Don’t be an April Fool!
Expensive wines aren't always good wines. Who hasn't had the experience of being seduced by snappy packaging into paying way too much for a bottle of wine that is, quite frankly, mediocre? The same goes for beer. Even here, in the heart of craft beer country, there are great beers… and then there are duds.
This April First, don't be “fooled” by bad beer and wine in a beautiful glass! How do you learn to tell the difference between what's pleasing to the palate and what's just barely palatable? Often, learning which brands are delicious and which to pass on is a matter of trial and error or personal taste, but sometimes people don't know the signs of a corked wine, especially when it's being served to them in a restaurant. Here's a tip – if your wine smells like a lit match, a horse blanket, wet newspaper, or a basement, pour it out or send it back, and get a clean wine glass!
Craft beer is subject to issues of its own. While mass-produced beer is pasteurized, which stabilizes the product and makes it taste homogeneous, craft beer is often “alive,” which means it is still in the process of fermentation and therefore prone to infection (yes, that's what it's called.) If your beer tastes overwhelmingly of corn, butter, sulfur, or just plain skunkiness, toss it out. However, sourness and bitterness is usually intended by the brewer.
Want to know more? Join one of our walking or train tours and learn about wine and beer from our experts. If you don't feel like walking, we’ll pick you up and drive you to sample the superb wines of San Diego Wine Country.
No fooling!
Brooke B., SDBW Resident Writer
Sources: Huffington Post Beer Advocate Rate Beer
Posted in Beer, Breweries, Food and Vine, Health, San Diego Wine Country, Theme Tours, Tours, Travel, Walking Tours, Wine, Wine Train, Winemaking, Wineries |
Urban Wineries: Great wine, small package
By Paul Anthony Vild, Co-founder San Diego Beer & Wine Tours
I don’t want to take anything away from vineyards. It is nice to get out there and experience the romance of being right next to the vines, meeting the winemaker and seeing the operations, and of course the tastings. In this article, though, I want to talk about urban wineries (also known as boutique wineries) and the difference between those and the vineyard wineries.
I don’t own a vineyard. However, if I did, I would be toiling over the vines and nurturing them (or stressing the vines just right) and doing everything I know to produce the best quality grapes for that particular varietal. I would be, however, subject to Mother Nature, the sun and precipitation, et cetera. Now, if I don’t get the greatest results from literally the fruits of my labor, I am not going to toss those grapes aside nor am I going to sell them at a cut rate and pay for new grapes, no: I am going to use those grapes for my wine, although yes, I may blend them, and if I am good I will still have a great wine, though I may have an uphill battle if it is a particularly hard vintage.
Urban wineries offer a lot in a small package. They don’t have the acreage, the vines, the views, but they do offer some advantages. The size of the winery typically means that the operations and the winemaker are right there on hand, perhaps even pouring the tastings. More importantly, however, the wine maker has the choice of a whole region or even the state or country or even countries to choose from for the grapes. This means that they can pick and choose from a larger pool of grape, and be more discerning in finding that value grape where budget meets quality.
Urban Winery on Cedros – Carruth Cellars
I am a member of a few wine clubs, and the majority of my memberships are with urban wineries. Check out our Wine Train Tour to the urban wineries of San Diego!
Cheers!
Paul Anthony
Posted in Local Business, San Diego Wine Country, Uncategorized, Wine, Wine Train, Winemaking, Wineries |
12 Signs Wine: Introducing wine for your zodiac sign
“Hey Baby, what’s your sign?” is more than just a pick up line these days. According to the San Diego based company 12 Signs Wine, there is also a wine for every sign!
12 Signs Wine (www.12signswine.com) is the first brand to pair wine with astrology. Each bottle was handcrafted to match the personality of your sign, whether that is bold and feisty like an Aries Old Vine Zinfandel, bright and vibrant like a Gemini Chardonnay, or romantic like a Pisces Pinot Noir.
For the first vintage the wines are categorized by Fire, Earth, Air, and Water. Read below to find out which wine is paired with your sign.
Fire Signs include Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. These naturally outgoing signs need a wine that makes a statement as big as they do! The Leo, Aries, and Sagittarius wine is a bold, fruit forward Old Vine Zinfandel with a little bit of spice. We believe that these signs work well with a spicy and feisty wine because they are the most energetic and dynamic signs of the zodiac.
Earth Signs include Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. These signs are grounded, earthy, and practical. They make reliable, trustworthy friends who love the pleasures of good food and fine wine. And like a reliable Cabernet Sauvignon, they only get better with age. This Cabernet Sauvignon is earthy, well structured, and sensual. Perfect for Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn.
Air Signs include Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. We decided to pair these signs with a white wine since air is the lightest element. Air is also the symbol for intelligence and communication so we created an extra "bright" and "vibrant" Chardonnay that is "well balanced" for all the Libras out there. These social signs are extremely flexible in their ideas which fits with Chardonnay because not only is this varietal "perfect to share," it is also one of the most versatile grape varietals grown.
Water Signs include Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Water rules the emotions and these signs are gifted with intense emotions and a creative sensitivity. They are extremely intuitive and naturally aware of what is happening underneath the surface around them. The Pinot Noir grape has a very thin skin, which makes it very sensitive to its environment, much like a water sign. Additionally, the Pinot Noir is classically considered the wine of love and an aphrodisiac, which works well for the sentimental signs of Cancer, Pisces, and Scorpio.
About 12 Signs Wine: 12 Signs Wine is currently sold online at 12signswine.com and at select retailers in the San Diego area, such as Finch’s Wine Bar, Sea Rocket Bistro, Vin de Syrah, Boney’s Bayside Market, West Cedar Market, and Splash.
12 Signs was created by San Diego local, Marie Fox. All wine was sourced from boutique vineyards of California, such as Alexander Valley and Santa Maria Valley. Find out more about all the unique wines and your zodiac match at 12signswine.com.
We are very proud of our tour director Stephen Ansley who assisted in the creation of the wine brand 12 Signs Wine, providing expert wine-related advice by evaluating dozens of wine samples, ultimately becoming a member of the team responsible for creating the four varieties of wines during the blending session.
Posted in Food and Vine, Health, Local Business, San Diego Wine Country, Uncategorized, Wine, Winemaking, Wineries |
A Soy Stroganoff Did You Say?
Posted in Beer, Breweries, Company News, Food and Vine, San Diego Wine Country, Wine, Wine Train, Winemaking, Wineries |
Welcome Stephen!
The San Diego Beer and Wine Tours Team is thrilled to announce a new addition to our team! Stephen Ansley has just joined us and we couldn't be more pleased!
Stephen Ansley is well-known and respected in the local craft beer community, and a personal friend of many highly respected local brewers. As a recognized BJCP judge (since 2007), he has been a judge at several home brewing and commercial craft beer competitions in San Diego, as well as a judge at the Great Alaskan Beer & Barley Wine Festival in 2010 and a steward at the World Beer Cup in San Diego in 2008 (and will steward the upcoming World Beer Cup event in 2012).
In 2011, Stephen achieved certification for Level 2 Sommelier with the International Sommelier Guild and also completed the certificate program for the Business of Wine at San Diego State University’s College of Extended Studies.
Click here to read more about Stephen's accomplishments and career…
Welcome to the team Stephen!
Posted in Beer, Breweries, Company News, Food and Vine, Local Business, Wine, Winemaking, Wineries |
A Wonderful Vegan Life
Posted in Beer, Food and Vine, Health, Recipes, Wine, Winemaking |
Biking and Kebabs
Posted in Beer, Breweries, Happy Hour, Tours, Wine, Winemaking, Wineries |
A Taste of Little Italy
Posted in Beer, Breweries, Food and Vine, Happy Hour, Local Business, Tours, Uncategorized, Walking Tours, Wine, Wine Train, Winemaking, Wineries |
A Spookily Fun Halloween Train Tour!
Happy Halloween! I'm sure our 9 guests had no idea what they were getting themselves into when a "Witch" met them at the train station shouting "La Jolla Wine Tours!" Instead of running away in fright, our guests were brave and approached their very strange looking tour guide.
Fortunately they did, because what a fun day we shared together! We started off with a delicious lunch where our gracious host won us over with Italian wine and decadent raviolis.
Our guests gathering around lunch at our first stop.
A Witchy Wine Tour Guide!
After lunch we enjoyed the breeze and a short, delightful walk to our first urban winery tasting stop. Low and behold, our guests were greeted by a SECOND witch on their wine tour! Fortunately, she was a nice witch too and poured our guests ample tastes of delicious wine!
The resident witch at our local winery serving us superb wines!
After our tastings, I showed our guests the inner workings of the winery. They had lots of questions and I had a great time teaching them all about the craft of making wine.
On top of the ample tastings served at our first stop, we shared a bottle of Tempranillo that our guest, Mark, had purchased. Thanks Mark!
Carolee, Valerie, Lorrie, Dot and Carole enjoying Tempranillo on the train. Thanks Mark!
At our next stop, our host, Ryan, served us wonderfully. His passion about wine and winemaking shone through as he actively offered up all sorts of neat tidbits and facts about the wines we enjoyed. He even opened up a special bottle of Malbec for our guests to try, per Mark's request. Thanks again Mark!
Our guests Sharon, Mark, Bob and Karen tasting at our third stop.
Once back on the train, our guests opened a delightful bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon that they had purchased at our second urban winery. It was a perfect wine to sip on the train as we enjoyed the coastal sunset along our way.
Our last stop was well spent enjoying chocolates, crackers, wine and trick-or-treaters. It was hard to say goodbye, but all good times have to come to an end, so I said my farewells and walked Mark and his lovely wife, Sharon back to the train so they could return to where they were staying.
I'm so grateful for the wonderful guests who made this Wine & Food Train Tour so memorable!
- Heather, Tour Guide
Posted in Food and Vine, San Diego Wine Country, Theme Tours, Tours, Wine, Wine Train, Winemaking, Wineries |
Rain or shine,we WILL drink WINE!
Oct. 5, 2011 Rainy Day Wine Tour
"Rain or shine, we WILL drink WINE!" This seemed to be our motto yesterday as I led our 8 guests on a soggy winery train tour! As we began the tour we enjoyed a light misting as we made our way to lunch. We wined and dined as we discussed wine tasting, the art of winemaking and food pairing. Well fed and thirsty for more wine, we said goodbye to our gracious lunch host and crossed our fingers for a dry walk to our first Urban Winery stop.
Apparently our fingers weren't crossed tight enough. We sloshed quickly through the lake-sized puddles that lay between us our wine tasting. A few glasses of wine later, we were drying off nicely and enjoying a very informative tour of the winery. What a treat! The winemaking process is in full-swing so our guests got an exclusive insight to the operations of a busy urban winery.
Great adventure; Great group!
We cozily huddled under our umbrellas and headed back to the train station for the ride to the next urban winery. Once settled inside this lovely boutique winery, the winemaker, who wears many hats, needed to fix some leaks that were dripping down onto the tasting bar, so he left me in charge of pouring while he climbed up on the roof to nail down a few tarps. What an adventure!
Drying out with some great wine: Linda, Aurora, John, Frank
With just a few minutes before the train, our group snuck in a quick olive oil tasting before heading back to the train station. Our dry, heated train arrived to take us to our final wine tasting stop. It’s funny how a little rain affects people; this next town was a ghost town! But fortunately our gracious wine tasting hostess greeted our slightly soggy tour group with a sympathetic smile and large pours of wine!
Christy and Len, dry and cozy and enjoying ample pours at our last stop.
Even though our tour was wet and a bit cold, we all had a great time and even better wine.
Kevin and Lisa enjoying our local wines
It was such a pleasure meeting everyone! Thanks for keeping such a great sense of humor throughout our rainy tasting adventure!
-Heather, LJWT Tour Guide
Posted in Food and Vine, Local Business, San Diego Wine Country, Wine, Wine Train, Winemaking, Wineries |