Travel

This story originally appeared in California Winery Advisor. When thinking of the perfect location for a wedding, does anything conjure up romance more than a vineyard? Vineyards are picturesque. There is a romanticism. The views are ideal for photographs. And vineyards can fit all wedding styles, from intimate to large, informal to formal. While there are many wineries with event space, not every winery is able to host a California winery wedding. Here are four wineries from Sonoma to Paso Robles offering unique venues for wineries.

Top Sonoma County Winery Wedding Locations

Rolling hills and valleys, groves of majestic redwood trees and world class wines, Sonoma County stretches from the Pacific Coast in the west to the Mayacamas Mountains in the east. There are more than 400 wineries within the 17 appellations. One of these appellations is the Sonoma Valley AVA which centers around the southern portion of Sonoma County and includes the towns of Santa Rosa and Kenwood where two of the California winery wedding venues are located.
08 June, 2017
This story originally appeared in California Winery Advisor. Are you ready to see the vineyards in a hot air balloon Napa style? There are few reasons I can think of that make getting up before the sun worth it. One of those reasons is a hot air balloon ride. And what better place to take a ride in a hot air balloon than in wine country? It is a peaceful, beautiful way to see the vineyards and offers a view that cannot be achieved except from above. Hot Air Balloon Ride companies can be found throughout in Napa, Sonoma, Paso Robles, Santa Barbara and Temecula. When you are looking for a company to go for a ride, customer safety is the number one priority. Be sure to look for a company that has current insurance, experienced pilots, and balloons that are maintained impeccably. You can also check the company’s safety record, which will most likely be on their website. Once you have picked a company and signed up, you will be in for an unforgettable experience.
30 May, 2017
This story originally appeared in California Winery Advisor. Spring is here. The vines are coming back to life and soon the grapes will start to develop. It is the perfect time to head to Sonoma. But why stand inside a tasting room or head into a barrel room. Put your feet on the ground and get up close and personal with the vines by taking a hike through the vineyard. This is the best way to understand how important “place” is to wine. Now, you cannot just pull off the side of the road and walk into any vineyard you like. But luckily a handful of wineries in Sonoma offer guided and self-guided hikes through their vineyards. So, put on your hiking shoes and get walking! Of course, as these hikes are in wine country, wine tasting is typically part of the hike.
16 May, 2017
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of eating and drinking my way around France. The breads, the cheeses, the meats, the wines, the pastries.....the good food and drink was endless. It is really hard to pick one thing as a stand-out for the week. But, during lunch one day, it was not the cheese table that I was drawn to, but rather the dessert table. Sitting on the table were delicious looking pastries that looked like they could be doughnuts or cronuts. What were they? Chocolate covered pogne de Romans. So delicious and so memorable, it had to be the Please The Palate "pick of the week."
15 April, 2017
This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. Visiting a wine region for the first time can be a daunting experience. For those of us who regularly visit wine regions, we forget how overwhelming it can be. For example, if you were heading to Napa for the first time, would you know the difference between Atlas Peak, Diamond Mountain District and Howell Mountain? Would you know if one area is better known for a grape variety than another? Would you know that the cabernet sauvignon from Atlas Peak has more cherry fruit and acidity than the cabernet sauvignon from Howell Mountain that has notes of blackberry and rich tannins? I have the privilege to travel to many wine regions. I regularly go to Santa Barbara, Napa and Sonoma, as well as some international areas, and over multiple visits have gotten to know these regions and what differentiates one designated AVA over another. I take for granted this knowledge and insight of Santa Barbara wine regions that I have, as I realized when I traveled there this past week with some friends. They had not spent significant time in Santa Barbara wine country, and it was an opportunity to delve into the diversity of the region. Being told about how the transverse mountain range affects the climates from Santa Maria to Happy Canyon is informative, but is difficult to truly comprehend without tasting. Of course, the ideal is to spend time in each AVA, tasting a few wines in each area in order to get a sense of place. But if time does not allow, there are two places that offer an opportunity to gain an understanding of the entire region in one place. The Valley Project
12 April, 2017
This story originally appeared in ATOD Magazine. A Brand New Way to See Some of the World’s Most Beautiful Places Planning a trip to a wine region can be daunting. Where should we stay? Where should we eat? What wineries should we visit? Are there other activities we should explore? How do we get around? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a curated experience in wine country where anything you want to do will be customized and planned for you? We agree. So luckily, we happened upon a brand new personally curated experience with a company called BeautifulPlaces. BeautifulPlaces is the first “villa company” in the world that focuses on epicurean luxury travel to wine regions and beyond. Whether you want to immerse yourself into a local community, take a cooking class, hire a private chef, or visit a winery, they can make it happen. The pinnacle of the experience is the accommodations. The collection of villas range from large chateaus to contemporary homes to mountaintop retreats. Pick a place – California, Caribbean, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, New York, Rhode Island, Austria, Brazil, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Portugal, Spain and Thailand – and let your journey begin.
21 March, 2017
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
This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. The famous Blue Ridge Mountains have been written about in songs. These mountains are the first major eastern line of the Appalachian Mountains, running from north to south though Virginia. Along the east side of the Blue Ridge in central Virginia are the historic homes of Thomas Jefferson, James Monroe and James Madison Monticello. And Monticello, named after Jefferson’s famed estate, is one of the seven established AVA’s in Virginia.
Lined along the eastern side of the of the mountains is home to a large percentage of the wineries in Virginia, which is more than 200. As winery owner David Pollak best explained, with a mix of humor and seriousness, “It is no more challenging than anywhere else to make wine here, except that we have frost, humidity and hurricanes.”
But with high elevations, sloped vineyards and good wind flow, if the winter is not too treacherous, this is as good area to make wine as anywhere else. And my host, Brian Yost of The Virginia Grape, a resource to all things Virginia wine, took me out to show me this.
02 March, 2017
This story originally appeared in the Napa Valley Register. Learning about the wines of the world can be an overwhelming endeavor at times. There are so many countries that produce wine. Then there are all the regions within each country, not to mention the thousands of grape varieties.
Just when we get comfortable with the grapes and areas of Napa and Sonoma, then perhaps France, Italy or Spain, more regions are becoming prevalent in the U.S. market. Now we can find wines from Greece, Portugal, Georgia and beyond. And there is so much to learn. Greece alone has more than 300 indigenous varieties and more than two dozen wine regions. What do you know about Greek wines?
Here are some questions:
26 January, 2017
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