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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Dishcrawl, based in San Jose, has spread its food-tour wings throughout the US and Canada. Their expansion into the Triangle is new, with the first Dishcrawl being held in Raleigh last February. Durham’s Dishcrawl debuted last week over two separate evenings due to high demand.  I attended the first night on a press pass (which
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Back in the fall, I spent a few days at TOPO Distillery’s facilities as part of the Terra VITA Sustainable Classroom. It was a strange sort of torture being so close to their organic, 99.6% local (more on that later) array of spirits that includes white whiskey, vodka, and gin. So I asked Esteban McMahan,
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The Carolina Table: East Meets West Dinner We have finally made it, dear eaters. It’s the last of my posts on TerraVITA 2012, which you may find funny because I passed up the Grand Tasting on the Square, which is TerraVITA’s main event. It did not take place until the day after this meal, and
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The Sustainable Classroom: Wine and Cheese The trio of organizers for my final session at the Sustainable Classroom, a day of intensive discussion and tasting of sustainable foods at TerraVITA 2012, knew their crowd. They knew we were seasoned foodies; the concept of pairing cheese and wine was not revolutionary to us, though it will
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The Sustainable Classroom #3: The Cultivation and Culinary Possibilities of Figs  For my third session at the Sustainable Classroom as part of my bloggers’ free pass to TerraVITA 2012, I chose to take a class on figs and wine pairings. My reasoning was simple. I adore figs. I adore wine. I often think of figs
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The Sustainable Classroom: Practical Vs. Purist  It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to blog. That’s what a vacation in New Orleans will do for you. But I’m back, and I have a few more posts coming your way from the TerraVITA 2012 food and wine festival. This one is a summary of
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It was a whirlwind day on the media farm tour, but our last stop still arrived sooner than expected. I may have been lulled into laziness by the delicious food at Boxcarr, the previous stop. Coon Rock Farm was our final destination, and it’s owned by Richard Holcomb and Jamie DeMent. The farm is organic,
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The Sustainable Classroom: Coffee & Chocolate As part of my whirlwind weekend at TerraVITA 2012, I participated in the Sustainable Classroom on a free press pass. Each of the four sessions I attended was jam-packed with information and tasting experiences. There is no way I can share everything I learned with you, so instead, I’m
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Boxcarr Farms is both a farm and a food truck that uses ingredients from that farm. The farm can be found in Cedar Grove, NC, and the food truck visits Fullsteam Brewery every other Thursday night and 3 Cups every other Friday night. I’ve reviewed the food truck before, and I was thoroughly impressed —
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