Rutherford Hill Winery long has been an outrider on the Napa Valley wine scene. It stubbornly has stuck by Merlot as its signature wine as its neighbors have staked their acclaim on the comparably more esteemed Cabernet Sauvignon. It is secluded high in the...

"Come Over October" is upon us. This has nothing to do with Halloween and trick-or-treaters, though bogeymen are involved. The inspiration of a small if vocal and creative group of wine-trade influencers, "Come Over October" is meant to tell people not obsessed with...

California’s Lake County built its reputation for fine wine with zesty Sauvignon Blancs and chiseled Cabernet Sauvignons. That standing was affirmed earlier this month when the Lake County Fair introduced its Blue Ribbon Wine Competition, the first comprehensive...

  Just as the harvest of vintage 2024 gets under way in California, Amador County's wine community is being jolted by news that Trinchero Family Estates is closing and putting on the market its Shenandoah Valley winery Terra d'Oro. While Terra d'Oro and its...

  We’ve been down this road before, the road about vineyards and wineries of Idaho. We didn’t find any potato wine then and we didn’t find any potato wine now. Potato vodka, sure, but no potato wine. Other novelties, yes, but no potato wine. Sorry. By and large,...

Alameda County Fair wine judge Barry Herbst of Bottle Barn at Santa Rosa.   From pigs to pies, county fairs long have highlighted the intersection of industrious agriculture and individual creativity. Wine, with its roots in both farming and artistic expression,...