It was the Instagram image below, shared by Heritage Oak Winery, that prompted me to email Tom Hoffman. Tom is the winemaker at Heritage Oak Winery which he owns and operates with his wife Carmela. They farm 106 acres of vineyards planted to 25 varieties along the north bank of the Mokelumne River in the Lodi’s Mokelumne River AVA. The […]
As you can tell by the hashtag in the title of this post, it’s time for another wine day celebration. This time Grenache has its day in the spotlight and this year’s #GrenacheDay celebration made me aware of just how often Grenache is in our glass. By looking back at the wines we have enjoyed over the summer I found […]
It’s that time of year. The grape harvest has started throughout California and as winemakers contemplate picking decisions and organize crews to harvest the grapes we, as wine lovers, are free to sit back, anticipate another vintage and wonder how the growing season will translate in the bottle. The grape harvest also signals that it is time for Harvest Lunches […]
The Thursday before Labor Day has been designated #CabernetDay since 2010. It’s another of those wine days created to highlight a specific grape variety. In this case, according to my interpretation at least, we are free to celebrate with any of the grape varieties that have Cabernet in the name. Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc, of course, come to mind […]
The theme for this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend was pretty wide open, just grab a bottle of rosé and create a food pairing. Our host, Lori who blogs at Dracaena Wines, left us free to create the food pairing of our choice with a rosé from any wine region of the world made from any grape variety. As luck would […]
It’s all in the dirt. That’s essentially what Bokisch Vineyards’ winemaker Elise Perry told us yesterday during a quick conversation about the unique expression of the three Albariños we had just tasted in the Bokisch Vineyards Atkins Road tasting room. Each Albariño is sourced from a different vineyard; two are located in the Lodi AVA and the third is located […]
Almost every day is a wine day for us, so we are always ready for a wine day celebration. By that I mean a day specifically designated by an organization or individual on which to celebrate a specific varietal wine or just wine in general. These celebrations often involve special events and lots of sharing on social media with the […]
To some in the city where I live the closing of Fine Wines of Stockton will go unnoticed. To frequent customers of Lincoln Center the closing of Fine Wines may mean just an empty storefront. Those who appreciate fine wine will certainly notice. To the regular customers of Fine Wines the loss will be more acute. With the shuttering of […]
What do wine bloggers do on a day off? Taste wine, of course. It’s a bit like a busman’s holiday — not that we’re complaining! Last Friday we took a slight detour through the southern end of Napa Valley on our way to a evening get-together with friends. For some time we have been wanting to stop and taste the […]
Numismatist. Not your everyday word. Thanks to Steve and Seanne Contursi, the creative couple behind Arrow&Branch winery, I recently learned the meaning of this difficult-to-pronounce word and had the opportunity to taste their Arrow&Branch wines. It is because of Steve’s success as a numismatist (a coin collector and trader) that the Contursis are able to realize their dream of owning […]
We enjoy wine, food and travel. Pull That Cork is a chronicle of our wine adventures, the food and wine pairings we create and our travels which are increasingly organized around wine.