Wineries – Page 3 – Ward Kadel

Hall Wines Cabernet Cookoff tastes great, gives help

August 22, 2015August 22, 2015Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNo3 Comments

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We're a little late on our coverage of this fine event, but we did want to send out hearty Vinopanion props to Hall Wines (WL, FB, Tw, IG, YT) and their highly enjoyable 6th Annual Cabernet Cookoff charity #foodie and #wine event this past April. Fifteen Napa Valley and San Francisco based chef teams competed to see which one could most favorably pair their small bite with the 2012 Hall Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvigon and the 2012 Hall Napa County Coeur Cabernet Sauvignon red wines. To whet the almost 700 attendees' palates, the festivities were kicked off with a glass of the delicious 2012 Hall Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc. On this particularly hot April day, the SB was quite a treat, with its juicy citrus acidity, rounded out with some tropical fruit and floral notes, and finishing with some zingy minerality. Following the SB intro, the Lady and I headed into the array of tents to taste through the many culinary delights on prep.

Hofsas House Carmel-by-the-Sea: A central, tasty stay

July 18, 2015July 2, 2018Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoLeave a comment

Earlier this year, the Lady and I had a chance to stay at a continually refurbished gem in one of our fav places on earth: Carmel-by-the-Sea (FB, Tw, IG, YT). We hadn't had a chance to stay at the Hofsas House Hotel (FB, Tw, Blog) in a number of years, so we were excited to be granted a media weekend stay at the centrally located property, courtesy of the hotel and Chatterbox Wine Marketing. Family owned and operated for over 60 years, the Hofsas is a longtime landmark for the entire Monterey Peninsula, with its Bavarian charm and singular ocean views atop the hill in Carmel-by-the-Sea.

#OleWinos Final Day: Tilenus/Estefanía & the little #wine valley that could

June 8, 2015June 8, 2015Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoLeave a comment

The final day of our brilliant #OleWinos trip was spent in a little appellation in the northern part of Spain, tucked in between still snowy mountains (if only we had that snow and rain in California!): DO Bierzo (WL, FB, Tw). Our group was finishing up our stay across Spain, hosted by high end #wine group MGWines Group (WL, FB, Tw), in the small, but lovely & ancient, Roman-era town of Ponferrada. It was here that we would visit the previously known property of Bodegas Estafanía (WL, FB), now known better by its main label, Tilenus. Named for the Celtic god, later appropriated by the Romans for their own Mars god of war, their label features a Roman coin that was once found in their very old vine vineyards. It is those very vineyards that sparked an image of ancientness themselves in my mind, with their Dantesque hand-vines reaching towards the sky, during our soggy visit to their longtime home. More details after the leap!

#OleWinos: MGWines Group's Lavia rocks the A+ #wine

May 23, 2015May 23, 2015Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoLeave a comment

We continued our #OleWinos adventure with host MGWines Group (WL, FB, Tw), at their stellar Bodegas Lavia (WL, FB, Tw) #wine estate in the Bullas DO (WL, FB). You might remember that I visited DO Bullas a couple years back during our #Murcia8 journey. It was wonderful to be back and to visit a new part of this small Spanish appellation, the smallest in the Murcia region of Spain. It is here that MGWines found the latest jewel in their basket of unique, fine wineries across the multitude of Spanish wine regions. Our host for this trip was again, winemaker Sebastien Boudon. He splits his time between Sierra Salinas and Lavia, which are about 100 km apart from each other. The rain and clouds followed us to Lavia as well, but that didn't stop us from taking in the striking mountainous surroundings of the Lavia estate. More details after the leap!

#ChiantiClass12: A Trip to Chianti Classico

May 20, 2012May 20, 2012Vinopanion: Ward Kadel - @drXeNoOne Comment

It is with great excitement that I can announce a new media trip, close on my Vinopanion horizon, to the venerable and very historic Tuscan wine region of Chianti Classico DOCG (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, WineLog). I will start my trip to Florence, Italy to rendevous with the traveling #ChiantiClass12 group this Thursday, May 24, 2012, with the official start of the trip on Friday the 25th. Much like my previous adventures across the pond, I will be posting a lot of microblog content in real-time, including Twitter (#ChiantiClass12), Flickr, and through my Facebook profile & on Vinopanion's. Learn more about this fascinating wine region after the break, cin cin!