Wine Blog

Rabobank Report: Dramatic Growth in Bulk Wine Exports Has Shifted $1.4 Billion … – MarketWatch (press release)

Rabobank Report: Dramatic Growth in Bulk Wine Exports Has Shifted $1.4 Billion … MarketWatch (press release) Rabobank says in the report that the democratization, commoditization, innovation, and oversupply of wine, along with currency rates and changing trade flows, have changed both the conventional supply chain model and the distribution of value along … and more »

Starbucks Moves Forward With Extended Boozy Menu Hitting More Locations – The Consumerist

The Consumerist

Starbucks Moves Forward With Extended Boozy Menu Hitting More Locations The Consumerist Offering wine and beer (what, no double tequila shots?) and hot items like flatbreads and other savory snacks, a few cafes in Atlanta and Southern California will see the extended menus by the end of this year, says Reuters. Currently the menu is only … and more »

Wines and Wineries of California’s Central Coast: A Complete Guide from Monterey to Santa Barbara
In comparative tastings, wines from California’s Central Coast rival those from such renowned regions as Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Napa, yet they also offer superb value. This is the first comprehensive guide to one of the world’s most dynamic and beautiful wine regions-and the setting for the award-winning movie Sideways. An excellent, one-stop resource for touring and tasting at convenient wineries located from Monterey to Santa Barbara, the guide is organized into county-by-county alphabetical listings for this up-and-coming region.

Wines and Wineries of California’s Central Coast includes:
* Profiles of nearly 300 wineries personally visited by the author
* Profiles of individual vintners
* 5 maps
* Winery ratings, plus author and winemaker recommendations
* Visitors’ and contact information for each winery
* Discussions of regional wine history and terroir
* Descriptions of designated American Viticultural Areas and grape varietals

Customer Review: Good overview of Central Coast wines
Let me start by saying that I am a little biased toward this book because the photograph on the cover is the view from my parents’ living room. I did not take the picture but the oak tree and the grapevines in that picture have been a familiar sight for many years. This is a good overview of the wines and wineries of the Central Coast. It is a good place to start to build your own “Sideways” trip. I have my favorites as I am sure others have theirs. The Central Coast is often overlooked by many as a serious wine country but those who actually know what they are talking about know this region as the real wine country in California, not our Napa neighbors up north.

Napa Valley & Sonoma: Heart of the California Wine Country
This award-winning book takes the reader through the breathtaking vineyards and quaint charm of California’s renowned wine region. A listing of wineries and tasting rooms is included, along with reproductions of the region’s legendary wine labels.

Customer Review: Excellent introduction to Napa Valley/Sonoma – wine country!
This is an excellent overview of the heart of California wine country, Napa Valley & Sonoma. Loaded with lush photography and insight into the tradition of winemaking, the author takes another leap and provides you with fine dining and lodging selections in the areas as well. I especially liked the pictures of all of the labels and listings at the end of the book of all of the wineries from this area. This allows you to date and check off when you sampled that particular bottle as well as motivate the pursuit to sample all that these wineries have to offer. If you are planning a vacation to Napa or Sonoma, this is a must have.

Customer Review: Everything you need for a great weekend!
We picked up a copy of this book last month for us to use on a weekend away in the wine country. Now we have bought several more for gifts to give for Christmas, and our copy sits on our coffee table at home. The author has captured all I needed to know about Napa and Sonoma, wihtout getting to bogged down in details/history. There are recommendations on where to eat, sleep, things to do, the history of the wine industry, how wine is made, and stunning pictures. With 15 minutes you can get so much info you wish there were more coffee table books with this much substance and this well written, with up to date info, but not skimping on the glorious photos.

Grape travels: Finding fine wines for fall – Boston Globe
There’s a lot to consider when picking out wine, and with the holiday season coming up and wine being one of the top holiday gifts for parties and dinners, it’s important to know what you’re buying. After all, what you bring to the table leaves a lasting

Wine Tasting in San Diego & Beyond: Partake of the Grape in San Diego, Temecula, Baja, Rancho Cucamonga and Los Angeles
2nd Edition of Wine Tasting in San Diego & Beyond with over 40 wineries listed. Coverage includes wineries located in Southern California as well as Baja California. A book for anyone visiting or living in or near Southern California who enjoys the pleasures of wine tasting. Includes coverage of wine tasting techniques, local wineries and local happenings.

Customer Review: Overpriced and Underinformed
This book should have cost less than ten dollars, given the amount of useful information it actually provides. If we were to cull the empty half-pages (the author often had less than a page to write about some wineries; whatever happened to descriptive comments about all, or at least some, varietals, offered?), the useless recommendations on accommodations and shopping areas (I ordered a book billed to be about San Diego area wineries, not Bed & Breakfasts and mini-malls), and the author’s many references to a tasting room reminding her of something in Europe, we would end up with a book a little more than half the size of this book… and at $15 retail, the book is already overpriced.

There is some useful info regarding wine tasting, forming a tasting club, and comparisons of varietals, but this book could certainly have gone much further in identifying the relative quality of various wineries or different varietals within each winery’s list of offerings.

I bought this book as an out-of-towner with hopes of going to San Diego to sample some of the local wines. This book helps; but the reader could save some money by getting most of this information by searching the Internet for SD area wineries, and consulting area newspapers and tourist guides.

Customer Review: Superb!
I found this book to be very thorough. We visited some beautiful vineyards in San Diego County that we never knew existed. We’re going to have a lot of fun (and good wine) with this book!