I’ll begin with a bit of understatement:  Alex Villicana is a high-energy kind of guy, who is passionate about what he does. And that’s a very good thing for all of us. He is the embodiment of the Paso Robles pioneering spirit that’s made this area such an interesting and exciting wine region.  He and his wife Monica began producing their estate-grown wines under their Villicana label in 1999–but that’s a story for another time (which I’ll cover in the coming months).  Just know for the time being that those wines are beautifully crafted and you should stop by if and when you’re in the area.  Taste some, buy some.…

Small producers have everything to do with my fanatical love of wine.  Sure, you can walk into a BevMo or independent wine shop and pick up a bottle of something perfectly lovely to drink, but a big part of the charm for me is getting to know that bottle’s story–which usually means visiting the place it came from, or chatting with the (person with the) hands that crafted it (indeed, it’s this blog’s very raison d’être). One of the great things about living in California is that doing such a thing on a regular basis is easily possible and a lot of fun.  And there’s perhaps no better embodiment of…

Not all wine festivals are created equal.  Some are mob scenes where most of the attendees seem to be focused on how quickly they can get their buzz on, and others are just great fun–good crowd, some seriously great wines, and decent food to soak up all that vino.  The LAWineFest this year falls into the latter (better) category. I’m not going to go into exhausting detail, but will share a few thoughts followed by some of my phone pics from the event. Their Boutique Wine Garden is a fabulous idea, and the wineries who were included in that premium spot were impressive across the board.  It was an additional…

Editor’s Note: There’s a reason I’ve chosen the Russells to be my first (of many, many) winemaker profiles, and it’s purely personal.  Their winery, Rabbit Ridge, was the first place I ever went wine tasting back in 2002.  They were still headquartered in Healdsburg in Sonoma County, and were the first of many wineries I would eventually explore along the region’s storied River Road.  I walked in a complete neophyte, and walked out with a new passion and a case of Erich Russell’s Nebbiolo.  While wandering the Paso Robles wine country a few years ago, I spotted a familiar sign with a familiar bunny logo–and that was the first I…

When last we spoke about this, we were awaiting the first fallout from the discovery of Justin Winery’s horrendous destruction of its Sleepy Farm Road property in west Paso Robles.  The county and the Upper Salinas-Las Tablas Resource Conservation District had both issued “stop work” orders and local outrage was spreading like wildfire, becoming a national headline.  Since that time, social media backlash exploded and local businesses began boycotting Justin wines. The Resnicks, who own Wonderful Brands (who in turn owns Justin, among other properties), are now attempting to repair the substantial self-inflicted reputational (ha!) damage.  First, the news:  they’ve announced they are abandoning efforts to convert their land, including…

If you don’t have the time to plan a days-long wine-tasting trip through your wine region of choice, wine festivals are always a great way to explore a variety of wines, all in one location–and this weekend, the location happens to be my very own neighborhood.  I even have a promo code that’ll save you 50% off the $90 ticket price when you buy in advance! Read on . . . The 11th Annual LAWineFest is this weekend at Sunset Bronson Studios at 5901 Sunset Boulevard.  The festival features an impressive list of winemakers exhibiting (and pouring) their wares.  You can even check out specifically which wines will be available…

I can’t stop loving you, Grenache Blanc! This is probably my current favorite white wine (maybe even my favorite wine, period, for the moment).  California winemakers realized about a decade ago that Grenache Blanc, generally reserved for Rhone blends, has the potential to be a blockbuster of a single varietal, and are now producing some truly outstanding wines from that grape. I’ve remarked before that Grenache Blanc is the white wine that thinks it’s really a red wine–which may be why I love it so much–but that’s in reality very likely because it’s considered a mutation of the red Grenache grape.  In the right hands (both grower and winemaker), it…

As I ready my first few winery stories on this nascent blog, I want to keep the conversation going here.  And a current story out of the Paso Robles area is precisely the kind of thing I’d like to talk about. When I read the first couple of stories that emerged about this last week, I was thisclose to firing off a scorchingly critical post about the evils of corporate-owned wineries. I’ve toned that down a bit.  But only just a bit. Here’s the current source of outrage:  Wonderful Brands, a large corporation that owns a portfolio of wineries and other food-related businesses, purchased Justin Winery in Paso Robles in…

Welcome to my new wine blog!  EXACTLY what the world needs, no?  Perhaps–but I think this will be fun (for all of us). First, a little about me.  I’m a nature and landscape photographer, which you can find out more about here and here.  I’m a writer.  My major in and early career out of college was journalism.  I used to be a newspaper reporter and editor (and then the internet came along, and let’s just not talk about what happened to print journalism)–and I loved reporting.  Specifically, I loved telling people’s stories.  And I’ve never really stopped loving that, even if I’m no longer a working journalist. I’m also…