February 2015 - Snob Free Wine Tasting

Cork vs. Screw Caps: A Measure of Wine Quality?

Feb 24, 2015

It’s a misconception that screw caps go with cheap, poor quality wine albeit a hard one to overcome since Baby Boomers associate these with the cheap wine of their youth. Actually, there is no technical reason wines with a screw cap won’t age as well or better than those with a cork. Needless to say, the cork industry and those wine producers that use cork in their bottling process would like consumers to believe otherwise. According to the Press Democrat, a Sonoma County paper, Northern California Wine Country wineries conducted a “…$300,000 campaign on local radio and Facebook where area wineries such as...

The Wine in Your Glass Starts Here

Feb 18, 2015

As with most of our food and drink, we buy it at the market with little to no thought about how it got there. It’s been interesting for us to understand wine as an agricultural product; grapes grown in vineyards that are planted, tended with care, harvested and then taken through a process that culminates as the wine you enjoy in your glass. If you visit the wine country this time of year, it’s glorious. While vines have been pruned in January, so are generally still without leaves, in between the rows of vines are beautiful colors of green grass...

Secret Wine Santa in February?

Feb 11, 2015

An anonymous woman in San Francisco’s East Bay is gifting unsuspecting restaurant-goers with great wine! The “Secret Somm” is out and about in Danville, Pleasanton, Livermore, San Ramon, Dublin, Amador, Livermore and San Ramon, otherwise known as the Bay Area’s Tri Valley. Some of you “boomers” may remember the old TV show called “The Millionaire” in which a wealthy man dropped a million dollars on a regular guy. Secret Somm conjures that up, albeit not at the same dollar amount by any means! Nice thought though. If I lived in the Tri Valley area I’d start eating out more!

Valentine’s Gift Handled!

Feb 2, 2015

Snob Free Wine Tasting Companion, Wine Smart in a Day, Napa & Sonoma Ediion You are of course starting to scratch your head and maybe even wring your hands. “What am I going to get my sweetie for Valentine’s Day?” you ask. It won’t surprise you that we have a great idea for you! Order your Snob Free Wine Tasting Companion, Wine Smart in a Day now and you can both enjoy wine tasting on an outing to a winery or at home. If you’re thinking of adding wine and chocolate to your book gift, go for it! It’s truly...

Visiting Bay Area Wineries: Tour Guide Tips

Feb 1, 2015

Napa, California, Wine Country, Napa and Sonoma counties in Northern California are the hub of wine making in the U.S. Considered part of the San Francisco Bay area, Napa in particular, with roughly 500 wineries, is a destination for four million visitors a year. Though many visitors – whether from the surrounding Bay Area or from out of town – may like to be spontaneous in their excursions to wineries, it pays to give some thought ahead of time to which wineries you’re going to visit. Based on his experience as a tour guide in Napa and Sonoma, Andy Hyman,...