26 September, 2014

Oak Farm Vineyards Winery Expansion!

Comments : 6 Posted in : Events, Tasting Rooms in Lodi - CA, Travel Guide for Lodi - CA, Travel Sponsored Stays and Tours, Wine on September 26, 2014 by : The Gourmez

Tags: central california, estate, expansion, fishing, grand opening, lake, lodi, northern california, oak farm, tasting notes, tasting room, to visit, tourism, vineyards, winery

Oak Farm Vineyards Winery (23627 Devries Road) is on its way to becoming the first of its kind in the Lodi, CA, appellation: a family-owned estate that offers the full experience of a large-scale destination winery, minus the glitzy hotel and pretension. I took part in a media preview of their new expansion, which will
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2 September, 2014

Cimarone Winery

Comments : 4 Posted in : Other Red Blends, Red Wine, Shiraz / Syrah, Tasting Rooms in Los Olivos - CA, Travel Guide for Los Olivos - CA, Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 on September 2, 2014 by : The Gourmez

Tags: 3cv, andrew murray, cilla's blend, cimarone, le clos secret, los olivos, nose, priscilla higgins, reserve syrah, review, roger higgins, santa barbara country, shelley woods, tasting notes, tasting room, wbc14, wine tasting, winery

At the tail-end of my 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference experience, I stopped in at Cimarone Winery. I’d heard of them through Twitter, as the winery’s social media (@cimarone) did a great job letting us bloggers know they were in nearby Los Olivos and would be offering a special tasting for us if we ever had
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28 August, 2014

WBC14: Bridlewood Estate Excursion

Comments : 2 Posted in : Chardonnay, Wine, Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 on August 28, 2014 by : The Gourmez

Tags: 2014, bloggers, bridlewood, buellton, chris finley, conference, e & j gallo, estate, excursion, farmer, finley farms organic, industrial eats, jake o'francis, jeff olsson, joanna finley, lake, mark williams, meet your maker, picnic lunch, producers, sea stephanie fish, stephanie mutz, sustainable, valley piggery, winemaker, winery

As I wrote in my thoughts on the 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC14), the overall value of the conference is one of the biggest reasons I’d consider going again in the future. And nothing can illustrate that better than the one additional excursion I attended the afternoon after WBC14 closed: the Bridlewood Estate Excursion. For
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28 January, 2014

Homewood Winery Merlot Port 2010

Posted in : Fortified Wine, Port, Wine on January 28, 2014 by : The Gourmez

Tags: 2010, brown sugar, buttery, dry valley, homewood, Merlot Port, review, sonoma, tasting notes, vanilla, white chocolate, winery

Homewood Winery Merlot Port 2010 Dry Creek, CA I picked up this bottle on a recent sojourn to Sonoma from the one vineyard we ventured to on a quick day trip to the region. I thought the merlot port delicious in the tasting room, and I’m interested to see how it stacks up when drunk
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7 January, 2014

A Foodie Day Trip on Treasure Island

Posted in : Bars and Tasting Rooms, Tasting Rooms in San Francisco - CA, Travel Guide for San Francisco - CA, Wine on January 7, 2014 by : The Gourmez

Tags: bodega wine estates, bulkogi, charlie frank pies, day trip, dot's bakery pantry, fat grape, flea market, food, food truck, foodie, guide, hiyaaa, mano lemonade, san francisco, sulfite free, tasting room, tourist, treasure island, views, visitor's guide, winery

On the last full weekend of every month, the Treasure Island flea market takes place. It is a great excuse to check out Treasure Island for foodies, because the flea market brings a lot of food trucks with it to what is otherwise a barren land for munchies. But it’s never a barren land for
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19 November, 2012

Virginia Wine Tasting at the Fox Liquor Bar

Posted in : Bars and Tasting Rooms, Bars in Raleigh - NC, Bordeaux - Red, Events, Petit Verdot, Red Wine, Sparkling Wine, Viognier, White Wine on November 19, 2012 by : The Gourmez

Tags: barbara ensrud, boxwood, brut, country vintner, cru, foggy ridge, fox liquor bar, ingleside, raleigh, sparkling wine, trump, vineyard, virginia, virginia wine board, wine notes, wine tasting, winery

Virginia Wine Tasting at the Fox Liquor Bar Back in July, I attended a wine tasting event at the Angus Barn promoting wineries from Virginia. It was very informative and a great preparation for my trip to Charlottesville a few weeks later. Well, the VA Wine Board was back in town a week and a
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20 July, 2012

Charlottesville Blogging: Downtown Food and the Downtown Mall

Comments : 2 Posted in : Bars in Charlottesville - VA, Coffee Shops, Dining in Charlottesville - VA, Restaurants, Travel Guide for Charlottesville - VA on July 20, 2012 by : The Gourmez

Tags: amphitheater, cafe cubano, caprese omelette, chalk wall, charlottesville, cortado, dark and stormy, derecho, dining, downtown mall, food, gelato, keswick, parking, peri peri chicken, pub, review, satay, shebeen, south african, splendora's, suisine, tour, tour guide, travel guide, vineyard, virginia, winery

Our most recent weekend getaway was to Charlottesville, a college town in Virginia that also happens to be a prime tourist destination due to its central location for visiting wineries and the Blue Ridge mountains. I’d also heard that it has an impressive food scene, and I’m always game for investigating such claims. So we
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