24 | February | 2015 | Dep Lifestyle Magazine

I can’t believe that living in the Bay Area for this long and I
haven’t been here to Regale Winery and Vineyards at all. Even the winery is in Los Gatos, but it’s actually deep inside the Santa Cruz Mountains, just a short drive of 10 minutes from downtown Los Gatos and 20 minutes from downtown San Jose, the heart of Silicon Valley.

The Tasting Room Open to the Public Saturday and Sunday from Noon-5 PM by appointment only, but Regale Winery and Vineyards are strictly for members only and during the week, they often rent out for corporate events and weddings.

Regale Winery and Vineyards is so beautiful with gorgeous Italian inspired landscape, garden, water fountain, and a breathtaking view of the Santa Cruz Mountains and the vineyards. It’s peaceful, tranquil, and romantic. I can see why it’s such a great place for a wedding. A spiral herb garden, outdoor fireplaces, a bocce ball court, and a traditional wood-fired oven. Three varieties of olive trees line the property from which they hand-pick and press the olives to produce their Estate Olive Oil. Wait till Summer, when they harvest their tomatoes, it’s so much fun to be here.

We were lucky enough to get to meet the winemaker Larry Schaadt and his brother, the men behind this operation. He makes wines with a passion, besides their vineyards, the winemaker sources the grapes from all over Sonoma to Napa Valley to make his wines and bottling it here at the winery.

The winemaker is such a charmer, with a warm personality, and beautiful blue eyes. (OK, so that got nothing to do with wines, but you know what I mean.) He and his brother were so gracious chatting up with us and sharing with us their story behind the winery.

Instead of tasting a selection of 5 wines limited productions, we got to try a few more rare wines, never before seen; from Pinot Noir from different appellation to Cabernet Sauvignon, to sparkling wine. Everything was delicious.

On our third visit, we got to try the new release 2013 Regale Russian River Valley Pinot Noir which was quite nice and the Super Tuscan. You can do tasting flights here or you can order a bottle of wine on the menu to share with your group. They focus on Pinot Noir and Cabernet, but they also feature limited-production Italian varietals such as Sangiovese and Barbera as well as their popular Chardonnay. It’s a perfect way to spend a beautiful weekend afternoon with your friends and loved ones.

My friends and I enjoyed our visit and the hospitality of the staff there from beginning to finish.

They also offer the wine club members with a lot of benefits you can find more details on their website:

Wine Benefits
* Bi-Monthly shipments of 2 or 4 bottles
* Generous discounts on wine purchases
* Access to limited production member-only wines
* Free tasting for you and your guest(s)
* Membership privileges at their new Regale Wine Bar which is Rendezvous in Campbell, CA opened in late 2014.

Event Benefits
* Private member-only events for you and your guests
* Generous discounts on special events
* Special discounts on private events at Regale Winery and Wine Bar

Exclusive Estate Privileges
* Members-only wine tasting lounge
* Priority reserved seating
* Priority access to bocce, patios and terrace areas

Spa Privileges
* 15% Off spa services at The Spa ~ Los Gatos, Monday – Friday

I love the space and the gorgeous garden they offer, from the balcony of the second floor, you can enjoy the peaceful but breathtaking view of the mountains. The wines are good and also very reasonable in price. Regale Winery and Vineyards is such a great place to throw a party, wedding, or corporate events.

Follow them on Twitter: http://twitter.com/regalewinery

Regale Winery and Vineyards
http://regalewine.com
24040 Summit Road
Los Gatos, CA 95033
events@regalewine.com
wineclub@regalewine.com
Phone: (408) 353-2500

by Manda Bear – @1MandaBear

Cornerstone Cellars located in the middle of downtown Yountville, just a step away from some of the best restaurants in Napa Valley, The French Laundry, Bouchon, Bouchon Bakery, Ad Hoc, Bottega, Hurley’s, Redd and Redd Wood. Such a cute white painted cottage, think of a French country side, it’s much more spacious than it looks from the outside.

A long bar by the left side where you can chill and wines tasting, or reserve a table, where you can have a private tasting with your group. Plenty art works through out the tasting room and store, rack and rack of wines, as well as wine country souvenir for sale here. Another private tasting room for a larger group in the back where you can see a lot of their magnum bottles display through out the room.

In 1991 Cornerstone Cellars was founded by Dr. Michael Dragutsky. Later managing partner Craig Camp from Napa Valley, then current winemaker Jeff Keene from New Zealand came on board. They brought Cornerstone Cellars in Napa Valley and Oregon’s Willamette Valley to wine lovers.

We were lucky to chat with winemaker Jeff Keene and it was very informative and nothing better than having a winemaker poured
your wines, while walk you through the wines he makes.

Together with managing partner Craig Camp’s old world style background (he was importer of Burgundy & Bordeaux, and years of working at wineries in Italy); winemaker Jeff Keene, a New Zealand native and making wines here in Napa Valley. They now making elegant wines, terroir driven, balance in acidity and alcohol levels to pair with food better. I say they make old world style wines, the kind of wines that I personally love to drink. I don’t like wines with high alcohol, it just kills my taste bud.

With that said, we got to try some of their best selling wines, a few that memorable to me.

– 2011 Cornerstone, Cabernet Sauvignon, The Cornerstone, Napa Valley, Reserve; it’s a single vineyard, and only 100 cases made. A Bordeaux style blend of Cab, Merlot and Cab Franc. It was definitely a cooler vintage, in French Oak barrel for 22 months. This was a rare treat and a very gorgeous wine, round, elegant, silky, beautiful nose, and lingering finish. I enjoyed this every much.

– 2011 Cornerstone, Cabernet Sauvignon, Howell Mountain, Napa Valley $80, ripe fruit, powerful, spices, full bodied, and long finish, this is a voluptuous wine. We love it.

– 2012 Cornerstone, Napa Valley, Sauvignon Blanc, steel then 5 months in used French Oak, tropical fruits, pineapple, honeydew, melon, citrus, bright, and crisp, it’s a perfect wine for shellfish and Sunday Brunch.

– 2011 Cornerstone Napa Valley, Cab Franc, black label $45, ripe tannins, round, tobacco, herbal aromatic, lingering on the finish, elegance, structure, and rounder with an edge. I’m not a fruits bomb girl, so anything savory, you got me, this bottle did it for me. Reasonable, deliver, and food friendly cab franc is a hard to find in Napa Valley for less than $45.

We also got to try the Oregon’s Willamette Valley Pinot Noir. It was quite nice as well. We can’t wait to come back.

They also offer 4 different wine club members, and all vary to to your desire. Check them out here: www.cornerstonecellars.com/Wine-Club and follow them on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/CornerstoneNapa and Instagram here: https://instagram.com/craigcamp

So if you visit Yountville, Cornerstone Cellars tasting room is a perfect spot for you to drop in for some good wines tasting before your dinner reservation.

Tasting Fee is only $20, members are FREE. You got to try out 5 different wines. If you have a group of more than 4 people on the weekend, reservation is highly recommended.

Cornerstone Cellars
www.cornerstonecellars.com
6505 Washington Steet
Yountville, CA 94599
Tasting room: 1-707-945-0388
Email: TastingRoom@cornerstonecellars.com

by Manda Bear @1MandaBear

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Daily Archives: February 24, 2015

Regale Winery & Vineyards, Santa Cruz Mountains, Silicon Valley, California

Cornerstone Cellars and Stepping Stone Cellars, Napa Valley

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