WineBites

your guide to the best of wine and food

winelinks

Below are links to some of our favorite wineries and other wine resources. This isn't meant to be a comprehensive list, but just a few of the special places we've discovered on our travels and resources we turn to frequently.

WINERIES

Steltzner Vineyards, Napa
Steltzner was our best discovery on our first trip to Napa. The tasting room is small (although they're expanding it even as we write this), but the people are great to talk to about wine.

Kunde, Somona
We discovered Kunde on last trip to California and fell in love with it. Their tasting room is fun with great people helping you. The wines are wonderful and they have a nice wine club as well.

Montevina Vineyards, Amador County
Monetvina produces onsistently excellent Italian-styled wines at excellent prices.

Bogle Vineyards, Sacramento Delta
Perhaps or favorite winery and wine club. Bogle always turns out incredible wines for the price. The winery is fun to visit, but tucked out of the way.

OTHER RESOURCES

ZAP: Zinfandel Advocates & Producers, host to the annual ZAP festival and the best wine tasting every january in San Francisco.

WineryStay.com: a new online vacation guide to vineyards and wineries. Wineries submit and update information on what they offer wine tourists. The focus currently is on European destinations.

Washington State Wine Commission, a great resource for learning about Washington's growing wine business.

The Meritage Association, In 1988, a group of American vintners formed The Meritage Association to promote hand-crafted wines blended from the traditional "noble"
Bordeaux varietals.

TastingWine.org: a nice compilation of various wine tasting tips, wine secrets and terminologies.

World of Pinot Noir, holds an annual Pinot festival in March.

Others:

Entertainment Resources: a directory of food and wine site links.

OF NOTE

Portello Wine Cafe, Bend OR (in Travel)
Excellent selection of wines by the glass (good selection of beer as well). All wines by the glass are $5 each every day until 3:00pm (more . . .)

Montevina Barbera (in WineNotes)
Red wine bombs are everywhere these days. We just visited one winery and was served a Sangiovese that was 16.5% alcohol. Big fruit + lots of alcohol = wine bomb.

It makes you appreciate a winery that can produce a nicely balanced red wine that is enjoyable to drink. Montevina Barbera is one of those wines. (More . . .)

ZAP 2008
Over 250 wineries pouring two or more different Zinfandels each -- it's heaven on earth for Zin lovers. (More . . .)

Barnard Griffin Wins
Barnard Griffin won Best of Class and the Pink Sweepstakes for its 2007 Rose of Sangiovese at the San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition. The Washington state winery also won a Double Gold for its 2005 Merlot, Columbia Valley, a Gold for its 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley, and a Silver award for its 2004 Ciel du Cheval Reserve from Red Mountain.

Cape Cod Wine
It wasn't that long ago that we finally had a winery in every state in the union, but it's still surprising when you run across a winery in an area you don't associate with wine.

That's how we felt when we discovered Truro Vineyards of Cape Cod on a recent trip there.