This week, I’m teaming up with southern-born author Corinne Van Houten to give away a copy of her Carneros wine tour CD.
The CD (remember those? don’t worry, an audio file version is also in the works) is an engaging introduction to the Carneros region, highlighting the history of (and providing current tasting/visiting tips for) eleven wineries in the area that straddles both Sonoma and Napa valleys. For my money, Carneros is one of the few areas in Napa where Pinot Noir has a shot at über-specialness (and let’s not forget that on the Sonoma side, a stunning Carneros Pinot made Dude’s Top 10 MIW list for 2012).
Corinne’s CD is aimed at beginners (and/or those putting foot-to-dirt in touring the area), but aside from gifting possibilities there’s ample fodder within Corinne’s CD for the geekier among you who have yet to visit Carneros: it includes $40 worth of tasting coupons, and a map for each winery mentioned). In terms of the winery players, Bouchaine, Ceja, Cline, Domaine Carneros, Homewood, Larson Family, McKenzie-Mueller, Robledo, Roche, Schug and Truchard Winery all get profiled on the CD (several of these producers I’ve personally yet to visit, but now have a hankering to see – and taste – after hearing Corrine’s descriptions).
To be eligible to win, you need to live in the continental U.S., and be a 21+ years old carbon-based life form consisting mostly of water. You also need to leave a comment on this post telling us all about your fave wine tour (and/or tasting spot) – doesn’t matter where, I’m just curious who’s doing it right. On April 9th at 9PM ET/6PM PT, I will randomly select a winner from the commenters.
Cheers – and good luck!
This Easter my family and I visited Napa for a weekend of gorging ourselves on excellent wine and too much food. The tasting that really stood out was at a place in Yountville called Masonry. They feature very small production wines that are harder to find, along with the pieces of many local artists. The result was an experience like none other. Wish I could remember the names we tasted, but either way, highly recommended.
Thanks, Jonathan- They have a self-named label as well as Blackbird (all still owned by the same folks, I think).
Gotta be Oregon for me. They are not set up to receive visitors quite like Napa, and it can be a haul getting from one winery to another, but it's tough to beat the quality of the wines and the authenticity of the hardworking people who are making it.
Thanks, Francis – nice shout out to OR there. You are reminding me that I've got a bunch of Willamette samples that have recently arrived…
any oregon wineries in particular?
Just came back from a wine tour in Friuli Venezia Guilia. Zorzettig and Pitars are wineries that do tours RIGHT!! Amazing personalities, views, and of course…wine!!
@girlmeetsglass – Thanks. I will try not to secretly despise you in a fit of petty jealousy on that one. :) But seriously, I'm jonesing to get there myself.
There is no better wine country experience than visiting and wine tasting at the Ledson Winery Castle located on Highway 12 in Sonoma County.
gjmogul – thanks; so… the big question is…. do they have a functional moat?? :)
the best wine tour i've been on recently was at archery summit. they have an underground barrel cellar made up of a bunch of long hallways. it reminded me of that old computer game, doom.
as far as sonoma county, i have favorite wineries to visit. one is bella, because they have a fantastic cave that is dug into the side of a hill, and they make some of the most balanced and delicate zinfandel i have ever tasted. the other is christopher creek, which is a humble one-room tasting area, and they make some of the most opulent and delicious zinfandel i have ever tasted.
Thanks, Gabe. I've compared wine to BioShock before, but not to DOOM, that's a first here! :-)
Several favorites in Sonoma, but the tour at Gundlach Bundschu stands out in my mind since you are on a Pinzgauer. There are also some lovely spots here in the Texas Hill Country. William Chris, Duchman are very different but equally fun.
Thanks. Nice shout out to Sonoma there!
My husband & I visited Napa Valley for the first time in February. We enjoyed tasting wine at 4 wineries. Our favorite was Fransiscan Winery. We also like Mondavi & enjoyed learning about the history of Napa Valley while at Mondavi.
Thanks, Lisa.
Well, Im mostly a carbon based life form so I think that makes me eligible to comment…
As much as I like wine, and have been getting into wine in the past year or so, I have yet to go on what I would call a good example of a wine tour. I would however like to give a shout out to Solo Vino wines in St Paul for doing great tastings weekly and bringing in some great names of wine to show off their goods.
One day, hopefully soon Ill make a trip out to wine land…
Billy – mostly?!!? :-). Nice, I dig the drinking local shot out.
Best wine tour had to be the ones I went to in Austria! Simple breathtaking and the wines were delicious and made for a fabulous vinous adventure! Now I know why Julia Andrews had so much to sing about in the Sound of Music :)
Veronique- nice! I've yet to tour that country's wine regions in detail myself, it's high on the list. Cheers!
We've got a winner!
gjmogul's comment was randomly chosen as the lucky duck, and it's Ledson- loving author will be receding an email from me with details on the winnings with all speed. Thanks to everyone for playing along!