Orange County, California-based The Bruery’s new “Share This” series of unique and innovative craft beers is not only producing creative and high-quality brews we love, it’s also raising funds for a variety of humanitarian causes dictated by each brewing project. In the case of the brewery’s Share This Coffee Stout, …
We continue our imbibe voyage in search of the Black Cow Gold Top Cup Champion, finding ourselves in the wonderful city of Cardiff. Over the past couple of years Cardiff has undergone a huge regeneration, attracting some incredible talent and thus mixology creativity – we were fortunate enough to experience …
We are all victims of a modern world. Our time has become more limited with each passing year and life’s commitments take their toll on our diets and in return, or health. Eating seems to become something that just has to be done. Often times we find ourselves pulling into …
It’s late afternoon on a beautiful day in Sonoma. You skipped lunch in favor of grazing and wine tasting, and now you’re ready for something absolutely delicious to eat to complement some of the world-class vino you’ve just finished sampling. And maybe a little more wine—you’re in Sonoma, after all. …
In describing his impromptu decision to start making wine after graduating UC Santa Cruz with a degree in American Literature to The Corkscrewer Report in 2015, David Ramey of Ramey Wine Cellars said “…Why don’t I make wine? It’s an esthetic statement like literature, like the elements of composition in film. …
When you enter the beautifully appointed, recently reopened tasting room at Madrone Estate (the oldest operating winery in Glen Allen) you’re stepping into 150 years of Sonoma Valley winemaking history. The sunlit patio, bocce court, and 100-year-old grapevines are evidence of the Italian-made varietals that were produced here using the …
If pinot noir spontaneously transmogrified into human form and showed up at a dinner party to which you’d been invited, you would do well to avoid him. (Or her.) Notoriously temperamental, thin-skinned and over-sensitive to a fault, Pinot probably wouldn’t get a single one of your jokes (even your best …
Down in Gatlinburg Tennessee, craft quality moonshine and whiskey partners up with live music, Appalachian storytelling, and outdoor adventure tours in the Sugarlands—an area of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but you may know it as “moonshiners’ paradise”. Sugarlands Distilling Company does indeed combine innovative drinks with a raconteur …
When Lynmar Estate owner Lynn Fritz purchased Quail Hill Ranch overlooking the shimmering blue expanse of Laguna de Santa Rosa in the verdant Russian River Valley, he did so with the intention that the property would be a bucolic retreat from the high-stress corporate world in which he was ensnared as …
The idea of fusing an alarm clock (purely utilitarian and edging toward monotonous) and a coffee maker (still utilitarian but oh-so-beloved and even revered) has been kicked around by entrepreneurs, engineers, designers, and, well, other people who like coffee and need to wake up in the morning for years. But …
With the concept born over a glass of wine overlooking the verdant fecundity of the Alexander Valley, it’s little wonder brothers Dustin Valette and Aaron Garzini decided on an uber-fresh, farm-to-table, wine centric approach to their restaurant Valette. The restaurant, opened 15 years after the seed was planted, is a …
If you’re planning a trip to Sonoma County, chances are you’re planning on tasting some wines. Myriad options exist for accommodation, but why not keep to the general theme of the weekend and book a room at the Grape Leaf Inn on Johnson Street in Healdsburg, the newest venture from Ken and …
Entering the Williams Selyem Winery (tastings by allocation only for members of their WS List) has an air of exclusivity that is fortunately well-deserved for some of the finest Pinot Noirs in the Russian River Valley. The preferential nature of the tasting appointments isn’t some high-brow California snobbery, it’s due to …