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All Posts Tagged With "Sonoma County Wine Country"

Coming All The Way to Sonoma County from Charlotte? Here’s What to Pack

Preparing for a Wine Tour—A Complete Guide
North Carolina’s most populous city, Charlotte was one of the world’s fastest-growing metro areas and continues to be among the ranks even today. It’s a fairly massive metropolitan city, buzzing with activity, tall buildings and hundreds of thousands of new people each year. Undoubtedly, it’s a great city to live in, but sometimes that city life is too much to handle.

Sommelier — much more than a wine steward

Sommelier
Wine geeks share a language of their own. What exactly does it mean when a wine expert describes a wine as crunchy, chunky, or chewy? Okay, you know what chewy means, but … chewy wine? Instead of trying to decipher the qualities of a wine that is muscular or tight, leave it to the sommelier. What is a sommelier? Dictionaries describe a sommelier (pronounced suh MUL yay) as a wine steward, but the job …

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Cook Up Some Fun — Wine Country Cooking Classes

Cooking Class in Wine Country
Last month family members gathered from across the state to celebrate my mother’s 80thbirthday. We decided early on to rent a vacation homein Sonoma/Napa Wine Country. But what to do on her special day with a group of people aged 20 through 80 with interests as diverse as skydiving and crocheting? We landed on the idea of a cooking class. The epicurean adventure turned out to be ideal— a way to …

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Sonoma Barrel Tasting 2019 — enjoy a wine tasting adventure!

Barrels of wine
Don’t miss Wine Road’s 2019 Barrel Tasting event in Sonoma County. This is your chance to sample wines from the Alexander, Dry Creek, and Russian River valleys. But this isn’t like your typical wine tasting experience. Barrel tasting happens only once a year Each spring, the grapes that were harvested the prior year, usually late summer through fall, are ready for sampling. Winemakers regularly taste test their barrels during the …

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Cabernet Sauvignon – the perfect winter wine

Wine and a good book in front of the fire.
When it’s chilly outside, wine drinkers tend to gravitate toward reds. And Cabernet Sauvignon places first among winter wine. That’s not to say you can’t enjoy whites or some bubbly in winter, but red wine simply has more appeal this time of year. Why?   What is it about red wine in winter? Winter reds warm us up. They’re served at warmer temperatures, which brings out the fuller flavor of …

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Don’t Miss This Gastronomical Adventure — plan now for Sonoma County’s restaurant week

Every year in early March, restaurants in Sonoma County invite you to join in a culinary experience, one you don’t want to miss. So mark your calendars and book your vacation home rental now for the 10th Annual Sonoma County Restaurant Week, March 2 — March 10, 2019. More than 120 eateries will be participating this year, from Petaluma to Geyserville. Savvy food lovers know to take advantage of this …

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Passionate About Pinot — you gotta love Sonoma County’s Pinot Noir

Passionate About Pinot
What is it about Pinot that makes it so popular? Even those of us who are white wine devotees will welcome a glass of the alluring red. People are passionate about their Pinot. It’s French, of course Pinot Noir — “black pine” in French — hales from the Burgundy region of France, where it’s aptly named Burgundy. These Pinots are considered the top of the line for this varietal. The …

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Shape and Size Matter — When It Comes to Wine Bottles

Shape and size matter when it comes to wine bottles.
Wine bottles come in many shapes and sizes. When you’re at the wine shop looking for a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc, naturally you scan the shelves to find the clear bottles of white wine. What you might not realize is that you are also looking for a certain type of bottle. Each wine varietal can be identified by the shape of its bottle. There are at least 12 different wine …

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Warm Up to Hard Cider This Winter

Warm Up To Hard Cider This WInter
We’re used to recognizing local wines and beers on the menu at our favorite restaurant. A few years ago another option began appearing — hard cider. A revival had begun. Taking apples to a new level Nearby Sebastopol has a long history as an apple-farming community. The area is known for the Gravenstein, a tart apple widely used for cooking and sauce. Over time, trees were replaced with grapevines. We …

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