Archive

Our trip to Alsace could be done over a long layover, although it’s practically impossible since the nearest major airport is three hours away. Spent (mostly) eating and drinking, we also learned a ton about the people, their wines and the region. Here’s a glimpse into the 24 hours we were there.   We had […]

Last week, we sent our first five of our top ten favorite activities in Sonoma County. We promised another set this week and here they are and we promise they’re just as fun and economical as the first set. All you’ll need is some fuel and your fellow coworkers soon to be new friends. Here […]

Sonoma County is full of awesome, not so obvious adventures — that don’t cost a high percentage of your Traveling Winemaker salary or any salary for that matter, just some gas in your tank, so you still have some dollars for a beer later. Bring some friends so they can share the fuel. Here are […]

And we’re not talking about your hot Saturday night date! Working my first crush in California, all the interns and winery staff wore pretty much the same thing: jeans in the morning and in the cellar, shorts and a t-shirt outside. Good boots, an occasional sweater for the early mornings and late nights. When it’s […]

The first thing to know for Chasing New Zealand Verasion is that harvest is in the spring, or is it fall? Ok let’s keep this universal and say ‘New Zealand’s wine harvest happens in or around February-May.’

Harvest in New Zealand, or anywhere in the southern hemisphere, is another way to get great experience and a different perspective, especially if you had worked harvest in the northern hemisphere exactly prior to that. Hopefully you’ve saved up enough money to travel and get to your destination, sold your car to afford your next plane ticket and you’re off to another adventure, new land, different wines, more great friends to make.

It’s the first week of March, 2010, midnight, my 14th hour of the day and the last day in the World of Pinot Noir office before the event starts tomorrow in Shell Beach. It will be the first of four days total, hosting over 12 individual events, 220 wineries, and expecting over 2000 guests. I’m looking at the […]

Mini la quercia ham sandwiches with pepper jelly, LMR grass-fed steak tartare with farm egg, capers, cornichons, tabasco and toast, 2 Glasses of Sparkling, 2 more after that and call it a lunch!

If you’ve ever driven north on Route 1 from San Francisco, or west from Sonoma County, you know the beautiful and wild scenery along the drive. Sleepy towns and beachfront houses hiding behind thick California native trees. Gaps in the thick Eucalyptus groves expose glimpses of the Tomales Bay’s glassy water, broken only by a kayak or an aluminum fishing boat.

After almost 48 hours awake, 14 hours of sleep, and a big Deutsche breakfast, we were ready to check out the vineyards. I should clarify, we had one breakfast at 2am on Saturday, accompanied with a glass of Riesling halbtrocken, when we woke up and couldn’t fall back asleep… It’s been a relatively dry summer […]

And I promise the cheesy titles playing on the Murray Head song will stop. But seriously, what happened to that guy? Rattanakosin, Bangkok’s Old City, holds some of the city’s deepest history including the Grand Palace, Wat Phra Kaew (the city’s most highly regarded Buddhist temple in Thailand – and is it something!) as well […]

We met up with my cousin about an hour after the sun went down for some Thai beers at a Mexican restaurant and sat on the AstroTurf patio downing beer like it was…well, beer in the hot Bangkok night. We ordered one after another until it was finally time to move on. Johannes got up […]

It was already dark, but still so warm and humid as the lights of Bangkok lit the narrow side streets we walked down, following my cousin and his girlfriend to a restaurant that we probably couldn’t find our way back to for a million bucks. We walked past Thais sitting outside, enjoying some street food, […]