A Free Wine Encyclopedia!The Hacienda Winery is a family business. In days of takeovers and large company buyouts, it is refreshing to find quality wines from a winery owned and operated by the family. In 1879 the Cooley family moved west from Ohio in search of their share of the Gold rush. And as luck would have it,… read more »
Lately I have received a number of phone calls wanting to discuss recent trips to northern California for wine tasting and relaxation. I thought I would describe my most recent trip to the Sonoma Valley in search of wine and rest. Both my wife (Sandra) and I have been working very hard this year, and… read more »
There is still nothing like a fresh baked cookie, whether with a glass of lovely desert wine, lemonade, or fresh milk. Unfortunately, it takes time to bake up a batch from scratch. That is why I love this old-fashioned “ice box” recipe. It is fast to make and a batch can always be on hand… read more »
Vouvray is situated on the north bank of the Loire river just 6 miles north of the town Tours (If you ever find yourself in Tours, be sure to lunch at the Hotel de Bordeaux. The food is exquisite). Vouvray is considered the best appellation in the Loire Valley. The 3,950 acres that constitute the… read more »
What do you get when you cross an entrepreneur and a negociant? Vanino Wine Cellars. Steve Vagnino (drop the g for pronunciation) decided while in a hospital bed in 1985 that he was going into the wine business. What is interesting is that Steve is a native of St. Louis, Missouri and when he found… read more »
For those of you who chose to practice the ageing of wine, here is a checklist of the important factors, and a review of the elements concerned. Look at the location where you are storing your wines. Measure it against the criteria described below. Temperature: The ideal temperature for ageing wine is considered to be… read more »
Back to Basics: Dutch Oven Cooking Here we are, with a grand built-in Thermador oven that bakes, broils, micro-waves and has convection power. There is one problem, though, when I am baking a cake, pie, etc., and need the microwave, you just wait. Such inconvenience! You are also able to bake food with the convection… read more »
A mission Padre was the first to plant grapevines in Baja California; on the site of the first lower California mission circa 1697. But viticulture was known to Mexico far earlier than that. In 1524 the Mexican conqueror Cortez decreed that all Spaniards holding land grants in Mexico had to plant annually, for five years,… read more »
The Merry Vintners is a small, 7,000 cases per annum, family winery in the rural outskirts of Santa Rosa in Sonoma County. The winery was founded in 1984 by four partners; Charles Edwards and his wife D.J., their daughter Meredith and her husband Bill (Miller). Sounds quite ordinary so far… the catch is, Meredith (Merry)… read more »
Seasoned wine enthusiasts who have taken up the ageing of wines, find that they have to keep close track of their cellar. They watch a wine by tasting it along its path to maturity. When it has reached its peak of development, they then set out to consume it in a reasonably short term of… read more »