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Wild Weather Wine Tasting
Snow in Paso? NBD. It is not like we were all standing outside in the freezing weather gawking at the little snowflakes as they touched down...and immediately melted. [caption id="attachment_789" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Stormy Aftermath"][/caption] Read More >> [Read more...]
A Tasty Training
Here at the Vineyard Team we spend most of our time on the farming side of wine making so we thought that we would get into the cellar and learn a little about tasting the fruits of our farmers' labors. The Team loaded up for a trip to Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos where the fabulous Amy Freeman offered to be our wine tasting teacher for the day. [caption id="attachment_773" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Our tasting training center"][/caption] We began by blindly testing our sniffers on a line-up of wines enhanced to smell like an individual characteristic... [Read more...]
Schooled…in Cooking
At the 2009 Earth Day Food & Wine Festival my friends (stellar, silent auction bidding event volunteers) won the auction package "Cook's Nook" which included a cooking class at Central Coast Culinary and Catering. Having wanted to attend a class with chef Debbie Duggan for years we figured that this would be the final incentive to sign up. Eight months later (ok, we were not highly motivated) we finally booked, just in time for the school's last class! [caption id="attachment_754" align="aligncenter" width="200"] Of course, a wine from SIP Certified Tolosa[/caption] The evening was great, filled... [Read more...]
A Rockin’ Harvest
A little rain didn't stop anyone from having a Rockin' time at the 20th SLO Vintners Harvest Celebration. Yours truly was stoked to be pouring SIP wines in between Rays Own Brand sausage and Sextant Wines. The SIP booth got to taste each sausage variety (Bratwurst, Hot Italian, Linguica, Pork Apple Honey) hot off the grill and I have a new favorite Chardonnay from the Santa Lucia Highlands. [caption id="attachment_743" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Featuring Central Coast Wine & Cuisine![/caption] SIP Certified vineyards and wines were in abundance at this event. Ancient Peaks, Baileyana, Chamisal, Claiborne &... [Read more...]
Glamour Shots
It was like Fashion Week came to Paso Robles: perfect lighting, stage settings, cameras flashing...OK, not quite. But it was a very glamorous affair for a few SIP Certified wines featuring the SIP seal on the label. With the expertise of Juice we created a fabulous photo portfolio of great wines made from healthy vineyards. [caption id="attachment_716" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Photographer Steven Gould in action[/caption] [caption id="attachment_717" align="aligncenter" width="300"] The artist's point of view[/caption] After two days of arranging, tweaking, shooting, color correcting, evaluating, and selecting we are thrilled with our picks! [caption id="attachment_718" align="aligncenter" width="300"]... [Read more...]
Pull Me a Draft … Wine?!
Those of a certain age -- and yes, I’ll admit to being one of them -- can remember the days of home milk delivery. It was very cool! You’d put your empty bottles out on the porch (or in an insulated metal box about as big as a milk crate with the dairy logo on it) at night and by the time you got up in the morning, there would be full fresh bottles of milk waiting. You know, kinda like trash pickup, but in reverse and a whole lot more appetizing. Well, turns out,... [Read more...]
Count the Corks and Win!
Thank you to all those who participated in our "Count the Corks" contest at Sunset's Savor the Central Coast this past weekend! [caption id="attachment_727" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="How many would you guess?"][/caption] The guesses are in and the corks have been counted! The final count was 465 corks in our vase with the winning guess very close at 468. Congrats to our winner who won two tickets to our Earth Day Food & Wine Festival on April 16, 2010 at Pomar Junction Vineyard & Winery! Our runner up, with a guess of 460, won a bottle... [Read more...]
September Farmers’ Market in Paso
[caption id="attachment_699" align="aligncenter" width="221" caption="Fall Veggies"][/caption] September seems like an interesting time in the world of agriculture, especially on the Central Coast where the lines between seasons are often blurred. On this late September day it feels like summer but there are signs of fall in the air. (The weather on this day can fluctuate easily between the two seasons. Record high for September 21st: 106 degrees, record low: 38 degrees.) So, I decided to head to the Paso Robles Farmers’ Market, held each Tuesday in the City Park downtown from 3-6pm to see what... [Read more...]
Falconry in the Vineyard – Super Sexy IPM
Falcons are used in a number of places as an Integrated Pest Management tool to address non-native avian problems. Did you know? Falcons dive at 250 mph (that is FAST!) Falcons are used to protect municipal water sources You might see Jim and the falcons at Pebble Beach Resorts before the big tournament I was thrilled to be invited by Hahn Family Wines to their demo of the avian abatement program in their Monterey County Santa Lucia Highlands vineyard. Jim and Kathleen from Tactical Avian Predators are amazing and taught us tons about the raptors, ... [Read more...]
A Very “Pithy” Evening
[caption id="attachment_655" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Love the stemless glassware![/caption] If you've been in downtown San Luis Obispo recently, you may have noticed the quaint little tasting room on Chorro Street. This oasis of goodness is Pithy Little Wine Company and on Monday night I stopped by their Wine Industry Open House for a taste. [caption id="attachment_678" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Felicia, owner of Pithy Little Wine Co., and me![/caption] Amy Bakes vegan cupcakes, Joycups gluten free, organic peanut butter cups, Vivant cheese platters, and of course a plethora of Pithy wines left me in taste bud lala land.... [Read more...]