Tag: wine

Is Your Wine Aging Well, or Just Getting Tired?

An awful lot of wine we cellar or put in storage lockers simply does not get better with age, but why? One of the problems we face is how to know whether a particular wine is aging well or merely getting tired. One way is to open a bottle of which you have more than […]
A sample flight of bears at Bear Republic Brewing Co. in Healdsburg in 2013.

Bear Republic to Open New Brewpub in Rohnert Park

Bear Republic Brewing Co. will expand in Sonoma County by opening a brewpub in Rohnert Park, at the site of the shuttered Latitude Island Grill. The new brewpub will be in addition to its original location in Healdsburg and its new production facility in Cloverdale. It is expected to open within a year. The deal […]

Drinking Stories: The Role of Yeast in Winemaking

Written by Bill Swindell for The Press Democrat. Bill Swindell’s new podcast, “Drinking Stories,” peels back the veneer of the wine, beer, spirits and cider industries. In the first episode, Bill speaks with Kevin Sea of Santa Rosa Junior College about yeast, the Jan Brady of the fermentation process, and the important role it plays […]

Sonoma County’s Best Food and Wine Pairings

Written by Heather Irwin for BiteClubEats. Chefs have become the secret weapon at Sonoma wineries trying to woo your tastebuds, not simply with a bite of bread or a dull plate of cheese and crackers, but with Michelin star-worthy dishes. In Sonoma County, more and more wineries are offering these intimate white tablecloth experiences that […]

2016 BottleRock Restaurants and Food Vendors Announced

Music festival band lineups? Meh. We’re waiting for the chef lineups to be announced, Napa’s 2016 BottleRock team has finally served up details on the food rock stars waiting to feed us this summer. The annual music festival in Napa is a coming together of food, wine, art and of course, music. The mostly-Napa lineup mixes […]

Five Spring White Wines to Enjoy in Sonoma County

This time of year is a conundrum. We have one muddy shoe in the rainy season, while the other is tap dancing under sun-kissed skies. We don’t dare leave our jackets in the hall closet … or do we? Our palates are just as confused but, in the end, can’t resist the urge to chase […]
Russian River Brewing Company's Vinnie Cilurzo, with wife Natalie, is a semifinalist for Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Professional in the James Beard Foundation Awards.

2016 James Beard Award Semifinalists Announced

Two Sonoma County men were among semifinalists announced Wednesday for the James Beard Foundation’s 2016 restaurant and chef awards. Russian River Brewing Co.’s Vinnie Cilurzo of Santa Rosa and Littorai Wines’ Ted Lemon of Sebastopol were among the 20 making the cut for Outstanding Wine, Spirits or Beer Professional. About two dozen Bay Area restaurants […]

Sonoma Sparklers: The Best Sparkling Wine for Weddings

Pricey Champagne is traditional, while buoyantly effervescent Prosecco is all the rage and far less inexpensive. Cava from Spain, cremant from Burgundy and Alsace, and New World bubblies from Oregon, New York, Australia, and New Zealand all add dimension to the sparkling wine scene. Yet a wedding in Sonoma calls for Sonoma sparkling wines, the […]

Sonoma County Winery Tasting Rooms to Visit This Winter

  Winter is quiet and contemplative in Sonoma, a time when grapevines go dormant and the wines from the 2015 harvest are at rest in cellars. The countryside can be beautiful, dark golden and gray, without a grape leaf in sight. It’s a fine season to stop in at wineries, which are apt to be […]