Safari and Glamping In Wine Country | Wine Country Adventures

Written by Allison Levine on July 25, 2017

Travel Lifestyle Wine

This story originally appeared in California Winery Advisor.

A trip to wine country is for wine tasting, of course. But in between winery visits, there are restaurant stops, perhaps an afternoon at the spa and shopping. Why not go on safari while you are there are well. Yes, a safari, just like in Africa!

Safari West is a 400-acre wildlife preserve located in the heart of wine country in Santa Rosa. Founded in 1993 by Peter and Nancy Lang, Safari West is a privately funded property that focuses on conservation and preservation of endangered wildlife animals. Currently, there are 90 species on property and 900 animals, ranging from giraffes, zebras, and monkeys to hyenas and cheetahs. Except for the international birds, all the animals are originally from Africa. Read More +

Please The Palate’s July 2017 Newsletter

Written by Allison Levine on July 13, 2017

Travel Lifestyle Food Cocktails Wine

Summer is well under way! The heat is here and hopefully you are keeping cool. As summer arrived, so did the 6th anniversary of Please The Palate! How did time fly by so quickly!?!? As this newsletter arrives in your inbox, I am getting ready to head to Germany to explore the wine regions of Nahe and Mosel. This is my first trip to Germany and I really cannot imagine anything better than a week of riesling! Join me in Germany by following the trip on Instagram.

Upcoming Events
4th Annual Stu and the Kids 2017 Fundraiser
A Thai flavored Food & Wine Festival hosted by Chef Stuart Skversky and his chef friends who will create dishes for the 4thannual Stu and the Kids Fundraiser. Proceeds will fund scholarships for Hill Tribe kids in Chaing Mai, Thailand. Read about the event and all of the participating chefs at StuandtheKidsTickets

Sunday, July 30, 2017
4 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (3:30 p.m. for VIP tickets)
General Admission: $125
VIP Admission: $195
Kids tickets: $25 for kids 6-12

DoctorWine’s Ultimate Guide to Italian Wine – California Tour

Daniele Cernilli, aka DoctorWine, highly acclaimed international wine critic on Italian wine, is the man behind this new wine Guide dedicated entirely to Italian wines. It is considered trustworthy because it is written by a great, historic name in wine criticism. Easy to understand, it gives guidance in the extremely broad panorama of Italian wines selecting those that most represent their winery (from the historic ones to the most interesting newcomers). Accurate and exhaustive without using abstruse terms known just to experts, The Ultimate Guide to Italian Wine is an essential resource.

In August, Daniele Cernilli is coming to California for a week-long tour with a small group of very well-known Italian wineries who represent a selection of his favorite wines. In the past 20 years there has been a renaissance of Italian wines. Italy, as a wine producing country, went through a great transformation in both viti and viniculture techniques. During this time, great wines now worldly acclaimed came into the market and made everyone look at Italy from another perspective. Daniele Cernilli wants everyone to enjoy and fully understand the extent of these changes.

Participating wineries are:
Casanova di Neri from Tuscany/Montalcino
Querciabella from Tuscany/Chianti Classico
Velenosi from Marche
Bertani from Veneto/Amarone
Torre Rosazza from Friuli Venezia Giulia
Feudo Maccari from Sicily
Pio Cesare from Piedmont

The ticket price for each event includes a copy of The Ultimate Guide to Italian Wine.

SAN FRANCISCO
Sunday, August 20th
San Francisco Wine SchoolJuly 2017 Newsletter
11:00-12:30 Seminar
12:30-2:30 Wine Bazaar
2:30-4:00 Seminar
Click here for more information and to reserve your spot today.

LOS ANGELES
Tuesday, August 22nd
Book Signing and Tasting at the Wine House
7:15pm-9:00pm $65
Reserve your spot today.

Wednesday, August 23rd
Wine Dinner at Valentino Ristorante
6:00pm, $100 plus tax and tip
To make a reservation, call 310-829-4313

Read the full July 2017 Newsletter.

An Unexpected Find: An Urban Winery in Marseille, France

Written by Allison Levine on July 5, 2017

Travel Lifestyle Wine

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.

Marseille, France, the second largest city in France after Paris, is known for its busy harbor and urban energy. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, visitors come for the beaches, the port, the ancient history, the cultural diversity and the food. So, when I had a day in Marseille, we wandered the streets stopping into boutiques, walked along the port and enjoyed some meals. And then we happened upon a winery in the middle of the city.

As we walked along Rue de l’Évêché, we passed a market, a salon, a few restaurants and then, surrounded by these businesses, was Microcosmos Chai Urbain, an urban winery owned by Fabienne and Lukas Völlmy. Originally from Burgundy, Fabienne, who holds a B.S. in chemistry and a master’s degree in enology, and her husband, Lukas, opened Microcosmos Chai Urbain in 2012 in the old part of Marseille. Buying a winery can be cost prohibitive to a young winemaker starting out and Fabienne was inspired by the urban wineries in San Francisco and Abe Schoner’s maverick, one-man wine-making Scholium Project.