Looking for something a little different? Raymond Vineyards fits the bill and then some. Interested in organic and biodynamic farming? They’ve got that. Want to meet a weed-eating sheep named Woolly Wonka? Check. Meanwhile, if you want to indulge your inner hedonist there’s the Crystal Cellar, which has the usual tanks, etc., you’d find...
Read More »
Francis Ford Coppola has worked for years to restore the good name of the Napa Valley’s Inglenook winery. This week he made it literal with the announcement that he had acquired the Inglenook trademark. The director _ although these days he may be known as much for wine as for movies _ also...
Read More »
Sure, there are a lot of great vistas in Northern California wine country. But if you had to pick just one place that would be Sterling Vineyards in Calistoga. You know you’re someplace different when you step into the aerial tram that whisks you up a steep hillside to the winery, a white, monastic-style...
Read More »
Is your name Raymond? The folks at Raymond Vineyards want to hear from you. In what has to be one of the more charming campaigns I’ve come across recently, the winery is interested in hearing from people with the first, last or middle name of Raymond for its I Am Raymond Club. Membership is free...
Read More »
Harvest is getting its groove on in the Napa Valley. The sparkling wine houses _ who want grapes with a little less sugar than those used for still wines _ have been picking for a few weeks. And I recently had the chance to experience one of the harbingers of harvest, the annual Blessing of the...
Read More »
The Far Niente Winery is turning 125 this year. And the old girl is looking good. A birthday like that merits a party and that’s what the owners did this weekend, throwing open their gates to about 800 people who flooded the grounds to dine, hear music from world-famous performers _ Joshua Bell, Jean-Yves Thibaudet and...
Read More »
This handsome property is elegantly styled in the fashion of an 18th-century French chateau. It sits on a slight prominence overlooking the gently rolling vineyards of the Carneros vineyards at the southern tip of the Napa Valley. From the front, the chateau has a staircase worthy of Cinderella _ this is a great...
Read More »
I first visited Shafer Vineyards in 2002. Back then, I knew even less about wine than I do now. For one thing I wore a floaty skirt and slides. Just the thing for walking through the vineyards. For another, as I recall, I merely smiled vaguely when offered a glass of Hillside Select. OK,...
Read More »
If you’re looking for a wine country trip to impress the in-laws or assorted other out-of-towners, Rubicon Estate’s not a bad place to pick. There’s something for movie buffs; the estate is owned _ and was painstakingly restored _ by director Francis Ford Coppola and wife Eleanor. There’s something for history buffs, too, the...
Read More »
