Calwineries

One of the major problems facing the California wine industry and the wine loving public is accessibility. With the hundreds of wineries in the Napa Valley alone, it’s a daunting task to find ones you like. This is one of the goals of Calwineries, and also of other organizations like The Napa Valley Vintners Association (NVV).

Today marks the 31st anniversary of the most important day in California wine history. Many regard the 1976 Judgment of Paris as the ‘tasting that changed the world.’ This was certainly true for the Napa Valley wineries that took home top honors, beating wines that were supposedly unbeatable.

Few California wine regions produce Pinot Noir with the same depth and finesse as Carneros. Carneros straddles the southern parts of Napa and Sonoma Valleys about 40 miles north of San Francisco.

Matanzas Creek Winery will host their 11th annual Days of Wine and Lavender festival on June 23rd from 1-4 pm. Each year, as the estate’s trademark lavender begins to bloom, Matanzas Creek celebrates the beginning of summer with wine, live music, vineyard tours, and food prepared by the winery’s chef.

For all the beauty that wine is and represents, there is a very dark, dangerous side of alcohol. Alcohol abuse is a semi-taboo subject among people in the wine industry. It’s not hard to see why an industry built on alcohol sales would avoid a subject that shows the negative effects of their products.

The USDA has confirmed that the light brown apple moth is in Napa County after an adult male specimen was found in a trap near Highway 29. This news is alarming because the pest feeds on many crops during its larval stages including grape vines.

Cork’d, the social wine notes sharing site, is being acquired by Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library and Erik Kastner for an undisclosed amount. Cork’d is widely recognized in the web development community as the work of Dan and Dan.

Karen MacNeil is a wine educator, television personality, consultant and most importantly, a writer. Many of you may recognize her as the author of The Wine Bible, which has sold over 380,000 copies. And on April 27th, MacNeil was recognized for her efforts, as she was honored as the Wine Appreciation Guild’s 2006 Wine Literary Award (WLA) winner.

The 18th annual Culinary Evening with California Winemasters raised an impressive $1.52 million for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Held at Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles, the event bested last year’s total by 9% and is one of the top charity auctions in the nation.