Back to beautiful Oregon for the third time in four years – it is starting to feel like coming home. My friend Carrie, who recently relocated to Portland, and I headed south on July 17 for two days in Willamette Valley. Our first stop was Willamette Valley Vineyards for a private tour and tasting. We loved the comments written in…

On the second full day of the conference, I selected a session on the terroir of Santa Barbara County. Santa Barbara County boasts one of the most diverse climates and largest number of grape varietals grown anywhere in the world.  The region is home to a topographic feature not found anywhere else in the contiguous U.S., a pair of mountain…

Some of my friends and I chose to skip the opening reception Wednesday night and instead had dinner at Mattei’s Tavern in Los Olivos.  It is a charming restaurant housed in a building that used to be a stage coach stop dating to 1886. We shared a variety of dishes including grilled avacado, beet and peach salad, grilled wild salmon,…

We were off to Vina Robles bright and early for a 10:00 a.m. seated seminar focused on Paso Robles AVA’s (American Viticultural Areas).  Paso is the largest non-county AVA in California and is in the process of applying for 11 sub-AVA’s. Among the wines tasted was Ancient Peaks Winery’s 2011 Oyster Ridge Bordeaux blend, named for the 13 million year…

The 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference kicked off July 9 with a pre-conference excursion to Paso Robles, an area I have never had the opportunity to visit. The rolling countryside is absolutely beautiful, planted with vineyards and other crops. Our first stop was a seated seminar hosted by Niner Wine Estates and included Castoro Cellars, Hug Cellars, Giornata Wines, Eberle Winery,…