Entries from July 2007

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

Napa wineries being sold left and right for big bucks

News if flying this week about Napa Valley wineries being sold for big chunks of money–continuing a trend that’s been going on for quite some time.
The venerable Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars–the Stag’s Leap District winery made famous by Warren Winiarski–announced that it has agreed to sell to Ste. Michelle Wine Estates and Marchesi Antinori [...]

Tuesday, July 31st, 2007

Cork Board comments: July 2007

Believe it or not, another busy month has come and gone…Here are our favorite reader comments for the month of July.
We added a new feature to the blog in July–we’re now tracking all Napa Valley wineries that have blogs. We found just a select few in our quick research and reader Julian helped us build [...]

Monday, July 30th, 2007

Decent round-up of inexpensive ways to enjoy the Napa Valley

Over the weekend, the San Francisco Chronicle published an article with an interesting premise: how to ‘do’ the Napa Valley on a ‘tightwad’s budget’. We’re always somewhat skeptical of such write-ups as they inevitably tend to skew toward the high-end places to dine, stay and play. This particular article, penned by Linda Murphy, did a [...]

Friday, July 27th, 2007

Artist appearance this weekend at Yountville’s Vintage 1870

Gallery 1870, which is located in Yountville’s Vintage 1870 complex, will host artist Patrick O’Rourke this weekend.
O’Rourke will be on-hand on Saturday between 1pm - 6pm (if you stop by at 3pm there will be an unveiling, followed by wine tasting and hors d’oeuvres) and again on Sunday from 12pm - 4pm to personalize [...]

Thursday, July 26th, 2007

Cork Bits: ideas for your Napa Valley weekend

We’ve got quite a few fun and exciting events happening in the Napa Valley this week, so why not get into that weekend frame of mind now!
Thursday, July 26 - Sunday, July 29

The 21st Annual Wine Country Film Festival will kick-off with a cooking demonstration featuring La Toque chef Ken Frank, followed by his short [...]

Wednesday, July 25th, 2007

Coming soon to a wine bottle near you… ‘green’ corks?

We’ve written previously about Napa’s Portocork, the premier supplier of natural cork closures to the North American wine industry. Today the company announced it is taking steps to ‘go green’ by committing to minimize the environmental impact at its Napa Valley facility by implementing practices such as water and energy conservation and solid waste reduction.
We’re [...]

Tuesday, July 24th, 2007

Napa Valley grapes begin to show their true colors

Here were are in late July, another growing season nearing its final stages, and across the Napa Valley the wine grapes are beginning to show their true colors. The transformation from light green to dark purple has begun!
Yesterday, we snapped a couple quick photos of wine grapes at dusk in the heart of the Oak [...]

Monday, July 23rd, 2007

Napa’s BarbersQ gets rave review from The San Francsico Chronicle

Over the weekend the San Francisco Chronicle published a review of the new BarbersQ restaurant in Napa, giving the BBQ joint solid scores across the board.
We too recently visited the restaurant, only we opted for some mid-week takeout. The service was fast and friendly, the food (we opted for the half-rack of baby back ribs [...]

Friday, July 20th, 2007

Harry Potter actor to star in upcoming Napa Valley wine film ‘Bottle Shock’

It’s Friday, and details of yet another movie about the Napa Valley have emerged.
‘Bottle Shock’ is a “…drama about the birth of the Napa Valley wine industry” that is being put together by filmmaker Randall M. Miller. Details on the cast have just been released–the film will reportedly star Alan Rickman, who plays the [...]

Thursday, July 19th, 2007

Cork Bits: ideas for your Napa Valley weekend

It’s that time again, and yes, we’re already thinking about the weekend! So here’s a quick round-up of what’s happening:
Saturday, July 21st

Enjoy a Tuscan BBQ and fabulous Andretti wine under the beautiful summer skies! The more, the merrier! Tickets and spaces are limited, so please RSVP. 1pm – 4pm at 4162 Big Ranch road, Napa. [...]