This week due to the weather conditions I just can’t recommend visiting the east coast area of the US for wineries soon. Do make plans to visit the area wineries when the weather is a bit better. Our street was finally plowed yesterday and sidewalks have not been touched. We had plans to visit a local winery this week and due to the weather that has now been postponed. In addition to that the news says to look for another 10 to 20 inches in our area. Yesterday, Terry sent not serious “urgent” message to our children. “Help airlift us out of here!”

So if you’re looking for a destination site to visit and want it to be wine-related, choose a warmer, sunnier destination. You may want to choose Las Vegas. While you won’t find a winery in Las Vegas, you will discover a winery about an hour’s drive from Las Vegas. This is Pahrump Valley Winery located in Pahrump, Nevada. We enjoyed a visit to Pahrump where we met the delightful owners, Bill and Gretchen Loken. Pahrump Valley Winery includes Symphony Restaurant. We enjoyed lunch with the owners, and my filet mignon was mouthwatering. The elegant restaurant provides a wonderful ambiance and is a great place to enjoy the Pahrump wines. Unlike many wineries, Pahrump Valley Winery has three helicopter pads. Occasionally a casino will fly visitors out to the winery and restaurant.

If you find that you can’t pull yourself away from the casinos long enough to travel to Pahrump, wine lovers can find an alternative right in Las Vegas. The Wine Cellar is located in the Rio casino. The Wine Cellar offers wine and cheese tastings from an international portfolio, wine purchases and a wine collection dating from 1858.

Both Pahrump Valley Winery and The Wine Cellar are two places I would like to return to given the opportunity.

Enjoy your time in Las Vegas!

Cheers, Kathy

It’s near the beginning of the year so take time to peruse your destination sites for 2010. New Zealand offers opportunities for wine enthusiasts. Consider visiting the Wairarapa website and use it to help plan your trip to New Zealand. I haven’t yet visited New Zealand but would like to visit there to discover their wine regions. If you take time to visit this particular New Zealand website you will discover a link on the sidebar to the Classic NZ Wine Trail. According to the website, “It’s also one of New Zealand’s top food and wine destinations offering some of the country’s premium wines and everything from country cooking to fine cuisine in the many cafes, vineyards and restaurants. The Wairarapa is a true escape – all within an hour’s drive of Wellington.”

The website also offers a regional map, weather and webcams, train timetables and town maps.

New Zealand is becoming well known for its wines and deserves wine lovers attention.

Cheers! Kathy

You may want to consider visiting wineries in the Finger Lakes area of New York State. It’s almost the end of June. Have you made your summer vacation plans yet? The region has a lot to offer. A couple of days ago Terry wrote an article about wineries in this popular vacation area of New York. The article has been reviewed by numerous online visitors. In case you are interested in visiting the Finger Lakes region of New York State, you may want to read this article online.

More information and photos  about New York wineries is available on the Wine Trail Traveler website.

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Cheers! Kathy

Several of the wineries in New York’s Hudson River Valley and Catskills Wine Regions use the word “bucolic” to describe their setting. To many the word conjures images that are pastoral and serene. I have trouble with the word though. For me it is a bit too close to the word “bubonic” which calls to mind deadly images and population reduction.

We visited two wineries on a rainy day, and our second day a fog hung to the surface until late morning. The bucolic setting was diminished by the weather as well as the season. In early spring most of the plant world was still asleep. The grapevines haven’t begun to weep and just a few trees are beginning to show a faint color of buds swelling. Still the view of the distant rolling hills from Demarist Winery, were pastoral. The fog just began to lift revealing the white cliffs as seen from the deck of the tasting room at Whitecliff Vineyards. One can catch a glimpse of the Hudson River from Benmarl Winery.

Small towns dot the area that seems rather forested. Although the black dirt farms in Warwick provided a contrast to the browns even on a dreary day. Interstate road interchanges see much of the same urban sprawl as seen elsewhere in the country near interstates. My image of the word “bucolic” is probably clouded by the image conjured by Washington Irving’s description of Sleeping Hollow. I didn’t get a sense of this image as we traveled the interstates and country roads searching for the wineries. Perhaps another season and clearer weather can provide a bucolic setting. Do you know of wineries in a bucolic setting?

With the uncertainty of the economy, many are cutting expenses in several areas. One of these areas is travel. In recent Internet travel discussions, authors point out that the airline industry, hotels, restaurants and theme parks all have seen a decrease in usage. Winery and vineyard tasting rooms are likely going to see a downturn in visitors. However the current economic conditions may offer winery and vineyard tasting rooms other options than joining the doom and gloom bandwagon.

 Add travel to the eat and drink local movement and you now have an “Eat, Drink and Travel” locally movement. Just as people are reluctant to stop drinking wine, they are going to be apprehensive to give up travel completely especially when there are other options. Many winery and vineyard tasting rooms are within a hour’s drive of millions of wine enthusiasts, others are a day trip away. There are certainly advantages to visiting winery and vineyards that are close by.

One advantage is that they can be visited often. Vineyards are alive and ever changing. Witness weeping and bud break in the spring. Observe the grapes develop during the summers. From Veraison to harvest offers many photo opportunities to amateur and professional photographers. Fall colors abound and winter solace offers tranquil escapes.

Wineries offer new releases throughout the year and tasting their portfolio is never static. Compare wines from different vintages. Taste wines that you tasted previously. Perhaps your interest in the wines has changed.

Many wineries offer events especially during the summer months. Consider a local winery’s events as opposed to a city escape for a weekend.

One does not have to give up on travel during these economic times. Explore new travel opportunities to the local winery and vineyard tasting rooms. 

Wine Trail Traveler has just added four new winery itineraries to the Wine Trail Traveler website. Itinerary 1 is west Rancho California Road. Itinerary 2 is central Rancho California Road, Itinerary 3 is east Rancho California Road and Itinerary 4  along De Portola Road just a few minutes away from Rancho California Road. These four itineraries are two-day trips but can be combined for an extended visit to Temecula, California. The itineraries include suggested lodging sites to check out.

Temecula is in southern California and offers a delightful vacation opportunity. While in Temecula valley, set aside time to visit Old Town Temecula that offers small shops, Baily Fine Dining, and an olive oil store where one can do an olive oil tasting.

Occasionally as we visit wineries, we are fortunate to be able to enjoy a night’s lodging at a winery. Imagine waking up in the morning to the beautiful views of vineyards. In the winter, the architecture of the vines provides picture-taking opportunities and spring brings views of the earth coming to life beginning with the weeping of the vines. Summer views are filled with the varying shades of green vines and during the popular fall harvest time, vineyards are filled with grapes in all stages of colors.

Glenora Wine Cellars is set along Seneca Lake, New York and views of the vibrant blue lake highlight the vineyards. Two Rivers Winery & Chateau provides views of vineyards against the Bookcliff Mountain Range, Grand Mesa and Colorado National Monument.

A stay at Churon, in Temecula, California, high above Rancho California Road will provide guests with beautiful views of vineyards and terraced landscaping. With vineyards and San Gimignano’s tall towers in the distance, Mormoraia in Italy provides a visitor’s delight and wonderful photo opportunities. A stay at Chateau Grand Traverse in Traverse City, Michigan is a house-type villa. With wonderful views and access to the kitchen, dining and barrel rooms, it offers a very comfortable stay. While Inn on the Twenty is not located on a vineyard, it is directly across the street from Cave Springs Cellars and On the Twenty Restaurant. It is all located in the quaint town of Jordan, Canada with boutique shops. Here you will experience a small town feel. Black Star Farms, Suttons Bay, Michigan offers a delightful visit and is a destination site. At Black Star Farms view the vineyards, stables, creamery and winery.

In addition, we stayed at Wine Country Inn in Palisade, Colorado set in the middle of wine country. The inn has vineyards and delightful views of Colorado’s majestic cliffs.

Each lodging site is different but most websites have excellent information about what amenities are included.  Costs for a stay at a vineyard vary widely. If you will be traveling to wine country, consider a relaxing and delightful stay at a winery.

Cheers! Kathy

Southern California is home to more than 15 million people and perhaps as many as 20 million. The region contains six lane highways to dirt roads. In the middle of all this traffic and people busy with their everyday lives, there are more than 25 wineries available for people to visit.

Temecula means, “land where the sun shines through the mist” and is California’s best-kept secret. Take time to visit Temecula Valley where wineries are easy to find and offer many delicious wines. Wineries vary between boutique, artesian, and large. Each one offers a special experience for visitors. Whether you are looking for good wine, food, music, art or nice weather, there is something for everyone.

I was amazed last year when a magazine editor mentioned his surprise when I stated that wineries in the Niagara-on-the-Lake region of Ontario had several restaurants. He commented that wineries in California do not have restaurants. A winery that has a restaurant always affords an opportunity to mix wine, food and friends. As far as California wineries go, a visit to wineries in the Temecula wine region will reveal several restaurants at wineries.

We had the pleasure to dine at restaurants at the following wineries: Ponte Winery, Callaway, Thornton Winery, Wilson Creek Winery and Baily Winery. The food was excellent and varied. The chefs take their creations seriously. Often the chefs work with the winemakers in pairing foods with the wines. Excellent wines and food make dining at Temecula winery restaurants a pleasurable experience.

An added plus to visiting the Temecula wineries in February is the weather. We had the opportunity to eat outside several times. The late February weather ranged from the upper 60’s to the lower 80’s. Although the vineyards are in winter mode, one can appreciate the architecture of the vines. The distant hills and mountains paint a backdrop for scenic views from the outdoor restaurant seating.

Make plans to visit the wineries in the Temecula Wine Region. There are several wineries that have restaurants.

To the west of Temecula, lie over 25 wineries with over 1500 acres of vineyards currently under production. Up to a few years ago, many Californians did not know where Temecula was located, not to mention the remainder of the country. But things began to change in 2008 when a Temecula winery, South Coast won the Winery of the Year Award at the California State Fair. All of a sudden Temecula was on the map.

The wineries lie to the east of Interstate 15 about one hour northeast of San Diego and an hour and a half southeast of Los Angles. The Temecula wineries are close to the interstate and within a ninety-minute drive for close to twenty million people.

According to Joe Hart from Hart Winery, one of the misconceptions that people have about Temecula is that it is hot. Even though it can reach over one hundred degrees during the summer months, between 3:00 and 4:00 in the afternoon, cool winds from the ocean make their way to the valley and drop the temperatures. This is good for the vineyard grapes as well as the thousands of visitors that are discovering and visiting the wineries.

Perhaps another misconception is that California Wineries are not the friendliest of places to visit. However after spending a week visiting wineries in Temecula, we have met the friendliest owners, winemakers, tasting room managers and chefs. When visiting Temecula wineries, you will be welcomed. They do not talk down to visitors and truly appreciate your interest in their wines. If you haven’t visited this wonderful wine country consider it for a future weekend getaway or weeklong trip.