SIMI Winery: Tragedy to Triumph
SIMI Winery started with the hard work and persistence of two immigrant brothers. But it continued due to the determination of one 18-year-old girl who would not let tragedy end her family’s legacy. That legacy, shown in this anthology video, carried on for more than a century […]
Cornerstone Cellars’ Winemaker Kari Auringer: Blending Passion and Kindness
Kari Auringer didn’t set out to use her creativity and craftsmanship to make wine at Cornerstone Cellars. Her initial thought, after college graduation in 1981, was that she was cold – very cold – and packed up her Z28 Camero with the goal of move from Wisconsin to anyplace […]
Longevity Wines – A Lasting Love Story
Growing up, Founder and Winemaker Phil Long of Longevity Wines didn’t have much exposure to wine other than his dad’s ornamental bottle of Chianti. He told me that he didn’t even know that wine was made in America. To him, agriculture was focused on plants and animals – not […]
Tasting History with the Women of Bacigalupi Vineyards
The Women of Bacigalupi Vineyards, Photo Credit: Bacigalupi Vineyards Bacigalupi Vineyards is one of the best kept secrets in the Russian River Valley. You may have heard the story of a 1976 tasting in which a California chardonnay gained world recognition by beating French burgundy wines in a side-by-side competition. That […]
Jon Larson: Returning Home to Angwin Estate
Jon Larson, Proprietor and Winemaker of Angwin Estate Vineyards, Photo Courtesy of Angwin Estates Jon Larson is the epitome of the modern day Renaissance Man – the precision required with his medical background; the discipline of a former state championship team rugby player and the sensory analysis and experimentation of his winemaker job […]
Sonoma: A Day of Diversity at Arista, Passalacqua, Skipstone and Scherrer Wineries: But the Heart of Sonoma Remains Aligned
Our wine trip continued in Sonoma where we spent time at four places– Arista, Passalacqua, Skipstone and Scherrer Wineries. What I loved about Sonoma was my time there showcased the diversity of this region from winemaking styles to customer experience to the philosophy in their tasting rooms. Our first Sonoma stop was […]
Virginia is for Wine Lovers: A Mix of History, Diversity and Great Wine
This October, I had the opportunity to attend the Virginia Wine Harvest Party, which was a two-day whirlwind media tour that was held in conjunction with Virginia Wine Month, the longest running state wine month. As I mentioned before, it had been 7 years since I visited the region. I had heard some great buzz […]
A Conversation with Tom Gamble: Preserving a Family, Farming and a Legacy
A Conversation with Tom Gamble: Preserving a Family, Farming and a Legacy It’s been about 18 months since I last had the chance to sit down with Tom Gamble, Owner of Gamble Family Cellars, yet constants remained. Tom Gamble remains a farmer first. He talked about never remembering a time when “there wasn’t dust in […]
Growing Up Gaja: A Conversation with Gaia Gaja and Delving into Ca’ Marcanda with #winestudio
Me and Gaia Gaja If Italian royalty comes knocking, one answers the call with an appropriate curtsy. When I received the invitation to meet Gaia Gaja, the daughter of one of Italy’s most world-class families of wine, I was in awe. When I met Gaia and found how warm, open and engaging she is, I […]
Samples that Inspire a Rallying Cry Moment
As a wine blogger, I get a lot of samples and I am very grateful to have the chance to try the amount of samples I do. But occasionally, there are wines that when I open the box I drop my “professionalism” and I am sure you might hear an involuntarily “whoo hoo” rallying […]
The Pedroncelli Family 90th Celebration Continues: Bring Me Your Finest Wines and Recipes
This Summer, I was lucky enough to be included on the insiders list for one heck of a party as the Pedroncelli family celebrated the 90th year of their family business. Recently, I had the opportunity to continue the year-long celebration as the family continued to call people together with a series of events with food […]
The Jordan Experience During the Wine Blogger’s Conference: Hail to Lisa Mattson!
Debbie Gioquindo, Lisa and me In my last blog post, I talked about my top 10 discoveries from the Wine Bloggers Conference, but posted #11 referencing another post next week. Today is that post where I get to talk about my friend, Lisa Mattson, the communications and marketing director of Jordan Winery. If you haven’t […]
A Pre-Stop at Pellegrini Wine Company and My Top 10 Favorite Things from the 2017 Wine Bloggers Conference
Alexia Pellegrini, Chief Operating Officer of Pellegrini Wine Company Our last stop en route to the Wine Bloggers Conference was to meet with Alexia Pellegrini, the Chief Operating Officer of Pellegrini Wine Company, where we joined Thea Dwelle and Megan Kenney for lunch and a fantastic introduction to the family winery. The Pellegrini family traces its […]
The Second Day of Pre-Conference in Sonoma: Our Journey Continues with Arista and Mauritson
The Second Day of Pre-Conference in Sonoma: Our Journey Continues with Arista and Mauritson Michael Kansberg, Artisa, Estate Sommelier, Cindy Rynning and me; Photo Credit: Chris Pittman Our second day began with a visit to Arista Winery. I first met Mark McWilliams at a wine dinner at Lakewood Country Club in 2002. He is a […]
A Pre-Trip to Sonoma: Day One to Lambert Bridge Winery
Cindy Rynning, me and Jennifer Higgins, Lambert Bridge Winemaker It’s amazing how the world and your intentions can change quickly. Cindy Rynning and I started planning our trip to Sonoma prior to the 2017 Wine Blogger’s Conference with the intent of visiting some boutique wineries, telling their stories and trying out some new social media […]
How A Bottle of Troon Almost Landed Me In A Mexican Jail
Those of you who know me, and/or Craig Camp from Troon Vineyards, know that we have a history of going rogue – especially when we are given restrictions that make no sense. Leo Durocher, the professional baseball player, once said, “I believe in rules. Sure I do. If there weren’t any rules, how could you […]
Rising from the Ashes: Lessons I Learned 19 Years Ago to Rebound After a Housefire
Please note that I am only posting this story because I have been asked to by several friends who are living the wildfire nightmare in California. This is not to compare my story with theirs as the details are very different, but in the hope that my story – especially the what to do after […]
Ninety Years of Pedroncelli Wines: A Toast to Family, Wisdom and Consistency
Ninety Years of Pedroncelli Wines: A Toast to Family, Wisdom and Consistency It’s been over three week since I embarked on my experience with the Pedroncelli family and I am no closer to being able to bring to life the amazing journey that I experienced. In an over sanitized, over marketed, over messaged world; trying […]
The Two Faces of Winemaker Steven Urberg: A Little Country and A Little Bit Rock and Roll
Winemaker Steven Urberg When you are the winemaker for an iconic sparkling brand, and you have a vision for making a luxury still wine brand, that dream often doesn’t come to fruition. Unless: i) the sparkling wines come from Gloria Ferrer (the original sparkling wine house in Sonoma Carneros): ii) you have the backing of […]
Pedroncelli Celebrates 90 Years: A Legacy of Farming, Fun and Flagships
Pedroncelli Celebrates 90 Years: A Legacy of Farming, Fun and Flagships Ninety years ago, it all started with a goal of three pillars – farming, fun and flagships – with flagships being the Zinfandel and Cabernet Sauvignon wines Pedroncelli is known for producing. That was recently reinforced on a Twitter virtual tasting. However, I think […]
Vinitaly: A Glimpse of Verona, Varietals, Vineyards and Vinology
How do you create stories about an event where more than 4,000 wineries were present, each serving an average of 6 to 10 wines over a three-day period? Some you plan, some you experience, some are pre-arranged … and some stories are just meant to be told. The ITA had several pre-arranged tastings – some […]
Masthead: Would It Face Better Reviews than Fred Astaire’s First Screen Test?
What if you had all the right ingredients for success and yet you failed? And you did in front of a well-respected group of wine bloggers, two wine makers and the winery who gave you every element that you needed to succeed? Especially when the first launch event was on the site of the very […]
Frank Morgan: “Get in the Car” and Other Going Rogue Experiences at the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference
Frank Morgan sporting the saying that started it all… It all started with a phone call from Steve Havill, Wine Club Manager for Bella Grace Vineyards. Steve saw a few posts I had done after other conferences and wanted to make sure that the Amador County pre-conference tour was going to be an amazing experience […]
Five Years of Wine Blogger Conference Recaps: #WBC16 Fun Begins Next Week
Five Years of Wine Blogger Conference Recaps: #WBC16 Fun Begins Next Week This the season (and the week of the Wine Bloggers Conference) for wine bloggers to take the easy way out with recap posts. Color me guilty and enjoy the story behind the stories for each conference. I always have such an amazing time […]
Operation Masthead: Four Bloggers Quest to Secretly Make A Wine (and Wait to Tell the Tale)
Early Draft of Masthead Wine Label Call me Bond … James Bond. Well that might be an overshoot, but it started out as an amazing clandestine story – Operation Masthead. “I have something amazingly cool that I am working on and you are going to be a part of it, but it is very secretive…,” […]
A Conversation with Cyril Chappellet: Life, Legacy and the Art of Making Good Wine
A Conversation with Cyril Chappellet: Life, Legacy and the Art of Making Good Wine Sometimes time stops and you wish for just another hour to capture the many stories that you know are passing you by because you just don’t have enough time. That happens a lot, but there are a couple of times that […]
Spanish Wine Trip: My Time in Bullas – Day Three
On day three, with 5,000+ calories in our system and a workout underneath my ever tightening belt, we packed up on our road trip with our fearless guide, Eduardo Ruiz. Eduardo is the export manager of MGW Group and drew the short straw of driving us all over the region … or watching us sleep […]
Dallas Wine Chick Celebrates 1,460 Days, 250 Posts and 1,000s of Bottles of Wine
Dallas Wine Chick Celebrates 1,460 Days, 250 Posts and 1,000s of Bottles of Wine It’s hard to believe it has been 1,460 days since Dallas Wine Chick made its debut. Since then, I’ve met countless wine lovers across the world, tasted thousands of bottles of wine (some good, some bad), attended three Wine Bloggers Conferences […]
Dallas Wine Chick Behaving Badly: How NOT to do Wine Country
Dallas Wine Chick Behaving Badly: How NOT to do Wine Country I’ve been asked by many of my friends and readers about the right way to experience wine country. I always smirk a little to myself when I’m asked because I was such the poster child of bad behavior the first time I visited with my […]
My Four Year Old Has a Better Palate Than Mine?
A few days ago, I was going through my usual wine consumption ritual – view the color and clarity, sniff the aroma, swirl the glass, and was getting ready to taste when I suddenly heard, “Mommy, can I have a sip?” I looked down to see the big blue eyes of my four […]