There is a wild fire along the border of El Dorado and Amador counties. Deaver Vineyards has posted some troubling images of the golden glow in the smoke visible from their tasting room. Here’s a link to a local news story. The radio report I heard says 1300 acres have been burned and 5 houses have […]
The folks at Wine Country Getaways recently published this look at Andis’s concrete eggs as wine making vessels. I wrote about this same subject back in 2011. The Wine Country Getaways post has a nice photograph of Andis’s concrete egg. The concrete vessel provides an ideal wine aging environment. Because of the thermal mass of […]
This post was originally posted on June 22, 2012. Last weekend’s jaunt up to El Dorado for the Pleasant Valley Wine Makers’ Rocks & Rhone event reminded me that Summer tasting has some specific requirements! It is almost officially Summer and I’m sure your mind is wandering in the neighborhood of “where can we go […]
We recently ventured east again for a day trip to the Sierra Foothills to pick up some wine club membership shipments. We have memberships with both of the wineries that I’ll be discussing. We pay for these memberships ourselves. Our trip took us to four different wineries, all of which we enjoy, but these two […]
I will be having a book signing in Oakland this weekend. There is also news about Amador County wineries instituting tasting fees. Let’s chat a bit about both. Book Signing Saturday, December 1st, Stage Left Cellars in Oakland is hosting me for a book sale and signing. I am honored to be included in their […]
Mike Dunne, writer for the Sacramento Bee, recently published a nice piece about Convergence, an out of the way, but destination-worthy winery in Amador County. They aren’t far from Sutter Creek and are well worth the short diversion to reach Convergence. Share this:Share
It is finally Summer and the temperature is rising. What wines do you drink when the temperature is up? I know what I drink, and I thought I’d share with you my “go to” hot weather wines from California’s Sierra Foothills. White Wines, Duh Well, it’s kind of a “no brainer” to suggest drinking […]
It is officially Summer and I’m sure your mind is wandering in the neighborhood of “where can we go for vacation?” Well, if two weeks in Hawaii or Europe or Australia aren’t in your budget, how about a long weekend in Sierra Foothills for some wine tasting? The weather is warm. The people are warm. […]
Oh, man, there are times when I read something really phenomenal about a subject I’m knowledgeable about and think, “Man, I wish I’d written this”. Well, today I had just that experience. Patrick Frank, one of the writers at Palate Press, wrote a great piece about the old growth Zinfandel vines in Amador County that […]
This is the next in my occasional series of interviews with wine makers and others in the industry. Late last year I interviewed Mark McKenna by email. Mark is the wine maker and General Manager at Andis Wines in Plymouth, California. I recently uncorked a bottle of the Andis 2009 Reserve Cabernet Franc. I raved […]
