Category: Food + Drink

Cheaper Options for Sonoma County Wines

The holiday season is here and it’s time to bring out the big guns, to splurge on worthy bottles for both gifting and to help soothe us on the chilly nights of approaching winter, with hearty fare on the table. With football on the tube, Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas and more to celebrate, this is no […]

Top 100 Wines: Cabernet Sauvignon and Blends

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Amapola Creek 2010 Amapola Creek Estate Sonoma Valley Cabernet Sauvignon $70 From legendary winemaker Richard Arrowood’s own certified-organic vines, this wine captures mountain Cabernet at its best, with tightly wound structure and a core of rich cassis, dark chocolate and kirsch flavors. It’s had enough time in bottle to begin to unfold, with suppleness and […]
A Mugnaini oven installed in a home’s outdoor kitchen makes a perfect centerpiece for alfresco entertaining.

Healdsburg’s Mugnaini Makes the Rolls Royce of Pizza Ovens

Lovers of Italian cooking, take note: The Rolls Royce of wood-fire pizza ovens, Mugnaini Imports, has made its home in Healdsburg. The 26-year-old company is renowned for producing ovens that heat up quickly (room temperature to 1,000 degrees in less than an hour), provide a natural convection flow of heat inside the dome, and make […]

Top 100 Wines: Zinfandel

Carlisle Winery & Vineyards 2013 Monte Rosso Vineyard Sonoma Valley Zinfandel $46 Carlisle makes outstanding, ageworthy Zinfandels, sourcing from historic sites. Structured and elegant, this grand bottling is layered in coconut macaroon, vanilla and strawberry raspberry jam. Traces of violet and lavender are streaked in black pepper, ending in earthy dust. (VB) Dry Creek Vineyard […]

Mixology: Get Your Drink On

Want to sip something different during the holidays? Head to these local watering holes for a comforting cocktail created with warmth in mind, or shake one up yourself. Three top-notch bartenders offer distinctive drinks they serve this time of year. El Dorado Kitchen Sonoma “To me, a well-crafted cocktail, with the perfect balance of ingredients […]

Top 100 Wines: Merlot

Chelsea Goldschmidt 2013 Alexander Valley Merlot $17 One of winemaker Nick Goldschmidt’s “Daughters” series and named for No. 2 daughter Chelsea, this Merlot is youthful and fresh-tasting, with savory tobacco, anise and barrel spice notes accenting the juicy red cherry and berry flavors. Good value. (LM) FrostWatch Vineyard & Winery 2012 Bennett Valley Merlot $32 […]

Top 100 Wines: Meet & Greet Theresa Heredia

She would have been a chemistry professor, if wine hadn’t gotten in the way. Theresa Heredia, winemaker at Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery, earned a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry, was a scientist focused on cancer related peptide research, and a Ph.D. candidate in chemistry at UC Davis. But her studies and enology-student colleagues led her […]

Top 100 Wines: Pinot Noir

Arista Winery 2013 Toboni Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir $45 From a 15-acre vineyard off Olivet Lane, this vineyard-designate shows off the talents of new winemaker Matthew Courtney and the longtime farming prowess of Mary and Joe Toboni, offering tight acidity and fine-grained tannins around a core of succulently exotic dark cherry, raspberry and […]