BakeSpace.com Member Forums

lissah · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:11 am Post subject: Wine Tours & Tasting

Have any of you ever gone on a wine tour?

DH, myself & my family love to putt around all the different wineries in whatever area we're in. We've been all over the Niagara region (if you want some amazing wine pick one from the Niagara region [if you can find one] - they are world class and our ice wine is second to none!), the Finger Lakes region in Upstate NY and the Okanagan Valley in BC. We also frequent wine shows so we can taste wines from other areas that we haven't been to yet!

It's a great way to discover new varietals and blends and learn about wine.
The tours usually take you into the vineyard where they tell you about growing conditions and harvesting and usually let you taste a grape right off the vine and then into where they actually make the wine and tell you about the process. It's really interesting and informative....and then the good part comes....you get to taste the wine before you buy it (and you'll probably buy it LOL this past weekend we spent about $200 on wine from different wineries that we liked).

If you're not sure where to find a winery check out this website, it has wine regions listed from all over the world;

http://www.wineintro.com/regions/
_________________

CulinaryAlchemist · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:30 am Post subject:

I have never gone on a hosted tour, I usually dig up what wineries are in the area and go... Laughing

Probably not the best idea, but as long as I keep it to a minimum. Wink

_________________
~ Shane

http://bakespace.com/?culinaryalchemist
http://www.twitter.com/CulinaryAlchemy

lissah · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:31 am Post subject:

My sister's boyfriend isn't a wine drinker, so we usually drag him along to be the DD Laughing

_________________

ImStuffed · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:46 am Post subject:

I think I've been to one winery tasting room back when I was 21 up near Paso Robles. I don't remember anything about it. Not that I had too much to drink...it was just half a life time ago. We keep talking about going on one of those tours with some friends of ours but we never manage to. I hear that Temecula has several wineries. They much closer than Paso Robles and Napa Valley.
_________________
Danielle
"Sometimes your knight in shining armor is just a re-tard in tin foil"

My Recipes: http://bakespace.com/?imstuffed
My Food Blog: http://peacefulcooking.blogspot.com/
My Fun Blog: http://letsridethebus.blogspot.com/
My Twitter: http://twitter.com/imstuffed

lissah · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:49 am Post subject:

Oh duh...I should clarify...we don't go on a hosted tour, like a bus tour or anything like that...we drive ourselves and go from winery to winery. Most wine regions will have a wine map online somewhere, so we'll print one off and drive along the wine route.

Most wineries however will offer a guided tour of the winery itself...they run like every hour or half hour...you just usually have to ask about them Smile

_________________

spryte · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 7:51 am Post subject:

I've only been to one winery... in Escondido, CA... Ferrara Winery. I took my mom YEARS ago when I lived there. I'm sure she got a Chardonnay.
_________________
~Marguerite
Keepin' it green!

Spryte's Place Blog

CulinaryAlchemist · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:21 am Post subject:

Thanks Spryte...!!!! I will have to check that out, I usually drive up to Julian & Warner Springs.... Recently a couple of wineries opened in Ramona, and I hear there was one in Rancho Bernardo, So I may have to take a tour up I-15 and hit the RB one on the way to Escondido... Woo Hoo!!! More wine...!!
_________________
~ Shane

http://bakespace.com/?culinaryalchemist
http://www.twitter.com/CulinaryAlchemy

spryte · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 8:26 am Post subject:

There ya go!!! I couldn't remember the name... so I had to call her... she checked her Reindeer Cork Holder for the name!
_________________
~Marguerite
Keepin' it green!

Spryte's Place Blog

Sunny · Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 2:30 pm Post subject:

My daughter gifted me and my sister with the Napa Valley Wine Train Excursion. We sat in the station and learned about wines and then boarded the train where they had more tastings at $5 a shot. They also served a gourmet meal. I was not impressed although many on the train were and had made the train ride many times.

This was in the fall and the train trip followed the road. We saw all sorts of men with men in red convertibles boppin along

A couple of days ago i was back in Napa at the new Oxbow Public Market.
www.oxbowpublicmarket.com

They have a Winery/wine tasting venue there called Sip n' Shop. I think that combination is particularly lethal to your wallet. I can spend enough money sober!
_________________
Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. ~ Red Auerbach