back roads and anywhere else it left seeds the year […]

Here are the top 10 reasons to attend the Wine Road’s Barrel Tasting, the weekend of Friday, March 3rd through Sunday, March 5th. Reason 1 – Rare Opportunity This is a rare opportunity to taste and learn about wines being served directly from the barrel. Some wineries will also be pouring a previous bottled vintage […]

Gewürztraminer is a medium body, dry white wine lighter than a Chardonnay and heavier than a Pinot Gris/Pinot Grigo. Gewürz means spice in German and the grape hails from Alsace the French wine region bordering Germany. It’s a cool climate grape that exhibits great aromatics and texture with refreshing spicy flavors such as lychee, passion […]

Autumn is just around the corner, and so is one of the Wine Road’s premier tasting events—Wine & Food Affair on November 5th & 6th. Picture yourself meandering along vineyard-lined roads with the autumn sun illuminating the vines bursting with fall colors. Each tasting room visit rewards you with delicious wine and food pairings, plus […]

Overview  Rosé season is here and the annual crop of new releases practically makes me giddy. I can almost hear Ethel Merman belting out “Curtain up! Light the lights! Honey, everything’s coming up roses!” But of course I hear her sing Roses as Rosés. Okay, so maybe Rosé does not conjure up Ethel for you—but Rosé can certainly […]

Syrah, a Rhône varietal, is a medium bodied to full-bodied dry red wine. For many years Syrah was ignored by consumers, it struggled to find it’s place at the table and stylistically many Syrah’s were pushed to the far side of the jam jar. Today winemakers embrace the inherent wild nature of the grape and […]

Here in Sonoma County, in the Russian River Valley and along the Sonoma Coast, we have some of world’s best vineyards and growing conditions for producing classic Pinot Noir of elegance and complexity.

Ready to venture out and enjoy wine tasting again? Please keep reading. They’re Open By the end of May, a few wineries had reopened their doors for tasters. Others needed more time to retool their tasting venues to accommodate social distancing. During the month of June, winery after winery reopened their doors with renewed enthusiasm. […]

Ready to reconnect to Wine Country? Is your wine supply a bit depleted after weeks of sheltering in place, aka SIP? I’ve found my wine cellar is missing many of my favorites after the holidays, and now weeks of SIPping at home. My plans to stock up got put on hold when I couldn’t visit […]