If you are familiar with wine from the Santa Barbara region, no doubt you have some familarity with Mr Rhone, otherwise known as Andrew Murray Vineyards. Andrew Murray has been a posterboy for high quality Syrah and other Rhone varietals for more than 20 years. 

(Sample Provided by Andrew Murray Vineyards)

It might be difficult for some outside of the region to talk about Santa Barbara without the mention of Sideways, Merlot, or Pinot Noir. Some may recall a scene in the movie that mentioned the lone Syrah that the Pinot Noir loving Miles was excited about.....if you guessed ...

When Cellars of Sonoma has winemaker Ted Elliot as a guest on thier Tuesday night show (6:00 PM), it is something special. He, nor the wine disappointed. For those wine enthusiasts that really like to follow some of the great names in wine, this is someone to add to the list.

Tuesday night Ted came on the live-stream with Scott Jordan to share about his wines as we tasted together and interacted with questions via Twitter. Ted said."I love aromatics in Pinots." I must say it is one of the aspects I appreciate so much about Pinot Noir ...

This 2010 Pinot Noir from the Stepping Stone label was produced by Cornerstone Oregon. This sample was sent amongst others recently and I must say there were a few fun and interesting surprises. 

First off, this wine is designed to be a front line every-day type of wine but it could have fooled me. This could easily land in the weekend wine category over what many call -- "Tuesday wine." This very nice Pinot Noir was a generous, but deceptive sipper.

I say deceptive and will confess on myself by stating my experience drinking this wine.......well, if I were ...

This years Wine Bloggers Conference or #wbc12, will be held in Portland Oregon this coming August 15-19th. Those you of joining the #wbc12 have most likely already reviewed the agenda, and for me that would amount to a few dozen times. Throughout this past year I have been privileged to participate in a handful of events that all have ties to this years #wbc12 agenda. In a sense, I feel like I've gotten micro portions of wbc. While each of these tiny pieces have been lots of fun, I expect so much more when in Portland. 

I live near ...

Recently I had the opportunity to share in a live video stream with Scott Jordan of Cellars of Sonoma and the winemaker of Joseph Jewell with some twitter friends. It is a weekly event taking place on cellarsofsonoma.com Tuesday nights at 6:00 PM PST. The Joseph Jewell name is derived from two different middle names and the impressive label is a family crest. 

The 2009 Joseph Jewell Russian River Valley Pinot Noir produced just 250 cases. The winemaker Adrian Mann indicated the Floodgate VIneyard name is based upon the area being part of the flood plane but his ...

Do you have a special food or wine memory soley dedicated to the taste? We all have those life moments when we might remember grandma's macaroni and cheese, or a wine moment that had you at hello. These are the moments that can be difficult to duplicate. Moments like these are rare, yet tend to stick in our minds for a long time. I can still recall the Chateaubriand I ate when I was 10 years old in a restaurant. I can still recall old vintage wines that play in my mind with salavation and a smile.

Thus far ...

Wine and Fire was a fantastic celebration of 10 years of the Sta Rita Hills AVA and recognized a legend in the industry, Richard Sanford. It was 3 days of open houses, panel discussions, wine dinners, and several other special events with the grand tasting held at the La Purisima Mission in Lompoc, California. There was llive music, lots of BBQ including the Hitching Post banging out some amazing grilled sliders topped with grilled onions & mushrooms and seared ahi tacos with fresh salsa and slaw. Rooney's Irish Pub in Orcutt took their sweet time smoking whole pigs all ...