The majority of visitors to Northern California’s Napa Valley wine region expect wine tastings to be free, but most Napa Valley wineries have been raising their tasting fees consistently over the last decade. Free tastings in Napa Valley are becoming few and far between. On average, you can expect to pay between $5 and $25 per tasting. Tasting with food pairings, with cave tours, or with barrel tasting can cost as much as $80 per person.

With more visitors each year than Disneyland, perhaps Napa Valley wineries simply grew tired of providing more than 8 million complimentary tastings annually. In the last year alone, the appointment-only Caymus Vineyards tasting room went from free to $25 per person, while the renowned Napa Valley winery, deli and picnic stop, V. Sattui, began charging $5 per person. Rombauer Vineyards has also raised their tasting fee from complimentary to $10 per person.

There are still a few strategies the informed wine lover can use to lessen the blow of winery tasting fees. The majority of wineries are willing to waive tasting fees with a bottle purchase (bottles generally range in price from $20 to $200). Often you can avoid winery tasting fees by joining a wine club, but this too can be costly depending on the distribution program of that particular wine club.

Fear not—you can still find free, quality wine tastings in the world-renowned Napa Valley region:  Read more...

f you are looking for a European tourist destination, consider the island of Sicily, an island in southern Italy. Depending on your specific interests, this beautiful area can be an ideal vacation spot. It offers classic Italian food and fine local wine. And many parts of Sicily haven’t yet been discovered by tourists. This article presents Sicily’s historic capital, Palermo. A companion article presents western Sicily. Another companion article presents eastern Sicily.

Palermo is Sicily’s capital and largest city with a population of about 700,000. It was founded in the Eighth Century B. C. by the Phoenicians who wanted to take advantage of its natural harbor. This strategically city was conquered time and time again. For example, it was once a Muslim city with two or three hundred Mosques. The period of the Norman occupation starting in 1072 and lasting for well over one hundred years was considered Palermo’s golden age. The conquests continued almost unabated. Palermo was heavily destroyed during the Second World War. To some extent Palermo is still in the hands of a conqueror, the Mafia.

We’ll start our tour with the Cathedral, built in 1185 on the site of a Byzantine basilica transformed into a mosque by the Saracens in the Ninth Century. Construction continued for centuries, with each addition or renovation done in the style of the times. This building contains a solar observatory, built in 1690, which served to coordinate Palermo time with St. Peters in Rome, and to ascertain the correct day to celebrate Easter. As elsewhere in Sicily, lava was an occasional construction material.  Read more...

On a typical bright, sunny spring day in Napa Valley, you’ll find the Napa Valley wine train pulling out of the railway station and rolling northwards heading towards the valley. While the passengers make themselves comfy on the lavish, swivel chairs, wineglasses will be handed to them as they gaze across the hillside that’s tinged with tiny traces of mustard.

Only 30 miles in length and narrowing to roughly a mile across the waist, Napa Valley has over 35,000 acres of vineyards to its name, which is about a fourth of the Bordeaux region of France. In the valley, the very best of the natural attributes that California has to offer- the perfectly sunny weather, sheltering hills, rich soil- all merge together to form a mini masterpiece of the artistry of nature. But like every other work in progress wherein the creator is never fully satisfied, change will always be visible.

The last two decades have brought about a ten-fold increase in the number of wineries here. With about every acre of the floor of the valley now occupied with vines, grape grows have virtually taken over the hills. The wine boom has also been accompanied by the explosion in tourism, which has brought about a burgeoning number of restaurants and eateries that offer fine dining experiences that can rival even the best that France has to offer. If you are visiting Napa Valley, then savor some of the culinary delights that are available here: the smoked trout fillet, lobster sausage, or the miyagi oysters in ponzu sauce. What’s more, these are just the appetizers!  Read more...

Tasting wine is more complex then simply drinking. Wine tasting is about more than hydration. It is a whole different experience than what you may be used to when drinking. It is more like tasting food. You want to enjoy the wine and to experience the wine.

Knowing the proper way to taste wine will allow to you appreciate the art that goes into the creation of each bottle. It will also show others that you are serious about wine and that you understand the complexity of wine tasting. It also shows you have respect for the wine and for those who made it because you are doing much more than tasting, but you are taking in every aspect of the wine.

Step 1: Look at the wine after pouring it. When the wine is first poured, before you do anything else you have to look at the wine. This is best done against a plain light colored background that will allow you to see the colors and the depth of the wine. You want to look for streaks of color or subtle hints of color variations. Make a note of the coloring you see.

Step 2: Swirl the wine in the glass. Once you have looked at the wine and noted its coloring after pouring, you can swirl it slightly in the glass. Swirl enough to get the wine to coat the glass, but avoid swirling too vehemently. After you swirl you will want to look at the wine again and note the coloring changes. Major changes mean the wine is a more complex wine. No changes means the wine is a simpler wine.  Read more...

Summer is BBQ time. With Father’s's Day, July fourth and summertime in general, many American citizens enjoy normal BBQ. At Naperville’s Ribfest, pork BBQ ribs are king. If you are a little’porked out,’ griddled chicken and fish are a welcome change. A wine that pairs well with both of these is Chardonnay.

Wine Facts

Chardonnay is one of the most generally planted and successful white wines in the world, and is recognized as one of 9 classic grape varietals. Chardonnay offers appealing tastes of tropical fruit, apple and butterscotch and has a creamy, full-bodied style. Quality Chardonnay is temporarily aged in oak barrels to impart a creamy richness and a long, pleasing finish. Wine makers must be cautious about the length of time the wine is in contact with the wood, as an’over-oaked’ wine can loose its fruit flavors and balance, and taste upsetting.

Chardonnay’s major growing areas include California and the Pacific Northwest, Chile, Australia, France, Italy and south africa. The significant difference is the’old world’ style French Chardonnay tends to be leaner, crisp with mineral and apple notes, while Yankee Chardonnay has a tendency to be big and oaky with vanilla and butterscotch notes. As Yankee tastes have shown preference for a lighter style of Chardonnay, American winemakers have moved away from their dependence on oak and are using stainless steel vats, leading to a snappier, more food friendly wine.

BBQ Catering  Read more...