Every Monday, discover new wines, regions, and ways to understand this fermenting sea.
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Munching Vidal Blanc on Keuka Lake, New York
Tag Archives: drinks
Black Stallion Winery Napa Valley
Our Napa Valley tour keeps rolling. Our morning snuck around Pine Ridge (read here). Our mid-day got blasted by Lewis Cellars’ monster wines (read here). By now, our palates feel numb. Our teeth look black. But ever the professional, high-functioning alcoholics, we head South on the Silverado Trail to Black Stallion.
Past the big metal horse, the winery campus feels vast, dry-scaped with olives and citrus, and recalls a mission. Here 32 acres served as Silverado Horseman’s Center until 2007, when it became a winery. Continue reading
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Tagged Black Stallion, Cabernet Sauvignon, California, chardonnay, drinks, merlot, Napa Valley, travel, Viognier, wine
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Visit to Pine Ridge Vineyards in Napa Valley
We start another day of our Napa Valley tour at Pine Ridge Vineyards. Somewhat new to Napa’s scene, in 1978 Gary Andrus founded Pine Ridge in Stags Leap AVA. His goal: to recreate Bordeaux. Continue reading
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Tagged cabernet, Cabernet Sauvignon, drinks, Napa Valley, Petite Verdot, Pine Ridge, Travel and Tourism, wine
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Beringer Napa Valley Winery Visit
After Freemark Abbey (here) and Raymond Vineyard (here) yesterday, our 8th wedding anniversary Napa Valley trip heads to iconic Beringer Vineyards.
We shoot up the 29, rain phasing in and out, twiggy vineyards in various stages of pruning, grassy greeness everywhere:
Raymond Vineyards and The CIA Greystone Conservatory Restaurant
Unlike storied Freemark Abbey (read our visit: here), Raymond Vineyard opened with the Napa bandwagon of upstarts in 1970. Roy Raymond did begin by marrying into and working for Beringer in the 1930s. Since then, five generations of Raymonds had created elegant serious Cabernet, Chardonnay, and dessert wines. Continue reading
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Tagged cabernet, California, chardonnay, CIA, drinks, Napa, Napa Valley, Raymond Vineyards, wine
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Freemark Abbey Napa Valley
In 1980, Ted Edwards took the helm as winemaker. Most fields suffer a musical chair game of aspirational people climbing ladders, hopping from jon to jon. Yet Ted has stayed at Freemark ever since.
When Jess Jackson bought Freemark in 2006, they wisely kept Ted in control. KJ also saw that Freemark needed restoration. The original 1890s Lombarda cellar looked in rough shape. The tasting room seemed dark and small. So, with 40 million dollars, work is underway to expand and overhaul the stone cellar into a premier tasting palace and restaurant with two Michelen starred Japanese cuisine winemakers. Continue reading
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Tagged Cabernet Sauvignon, California, drinks, Freemark Abbey, Napa Valley, Ted Edwards, travel, wine
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