Lifestyle

Daily, our email inboxes are flooded with offers from wineries. Discounts, free shipping, virtual tastings, there are so many options being offered by wineries who are looking for new ways to reach consumers and sell wine while their tasting rooms are closed. It can be difficult to keep track of who is offering what but luckily, the associations for many wine regions have compiled comprehensives lists of what their member wineries are offering which I wrote about in the Napa Valley Register and am sharing here. In what seems like the blink of an eye, our lives have changed. As the coronavirus pandemic spreads across the United States, and the world, everything we are accustomed to has changed. The list of what we cannot do is too long to write, but one thing we cannot do is go wine tasting or attend wine events.

Buying online is not new to us. We have been buying food, clothing, wine, and more online for years. But now we must buy everything...

While we can not travel to wineries right now, wineries can come to us. Many wineries are offering virtual tastings where you can learn more about the winery from the comfort of your own home as I wrote about for California Winery Advisor. Want to go wine tasting without leaving the house? Want to learn the basics of wine or how to describe what you are tasting? Now you can learn about wine in the comfort of your own home.

VIRTUAL TASTINGS

Many winemakers are offering virtual wine tasting experiences online. Buy some of their wines and then join them as they discuss the wines, how they were made and more. This is better than going to the tasting room as you do not always get to meet the winemaker but now you can. The folks at the Priority Wine Pass have organized a number of virtual tastings with local wineries. This is a nice option if you want a curated list of wineries. Click Here to see their list.
When my girlfriends and I decided to plan a weekend getaway, we wanted to go to a wine region we had not been to. As wine writers, we thought that might be difficult but it turned out none of us had been to Mendocino County, located north of Sonoma on the coast of California. This hidden gem was the perfect place for a fun weekend and I wrote about it in the Napa Valley Register which I share here. It’s Mendocino, not Montecito. It’s Anderson Valley, not Alexander Valley. Located just over an hour north of Healdsburg, on the coast of California, Mendocino is the out-of-the-way wine country. It is not near any urban areas. It is remote. It is not carpeted with vines but rather interspersed with other agriculture. It is a secret corner of California and one that I went to explore with some girlfriends and fellow wine writers for a weekend. Mendocino County is a hidden gem filled with rolling hills along the coast. In addition to wineries, breweries and delightful New England-esque towns to explore, there are charming inns to stay in.

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