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Recently, Carolle and I took a three day wine tasting tour of Westside Paso Robles. It had been ten years since we had toured the area. We used to know it well. Things had changed. We still have the 1997-1998 Paso Robles Vintners Growers Map from our last visit in the nineties. It shows 10 tasting rooms east of 101, and 18 to the west. In addition 5 other wineries West of 101 offered tasting by appointment. 6800 acres were under cultivation. Now there are 26,000 acres, and (the figure varies… Continue

WLASC is a group of people who raise money to help support the Sonoma County Wine Library in Healdsburg. Through the year, various fundraising events are held, often involving the authors of books about wine. Friday, an event had as its featured speaker, Elin McCoy, author of The Emperor of Wine: Robert M. Parker, Jr., and the Rise of American Taste.



McCoy summarized what she had written in her book explaining how Parker became so prominent. His timing was excellent: the 1982… Continue

Cloverdale has been a wine town since the nineteenth century. We aren’t as well known as Healdsburg, St. Helena, or Yountville, but we have a rich wine history. In fact in 1962, at its peak, the Italian Swiss Colony tasting room had 400,000 visitors a year.



Being a wine town, wine is a part of almost every charitable benefit, celebration, and public event. Every organization includes some vintners willing to donate for a good cause. At some events the wine is available at a modest… Continue

Carolle and I for years have wanted to try ZAP, but have never made it, perhaps daunted by reports of the huge crowds. This year I noticed there was a smaller event on Thursday night, so we decided to give it a try.

The scale was perfect for an old guy like me. There were more wines poured than we could taste in an evening, and much more food than we could possibly eat. Although the hall was crowded, there was never a line to get wine: at most a brief wait for one person ahead of you. We… Continue

For those of you who don’t live in Northern California, I will try to describe my experiences at one of the premier wine events of Northern Sonoma County: the Russian River Wine Road Winter Wineland, held the Martin Luther King weekend. The event involves getting a glass and an ID bracelet, and traveling from winery to winery, tasting and eating. There are always more wineries participating than could be possibly be visited in the time allotted, so selecting wineries is part of the fun. This… Continue