Tag: dr_XeNo

Icon Tax Time!

The kind folks at Icon Estates have been worried about all of us out here in US wine-drinker land. They realized back in March that tax time is hard on all of us wine grunts, particularly this year when everyone is still reeling from watching their life savings (and future wine purchasing potential) shrivel by -40% and see a world filled with recession and job loss. They realized that everyone's day or night (or both!) can be brightened by wine, however and put together a great list of wines to have while stumbling through filling out your requisite tax forms: Tax Time Wines! Susan and co. at Icon kindly shot out some wine samples for various bloggers to try including the prolific 1WineDude (Twitter, Twitter2), Luscious Lush Thea (Twitter, Twitter2) and yours truly (Twitter), among others.

5th Pops & Son Wine Trip in Napa: Day 2

Stags Leap DistrictThe second and last day of our latest Pops & Son Wine Trip series took a dramatic turn, ie, Pops was no longer involved, unfortunately! That cold that was was starting to come over him in the morning of the first day and then really kicked in during the afternoon? Well, it hit big time and he woke up this day feeling terrible...no wine for Pops! Poor guy ended up in bed all day...so our plans changed!

5th Pops & Son Wine Trip in Napa: Day 1 Afternoon

The afternoon of our first day on the 5th Pops & Son Wine Trip continued the vinous adventure that we had started in the morning at Kirkland Ranch and William Hill. As we traveled up Silverado Trail on the Western side of the Valley, we mused about which winery to next visit, as we had plenty of time before our 2:30 appointment with the highlight of the day, Terra Valentine on Spring Mountain. We passed numerous wineries along the way, including many Stags Leap favorites such as Regusci, Darioush and Clos du Val. As we approached the Oakville appellation, Pops asked if I’d ever visited the large contemporary building that housed Miner Family Vineyards. I had not done so and just that easily, we had picked our next winery!

5th Pops & Son Wine Trip in Napa: Day 1 Morning

Vaca Mountains in Stags LeapAnother holiday season means another wonder trip to wine country with Pops. I usually get the week off between Christmas and New Years from the day job and with that extra time I like to spend some quality father and son time spent, well honestly, what else but drinking wine? We also recently added a summer trip to the roster, as one trip is usually not enough for the two of us. We decided to continue to explore parts of Napa that were still new to us for this trip, especially with the economy in a wonderful tailspin. The first stop of the day was intended to be at one of the best value-driven brands in the marketplace, Cartlidge & Brown off of Green Island Road. Unfortunately, they weren't open and thus we weren't able to taste nor pick up Pops' wine club selections. Seeing as how we were in the Southern-most part of the Valley, we decided to then head over to Kirkland Ranch Winery, off of Jamieson Canyon Rd (SR-12).

Georis Winery 5th Annual Wine Club Event, Carmel Valley

Georis WineryEver since 2003, the middle of September brings a certain feeling of excitement to my mind. It brings to mind dusty, hot vineyards, absolutely full of virtually mature grapes. It brings thoughts of BBQ, zydeco music and twisting mountain roads. Walter and Syliva Georis welcome the middle of this month each year with their annual Georis Winery Club Event, celebrating the harvest. This vintage's party was last weekend 09/13/08, high in the Cachagua Valley at the Estate vineyards and winery within the Carmel Valley appellation. That morning Daniel, Christine, Beth and I all piled into Steve's car and headed off South towards wine and various predicted shenanigans. Beth and I have made all but one of the previous years' parties, indeed, I wrote about last year at my old personal blog on my MySpace. This year's party proved to be just as much fun as the last one!
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