Winery Profiles

Smith-Madrone Trio featured photo

Smith-Madrone Vineyards & Winery: Elegant and Affordable, Always

One of the many lessons I learned during weekly wine tastings at a local wine shop is that there are many very expensive bottles of wine that taste really good, especially from Napa Valley. It isn’t particularly difficult to find those wines, but what takes a bit more effort is to find those really good wines for less money. What […]

Hawk and Horse 2019 Vintage featured photo

Hawk and Horse Vineyards: Organic and Biodynamic in the Vineyard, Delicious in the Glass

Hawk and Horse Vineyards is situated in California’s Red Hills Lake County AVA. Seven Lake County AVAs surround Clear Lake, one of the oldest geological lakes in North America. The Mayacamas Mountains lie to the west of Clear Lake and the Vaca Mountains to the east. Complex soils in the AVA were formed by a combination of volcanic and tectonic […]

Jordan Celebrates 50 Years of Winemaking photo

Jordan Vineyard & Winery Celebrates 50 Years of Winemaking

If you are familiar with the wines made by Jordan Vineyard & Winery in Healdsburg, California then you need no excuse to enjoy their wines. You already know Jordan’s focus is on two wines: Russian River Chardonnay and Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. You know Jordan doesn’t follow trends; their focus has always been on elegance and balance.  In case you […]

New Release Alta Colina Wines photo

Alta Colina: Rhone Wines and Fun in Paso’s Adelaida District

We have had the good fortune of meeting Alta Colina’s father-daughter team of Bob and Maggie Tillman twice. When we first met in early 2020 when Molly Lonborg had just assumed winemaking responsibilities from Bob. It is clear to us from both virtual conversations that they all take winegrowing and winemaking very seriously. It is also clear they take having […]

Domaine Bousquet featured photo

Organic Wines For Your Thanksgiving Table From Domaine Bousquet

Can you believe it is already time to begin planning for Thanksgiving? Depending on the size of your gathering you will need one or more wines to accompany your meal. Whether you plan a traditional Thanksgiving menu or one that is more modern, Domaine Bousquet has at least one wine from their broad portfolio of wines to accompany your meal. […]

Rodney Strong Vineyards featured photo

A Fresh Look At Rodney Strong Vineyards

Rodney Strong Vineyards has recently undergone a refresh. The most noticeable change to consumers who visit the winery will be in the remodeled tasting room; to anyone who picks up a bottle of Rodney Strong wine it will be the newly designed wine labels. But less visible changes have been going on behind the scenes for some time in the […]

Esporão in Vinho Verde and Douro featured photo

Esporão in Vinho Verde and Douro: Two Regions, One Winemaker

Winemaker José Luis Moreira da Silva, Zé Luis as he is known more informally, has the challenge of making wine in two Portuguese wine regions. The two regions could not be more different in terms of growing conditions and grape varieties. Fortunately the distance between Vinho Verde and the Douro is not too great, about 90 minutes by car. In […]