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Athens in Winter + Spring: An island rich with the perfect excuse for escape

This story originally appeared in ATOD Magazine. You might be shoveling your driveway right now or sitting by a warm fire sipping hot chocolate and dreaming about a far-off destination so we decided to do a little recon. Where did we end up? Athens, Greece and now is the perfect time to visit.

Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. It was also at the heart of Ancient Greece and is home to the Acropolis and a slew of 5th-century BC landmarks. Whether you are a history buff or heading off to an island, Athens is a routine stop during any trip to Greece. So. we wanted to give you plenty of reasons to go in winter and spring rather than wait for summer (when everyone else is there and the weather is hot and sticky!) The late winter/early spring months have average temperatures in the mid to high 50s°F and sees less rain and more sun than other winter months. In other words … ideal.

WHERE TO STAY

09 March, 2017

The West Side of the Blue Ridge Mountains: The Shenandoah Valley and Cave Ridge Vineyards

This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register.

The Shenandoah Valley sits between two mountain ranges, the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Allegheny Mountains.

Tucked in a valley, it does not have close proximity to urban centers as its neighboring wine regions (Middleburg AVA has Washington, D.C., and Monticello AVA has Charlottesville). What the Shenandoah Valley has is the town of Winchester to the north, which is the apple capital of the country, and the small town of Staunton to the south, a charming place.

In addition, the Shenandoah Valley is located at a higher elevation and gets less rain compared to the east side of the Blue Ridge Mountains and other wine areas in Virginia. It is a statistically drier and cooler area, and perhaps it is the most ideal place to be making wine in Virginia.

07 March, 2017

Please The Palate Pick of the Week: Hirsch Vineyard San Andreas Fault Estate Pinot Noir 2011

One of the events that I look forward to each year is World of Pinot Noir which takes place at the beginning of March at the Bacara Resort in Santa Barbara. Wineries from throughout California, as well as other domestic locations, such as Oregon, and international regions, come together for a weekend of seminars, tastings and dinners focused on pinot noir. The 17th Annual World of Pinot Noir took place this weekend (March 3-4) and I flew back from the east coast and drove straight up to Santa Barbara in order to arrive in time. Each year I attend different seminars and this year was no different. This year, I attended the seminar and lunch series which included two vertical tastings of Grand Cru Vineyards from Louis Latour in Burgundy. We tasted 1999, 2002, 2005, 2010, 2012 and 2014 vintages of Romanée St Vivant les Quatre Journaux Domaine Latour AND Château Corton Grancey. After this flight, we shifted to the Sonoma Coast and did a vertical of the Hirsch San Andreas Fault Estate Pinot Noir 2011-2014, as well as a horizontal of 2014 Estate Pinot Noirs [Hirsch West Ridge Estate Pinot Noir 2014; Hirsch East Ridge Estate Pinot Noir 2014; Hirsch Raschen Estate Pinot Noir 2014; Hirsch Block 8 Estate Pinot Noir 2014].

Both flights had delicious wines in them because, after all, they were all pinot noirs from Burgundy and the Sonoma Coast. I loved many of the Latour wines, especially the 1999 Château Corton Grancey and the 2005 Romanée St Vivant les Quatre Journaux Domaine Latour and recognize what a unique opportunity it was to taste those wines. But, the one wine that stood out above them all and is the Please The Palate Pick of the Week, is the Hirsch San Andreas Fault Estate Pinot Noir 2011 (average price $64.00).

04 March, 2017