With the warm afternoon sun on my face, the grape vines brilliantly lit, this could be Northern Italy. However, this was the Castle Winery in Calistoga, California, where I signed up for the wine tour.
Hank our tour guide ushered everyone into the chapel for an introduction to the winery and the history of the castle. We learn that Napa Valley has been producing wine for over a century. The unique climate and soil give the wine a special flavor the French call “sense of place.”
Hank continued pointing out the castle’s high defensive walls, courtyards constructed with materials, and methods used a thousand years ago, In addition, to the wine aging room and the tasting room below ground. The castle has over one hundred rooms on eight levels, both above and below ground.
After the introduction, the group follows
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I strike up a conversation with a tall blond hair woman, standing next to me. Curious, I ask how she learned about the tour.
Linda says, “I read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle about the winery. The article gave the tour a high rating because of the wines available for sampling and the Tuscan style architecture.”
I asked, “What do you like about the tour?”
“I thought it was fascinating, how the wines are made.”
When it was our turn to choose a wine Linda selected a Merlot. She tells me, “I like this wine; it has a medium body, the flavor of currants, blackberries, and spice, along with a chocolate-toffee finish.”
“That sounds really good.”
Next, was the 2011 Simpatica Riesling, with its citrus and honeysuckle aroma.
Together, we say, “That would be a great wine to pair with a lobster dinner.” Then chuckle we both had the same thought.
With the tour winding down, Linda and I talk a little longer about the wines. I excuse myself and head off to the wine store. Where I purchase a bottle of Simpatica Riesling, with thoughts about a blond hair woman and a lobster
This winery doesn’t take itself too seriously – on your way up the road to the “twisted” tasting room, there are wacky signs and rubber chickens in the trees. But the wine? That’s seriously good. They host concerts throughout the year, have great spots to picnic and a basket of toys on the porch, as well as a swing for the kids, so they can play as you
What fascinated me was the fact that the wine from Fresno State is produced in limited quantities. Nowhere else in the world are all the wines available for purchase and tasting.
Tantalize your taste buds with their fresh meat and vegetable dishes, handmade dessert, and large selection of wines, which they are so well known for.
The package includes one hour of cocktails served with passed hor d'oeuvres, five hours of open bar, a three or four course meal with wine, champagne toast and wedding cake. The meals are made with many seasonal, local ingredients, including some from the sister property gardens. The menu is completely flexible to allow for
Valley Winery was founded in 1933 and has risen to be the largest domestic producer of wine in the US. The company has more than 40% of market share in the US and
We have five classmates in our group and we went to visit the mackinaw trail winery together. The mackinaw trail winery is a small winery but have complete wine system. The overall aim of this visit was to explore how the wines and vines made in the state of Michigan. We took great interest to visit this winery because the wineries established in the twenty-first century and is also one of the fastest growing wineries in Michigan. Mackinaw Trail Winery is a family owned business that was founded in 2004. This winery Owned and operated by proprietors Ralph and Laurie Stabile. When we get there we saw many graph shelf near the building. After some formal greetings and introduction, Mr. Ralph Stabile and Laurie Stabile talk about the history of the winery. We know that Mr. Ralph have a dream to making wine so he started the conceive in 2004. At his young age, he often pressed grape with his grandfather who was a Sicilian immigrant. Ralph operated the winery until 2010 when his son Mr. Stabile took over. Dustin build a art facility in Petoskey because the winery need to redesign. The new site enabled the winery to continue growing while ensuring the production of quality products. The new winery place on 30 acres hill which is planted with 15 acres of grapes. Mackinaw Trail Winery gained some of the rewards and achievements in participating on the community development programs. The winery is become more and more Maturity and it will still growing stronger in the next decade.
wine. There I was sitting on table, when I overheard a woman, trying to explain, on top of her
This northern California winescape is “dotted with Italian surnames that suggest traditional roots of pioneering viticulturists” (Helzer 49). For Italians, they adapted their “old-world winemaking traditions to new lands” (Helzer 49), and their success can be partially attributed to the “similarities in landscape, ecology, and climate between California and the rolling countryside of northwestern Italy” (Vaught 885). Furthermore, the success of these immigrants can be attributed to their plethora of access to social capital listed
For a tasting room with a decent outdoor patio, try Kontos Cellars at 10 N. 2nd Avenue. At Kontos, find ultra-premium Bordeaux style wines. Kontos waives their tasting fee when you have a designated driver! If you can’t come up with your own designated driver consider hiring one of the many wine-tour operators in the area. One such operator, Main Street Drivers, will drive your car for around $35USD per hour and can drive either your personal car or rental car and be fully insured to do so.
The Mondavi Corporation has over 8,000 acres of vineyards in its portfolio. This company is constantly searching for new vineyards and ways to grow the finest grapes to harvest. Even though Napa Valley, California is where most of their vineyards are located, Mondavi has vineyards worldwide.
The night moved swiftly and Kate and myself went back to my place to talk about art and drink some wine, now I must say I look a lot older than I am and I am mature enough to drink appropriately. Wine is a sacred thing to me, I wasnt rich at that point but I could con my way into buying a bottle of bordeaux 1982, it was a fair price I paid for the bottle. I turned to Kate with the two glasses in my hands and handed her one, if I had known what would happen only two years after I would of ran and never looked back, but she drew me in and fascinated me with her stories, she taught me how to rob a museum without being caught, and so I fell in
Her flowing blonde hair stretches halfway down her back. I delve deep in my mind trying to find just the right words, the right ice breaking sentence that might present me with a chance to ask for her number, or better yet a date. I think, and think, and over think and think some more. I have a tendency to do that, to over think when I should just act. To contentiously course my route when it has become time to move. I'm no sommelier, but I know enough about wine to hold a conversation. As the focus of my desire starts to move toward the register area I decide I'll simply bring up something about the dryness of the Bordeaux she has finally chosen, and do my best to make her laugh. At that point, if I feel I've breached the surface. If I feel I've gotten past the awkward stranger moment, and her eyes don’t see me as a grotesque figure. Then I'll tell her how beautiful I think she is, and ask her if she would care to meet me at some future time to share a
I'm sure with a slight shift in paradigm, one could read this as a description of a man. One of my favorite aspects of wine tasting, apart from the tasting, is the art of the wine description. They are so wonderfully poetic and ridiculously fun literarily speaking. To evaluate a man in such a fashion holds even more hilarious entertaining potential.
It is an excellent complementary grape variety that rarely makes up the majority of the final blend. It adds freshness, finesse, and aromatic complexity as well as hints of raspberry and violet.
The Aproveche family owns and operates a small independent winery located in the Napa Valley California American Viticultural Area (AVA).1 À Votre Santé (AVS), which means “to your health” in French, enjoys a reputation for producing small amounts of quality wines. AVS was started by Jerome Aproveche in 2005 as an extension of the family’s grapegrowing operations and as a means to involve his children in the wine business. This path is not an unusual one in Napa Valley, where there are more than 600 grape growers and over 500 wine producers and blenders, many of which are small family-owned