In May of 2019, I attended a wonderful tasting at The Wine House in Los Angeles.  Stolpman Vineyards was there in full force showcasing some of their world class syrahs.  I purchased four bottles that included the 2011-2014 vintages of Hecho Por Ruben, made by their vineyard manager, Ruben Solorzano.  Tom and Virginia Stolpman purchased their vineyard in 1990 and…

Have you ever visited Southern Oregon?  I had my first opportunity recently as part of the 2021 Wine Media Conference.  As a bit of geographical backgrounding, the southwestern quadrant of the state is considered Southern Oregon and it encompasses five major regions.  Our travels were primarily in the Rogue Valley.  Water is abundant and hugely important in the area for…

Brave & Maiden Estate is one of the newest wineries to emerge in the Santa Ynez Valley.  Vines were planted on the property in the 1990’s, but the grapes had never been used to make single vineyard wines.  The current owners acquired the property in 2010, named their winery Brave & Maiden, and released their first wines in 2011.  Their…

It was September and time for our quarterly wine tasting trip.  We hadn’t been to Paso Robles since last November and in addition to visiting some wineries, we wanted to visit the fabulous light show called Sensorio.  There is a wonderful winery just south of San Luis Obispo called Laetitia  that specializes in sparkling wines and Pinot Noir.  Wineries and…

A Marathon Chardonnay Tasting and a Cooking Class Another absolutely packed day awaited us.  We were collected early by our fabulous tour guide and driver, Brad, owner of Vine Venture Tours, and taken to the Agrestic Grocer for breakfast. The Agrestic Grocer is famous for its delicious coffees and features a beautiful retail store along with the restaurant – how…

The Wine Media Conference offers several pre- and post-conference excursions. These are always special experiences because of the limited number of attendees. I chose the excursion to Orange and our group consisted of just nine people.  The organizers had originally intended to fly us to Orange on a local carrier, but with such a small number of travelers, they chartered…

                  Thursday was a travel day as we made our way from Blenheim, back to Auckland, and then on to Sydney.  After a two and a half hour drive (no, we didn’t drive – hired a car!), we arrived at the Hunter Valley Crowne Plaza, location for the 2019 Wine Media Conference. …

We awoke on our second morning in New Zealand to a chorus of beautiful bird songs and chicken clucks. After coffee and breakfast, we got ready for the day’s adventures. My friend, Amy (wine buyer at Mission Wines) was able to arrange a private tour and tasting for us at Whitehaven. We had seen signs for Whitehaven on the way back…

Amy Luftig Viste and Jasper Dickson were good friends who shared a passion for wine.  Jasper worked for the highly regarded retailer, Silver Lake Wines, and Amy was avidly pursuing knowledge through classes about wine.  Amy realized she was more interested in the production end of wine rather than service, such as becoming a sommelier.  Jasper moved closer to his…

A recent visit to the lovely Central Coast included visits to three wineries new to me. My daughter, Hilary, had previously visited Riverbench and one of my friends recommended Dierberg and Sunstone. Riverbench is situated on the southeastern edge of the Santa Maria Valley, the northernmost AVA in Santa Barbara County. Pinot Noir vines make up the majority of the…