Wine Travelers

The Wine Travelers in the wine country of France and Spain

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Lucky us, we will be traveling for almost all of October in the wine country of France and Spain. We have rented a house for a week in both the Rhone Valley and the Languedoc region of France. Then we’ll head to Barcelona and join a group of wine bloggers for a press trip to … Read more

Trends in Wine Tourism

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We were delighted to attend the Wine Tourism Conference last month held at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa. We met a lot of new people in the wine industry, as well as some new winery owners, winemakers and wine bloggers. We especially appreciated the intimate settings of the winery dinners offered as pre-conference visitations.

The Wine Industry Panel discussed the increased interest in visiting wineries in Southern Oregon, the state of Virginia and the Paso Robles wine region of Central California.

We learned that New York’s Finger Lakes is one of the fastest growing wine regions in the country. After having met author Evan Dawson at the European Wine Bloggers’ Conference in 2011, we read his book “Summer in a Glass,” which is a very personal look at winery owners and winemakers in this upstate wine region. We definitely have added that area to our “wish list” of future wine travel.

Wine Tourism in the Finger Lakes wine country
A great read on the Finger Lakes wine country

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Happy Thanksgiving and How to Carve a Turkey

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But for me, the most difficult task on this day is carving the turkey. I do two things to get this right. I have my two knives sharpened at our local hardware store and I watch this video on Thursday morning.

“The Spirit of the Man” Sculpture Exhibit at Paradise Ridge Winery

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This exhibit includes 34 sculptures from local artists as well as artists from other parts of the US. The pieces vary in size, color and style and are primarily abstract in nature.

Exploring the Willamette Valley wine country of Oregon

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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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Teldeschi Vineyards in Dry Creek Valley

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100 year old Zinfandel
Lush grape clusters on this 100 year-old Zin

A little-known and offbeat vineyard resides on Dry Creek Road. Each day hundreds of tourists drive by and never enter the realm of Teldeschi Vineyards and the winery named Del Carlo. There is no signage or tasting room, so the droves of visitors to the Dry Creek Valley never venture into this remarkable world of 100 year-old Zinfandel vineyards and breathtaking views of the Dry Creek Valley’s east bench lands.

We were in the Dry Creek Valley on Thursday and finished an appointment early. On a whim, we called the number on the Del Carlo website. Within 15 minutes we were riding in Ray Teldeschi’s 1950 red flatbed truck through his Home Ranch of 56 acres, 26 of which are planted with vines. We had been introduced to the Del Carlo wines at a trade tasting, and since then had always wanted to visit. Ray and Lori Teldeschi are the second-generation owners of the ranch; Ray’s parents purchased the property in 1948. In 2005, Ray and Lori established the Del Carlo wine label.

Ray Teldeschi

The Vineyard Tour

The vineyard tour on the flatbed truck made a complete circle of the vineyards, with Ray sitting with us giving details of his sustainable farming and his vineyard management techniques. Ray is growing Zinfandel, Cabernet, Petite Sirah, Sangiovese and even some Delicato grapes. Rays sells 90 percent of his vines to several wineries in Sonoma and Napa. These include the makers of the popular Prisoner wine, Seghesio Winery and Carlisle Winery. Ray uses the final 10 percent of his grapes to produce the Del Carlo label, a mere 600 cases of wonderful tasting wine.

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Armida Winery – one of the best picnic wineries

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Enjoying a picnic lunch at a winery is one of life’s finer pleasures. We have our list of favorite wineries with great picnic areas and views, and the Armida Winery is one of those that head the list. Armida is located on the edge of the Dry Creek Valley on Westside Road, a couple of miles from the town of Healdsburg. It is small family-run winery producing 10,000 to 12,000 cases a year.

The winery is situated high on a hill affording a spectacular view of the Russian River Valley area. Yes, although the winery is situated in the Dry Creek AVA, the view is of the neighboring Russian River Valley. The winery has a good-sized deck with several tables that afford this wonderful scene. A pond just below the deck adds to the beauty of the vineyards off in the distance. Once people experience this beauty, they return again and again to enjoy this spot. Saturdays are very popular here, especially from Spring to the early Fall months.

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Virginia Wineries on the Monticello Wine Trail – Wine Bloggers Conference 2011

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Last week 300 wine bloggers met in Charlottesville, Virginia, for their 4th annual conference and spent three days learning how to be better wine bloggers, while at the same time discovering Virginia wine and wine country. What better way to learn about Virginia wine than to visit nearby wineries?

On Saturday the 300 wine bloggers were wined and dined at wineries on the Monticello Wine Trail. Each wine blogger boarded one of seven buses that trekked the bloggers out to two wineries for a day of touring, tasting, and feasting on appetizers and a gourmet lunch. The bus we boarded took us to two very interesting and wonderful wineries on the Monticello Wine Trail, Pippin Hill Farms & Vineyards and Veritas Vineyards. Here is a brief description of the two wineries we visited.

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