As I work my way through some preliminary and background posts in my Year in the Life of Wine project, this early work is as much for my own edification as it is my audience’s–and it’s got some fun photographic challenges. I wanted to do some light coverage of this year’s harvest to feature in these preliminary posts, and that would mean shooting when they harvest at Tablas Creek.  They harvest at night.  And that is a tough thing to shoot–action shots in almost total darkness?  Hey, I’m always up for improving my skill set–and will need to if I’m going to shoot this intensively next fall.  First, thank goodness…

I was invited to a trade luncheon last week featuring the wines of one of the oldest Chateaus in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Chateau La Nerthe, at Georgie restaurant in Montage Beverly Hills. More about the Chateau and Georgie in a moment, but first, about the lunch itself:  it was such a wonderful reminder of why I–and I suppose all of us–love wine so much.  I love to settle in with a glass of something delicious all by itself, but there’s something transcendent when you have just the right great wine with just the right food.  It can be downright revelatory. If you’ve never dined at Georgie, it’s well worth a visit.  All…

A few months before I started this blog, I was working away on a proposal for a new documentary project.  (If you’ve not read the “about” page here, you may not know that I’m a nature photographer!)  In fact, that proposal is what led me to create the wine-stained lens blog as an ancillary pursuit. My previous documentary project, the Owens Lake Project, concluded for the most part after six-plus years.  While there will be some ongoing work for years to come, the major work on the project is finished.  Since I like to have a personal photography project going at all times, I wanted to jump right into something…

So I had quite the introduction to Lodi wine country last week, and my second day there only got better. Filled with enthusiasm and warmth from the previous evening’s festivities, I bounded onto the shuttle at 5:30 a.m. the second morning, ready for a sunrise harvest at Michael David Winery. Oh, who am I kidding. I dragged my zombified self onto the bus, clutching my to-go cup of hotel coffee like a life preserver and wondered what the heck I’d gotten myself into. But the enthusiasm would soon return for real the moment we stepped into the vineyard, now bathed in a soft pre-dawn glow.  The air still had a…

I’m one of the first people who’ll urge you to put aside your assumptions when you go into any new situation, but even I wasn’t sure what to expect when I traveled to Lodi, California for the ninth annual (and my very first) Wine Bloggers Conference last week. And boy, was I blown away by what I experienced. Known in the past mostly for its (very) large-scale production of wine grapes, used mostly in bulk wines, it’s so much more.  Lodi was named 2015’s Wine Region of the Year by Wine Enthusiast magazine–no small accomplishment–so I suspected I was in for a treat.  I already have a soft spot for…

If you happened to run into Laird Foshay in town in Paso Robles, you’d quickly figure him for a local cowboy–the requisite boots and hat, perfectly placed (as an exiled Texan, I can speak to the subject of cowboy hats; more finesse is involved than you might imagine). But you’d be wrong–to an extent.  Foshay, whose first career was in tech publishing, is a Nova Scotia native who grew up in Palo Alto.  His startup INVESTools was one of the early web-based investment newsletters; he sold that and in 2000 purchased some of the sweetest west side Paso land you’re likely to encounter, Adelaida Springs Ranch, and moved the family…

I’ll take any opportunity I can think up to drive up to Paso Robles for a little quality wine-tasting time–but one of the benefits of living in a big city like Los Angeles is that sometimes the good wine comes to YOU. And the Rhone Rangers tasting event in Los Angeles is one of those lucky, lovely times. If you’re not familiar, the Rhone Rangers began as a way to educate the public and introduce them to (and promote) the great new-world Rhone wines being made in the U.S.  Originally a solely California creation, it now boasts member wineries from Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Michigan, New York, and Virginia. The Los…

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…