As I go about compiling the assorted recommendations for winery visits
in various regions, it occurs to me to poll afw denizens for current
recommendations (I don't feel that it makes sense to go back more than 2
years for CA given the highly volatile wine scene there). So, how
responding in this thread for winery/food/lodging recommendations for
the following regions:

Napa
Sonoma
Mendocino [shades of that Little Old Winemaker!]
Amador
Paso Robles
Santa Barbara County
Oregon: Willamette Valley
Washington

Burgundy: Côte D'Or
Beaujolais
Northern Rhone Valley
Southern Rhone Valley
Alsace
Champagne
Loi Anjou
Loi Touraine
Languedoc
Provence
Bordeaux {hah!}

Mosel
Wachau
Piedmont
Tuscany
Australia
NZ: Marlborough

Any help that people can provide would be great and incorporated into
the FAQ. At most, I'll add a sentence about each recommendation to give
the reader some sense of *why* a place is included.

Mark Lipton

Hunter Valley, NSW, Australia

Getting there from Sydney: Driving's the best bet, as it's two hours
north. Better still is to book a coach or use a local tour group to get
around.
If you're staying in the valley, local accomodation shouldn't be
difficult with the number of resorts and cottages around Pokolbin.

Where to go: McWilliams' Mount Pleasant is one of the best sites for
good Semillon. Other stand out wineries in the area: Tempus Two,
Brokenwood, De Bortoli, and Peterson Champagne House for something
quite unusual - an array of good sparkling wines. Most don't require
appointments for tastings.

---

Gibbston Valley, Central Otago, New Zealand

Getting there from Queenstown: Driving's the best bet, as it's less
than an hour's drive from the township. Tours around the area can also
be arranged easily.

Where to go: Gibbston Valley Wines has very good Pinot Noir and Rosé,
not to mention some very good Sauvignon Blanc and Riesling. Further
down the road, Peregrine Winery isn't to be missed either. No need for
appointments here either.

Salil

Mark Lipton wrote:
> As I go about compiling the assorted recommendations for winery visits
> in various regions, it occurs to me to poll afw denizens for current
> recommendations (I don't feel that it makes sense to go back more than 2
> years for CA given the highly volatile wine scene there). So, how
> responding in this thread for winery/food/lodging recommendations for
> the following regions:
>
> Napa
> Sonoma
> Mendocino [shades of that Little Old Winemaker!]
> Amador
> Paso Robles
> Santa Barbara County
> Oregon: Willamette Valley
> Washington
>
> Burgundy: Côte D'Or
> Beaujolais
> Northern Rhone Valley
> Southern Rhone Valley
> Alsace
> Champagne
> Loi Anjou
> Loi Touraine
> Languedoc
> Provence
> Bordeaux {hah!}
>
> Mosel
> Wachau
> Piedmont
> Tuscany
> Australia
> NZ: Marlborough
>
> Any help that people can provide would be great and incorporated into
> the FAQ. At most, I'll add a sentence about each recommendation to give
> the reader some sense of *why* a place is included.

I think the Rheingau should be added. I am not in a position to add any
recent information to this subject. However the region is very
interesting and is a prime tourist destination in Germany. A boat trip
will take you past many of the wine estates, castles, and ruins. The
area has some of the most famous and oldest vineyards in Germany. It
also has top hotels, huge collections of wines from all over Germany
for sale, and a few restaurants that rank among the best in Germany. If
I had the choice of only one wine destination in Germany, I would
select the Rheingau even before the Mosel, despite the very high
quality of many Mosel wines.

You already know this I'm sure - that list is WAY too big for any of us to
do justice to it, but the result of a long thread here will be very
enlightening. Here are a few of my own recommends. Looking forward to
reading the others;

Burgundy
Stay at the Le Montrachet in Puligny Montrachet. Be sure to have a glass of
wine with Thierry while you're there.Lots of dining in nearby Beaune, but at
least one night eat at the hotel. Too many amazing wines to mention, but one
that few people will know of is DuPerrier-Adam, in Chassagne-Montrachet.
Their Les Caillerets Premier Cru is not to be missed. Make a reservation for
a tasting.

Southern Rhone
Forget the Chaeauneuf du Pape. Head slight ENE into the mountains, and find
the town of Gigondas. Stay and eat at Les Florets. Once you get past their
own maison wine (if you do - it's delicious) - Domaine Garrigue - head down
into the village and find Montmirail and Cayron - two 'not to be missed'
Rhone wines.

Amador County
Too close to home for me to know the hotel / eatery inventory very well -
and there are a number of good wineries, but here are a couple 'don;t miss';
the obvious one - Sobon. Located in the old D'Agostini winery, Sobon boasts
some of the oldest Zin vines around, and have the wines to prove it.

When in Amador County, seek out Cooper's Wines. A realtive new entry, Cooper
has been a vineyardist for decades, but only more recently producing their
own wines. Some of their bottlings are 'off the beaten path', and delicious.
Mrs. Ric loves the Rousanne. We both think that their Mourvedre is one of
Amador's best kept secrets.

Mendocino
I'll leave the Napa / Sonoma suggestions to others, but if you're headed to
Mendocino, Husch is one of the most enjoyable winery visits in California.
Their Reserve Chardonnay is wonderful, and don;t miss their Gewurtztraminer.
Once over the hill on to the Mendo coast, we like to stay at the Little
River Inn - ask for (if you're prepared to pay the $) one of the cottages
"across the road" that sit on the bluff overlooking the ocean. In room
fireplaces and jacuzzis. we like to go in late March and watch the whales
from our hot tub while sipping wines picked up along the way. The bar at the
Little River Inn, midweek, is a great local haunt. One noght, be sure to
drive down to elk and have dinner at Harbor House.

One CA area you didn;t have on your list - the Santa Cruz Mountains. We
think one of the most accessible, and under recognized, premier wine areas
in California. Stay anywhere in Santa Cruz, and take the drive up through
the mountains. There are at least two or three days of tasting tours to be
done. Our favorites; David Bruce (Pinot, Pinot, Pinot - of course). Burrell
School Winery. And in the other direction, about 10 miles north of Santa
Cruz, Bonny Doon is the most fun winery in CA to visit. Be sure to buy a
case each of their late harvest 'ice wine', and their Framboise.




"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
...
> As I go about compiling the assorted recommendations for winery visits
> in various regions, it occurs to me to poll afw denizens for current
> recommendations (I don't feel that it makes sense to go back more than 2
> years for CA given the highly volatile wine scene there). So, how
> responding in this thread for winery/food/lodging recommendations for
> the following regions:
>
> Napa
> Sonoma
> Mendocino [shades of that Little Old Winemaker!]
> Amador
> Paso Robles
> Santa Barbara County
> Oregon: Willamette Valley
> Washington
>
> Burgundy: Côte D'Or
> Beaujolais
> Northern Rhone Valley
> Southern Rhone Valley
> Alsace
> Champagne
> Loi Anjou
> Loi Touraine
> Languedoc
> Provence
> Bordeaux {hah!}
>
> Mosel
> Wachau
> Piedmont
> Tuscany
> Australia
> NZ: Marlborough
>
> Any help that people can provide would be great and incorporated into
> the FAQ. At most, I'll add a sentence about each recommendation to give
> the reader some sense of *why* a place is included.
>
> Mark Lipton

> Mendocino
> I'll leave the Napa / Sonoma suggestions to others, but if you're headed to
> Mendocino, Husch is one of the most enjoyable winery visits in California.
> Their Reserve Chardonnay is wonderful, and don;t miss their Gewurtztraminer.
> Once over the hill on to the Mendo coast, we like to stay at the Little
> River Inn - ask for (if you're prepared to pay the $) one of the cottages
> "across the road" that sit on the bluff overlooking the ocean...

I'll second the Husch winery, and reccomend their Cabernet Franc.

I've never stayed at the Little River Inn, but thoroughly enjoyed the Joshua Grindle Inn. In fact, we were the ones that named the "Meadow View" Room (which used to be called the "Guest" room, since it was the guest room when it was a house. They have a wonderful pump organ in the main lobby too.

Jose
--
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