A vineyard at Babcock Winery in the heart of Sta. Rita Hills
The Sta. Rita Hills is a unique wine growing area that has proven itself to be one of the great viticultural areas for producing top quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. For those not familiar with the region, the first word in its name, “Sta.” must seem peculiar. As you probably guessed, it is an abbreviation for “Santa”, and the region is always spoken about as the Santa Rita Hills. But since 2005, it is written about only in its abbreviated form “Sta.”, due to a trademark claim made by a Chilean wine producer by the name of Vina Santa Rita. Sta. Rita Hills is a beautiful place to visit with its small towns that express their European heritage and rural charm nestled among beautiful rolling hills. Though top quality wines have been produced there for almost half a century, it is only recently that it has gained the recognition for producing world class wine that it richly deserves. This article will offer you some background information to help you understand what makes the Santa Rita Hills so special.
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Founded in 1948, Domaine Pierre Usseglio is the creation of an Italian whose family, over the course of three generations, has carved out a world-class reputation for making outstanding wine in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
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The entrance to Pesquara Winery
Pesquera is the jewel in the crown of Alejandro Fernandez’ collection of wineries in Ribera del Duero, the wine region of Northern Spain that is attracting a lot of attention. Fernandez, and his winery, are a big part of how that attention came to the region. Pesquera is one of the most prestigious wineries in Ribera and Alejandro Fernandez is its most famous resident, rightfully known as the “King of Tempranillo”, Spain’s greatest grape variety.
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The view from the castle ruins
AdVINEtures recently spent 5 days in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, the historic and beautiful wine region of France’s Southern Rhone Valley. The region is rich in history and the wines that it produces can be among the very best in France and the world. This primer will provide some of the background information about this region and will give some context to the future articles that we will be publishing about the wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
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Travelling to wine country is always rewarding from a gastronomical perspective. What is good wine without good company to share it with and good food to accompany it? The world knows this and consequently every good wine region that we have travelled to has more than its fair share of good restaurants. We recently discovered La Mère Germaine on our visit to France’s southern Rhone Valley and enjoyed two spectacular meals at this very special restaurant.
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As wine enthusiasts, deciding which wine region to visit first in France proved far more challenging than expected. Of course, the usual suspects came to mind almost immediately – Bordeaux, Burgundy, or Champagne? Certainly each are more than worthy for consideration and places we absolutely intend to visit, but we ended up choosing the lesser known village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape largely because it has quickly become one of our favourite wine regions. What we also discovered from our sojourn was a charming village that afforded the perfect getaway to immerse ourselves in local French living.
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With any family winery, particularly one with a history that dates back several generations, one must understand the past in order to appreciate the present. At Bodegas Luis Cañas, the winery’s traditional winemaking style and methods have evolved over time but the focus on constantly finding ways to produce quality wine has never wavered.
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Obelisco Estate is a part of the new guard of Washington wineries that are pushing the envelope in terms of producing quality wines. Obelisco is the creation of Doug Long and his partners, when Doug decided that he had retired too early.
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