Author: Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo

Ward Kadel - @drXeNo is the founder of Vinopanion wine blog, former West Coast Ambassador & Staff Blogger for WineLog.net and former Le Wine Buff for Bordeaux.com (CIVB). He will try any and all wines and tends to write about the parts of his life that include wine...like virtually all of it! He and his wife grew up in Napa and Sonoma and they still live in the Napa Valley. Check out the wines he's recommended with his WKBadges. Follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Like #Vinopanion on Facebook. Contact him: "Ward at WineLog.net". Ward happily accepts samples but does not guarantee a review, positive or negative.

WBC09: It's here! Well, the Twisted Pre-Party, Anyway!

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WBC09 DesktopThe 2nd Annual North American Wine Bloggers' Conference is almost here, starting tomorrow! It is again at the Flamingo in Santa Rosa, CA, deep in the Sonoma Valley. Last year's inaugural conference exploded the reach and understanding of wine bloggers, wine & social media and their effect on the wine biz. It also had a profound effect on myself and my own understanding of social media, blogs and wine. Starting things off, however is a pre-party at Twisted Oak and downtown Murphy's, courtesy of that crazy vinoman, El Jefe, Jeff Stai (Twitter)!

5 Questions with Jake Lorenzo

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Cold Surveillance by Jake LorenzoI solved a wine mystery recently, one that had been bothering me for years. Around the time that The Lady and I bought our home in the Bay Area, I was allowed able to buy a decent wine fridge, my Danby 75/100 bottle. Just as I was headed out the door from Wine Hardware with my affordable new wine storage, I spotted an interesting book on their shelves entitled, Cold Surveillance. It was interesting not that it was a set of wine memoir columns (right up my alley), but that it was written by a Wine Country private eye...¿que? I turned back to the counter and added the book to day's purchases!

Santa Lucia Highlands "Highlands' Fling!"

Santa Lucia Highlands "Highlands' Fling Gala"A few weeks back, I was treated to an enlightening appellation-specific tasting of Santa Lucia Highlands wines courtesy of the host, Hahn Family Wines. Santa Lucia Highlands sit on the southeast facing slopes of the Santa Lucia mountain range, on one side of the plentiful Salinas Valley. I made the somewhat significant trek down there with my trusty vinopanions, the Brix Chicks' Liza (Twitter) and Xandria (Twitter). I hadn't been down in the area since I was but a wee lad, noshing with me folks, so it was a treat to see the Valley again. It was in all of its late Spring splendor and we enjoyed taking in the bountiful scents of the fruits and vegetables growing near the highway.

ACME Atelier Tasting: An Assembly of All-Stars

ACME Fine WineA little while back I was given the chance to attend a very special gathering of established winemaker luminaries and taste a whole slew of outstanding wines, courtesy of a very gracious invite by Monica Collins of All Access Napa Valley. I've never seen such a lineup of All-Star winemakers, nor the chance to have such access to speak with those that make or have made famous wines such as Kamen, Screaming Eagle, Scarecrow, The Prisoner, Rocca Family and L'Angevin. The event was held at the innovative ACME Fine Wines in St. Helena. Ever since opening their doors in April of '03, co-owners and organizers of this event Karen Williams and David Stevens have consistently reinvented the wine retail, storage and event industries. Their efforts have been noticed by numerous newspapers and wine writers.

A Toast to Pops

Baby WardIt takes a lot to make us who we are. Genetics, environments and most importantly, people help shape the person that we become as we continue to get older. I have been blessed with a number of good, warm people that have surrounded me as I stumble through this life. Friends, family and on this particular day, Fathers, have been a major positive influence on whom I'd like to be whenever I finally grow up.
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