50 Years of Wine Country Travels

Janelle Joe

Celebrating 50 Years of Wine Country Travels By our most conservative estimates, 2015 marks our 50th year of visiting wineries in California. It all began when my parents purchased a vacation home near the Russian River Resort town of Guerneville, back in 1963. I turned 21 later that year, so most likely our wine tasting … Read more

Exploring the Willamette Valley wine country of Oregon

Johan vineyards in the Willamette Valley
Dag Johan Sundy of the biodynamic Johan Vineyards
The Willamette Valley is where wine lovers flock to visit boutique and small family-owned wineries and to taste Pinot Noir and other cool-climate wines. We had a chance to get an insider’s look at the Willamette Valley at the 5th Annual Wine Bloggers Conference held last week in Portland, Oregon. We were bused to several wineries and got a chance to meet owners, winemakers, and growers. Back at our hotel we also had a chance to taste and compare many wines from this region. The three days were not nearly enough time, so we shall return again to this remarkable wine country.

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Ladera Winery on Howell Mountain

This is the second of our three-part series on visits to mountain wineries in the Napa Valley.

We left Stony Hill Vineyard on Spring Mountain and traveled across the Valley on Deer Park Road, then up the mountain turning left onto White Cottage Road to Ladera Winery. Talk about opposites in wineries! Stony Hill’s first vintage was 1952, Ladera’s was 2000. At Stony Hill the winery is still hanging on to equipment used when the winery was first established with no signs of any high-tech equipment anywhere. At Ladera, it is quite the opposite with no expenses spared in this state-of-the-art winery facility. Here you find beautiful stainless steel fermenting and aging tanks, gravity floor crush equipment, and a beautiful and elaborate cave system lined with oak barrels.

Ladera Winery - Ghost Winery Howell Mountain

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Which are the best wineries to visit in Paso Robles?

We first posted our Paso Robles Wine Trails section on WineCountryGetaways.com in 2004. Maybe at that time there were 100 wineries in the area. Since that time, the area has experienced astonishing growth and now the number of wineries stands at over 200. The last couple of years, we have visited the Paso Robles wine country on several trips with the goal of revising and adding wine trails to our Paso Robles wine region.

When we first began exploring Paso Robles, the wine region was most noted for its big and bold Zinfandel wines. Peachy Canyon, Tobin James and a few others were gaining attention and popularity for their Zinfandel wines. But things are changing, and particularly on the Westside of 101, with many wineries concentrating on Rhone-style wines. The pioneer winery in this area is the Tablas Creek Winery. They imported the rootstock of several Rhone varieties from France and planted them on land they felt was similar in soil and climate to that of southern France. Tablas Creek has a nursery, and local wineries can purchase budwood and grafted vines to pursue the making of Rhone wines.

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Wilson Artisan Wineries slowly becoming a winery powerhouse – Soda Rock Opens

So what a surprise last week when we drove along Alexander Valley Road and approached the Soda Rock Winery. What we saw was quite a surprise. There were a beautifully laid-out picnic area, parking area, refurbished buildings and a new sign begging us to enter.

Which are the best Napa Valley Wineries to Visit

We frequently get emails from visitors to our Website, WineCountryGetaways, asking for advice. The most common email goes something like this: “We will be in San Francisco in September and want to spend two days in the Napa Valley. Can you please tell us which are the best wineries to visit in the Napa Valley?”

Instead of replying to their email with a list of wineries, we suggest they consider these planning guidelines.

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Francis Ford Coppola & the WCG Bocce Tournament = Much Fun!

It was a perfect day for our 7th Annual WCG Bocce Tournament held in GIt was a perfect day for our 7th Annual WCG Bocce Tournament held in Geyserville at the Francis Ford Coppola winery on May 26th. With four new beautiful, professional Bocce courts, the gourmet Rustic Café, and spectacular views of the Alexander Valley, we could not have asked for a better venue.