The grand finale of the Garagistè Festival is the Grand Tasting, featuring around 70 wine makers who produce 1500 cases or less of their wine in a year. The festival, with newer branches in Solvang and Los Angeles each year, is a great opportunity for these small producers to become known. This year’s Grand Tasting was held at the Paso Robles Fairgounds … Continue reading THE GRAND TASTING AT THE GARAGISTÉ FESTIVAL IN PASO ROBLES
Each year at the Garagistè Festival, there are two seminars held as part of the VIP package for the Saturday events. This year’s seminars were “Exploring the Aroma Wheel” with Madeline Puckette of WineFolly.com (LINK) and “Techniques of the Garagistè: The Secret of Stems,” with Mikael Sigouin, Ryan Pease, and Stewart McLennan. “Exploring the Aroma … Continue reading WINE SEMINARS AT 2015 GARAGISTÉ FESTIVAL IN PASO ROBLES
It has been a year since my last post in this series (LINK TO PART 3), and I thought I would bring you up to date on our expat experience. (LINK PART 1, LINK PART 2) We are currently living in Lyon and are between our second and third long-stay visitor visas (carte sejour). I … Continue reading SO, YOU WANT TO MOVE TO FRANCE, PART 4
For wine lovers, late October into November is the best time to visit Lyon, France’s 3rd largest city which is centered among some wonderful wine regions. Wine regions which include Burgundy, Beaujolais, Jura, and the Rhône Valley. One can take day trips from Lyon to all of these wine regions (and to nearby Switzerland, if … Continue reading BEST TIME TO BE IN LYON?
During our stay in Ashland, we discovered a very vibrant and creative dining scene. This is largely due to the presence of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival that runs much of the year and brings thousands of tourists and visitors to this otherwise small town. Regardless, there are a number of very good dining and wine … Continue reading ASHLAND, OREGON WINE SCENE – THREE GOOD RESTAURANTS
Dorianne and I are spending five weeks in Oregon, the first half of that in Ashland. The Rogue Valley, the Umpqua Valley, and the Applegate Valley AVA’s are closest to Ashland. They represent a fast-growing wine region that has been selected as a Top Ten Wine Travel Destination for 2016 by Wine Spectator Magazine. Now … Continue reading SOUTHERN OREGON WINE COUNTRY VISIT
Dorianne and I did a post-Christmas trip to Paso Robles this week. We were accompanied by her sister Debby and Debby’s husband, Mike, who live in Oklahoma, but love wine very much. The trip was really a good experience, so I will cover it in two posts. Paso Robles has become the premier region of … Continue reading PASO ROBLES TRIP, PART 1. EBERLE, TOBIN JAMES & CASS WINERIES
The Garagistè Festival (LINK), for the uninitiated, is a gathering that promotes and celebrates small production winemakers from Paso Robles and elsewhere in California. These are folks who produce under 1500 cases per year. Some are new and plan to grow into the future Mondavis or Kendall-Jacksons of the world; others are doing it as … Continue reading WINEMAKERS’ MIXER AT THE 2015 GARAGISTÉ FEST IN PASO ROBLES.
Exploring Sevilla (Seville) is an experience of one discovery after another. This is our first trip here, and we are in a rented apartment near the center of town for 3 1/2 weeks. Preparations are underway for Holy Week (LINK), which is a huge deal here, with between 1 and 2 million people coming to the … Continue reading AN EVENING OF TAPAS AND WINE IN SEVILLA
Dorianne and I returned to Alma Sol Winery’s tasting room the other night with three other couples. Alma Sol Winery (Link) is owned and operated by the husband and wife team of John Shaw and Lisa Cuevas Shaw. John Shaw, who serves as winemaker for the couple – really a two-person operation, from the vineyard to … Continue reading ALMA SOL WINERY – SMALL PRODUCER GETTING BETTER AND BETTER
