California Day 5 - Final day in Napa

Ok. So today, has been the best day of the trip. I know that the last few days have been great stories, but today was truly the most memorable for me.

Not only did I finally see my favourite Napa Valley Winemaker (David Tate, Barnett Vineyards) but we spent the majority of the afternoon hours, in the california sunshine (so we all got some sun). Lunch was also served outside overlooking california wine country from the top of Spring Mountain. The sun was warm, the view spectacular, the wine divine and the company irreplaceable.

We spent the morning at Honig winery, and not only pruned the vineyards, but were also officially trained by the the winemaker - Kristin Belair- to prune perfectlyin a California style. They had an amazing "fume" style Sauvignon Blanc that was really quite great and some great post cards to help promote the wine. All the post cards are designed by the staff and they all star in the postcard photos shoots too! If you look at the ones to your left, they seem fitting for our club :) !!

Then we ended up having a vertical tasting of all things Chardonnay at Beringer. I love Chardonnays so the tasting was great! In fact, on board with the Chardonnay trend, we had chardonnay at dinner and at lunch as well!

We then headed over to Barnett Vineyards for a great tasting and lunch with David Tate-the Winemaker, Fiona Barnett-the owner, and a few other wineries who were among the mix of wines presented. It was great to see Mr.Tate again, as I haven't seen him in years, but to be fair, he has been very busy making wonderful wines at Barnett. Below is 1/2 a a video of both Pax and I talking with David, however it gets cut off at the end (thanks Taylor for being our videographer!), as I ran out of camera time on my SIM card.

I am very sad to be leaving Napa. Did I mention very sad? I have fallen in love with not only the wine, but the weather, the view, the people and the vines. Today we are enroute back to San Francisco and spending the entire morning (and afternoon) at ZAP and then comes the 1 weeks vacay in Palm Springs.

The memories are truly unforgettable, and Napa truly ROCKS!!! Thank you to Paula and the entire group of wine lovers who came with Pax and I (Tim, Rick, Deanna, Craig, Taylor, Jamie, Christopher Walters and LALO! - our driver). The weather has been fanastic all week, and it has truly been one of the best weeks of my life.

I am definitely looking forward to the next wine country adventure...

California Day 4 - Napa, Napa, Napa!

So today was a true day in Cali wine country. Not only was it amazingly warm (sorry Toronto, I hear you have snow, sucky for you.) it was jam packed with a day full of gourmet food and wine. I would have to say that day 4 was quite "amazing", and I am sure that Paula would agree with me on that one. Can I also say that a day without wine is like a day without um...can I say mascara...no maybe bread and olive oil. Taylor what do you think?

This morning we visited Trinchero Family Estates. They are renovating and the property was truly unbelievable. Trinchero is home to the Menage a Trois blend (red, white rose) that are being released this coming February on Ontario. I cannot wait for their return. Barry (our Trinchero rep) took us on a tour of the new property and we were treated to some great barrell samples (my favourite was the meritage). I love the Trinchero famiy. They are a great family, with genuine values and visions, oh ya... and their wines are wonderful. Have you tried Paul Newmans Wine? It is coming soon, but you should.

Barry (from Trinchero) joined us for lunch where we met Jeffrey (aka "Chef") and his team. Jeffrey is the Executive Chef for the Sutter Home Winery and we had a great lesson on food and wine balance on the plate. We then had lunch prepared for us by the Sutter Home kitchen staff (aka Chef and team). The food for lunch was unbelievable. It was spicy, (and the ironic part is that I had just finished mentioning that I eat many many and many a spicy foods) and to boot they served my favourite food wines, Riesling, Pinot Noir and they even served a great dessert wine.The lineup was pretty good. As you can see the food looks pretty great from the picture.

After lunch, a 15 minute break outside laying on the grass and the boys eating a fresh blood red orange (from a fresh orange tree) we headed back onto the bus for a stop at Viader to try a bunch of wines. The winery had such a spectacular view that we all really enjoyed the balcony and the rapid sunset.

We then went back to the hotel (aka home) for a beautiful swim in the pool and a relaxing sit in the hot tub. A few of us cracked open a bottle of red wine (Thanks Rick!) and we all enjoyed a glass of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon. Actually... Taylor brought a bottle of Red Stripe from the in room mini bar and we had a great ol' time.

We tried 5 white wines before dinner, which was at Mondavi, and then had another 6 glasses of Merlot with our main course. I do have have to say that we have enjoyed some great food on this trip. Not only have I eaten breakfast (which I never do), I have eaten a very large lunch and a fairly grand sized dinner. Not that I am complaining, but that is a great amount of food, for a 5 footer like me.

I do have to say that I truly admire all the people on my trip. They are all really cool people. I have had the opportunity to get to know each of them, and understand about all the great ways they contribute to the wine industry. I also found out that we all love wine, and that is why we are in the industry. I am glad I got to spend a few days to get to know them and can't wait till California (or elsewhere) trip #2. We have developed some super cool inside jokes and it has been a really great time with everyone.

I am really excited for tomorrow because we are going to Beringer and Barnett. I was saying yesterday that I knew the winemaker at Barnett and I am pumped to be able to see Mr. David Tate tomorrow and try some great Beringer wines. There are only tomorrow and Saturday left, so I need to truly enjoy the next two days. I saved my dress for tomorow and will also be wearing my cowboys boots too, I am excited for a day in the vineyard, and more wine tasting!!!!

Below is an iYellow TV, featuring Taylor Thompson and Jamie Drummond, both are some of the top Sommeliers in the City.

P.S. Tim, I made it through the article and didn't mention Paxton at all!
P.S.S Maybe Brett will comment on this article....

California Day 3 - Sonoma and Napa

Day 3 in California was another memorable day. I write this on the morning of the 4th day (Thursday)- at 7am- and am wondering why I am up, but the birds and the warm sunshine may have something to do with it. Plus, my blackberry is dead and my charger isn't working so I never have any idea what time it is. So I keep saying that while we are in California we are on Wine Country time.

Here is the yesterday recap...

Yesterday included a stop at Kendall Jackson Winery (aka KJ) with a winemaker panel tasting, an intimate catered lunch with KJ winemakers, owners and Wolfgang puck's own lamb farmer and butcher, a ride to Napa to meet Napa winemakers, another mini napa wine tradeshow, a beautiful dinner at CakeBread Winery and a stay at the Napa Valley lodge. Yes, it was an action and wine packed day! Paxton and I are having a great time learning about California wine country and tasting many (did I say many?) California wines and are truly enjoying the clear skies -both during the day and at night when you can see the stars- as well as the California Sun. I heard TO got a major snow storm yesterday so I am definitely not missing the Canadian Winter. Above is a picture of me and Pax outside of the KJ winery.

Napa is nothing really like what I expected, but then again I don't really know what I expected. It is very picturesque and instills a sense of relaxtion. Napa is literally surrounded by vineyards, and is a truly gorgeous place. The 2nd picture is a view of Napa. Napa is tucked into california north of LA and San Fran, and south east of Sonoma. Picture 3 is a map of Napa.

I must say I have been very proud of have come from Ontario, and I do brag about attending Brock University as well as working in Niagara Wine Country. Since being in California, I have met one winemaker (Elizabeth from KJ) who was a Brock CCOVI graduate (and from St.Catharines to boot), and I also know that David Tate from Barnett (where we have yet to visit, but is on the list) is also a Brock Grad. As a Canadian, and being from Niagara, I am very proud to see us representing out here in California. GO BROCK GO!!

We have all tried quite a few Napa wines already, even after only being here for one day. I have tried what feels like a 100 Cab Sauv's (as it seems to be there niche here in Napa) and some chardonnay as well as some sauv blanc. If you know me, you know that althought I do drink red wine, and have a soft spot for Pinots, I don't drink much that is full bodied unless it is with food. So drinking the many red wines at all of the tastings has been a true challenge for me. With each day our group trying over 30 wines I have found myself trying to drink the same ratio of wine to water, to keep the balance in my body. I have also been spitting out a lot of wine, not because I don't like it, but because, that is just what you do, when you taste as many wines as what we are on this trip. Two days in a row my teeth stained purple, which doesn't quite match my outfit! :)

One wine that really reminded me home was a late harvest dessert wine we had with our dessert during lunch at KJ. We were also able to try some Riesling at the KJ, which was a delight and change from all the Chardonnay's, Pinots and Cab's we have been drinking so far. Last nights dinner at Cakebread was out of this world, with 3 courses with the first course paired with2 wines and the second and third course paired with 4 wines. Yes, that means we had 10 wines wth dinner, plus one for the reception! We ended with a plate of local cheeses, which was a breath of fresh air from all the lemon tarts we have had this week (supposidly lemons are in season!). Taylor, Pax and I got VIP seating sitting beside Dennis Cakebread for the dinner!

To end the evening the whole group grabbed some drinks at a cute local resto/bar (as per Jamie Drummond's request) and while the ladies enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine, the boys all enjoyed a great glass of beer as their night cap.The pic below is of all the ladies on the trip, as you can see there are only 3 of us out of our total 9 people on the trip.

We have also tried wines today from:
DuckHorn Winery - wines with dinner
Domain Chandon - the glass of sparkling wine at the bar after the day was over
Dyer Vineyards - panel tasting with winemaker/owner
Frank Family Vineyards - tasted at mini tradeshow
Hendry Winery - tasted at mini tradeshow
Jessup Cellars - I didn't try any of their wines, but I did see the winery
Laird Family Estate - we had these wines with dinner at Cakebread
Martin Estate - we had these wines at dinner (i love these labels)
Meteor Vineyard - we had theses wines at the Winemaker panel tasting
Paradigm Winery - tasted at the mini tradeshow
Robery Craig Winery - tasted at mini tradeshow
Rubicon Winery - tasted at mini tradeshow
Shafer Vineyards - tasted at winemaker/owner panel tasting
Signorello - tasted at mini tradeshow
Silverado - tasted at mini tradeshow
Spelletech Winery - tasted at Cakebread dinner
Viader Vineyards and Winery - tasted at winemaker/owner Panel tasting
Cliff Lede Vineyards and Poetry - tasted at winery mini tradeshow


There may be more, but those are the ones I can remember as of right now. To the right is a group picture of everyone on the Sommelier/media trip to California. I have met some really great people and am looking forward to the next 3 days, where we still have to visit Trinchero, Mondavi and ZAP. We are expecting great weather, so today, i may just wear a cute summer dress!

Stay tuned for more postings!

California Day 2 - Sonoma County

So here I sit at close to 1:30am on Tuesday night (aka Wednesday morning) after trying to sip on a few beers in a pub downtown Healdsburg (near the Healdsburg hotel) and ready to write about day number 2 in Sonoma Wine Country. Today was a pretty big day. I have never seen such beautiful vineyards as I did at Frei Ranch and I was blown away with 8 glasses of zinfandel (also known as Zin) for breakfast at 9am. The morning was nothing short of winemaker tastings, bios and photo ops heading right into an exclusive gourmet lunch with winery owners, winemkers, sommeliers and more. Right at sunset, the view of Frei Ranch took my breath away and a finale dinner in the coziest of cottages (with an amazing host - Ashley) ended the night earning one of the "best days of my life".

We began the day with, like I said, 8 zinfandals- a well known california full bodied red wine- and 4 winemakers for a panel tasting. I truly enjoyed trying 8 zins in a row, up close and personal with their winemakers (something you will never see me refuse). I definitely had some fav's during the tasting, including some great Old Vines Zin. So, for all of you who text me when you're in the LCBO wanting a wine recommendation, be ready for some zins to come into the mix. Zinfandel, has a crazy vine, it is massive and gnarly, as one might say. Check out the picture and try to tell me that vine doesn't look like a "GNARLY" vine! You would never see vines like this in Niagara, and it was pretty cool to see such neat vines.

Next we made our way over to Rodney Strong Vineyards for a lesson in geography, topography and family tradition as well as have lunch. We received special "Canadian" labeled barelled wines (not yet bottled) from the cellar - which was a treat. And after a spectacular lunch in an outside patio, we all then went down to the barrel cellar at Rodney Strong for a mini Sonoma wine tasting tradeshow. (The picture to your left is a picture with myself and Gary the Winemaker at Rodney Strong).

We ended the day with a very memorable visit to Mac Murray Ranch, for a vertical tasting of cab sauv's from 1992 to 2006 and boy was it awesome. However, I do have to mention that I feel that my nose is a bit fatigued from sniffing so much wine today and my teeth are super purple - but if that is all I have to complain about I think I'm Ok!? :)

I tried some amazing Francis Ford Coppola Wines and met the winemaker at the "mini sonoma wine tradeshow", and they were all really great! I am hoping to use these wines in the next upcoming iYellow Wine Club event called "Showtime" in March.

We then had an amazing tasting in a converted ranch house, and an absolutely phenomenal dinner at a nearby (and very famous) country home (MacMurray Ranch). We had a blazing fireplace, amazing duck for main course, and a truly memorable experience.

It was an absolutely crazy day, and I will never forget the gorgeous view of the Gallo Vineyard at sunset, or the production setup of E J Gallo (the largest and I would have to say coolest, ever). It was unlike anything I have ever seen. I will be highly recommended wine from Sonoma (and probably Napa - even though I will confirm that thought after the visit and tastings tomorrow) as we have definitely had some amazing wines and met the wonderful people behind the wine.

Below is a small snip it of a video that Pax took when we arrived at Frei Farms (EJ Gallo). The vineyard was beautiful and it will forever be something I remember. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings, I am pretty excited.

Cheers!

California Day 1 - Sonoma County

Today has honestly been one of the most amazing days of my entire life. I am in love with California.

Yesterday Pax and I flew into San Francisco and I was wow'd by all the amazing architecture and "film" like qualities of the city. I can honestly say that living in that city would totally be something I would be down with. We didn't get in the city until last last night, so I didn't have much time to take photos for this post, but I will have all of this coming Sunday in the city so stay tuned for pictures soon of San Fran.

This morning we met up with the rest of our media/sommelier group to begin our California trip. We hopped on a bus and started to head out of the city. We are spending the weekend with people such as Taylor Thompson, Sommelier from Reds, Jamie Drummond, Sommelier from Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar and Chris Waters, Editor of Vines Magazines.
Today and Tomorrow (Monday & Tuesday) are dedicated to Sonoma County - did you know that Sonoma has many sub-appellations and mainly focuses on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir? And then on Wednesday we are all head to Napa Valley and then we get to head back to San Fran to spend Saturday at ZAP. Today we spent time tasting over 35 wines and winemakers from many Sonoma Wineries and eating lots of awesome food.

The best part is that the weather has been very cooperative and although it isn't "hot" per se, at least there isn't any snow! As you can see from the picture below and to your left, the sky is beautiful and the land is lush and green, even though there are no full vineyards.

Last night we stayed at the Orchard Garden Hotel in San Fran and tonight we are staying at Hotel Healdsburg (one of the most gorgeous hotels I have ever stayed at). Today was a long day - it started at 6:30am and ended well about now (12:30am) but I am really looking forward to the rest of the week.

Stay Tuned for more updates, photos and videos coming soon! (The pictures to your left was taken at Gundlach Bundschu Winery (www.gunbun.com) - a very beautiful winery!

ANGELA AIELLO BIOGRAPHY

Destined to become a Wine Entrepreneur, Angela grew up beside a booming local food and wine industry and stems from a family of entrepreneurs. She is a true city girl with country roots who has a passion for building wine confidence.

She got her start in the wine industry at the tender age of 16. Her story begins at the Prestigious Vineland Estates Winery Restaurant (a CAA/AAA Four Diamond Award Restaurant). Her experience at VEW lasted for a total of five years and she then continued for another four years at Peller Estates Winery Restaurant (which recently receiving the highest possible rating for food by Zagat readers). Follow that with a couple years of wine retail experience downtown Toronto, a growing passion for wine and a friendly and bubbly personality and her career seemed to form itself.

After completing her degree in Business Communications at Brock University, Angela moved to Toronto to pursue her interest in media and marketing/communications working in both television production and Radio. It started out as a personal hobby – blogging about wine – to create a network of wine lovers, share information and help people learn about wine. But, as more people began to subscribe to her blog, she realized she was on to something great. Using a quirky play on her last name, the iYellow Wine Club was born.

Founder of the Toronto Wine Revolution Angela believes in making wine accessible to everyone and has built iYellow around her vision of empowering people with “Wine Confidence”. iYellow Wine Club now consists of over 6500 members and hosts regular events, classes and tours to allow members to congregate and learn about wine in a fun, friendly, open and casual atmosphere. iYellow also has a powerful online social network and sends members monthly e-news and offers an interactive community based environment both online and offline. Angela is determined to help members build their own sense of wine confidence no matter how they learn about wine whether it’s socially at a wine event, formally at wine school or experientially on a wine tour.

She not only loves wine, but she also truly appreciates food and has worked and learned alongside well known chefs such as Chef Marc Picone (Marc Picone Culinary Studio), Chef Jan Willem Stulp (Vineland Estates Winery), Chef Jason Rosso (Toronto’s Distillery District) and Chef Jason Parsons (Peller Estates Winery & City Line Guest Regular).

As a respected wine and food expert, with over 13 years experience in the industry, she was the exclusive wine host for the CBC’s Steven & Chris Show, Le Gourmet.TV, as well as being a contributing writer for Toronto Star’s WineFox.com, Grapevine Magazine (and grapevinemagazine.ca), and the iYellow Wine Club blog. Her passion for wine has taken her to all over Ontario, as well as Italy, Chile, California, France, London, UK, Germany and Argentina.

She was also featured in a CBC Wine Documentary titled “Wine Confidential” and has been recognized in several print, television and online media sources, including Cosmo TV, Twenty Something TV.com, Sweethome.ca, Canada AM, Global TV, The Toronto Star, Post City Magazine, City Bites, Metro, The St. Catharine’s Standard, TasteTO.com, Toronto.com, SheDoestheCity,com, HUG (hipurbangirl.com), Virgin Radio, Classical 96.3 and CBC TV. She has hosted the Ontario Wine Awards as well as various videos with the LCBO.

In 2010 Angela was awarded the prestigious Top 40 Under 40 Award by Niagara’s own Business Link Magazine and most recently she was selected and by the Ontario Hostelry Institute to receive an award of distinction in the hospitality industry, the Annual Top 30 Under 30 Award. Aiello was recognized amongst thirty top young performers as one of Ontario's leaders in hospitality for her dedication and innovation in the wine industry

Cheers to 2009!

As we enter into 2009, I wonder what the year ahead will bring us all. For me, I hope it is a good one, in fact I am praying for the best one yet. This year I will turn 27 years old - which I am totally fine with, I think every year I become much more happy and accepting of the things god gave me. I know that every year I tend to gain a wider view of the world around me, and am excited to see what challenges, goals, failures and success 2009 brings my way. I already have 3 weddings slotted into the calendar, and am definitely going to be fitting in some time to travel as well, with my 2 weeks in California this January being the first step.

I know from a worldy perspective 2009 will be a very interesting year as well. I am not a huge political person, and cringe when I admit that because, honestly, we all should know what is going on not only with our political centres. We shoul also be well informed about information and politics around the world. But there are some moments that change the course of history where paying attention is mandatory.

A few days ago I watched the film TRUMAN on HBO (God I love HBO Programming) and the films mission paralleled what Malcolm Gladwell talked about in his book The Tipping Point. If you haven't seen the film, or read the book I would advise doing both (I have Blink and Outliers ready to read as well). Overeall, the book talks about how little things can make a big difference. So between the film and the book, the upcoming inauguaration, and the new year at hand it seemed fitting to write a blog and of course recommend some wine!

I knew in November when Obama won the election, that that very moment in time would be remembered forever and go down in history as being truly monumental On January 20th, 2009 Barack Obama will stand on the steps of the nation's capitol and take the oath of office to become the 44th President of the United States. I must say that well, I hope the whole world is watching and celebrating with a glass of sparkling wine!

Some facts about Obama you may not know...

• Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii August 4th, 1961
• He has the same name as his father
• In 1988 Obama entered Harvard Law School
• In 1990 He was appointed the First Black President of the Harvard Law Review (Some would call this forshadowing)
• Obama was engaged in 1991 to Michelle (who he met in 1989)
• He is a former Smoker
• He has written 3 books : Dreams from my Father, The Audacity of Hope, It Takes a Nation
• Click here to visit Obama's Website and learn more!
  

Speaking of politics, Washingtons(even though they are different), and celebrations, you may or may not know that Washington State produces wine and has over 30,000 acres of vineyards. The focus is mainly on Chardonnay, Riesling, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Syrah, however, the region also produces a wide range of other spectacular table wines both white and red. I know that there are Washington State Wines available in most LCBO's so grab a bottle next time you're figuring out what to drink and try out a bottle.
Click here to see a list of the wineries in Washington.

***

Wines to drink while watching the in auguration:
These are recommeded to celebrate one's CANADIANA

• Wayne Gretzky 2007 Riesling (only available at the winery) This is one of my favourite rieslings right now. I have 1 signed by the winemaker! (ONT)
• Any wine from the Mission Hill Reserve line (BC)
• Prospect Winery Riesling (BC)
• Prospect Winery Pinot Noir (BC)
• Flat Rock Cellars Twisted (Red or white) (ONT)
• Peller Estates Ice Cuvee (with the added dosage of icewine)

So be sure to tune into the inauguration, it will even be offered online via CNN & Facebook and hopefully you can enjoy a glass off wine or even bubbly to celebrate!

Click here to see the inauguration schedule

Cheers to 2009!