Wine 1020

Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience returns for its 3rd year from May 16-19th in Sonoma County, California.

The first time is a point, the second time is a line, and by the third time it’s a pattern. Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience (HWFE) is back on Thursday, May 16 for a 4-day celebration. It’s here in Sonoma County, amidst the clinking of wine glasses and laid back luxury that first-time visitors will question why they didn’t find this place and event sooner. Having had the distinct pleasure of attending this Healdsburg wine and food event since its inception, I’ve witnessed its evolution firsthand. From its humble beginnings to its current status as a must-visit for any serious food and wine aficionado, each year has built upon the last, refining and expanding the experience in ways both subtle and significant.

This year’s expansion includes:

“We’re thrilled for our third annual event in May,” exclaimed Steve Dveris, founder and CEO of the festival. “In just a short time, we’ve made a national impact as the first international wine and food festival in Sonoma County and Napa Valley, showcasing wines from around the globe. Our event pillars remain celebrating the talented makers, honoring our agricultural roots, culinary diversity, and sustainability, while pairing local talent with top chefs nationwide. Get ready for an incredible weekend packed with fun, surprises, music, and, of course, the finest wine and food!”

Christone “Kingfish” Ingram will be performing at Rodney Strong Vineyards during Healdsburg Wine & Food (HWFE)

In addition, HWFE will continue to offer special wine tastings and seminar discussions, exceptional lunches, dinners, celebrity chef demonstrations, cocktail experiences, and a live outdoor concert featuringKINGFISH at Rodney Strong on Friday, May 17. But what would a food and wine event be without a GRAND TASTING? The cornerstone event will be held from 12.30pm to 5pm on Saturday, May 18 for patrons to enjoy wine, spirits, and beers from over 150+ brands. Also top chefs like Crista Luedtke, Kelsey Barnard Clark, and Matt Horn will be on hand offering their hand crafted dishes and bites. I’m personally excited to finally try Sushi by Scratch, whose pop-up will be on-site.

The impact of Healdsburg Wine and Food Experience on the local community cannot be overstated. Beyond the immediate economic boost, which is palpable to anyone who has tried booking a room in the area during the festivities, there is a deeper, more lasting effect. The outdoor concert at Rodney Strong Vineyards on Friday evening with KINGFISH benefits Farm to Pantry, whose goal is to bring together our communities to end food injustice and reverse global warming by rescuing and sharing locally grown food with those who have been marginalized. In addition HWFE will contribute to the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation. The organization’s mission is to raise funds that support the Leadership Academy, which focuses on workforce development and other resources that elevate local vineyard workers, farmer workers and their families. Lastly this year’s event will also support Healdsburg Future Farmers of America (FFA). Sponsored by Foley Family Wines, a significant donation will go towards the HWFE Future Farmers Scholarship, created by HWFE for students from the local Healdsburg High School FFA chapter.

“As co-founders and partners in this remarkable endeavor, we are deeply committed to our dual mission: showcasing Sonoma County’s extraordinary wine, agriculture, and commitment to sustainability on a global platform, while simultaneously raising vital funds to uplift and honor our local vineyard workforce. This mission permeates every aspect of our events and messaging throughout the entire weekend. What could be more fulfilling than enjoying oneself while also making a positive impact?” – Karissa Kruse, CEO & President of Sonoma County Winegrowers and Executive Director of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation.

Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience is a four-day celebration featuring the best of world-renowned food and wines and highlighting the “Makers Behind the Magic.” The festival showcases the region’s makers – farmers, growers, winemakers, and chefs – alongside globally recognized wines from the greatest wine regions of the world. HWFE highlights vibrant culinary diversity, sustainable farming practices and a deep connection to agriculture, through tastings, Culinary demonstrations, seminars, events, and more, in the beautiful setting of Healdsburg & Wine Country. Learn more here.

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“I feel sometimes like we’re the David who’s starting to really have a go at Goliath.”

In this version, Goliath is Temecula and David is the San Diego winery scene.

That’s the take of Mike Weber, the general manager of Orfila Vineyards & Winery and president of the San Diego County Vintners Association. A few times in a recent interview, he expressed bemused frustration that San Diego’s wineries are sometimes overlooked by local wine drinkers and revelers.

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“I mean, they’re literally driving by 100 to 160 different wineries to go to Temecula,” he said.

But a report published Wednesday by San Diego’s winery trade group suggests San Diego wineries have some encouraging findings: In 2023, sales and hiring were both up year over year at San Diego County‘s 166 wineries, which are scattered throughout urban San Diego neighborhoods like Point Loma and Mira Mesa, cities including Lakeside and Escondido, as well as in the backcountry of Julian, Ramona and Santa Ysabel.

These businesses have largely bounced back from the turbulence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some are expanding.

That’s a striking contrast to how the rest of the U.S. wine industry is doing. According to Silicon Valley Bank’s State of the US Wine Industry Report, “Direct-to-consumer volume and value sales were lower in 2023 and tasting room visitation dropped for the second straight year.” That report says interest in wine is dwindling as other lures — beer, canned alcoholic beverages, liquor and cannabis — beckon, especially among key younger drinkers.

California’s wine industry also is hurting. Consumption fell almost 9 percent in 2023, according to a report cited Wednesday in the San Francisco Chronicle. Trouble has been brewing for a while. “Who Will Save the US Wine Industry? Not California Boomers” reads one recent headline by Bloomberg. And Last September, Meininger’s International, a wine trade publication, wrote about California’s grape surplus amid falling demand.

San Diego’s wine industry is a drop in the bucket — producing around $55 million, compared with California’s $55 billion. But its winemakers are doing a lot right, according to the San Diego wineries report, by the San Diego County Vintners Association trade group, which examined economic data and surveyed winemakers to piece together a state of the industry.

The data tells a story of resilience and resourcefulness, said Vince Vasquez, the report’s author.

“That is, I think, something that is a clear indication that wineries, at least in San Diego County, have found the solutions they need to be successful for serving existing and new customers,” he said.

Some of the report’s findings:

Vasquez, the policy and data analyst hired to conduct the research and author the report, said San Diego’s wineries have mostly rebounded from pandemic era disruptions and are finding ways to draw in more customers.

While consumption fell 2 to 4 percent in the U.S. and more sharply in California, here it grew 11 percent. (The increase was due to more wine sold and less to higher prices, he noted.)

Last year, San Diego experienced a surge in tourism, which had a positive effect on all the wineries in the area, according to Vasquez. In addition to this, the wineries are putting efforts into organizing events, enhancing their marketing strategies and investing in customer service. This comes at a time when QR codes and applications have made the process of ordering without personal contact possible. However, the trend in wineries is storytelling. Customers enjoy conversing with staff members, getting to know the owners, and learning about the winery’s history. Vasquez emphasized that the involvement from staff members plays a crucial role in the winery experience.

In the face of the pandemic, having outdoor spaces proved to be crucial. These spaces are now being repurposed for hosting events and even weddings.

For example, Orfila, a large winery located in the San Pasqual Valley, brought onboard a dedicated events manager last summer.

“With over 70 acres of sprawling vines and mountain views, there is no shortage of breathtaking scenery,” says Orfila’s website under the photo of the rolling vineyards bathed in a dusky glow.

The goal isn’t primarily weekend weddings but rather corporate events that can be scheduled from Monday to Friday. Employing an events specialist was a logical consequent step for the 30-year-old winery, considering the surge in events demand as the COVID-19 pandemic subdued, Weber mentioned.

“We had been receiving considerable interest through telephone calls and emails, but we were not really prepared to manage it,” Weber stated. These days, he added, “we are observing an ever-increasing number of reservations.”

The report highlighted one macroeconomic condition that contributed to the successful year: Businesses can acquire what they require to produce and sell wine.

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Despite the positive connections and client base being established by wineries, the survey also highlighted a few problem areas.

The circumstances are becoming increasingly difficult for smaller wineries.

“Large and rapidly growing wineries in the area drove the bulk of revenue growth in 2023, adding crucial jobs and stimulating sales. The majority of the smaller wineries, on the other hand, are either seeing another year of stagnant or decreasing sales or only modestly increasing,” the survey reports.

Reduced access to cheap insurance is yet another issue. In 2023, the majority of the examined wineries lessened brush and cultivated defensible areas, and some even invested in firefighting equipment at their sites. However, nearly a quarter of those examined were denied coverage, and premiums increased for 60 percent.

Rejections of coverage and increased costs due to the risk of wildfires have led to a higher percentage of surveyed wineries resorting to Fair Access to Insurance Requirements (FAIR) Plans. These plans are expensive and often viewed as a last-minute option for insurance coverage.

Another hurdle is the lower wages earned by the San Diego wineries in comparison with other wine-producing regions in the state.

This discrepancy is connected to difficulties in the recruitment and retention of skillful workers, the expanded hiring of lower wage entry-level workers, part-time employees supplanting full-time workers, greater number of boutique winery owners shoulder multiple roles, and workforce reductions. The report also mentions the influence of California’s housing affordability crisis, which is more serious in San Diego County.

Despite these issues, Weber of Orfila asserts that San Diego is not experiencing an exodus of winery workers to Northern California, where the industry wages are higher. He claims that, if anything, workers are migrating to San Diego from other areas.

“From what I’ve seen and heard, it seems more like it’s the opposite. People come to San Diego from other places,” he stated.

Let’s revisit the tale of David and Goliath.

“We often hear people at different events who are tasting our wine say, ‘I had no idea they made wine in San Diego.’ Needless to say, we’re not fond of hearing that. It paints a pretty accurate picture of what we’re up against,” Weber expressed.

The vineyards of San Diego not only exist in Temecula’s overshadow but also in the shadow of craft beers. Who in San Diego, or even in Arizona and Chicago, hasn’t heard of Stone Brewing?

Local wineries must put themselves in the spotlight to compete effectively, as pointed out by both Weber and Vasquez. This could be accomplished through increased wine events, collaboration, and marketing.

Vasquez highlighted an interesting fact: wineries are scattered everywhere, from the coast of San Diego to the desert and the border. In places like Napa and Temecula, wineries are clustered together. In San Diego, however, one can sample a local wine without having to travel great distances.

Local wines continue to garner praise. In the 2023 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition — a platform that judges thousands of North American wines — and the Toast of the Coast International Wine Competition, San Pasqual Winery received numerous awards.

Producing award-winning wines with grapes sourced from across California, Carruth Cellars operates as an urban winery and tasting room. Its 2019 Kelly Napa Cabernet Sauvignon was a gold winner at the 2023 Toast of the Coast competition.

“We’re making some inroads,” Weber said. “It always starts with the wine quality. Several locals who’ve been in the business for a very long time have made rather strong comments saying just what a wonderful incline, increase, in the quality of wine that’s happened in the county in the last 10 to 15 years. It’s remarkable.

“I think if you lead with good wine, all the rest comes together,” he said.

Laura Riches embarked on a unique endeavor when she launched Laylo, a company that delivers wine in a box. The packaging was a significant aspect of the overall concept, with every variety showcasing customized artwork. The design process involved extensive conversations with the wine producers and an exploration of local artistry ranging from textiles to visual arts. The French sauvignon blanc caught my attention, its packaging reflecting the winemaker’s life story in a charming toile-de-Jouy-style.

The wine industry is not limiting its creativity to Laylo. A growing number of wines are appearing in beautifully adorned cans and boxes, adding visual appeal to the drinking experience. This approach is a significant change from the past when the wine’s label design could inadvertently affect the consumers’ perception of its quality. Patterned and colorful labels were often associated with inferior quality, although Château Mouton Rothschild was a notable exception. This famous winery created a trend by using artwork designed by renowned artists on its wine labels.

Sourcing Table is another fine example, where every wine sold seems to have been selected for aesthetic appeal. Look also at the innovative ‘Don’t Feed the Ponies’ series created by Sharpham at Sandridge Barton in Devon. This collection includes unique wines such as a light red crafted from four varieties of ‘pinot’ grapes, an orange wine, and a cloudy sparkling ‘col fondo’ style. Like the proseccos under the same name, it undergoes fermentation first in a tank, then in a bottle. Each wine from the Don’t Feed the Ponies collection is named after a natural feature in Dartmoor and displays a distinctive label created by a local artist.

A post shared by Sharpham Wine at our new home (@sandridgebarton)

A clever label can also tell a story. Brit Katie Jones, who makes gorgeous wines in the rugged Languedoc, has a wine called Along Came Jones Hairy Grenache. The label features a comic-strip with Jones as the hero, who discovers she’s growing a type of grenache that’s different to everyone else’s.

Others simply stand out. There’s a school of labels whose backgrounds are a high-saturation, single-block colour, like the lapis blue of Domaine Equis’ Equinoxe Crozes-Hermitage, or the strong red of the Grand Aven of Vignerons Ardéchois (both of these wines are sold by Yapp).

None of this is to say that supermarkets and discount chains are slacking. Two of the most beautiful labels among this year’s crop are on bottles of Greek wine in Aldi. I love the octopus whose golden tentacles wind around the assyrtiko-syrah rosé.

Speaking of rosé, in this aisle it’s not just the label that is highly stylised. There are square bottles, round bottles, bottles that are squat and bottles that are tall with voluptuous curves; bottles whose glass forms pleat-like ridges to refract sunlight in glittering patterns, and bottles made from chunky glass with the palest hint of green. Some, like Whispering Angel spin-offs The Beach and The Pale (which features a sketch of café society), have labels that allude to the holiday feeling you might hope to have when you’re drinking them.

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Claim:

A video shows a bottle of wine retrieved from the Titanic wreckage that sold for $1.4 million at auction.

Rating:

On April 30, 2024, online users began virally sharing a video on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter, with a rumor claiming the clip showed a bottle of wine recovered from the wreckage of the Titanic selling for $1.4 million at auction.

The video displayed a gentleman attired in a suit, carefully uncorking a bottle of wine encrusted with maritime organisms. Further footage revealed cases of wine allegedly retrieved from the unfortunate Titanic voyage, which hit an iceberg on April 14, 1912, and sank the following morning. This disaster led to the demise of approximately 1,500 passengers and crew members.

An exceedingly popular post of the video garnered nearly 7 million views. The TikTok user @momentsgang uploaded the clip on the 1st of May. The screen caption announced, “Original Sealed Bottle of Wine Retrieved from the Titanic Sold for $1.4M at Auction.” The actual originator of the video has yet to be confirmed by Snopes.

The TikTok user stated in the text accompanying the video that a bottle of wine salvaged from the Titanic was auctioned for an unprecedented $1.4 million. “The Oceanic Reserve Champagne, by ‘Maritime Vineyards,’ is one of the few undamaged bottles recovered from the wreckage, transforming it into a sought-after historical artifact. The sale highlights the endless fascination with the Titanic tragedy and the value attached to its memory.”

The authenticity of this rumour has been rated “Miscaptioned” by Snopes. While the video was genuine and undistorted, it did not feature a bottle of wine salvaged from the Titanic being auctioned for $1.4 million. No news articles explicating such auctions could be found. Additionally, a Google search of “Oceanic Reserve Champagne” and “Maritime Vineyards” yielded no productive results—signifying that these were not valid product or company denominations.

Our extensive online search for the origins of the video — including performing reverse-image searches for various frames in the clip — initially produced no helpful answers. Then, we spotted a link in Google search results leading us to the truth.

The banner behind the man in the viral video matched the design of a bottle of SSN01 Classic from the award-winning Seafloor Storage No.1 wine company in Yantai, China. According to seafloorstoragewine.net, the wine-making process includes “six months of oak aging followed by 12 months of undersea storage” at an ocean depth of 18 meters (59 feet). The website also mentioned that Golden Times Winery supplies the grapes for the wine and limits annual production to 50,000 bottles. We reached out to the company via its contact form on the website but did not yet receive a response.

A comparison of the banner behind the unidentified man opening wine in the video next to the website for the Seafloor Storage No. 1 wine company.

We have so far been unable to locate the names of the people who appeared in the video, nor were we able to find when and where the event depicted occurred. The Seafloor Storage No.1 wine company’s website features only two blog articles from 2019 and 2020, both describing a China SeaFloor Storage Wine Culture Festival.

Aside from the rumor about the video, ocean explorers truly discovered champagne bottles with corks intact at the final resting site of Titanic, according to a 1994 article published by the British newspaper Evening Sentinel.

A genuine, still-sealed bottle of champagne was photographed in 2006 at “Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition.”

French scientist Jean-Louis Michel and Marine geologist Robert Ballard led the joint French-American expedition that discovered the wreckage in 1985. The remains of the Titanic were found about 350 miles from Newfoundland and around 12,500 feet deep in the North Atlantic.

On July 19, 1986, UPI reported, “Ballard said the minisub’s three-man crew discovered other artifacts, including champagne bottles that were being readied for a toast when an iceberg tore a hole in the Titanic.”

For further reading about the Chinese wine company, we recommend an article from the Chinese-language website cnmjz.com and two stories from min.news.

In 2018, BusinessWorld published an unproven rumor about “a rich Asian collector” purportedly once buying six bottles of champagne recovered from the Titanic wreckage.

On Sept. 19, 1985 — just after the joint expedition to the wreckage of the Titanic — Chicago Tribune reported an article that provided some details and perspective about the wine and champagne bottles that were on the ship when it sank.

Note: Translations with Google Translate sometimes produce errors. Some websites also referred to the Chinese-made wine as “Haizang No. 1” from the “Yantai Age Wine Co., Ltd.”

Bennett, Will. “Davy Jones’ Locker Proves the Perfect Champagne Cellar.” Sydney Morning Herald via The Telegraph London via Newspapers.com, 9 Sept. 1998, p. 16, https://www.newspapers.com/image/119678535/.

Broad, William J., and Catherine Porter. “A Diver Feared the Titan Sub, but Couldn’t Resist the Titanic.” The New York Times, 11 Sept. 2023, https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/11/science/paul-henri-nargeolet-titanic-titan-submersible.html.

“First Videotapes of Titanic Give Glimpse of Thousands of Artifacts.” Richmond Times-Dispatch via UPI, 19 July 1986, p. A-2, https://www.newspapers.com/image/830960094/.

Gibbons, Dianne. “A ‘Museum’ the Size of London.” Evening Sentinel via Newspapers.com, 13 Oct. 1994, p. 30, https://www.newspapers.com/image/808442200/.

Google Translate. https://translate.google.com/.

“Haizang No. 1 Won the Annual Innovation Award at the Second Domestic Wine Industry and Commerce Summit.” Cnmjz.com, 6 Apr. 2021, http://www.cnmjz.com/n/6084.html.

Nicolas, Jino. “The Titanic and Underwater Wine Aging.” BusinessWorld Online, 17 Jan. 2018, https://www.bworldonline.com/arts-and-leisure/2018/01/18/110381/titanic-underwater-wine-aging/.

O’Kane, Caitlin. See Maps of Where the Titanic Sank and How Deep the Wreckage Is amid Search for Missing Sub – CBS News. 20 June 2023, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/map-where-did-the-titanic-sink-wreckage-location-depth-missing-submarine/.

“R.M.S Titanic.” National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, https://www.noaa.gov/rms-titanic.

Seafloor Storage No. 1. https://seafloorstoragewine.net.

“Sesfloor Storage No.1 2019.” Concours Mondial de Bruxelles, 2021, https://resultats.concoursmondial.com/en/results/2021/170109-sesfloor-storage-no1-2019.

Titanic | History, Sinking, Rescue, Survivors, Movies, & Facts. Britannica, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Titanic.

“Titanic Exhibit Visits Memphis.” Travel Weekly, 13 Apr. 1997, https://www.travelweekly.com/Destinations2001-2007/Titanic-Exhibit-Visits-Memphis.

“Wine Lovers Thirsting for Titanic’s Treasure.” Chicago Tribune, 19 Sept. 1985, https://www.chicagotribune.com/1985/09/19/wine-lovers-thirsting-for-titanics-treasure/.

Yuchen, Zhang. “Not All Wine Can Be Called Haizang Wine.” iMedia, https://min.news/en/food/0529b8af45c9e20a029cafecf3a1817f.html.

—. “Will Sea Wine Become the next Trend?” iMedia, min.news/en/food/2c7071710d9b1c92b5bef43c46eefbc1.html.

The role of a wine label is to inform the customer about what the bottle contains. However, in practice, this is not always the case. If your wine label simply mentions ‘wine of California’ or a vague geographical area like that, you may be left wondering about the actual content of the bottle. Whether you’re visiting a winery or trying to find a good grocery store wine, it is important to inspect the bottle carefully. A reliable wine label should provide information about the producer, region, vintage (the year the grapes were picked), types of grapes, and ABV.

The location where the grapes were harvested matters significantly because it pertains to terroir. Terroir (not to be confused with “minerality,” which doesn’t exist) refers to the impact of the natural environment on a specific wine. For example, various factors like the altitude, sun exposure, soil type, weather conditions, and cold nights, influence the taste of the grapes. Understanding the climatic conditions of the wine-producing region can provide valuable insights into the taste and feel of the wine, regardless of whether the grapes come from well-known wine-producing regions like Napa Valley or, increasingly, Wisconsin.

Read more: 15 Popular Hard Seltzer Brands, Ranked Worst To Best

Fortunately for today’s consumers, it’s not necessary to remember all the unique characteristics of different wine regions; leave that to the experts. If you’re browsing wines in a shop, feel free to refer to your smartphone. A quick search like ‘2019 Syrah Morocco’ can help you find a wine that you’re likely to enjoy. Similarly, if the label says ‘estate-bottled,’ you can find more details by looking up that specific estate. Estate-bottled wines must only include grapes grown on the estate’s vineyard and carry an official appellation if the wine is blended with other varietals.

If the only thing you know about your wine is that it’s a “merlot,” it might be a budget-friendly bottle (which rocks), but if you’re trying to guarantee a certain profile from your wine, vagueness in a label is not encouraging in that capacity. Even if a particular bottle of wine uses a hybrid blend of wine grapes, like a CMS blend (cab, merlot, syrah), the label should indicate what percentage of each grape varietal is in the finished wine.

To take it one step further, wines from some regions like Piedmont, Italy or Bordeaux, France might come with a D.O.C. label so fans can be sure they’re getting the real deal. Protected quality guarantees a wine’s provenance, authenticity, style, and quality, allowing consumers to make educated decisions about which bottles to purchase.

Read the original article on Tasting Table

STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA – An aerial view of Jordan Wine Estate. This iconic destination seamlessly combines the art of winemaking, culinary excellence and unparalleled hospitality, creating a one-of-a-kind experience that deeply engages the senses and creates a memorable impact.

In the heart of South Africa’s Cape Winelands, Jordan Wine Estate epitomizes the region’s abundance of riches. Not only is the winery (or wine farm as they are called in South Africa) among the most acclaimed in Stellenbosch, but it’s also home to a world-class restaurant. And for those seeking the ultimate winelands getaway, Jordan Wine Estate offers some of the most sought-after accommodation in the area. This iconic destination seamlessly combines the art of winemaking, culinary excellence and unparalleled hospitality, creating an immersive experience that captivates the senses and leaves a lasting impression. Discover for yourself why Jordan Wine Estate is the place to visit in Stellenbosch.

Jordan Wine Estate is a family-owned winery well-known for making exceptional wines that showcase the unique terroir of the region.

The Winery and Wines

Jordan Wine Estate is a family-owned winery well-known for making exceptional wines that showcase the unique terroir of the region. What sets Jordan Wine Estate apart is its unique location and landscape. The estate’s slopes not only face the warmer north and west but also the cooler south and east directions, with vineyards lying at altitudes between 160 and 410 meters above sea level. This multifaceted orientation permits a wide variety of microclimates, which in turn allows the cultivation of an impressive range of grape varieties.

Furthermore, the estate’s proximity to both the Indian and Atlantic Oceans provides an additional layer of complexity to the terroir. The vineyards also reap the benefits of coastal fog and cool breezes, which help to moderate temperatures and ensure a slow, even ripening process. The result: grapes with excellent purity and balance, which translate into wines of exceptional quality.

But don’t take my word for it. The best way to discover Jordan’s unparalleled assets in terms of landscape and location is to see (and taste!) them for yourself by going on a 360° tour of the vineyards. Just one of the activities offered by the winery, this exclusive vineyard and cellar experience takes you on a guided tour through the vineyards in an open safari-style game viewing Land Rover. Along the way, you’ll enjoy spectacular views of False and Table Bays, as you sip and savor some of Jordan’s top vintages. Or do a guided wine tasting under the cover of ancient trees overlooking the lake (you might just catch a glimpse of a rare Cape chameleon in the bushes).

Jordan’s wine portfolio is diverse and impressive, offering something for every palate, including chenin, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, and Syrah. Each wine varietal shows off the nuances and personality of the terroir to its fullest. Two especially notable wine lines from Jordan are the Sophia and Timepiece. The Sophia is a premium Bordeaux-style blend named after the legendary mother of Faith, Hope, and Charity. Deeply layered, this wine offers an opulent finish. Timepiece wines highlight Jordan’s heritage, featuring only single-vineyard varietals from vines over 35 years old.

The Jordan Restaurant with Marthinus Ferreira is a culinary gem.

The Restaurant

The Jordan Restaurant with Marthinus Ferreira is a culinary masterpiece. The skillful chef Ferreira, replacing former chef George Jardine, provides guests an unparalleled formal dining experience with an immaculate blend of outstanding flavors. The tasting menu is a parade of the latest, tastefully delicious farm cuisine enhanced with supreme flavors, structures, and techniques. The dishes are so elegantly presented, it leaves you wondering if Ferreira was a painter in his previous life. With the availability of an open kitchen, you can witness first hand Ferreira’s zeal for food as he prepares your meal. Unexpected color and texture mixes and inventive plating techniques contribute to visually appealing masterpieces that are almost too lovely to eat. Almost.

Savor dishes such as the excellently cooked seared yellowfin tuna adorned with lumpfish roe and escabeche. The sous vide springbok loin offers unimaginable tenderness, the pleasure of which can make you emotional. And the chocolate marquise, topped with malted fudge caramel sauce, will be something you’ll reminisce for weeks after the feast. For a heightened dining experience, opt for the wine pairing and entrust your taste buds to sommelier Richard Chitukutuku. His carefully selected wines and real hospitality will enhance what is already an ideal meal.

So, what could possibly make this meal any better? Leave it to Jordan to take things up a notch with a wall of floor-to-ceiling windows (in summer, the windows slide fully open) that guests can look through to take in sunset over a lake hugged by undulating vineyards and the tranquil beauty of the Stellenbosch winelands. It’s jaw-droppingly beautiful and the vista makes for an ideal meal companion.

For a truly immersive stay in Stellenbosch, you’d do well to book a couple of nights at Jordan Wine Estate’s luxury suites, which overlook the vineyards and Stellenbosch mountains.

The Accommodation

For a truly immersive stay in Stellenbosch, you’d do well to book a couple of nights at Jordan Wine Estate’s luxury suites, which overlook the vineyards and Stellenbosch mountains. Tucked away discretely among the natural mountain fynbos of the region, you’re just steps from the winery and restaurant — though you’ll feel like you are miles away hidden in a verdant oasis. In fact, Jordan Wine Estate belongs to the Cape Floral Region, a UNESCO World Heritage site famous for its amazing biodiversity. This region, despite being the smallest of the world’s six floral kingdoms, boasts an exceptional array of plant species, many of which are found nowhere else on earth.

The comforts inside are just as inviting as the beauty outside. Large rooms with king-size beds, high-quality Egyptian cotton bedding, and floor-to-ceiling windows make up each unique suite to guarantee a memorable and luxurious stay. A number of suites feature a soaking tub, wood-burning fireplace with firewood provided, and a separate lounge area. Every room has a private veranda for you to enjoy the provided bottle of Jordan wine while taking in the breathtaking scenery of vineyards and mountains. This is a place to truly immerse yourself in the serene uniqueness of South Africa’s Stellenbosch region.

Another biweekly development release for the Windows compatibility layer is here, with Wine 9.8 now available.

Highlights of this release include:

The changes from Wine Mono 9.1.0:

There’s 22 bugs noted as solved from this Wine development release including a bug from all the way back in 2005, which was for the Microsoft Office 97 installer. There’s also fixes for Battle.net, Corsair iCUE 4, Installshield and various other miscellaneous apps and Windows compatibility issues.

Here’s the engaging narrative I crafted about Texas’s wine culture:

Individuals outside Texas can harbor any perception about the state’s wine. It could sway towards love, indifference, or even disdain. Yet, for a true Texan, these views are inconsequential. They stand firm in their enjoyment and adoration for Texas wines.

While it’s uncertain how much of this narrative is factual, I cannot turn a blind eye to the ongoing rivalry between Texas and New York for the fourth rank in terms of wine production volume. What’s remarkable is the exponential growth of Texas’s wineries, from merely 20 in the 1980s to a whopping 450 today. These wines may not regularly grace the shelves of retailers or restaurant wine lists, yet they are consumed in significant volumes. Undoubtedly, it’s not the non-Texans who are relishing these Texan wines.

White, Red, Rosé wine glasses

Several weeks ago, I hosted a gathering of friends and wine enthusiasts to sample a selection of wines from Texas. For many, it was their first encounter with Texan wines. Given the unfamiliarity, it was expected to face some level of doubt about the quality of these wines, heightened by personal preferences for renowned international wines from regions like Spain, Italy, and Oregon.

As we each approached the tasting experience, we held onto a mix of preconceived notions and expectations, all impacting our perceptions of the Texan wines being tried. Throughout the course of the tasting, we discovered, articulated, and challenged these biases, concluding with some shared insights about the sampled Texan wines.

Just a note: this informal tasting wasn’t designed to cover a comprehensive range of Texan wines. I’m certain a different set of wines would elicit different reactions and evaluations. However, from our selection that evening, the red wines definitely impressed us. Although we tried white and rosé wines, we found our attention swiftly shifting back to the reds. Memorable in particular was the 2021 Montepulciano Reserve from Hillmy Cellars. It’s distinct notes of dusty leather, plum, tamarind, and horseradish reminded some of us of beloved Spanish reds, with added unique flavors. Multiple tasters expressed that any winery, regardless of geographical identity, would be proud to offer this particular wine.

The intrigue and novelty of these wines sometimes sparked exceptional and imaginative interpretations about the tasting experience. For instance, Hillmy’s Montepulciano Reserve was noted for tamarind and horseradish flavors, while the 2021 Invention LB from Heath Family Brands was described as more French than Italian, with flavors of red pepper seed and even reminiscent of grape jelly in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

One of the most flattering comments I received during the evening pertained to participants suggesting they would intentionally consume a certain wine, implying that they would deliberately search for it even if it wasn’t adventitiously provided at this group sampling. This was accurate for the Montepulciano and Invention LB wines as well as the 2021 Nichol from Airis’Ele Vineyards, a fusion of Petite Sirah and Petit Verdot. One tester declared it to be the star of the evening, while another testified to its authenticity, indicating an agreeable interaction between aroma and flavor: the scent showed potential and the taste fulfilled that potential.

Two men suspected of stealing a forklift and driving Sunday in downtown Auburn were arrested after the vehicle smashed into the fence of a business, according to the police.

The event unfolded around 2 a.m. when police received a report of a stolen forklift at Lincoln Way and High Street, in connection with the Western State Endurance Run.

Police officers spotted the forklift travelling down Lincoln Way towards Harrison Avenue. One man was operating the machinery while his companion was seen drinking wine from a bottle in the passenger’s seat, as reported by the Auburn Police Department online.

According to the police, they attempted to stop the forklift, but the suspects fled on foot. The deserted forklift started to roll back and smashed a fence.

One individual was apprehended under the speculation of owning a stolen vehicle, evading detention, and driving whilst under the influence. Another individual was apprehended under the speculation of possessing a stolen vehicle and resisting detention. Both individuals are currently not in jail, as per the information available on online detainee records.

Organizers name the Western States Endurance Run as the oldest 100-mile race in the world. The race starts in Olympic Valley and concludes in Auburn.

The connection between the National Basketball Association (NBA) and wine continues to solidify today with the official launch of a new wine from VII(N) The Seventh Estate, a wine brand founded in 2022 by Carmelo Anthony and Asani Swann. Today they announce their collaboration with Robert Mondavi Winery, a leader in the wine industry since they were founded in 1966. Along with RMW chief winemaker Geneviève Janssens, the first collaboration release with Robert Mondavi Winery hits the market today.

A multi-year collaboration between the two entities, kicking off with as its first offering, has at its core the shared commitment to winemaking excellence and category modernization, blending the legacy and winemaking prowess of Robert Mondavi Winery with the mission of VII(N) The Seventh Estate. Robert Mondavi Winery is revered for a decades-long, rich heritage and acclaim for crafting exceptional wines that represent both innovation and uncompromising quality. VII(N) The Seventh Estate is driven by a mission to bring new voices into the world of wine, offering premium wines while connecting perspectives and individuals from all walks of life.

Ode to Soul is a proprietary red wine that embodies the essence of true collaboration between three dynamic connoisseurs with diverse perspectives on wine. Crafted by Robert Mondavi Winery’s Chief Winemaker Geneviève Janssens in partnership with Carmelo Anthony and Asani Swann, Ode to Soul is the culmination of each contributor’s unique experiences, distinct palate and creative processes. Drawing from the world-renowned To Kalon Vineyard in Napa Valley’s Oakville AVA, Ode to Soul showcases a blend of Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a touch of Petit Verdot. A harmonious blend of rich heritage and future-focused innovation, the 2021 vintage offers a wine experience that is both exhilarating and powerful, yet elegant and classic.

“We are proud to introduce a partnership with Robert Mondavi Winery aimed to produce incredible wines, prioritize innovation in the industry and foster a community,” said Carmelo Anthony, co-founder of VII(N) The Seventh Estate. “The seamless partnership between VII(N) The Seventh Estate and Robert Mondavi Winery is reflected in our inaugural wine, ‘Ode to Soul,’ and is a testament to both the power of collaboration and our commitment to expanding horizons in the wine space.”

Asani Swann, co-founder of VII(N) The Seventh Estate, adds “This is a pivotal moment for the wine category, and we are proud to be at the forefront, creating top quality wines and helping to build a more inclusive industry.”

(SRP: $275)

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