A wine lover’s tour of Mendocino wine region is usually comprised of a quick drive through the Anderson Valley on the way to the coastal town of Mendocino.  But that would just be skimming the surface of the diversity of Mendocino wines from the cool climate aromatic whites and pinot noir of Anderson Valley to the full-bodied cabernet sauvignon, zinfandel and Cal-Itals from warm Inland Mendocino, connected by a mere 17 easy and beautiful drive over the mountain on Highway 253.  From the charming and gentrifying Anderson Valley to the …

In challenging economic times and a competitive global wine market, Navarro Vineyards prevails by staying true to a particular style of wine and cultivating consumers one by one.
Ted Bennett, his wife Deborah Cahn and their children Sarah and Aaron Cahn Bennett are proprietors of Navarro Vineyards, one of the first wineries in what is now the Anderson Valley wine region in Mendocino County.  From their first vintage in 1975, they have made dry aromatic white wines such as gewürztraminer, pinot gris and riesling which are today among the fastest growing …

Some of the most popular food wines today are the mostly dry, aromatic whites such as gewurztraminer, pinot gris, pinot blanc, riesling and muscat.  These rich and balanced aromatic whites pair so well with our California, Mediterranean and ethnic foods. 
Once the province of Alsace France, these grapes are now grown around the world.  One of the leading wine regions in the US for these aromatic whites is the Anderson Valley, a 15-mile long, 2,000 acre appellation in Mendocino County that straddles the Navarro River as it heads northwest towards the …

Dining at Osteria Fontanina in Verona

Dining in new cities is always an exciting adventure, but its particularly exciting when you’re in the midst of several great wine appellations.  The Veneto is home to classic dry whites made of garganega such as Soave and Custoza, sparkling Prosecco made of, well, prosecco, and classic red blends based on cherry-licious corvina such as Valpolicella and Bardolino.  These wines pair perfectly with the diversity of foods you will find in the Veneto.

Classic dishes in the Veneto include risotto made with Amarone wine, chewy bigoli pasta, horsemeat (stewed, smoked, even tartare), pasta e fagioli …

No, I’m not in Hawaii, this is San Giuseppe al Lago in the southern Alto Adige.  The Bassa Atesina is the largest and warmest of Alto Adige’s seven viticultural zones.  It seems incongruous that we would be eating lunch outside in the foothills of the Alps, but the region gets warm influences from warm winds coming off Lake Garda to the southwest.  As the crow flies, it is about 40 miles away. 
In the morning, we stopped in Termeno, the home of the aromatic gewürztraminer.  In the Alto Adige, gewürztraminer is …

The Trentino Alto Adige covers 13,500 hectares, 11,100 of which are controlled quality (DOC) wines.  On the way north from Verona to Trentino, one is struck by the steeply rising Dolomite mountains on both sides of the highway along the Adige River.  Only about 15% of the land is cultivable, most of it to grapevines and fruit trees. 
The region produces about 1.2 million hectoliters of wine, 70% of which are red wines such as the light-bodied Lagrein and Teroldego.  Whites consist of  aromatic varieties gewurztraminer, sylvaner, muller thurgau and moscato, and …

Verona 77 degrees, Napa, California 78 degrees forecast.  I love travelling to Europe in the spring, volcanos notwithstanding.  The weather is glorious and last night, warm enough to dine comfortably outside at 9:00 pm.
Veneto is known for its ancient cities of Venice to the east and Verona to the west.  It is the largest region for controlled origin (Denominazione di Origine Controllata/ e Garantita aka DOC or DOCG) wines in Italy by volume with about 1.7 million hectoliters produced annually.  Its famous appellations include the white Soave, Italy’s most exported white wine, the …

Nautilus pinot gris from Marlborough

New Zealand is a new World wine region with a cool climate.  There are over 77,000 acres of vineyards in New Zealand with 2009 production of 205 million liters.  Because New Zealand has a relatively small population, over half of the wines are exported.  New Zealand covers a distance of 1,000 miles from 34th to the 47th parallel across two islands, with the South Island being generally cooler and drier than the North Island.  On the South Island, New Zealand grows  the majority of its signature aromatic white grape varieties such as …