I recently spent a couple of days in the Santa Rita Hills (LINK to Prior Posts), located north of the city of Santa Barbara and west of the cities of Santa Ynez and Los Olivos in Santa Barbara County. The unique geography and geology of the Santa Rita Hills AVA (the mountains and valleys run … Continue reading SANTA RITA HILLS AVA – BURGUNDY ON THE CENTRAL COAST
Two more stops on last Saturday’s group wine tour to the Santa Rita Hills AVA (LINK) – Tyler Winery (LINK) and LaFond Winery & Vineyards (LINK – lots of photos). This was my first visit to Tyler Winery in Lompoc, CA. Located in a stand-alone building, it is not in Lompoc’s famous “Wine Ghetto.” This statement from their … Continue reading MORE SANTA RITA HILLS – TYLER AND LAFOND
Continuing our series on the wineries I visited on a group wine tour in the Santa Rita Hills Appellation on Saturday, we will take a look at Margerum Wine Company (LINK). Our group tasted at the winery near Buellton, but the regular tasting rooms (LINK) are in Santa Barbara. Assistant Winemaker Sam Smith conducted our tasting on Saturday. … Continue reading A FIND IN SANTA RITA HILLS – MARGERUM WINES
Recently, Dorianne and I visited two very impressive wineries in Santa Barbara County with friends. The purpose of the trip was to scout locations for a wine tasting tour to benefit a non-profit organization. We tagged along to be of any possible assistance! The first winery, Presqu’ile Vineyard & Winery (LINK), is located in the … Continue reading TWO WINERIES TO VISIT IN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY
I love the Santa Barbara County AVAs. Not only do they produce great wines, have lovely scenery, and a host of great winemakers and tasting rooms; they are easily accessible from the Los Angeles area. On Tuesday, Dorianne and I were joined by Mary Stec and Richard Clark for a day trip to Santa Barbara … Continue reading A DAY IN NORTHERN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY – THREE WINERIES
Dorianne and I did our annual visit to California’s Central Coast Wine Regions this past week. In this post, I will cover the three wineries we visited in the Paso Robles area (LINK TO PRIOR POSTS ON PASO). In another post, I will cover two days in the Santa Rita Hills/Lompoc area. As we always … Continue reading A VISIT TO PASO ROBLES – THREE WINERIES
This has been a very unique year for me in terms of wine exploration and enjoyment. After traveling full time between North America and Europe for 2 ½ years, Dorianne and I have settled in Lyon, France. Although we continue to travel for various reasons (I’m writing this in Southern California), we have been exploring … Continue reading MY YEAR IN WINE – 2017
Earlier this week, Dorianne and I spent a couple of days in the California Central Coast Wine Country with friends. We stayed at the KonTiki Inn, a mid-20th Century gem in Pismo Beach. Don’t try to reserve a room at the KonTiki online – you can’t. They have a website (LINK), but you can’t reserve … Continue reading A RETURN VISIT TO PASO ROBLES
I was invited to an industry-only tasting in London yesterday. Titled “Artisans of Australian Wines,” it featured 43 labels being introduced by 15 British distributors. Held during the day at Cargo, a trendy nightclub in the Shoreditch area of London, the event was both fun and very interesting. I had heard of exactly none of the … Continue reading AUSTRALIAN WINE TASTING IN LONDON
This blog has been pretty quiet since returning from Oregon last week. But that is about to change – next week will see several posts including our full product line tasting of Chile’s Los Vascos wines, the recounting of a tasting of Paso Robles’ LXV wines and a new boutique local wine tour business serving California’s Central … Continue reading JIM LOCKARD ON WINE FEATURED IN THE WINE STALKER’S LATEST POST
Jim Lockard On Wine 