Tag Archives: Vineyards

Chef, Lifestyle, Sonoma County, Travel, Wineries

Stone Edge Farm Winery, Sonoma Wine Country

BY APPOINTMENT ONLY to visit this winery

Stone Edge Farm Winery has a few location, but the only one you stoneedge1will be visit is not the one that the address listed here on Yelp. Their official tasting room is located here:

The Silver Cloud Vineyard

5700 Cavedale Road, Glen Ellen, CA 95442

It’s bout 30 minutes from the Square in Sonoma, if you are coming from Silicon Valley and using WAZE GPS, it’s most likely will take you pass Yountville on highway 29, drive through the mountain, a serious stiff drive, think of HWY 1 and Santa Cruz HWY 17 combine, and 1 lane with 2 ways traffic, we drove up in our little Prius C, we got a little anxiety by the time we arrived.

stoneedge2  However, it’s the landscape that glistens at this 160-acre property, had been remodeled and expanding plans in place. It’s such a beautiful place, peaceful, and charming,  It’s also linked to one of America’s most famous adventurers Jack London. Silver Cloud Vineyard is surely a hidden gem of Sonoma Valley history.

stoneedge7  The property is set on the eastern slope of Mount Vedeer above Sonoma Valley, about 5 miles from Glen Ellen downtown.

They only offer a few appointment per day. If you got lucky enough to get in, either Frenchman Philippe or Sonoma local Dorothe will host you. They are both simply the best of what they do. We got Dorothe this time. She is beautiful, humbled, warm and made us feel as we were VIP.

She toured us the property, explained everything and since she came on board 4 years ago, Stone Edge Farm Winery produced only 1 red, stoneedge5now in 2015, they produced multiple red, specializes in BORDEAUX blend, and a bright and crisp Sauvignon Blanc. We heard that they also plan to produce white Bordeaux with Semillon varietal in the near future, this is a fantastic news, because we don’t see it much here in the Sonoma Wine Country.

I enjoyed the 2010 Stone Edge Farm Surround Bordeaux Blend Sonoma Valley, 79% Cabernet Sauvignon, 20% Merlot, 1% Malbec, 22 months in tight-grained 225 liter French oak barrels, 60% new. Winemaker Jeff Baker surely knows what he is dong and he has been master his craft for many decades here.

donum6  This full bodied Bordeaux Blend has aromas of cassis, black pepper, coffee, and a hint of dark chocolate. The flavors are lively and focused with powerful layers of black plum, cherry, and tobacco. It is deep red in color, with soft rich tannins, and a persistent finish. For only $55 per bottle, this is probably 1 of the best CAB Bordeaux style that you can ever have. A beautiful, voluptuous wine that you don’t have to break your bank like typical Napa Valley Cab.

The Stone Edge Farm Cabernet Sauvignon, 30 months in French oak barrels, this is some of the longest barrel that I’ve heard. Think of Barolo in Italy for 35 months barrel aging, and even with this long, their current release vintage 2010 is only $85. This wine is cellar worthy for you collectors out there. Their 2009 vintage got 96 points from Robert Parker.

stoneedge3  Don’t forget to check out their beautiful award winning cookbook by chef John McReynolds, the book contains more than a hundred recipes. It also includes essays on gardening by Colby Eierman, a winemaking essay by Jeff Baker, and a vineyard essay and poem by our viticulturist, Phil Coturri. The book concludes with a lively extended conversation on pairing food and wine among McReynolds, Baker, and our proprietor, Mac McQuown.

Sitting on the deck wines tasting, with cheese and charcuteri to snack on, looking at this gorgeous vineyard and a breathtaking view on a lazy afternoon in March at 75 degree, with cool breeze, this wine country living can’t get better than this.

stoneedge5  Thank you Dorothe for an impeccable service. She’s 1 of the reasons why I love wines. She shares with us beautiful story about this winery. She has so much passion for what she does and it shows. We would come back to visit soon even with this rough drive to the wood, just to to visit her, and of course, the delicious wines too!

Stone Edge Farm Winery at Silver Cloud Vineyard is absolutely worth the drive. A must visit if you are in Sonoma County, please plan extra 30 minutes on driving just in case you get lost.
Absolutely NO CELL SERVICE when you drive through the wood, so pay attention to the road.

Website info for their wine clubs: stoneedgefarm.com
Follow them on Twitter: twitter.com/stoneedgefarm

by Manda Bear @1MandaBear

Lifestyle, San Francisco Bay Area, Silicon Valley, Travel, Uncategorized, Wineries

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

I can’t believe that living in the Bay Area for this long and I P1030332
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 IMG_2832inspired 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 IMG_2827beautiful 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 regale-cabRussian 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:

P1030367Wine 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

IMG_2828Exclusive 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

 

Napa Valley, Wineries

Cornerstone Cellars and Stepping Stone Cellars, Napa Valley

 

Cornerstone Cellars located in the middle of downtown Yountville, just a step away from some of the best restaurants in Napa Valley, 13C6D1F3-7DA7-4D5D-8109-8164E0A56613The 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.

9EF15376-AE9F-4884-9AA9-99234B14E75F    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 31C3E691-F1E3-4C07-9420-1230BF1AFD46working 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 B4B52DB6-E2EC-47D8-906E-9427F149F067was 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.

FullSizeRender   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