Tag Archives: Wine

J Vineyards Makes it Right

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A few weeks ago I wrote about a negative experience my friends and I had at  J Vineyards & Winery in Healdsburg. The short story is that we were part of a Wine Club special event tasting where employees were uneducated about the wines and food pairings, they lacked attention to detail and their guests and the “sparkling only” wine shipment was overpriced and handed to me not with pride but apologetically.

A few days after sharing that experience I was contacted over Twitter and the phone by Carolyne, a representative of the winery. We talked at length about what happened, what should have happened and what will happen in the future. Carolyne was kind to listen, apologize and provide me with the confidence that myself and others will not be dealt the same poor service ever again at their tasting room. Continue reading →

J Vineyards and Winery, a Bitter Taste

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J Vineyards and WineryI tweeted earlier in the week that Kayla, Marris and I had a dreadful wine tasting at J Vineyards in Healdsburg. J Vineyards responded on Twitter requesting I direct message them my story so they could make it right. I told them I’d put it together here and so I have. A direct message, while definitely tidier for J, would never allow me to fully explain my disappointment. Here goes:

If you’re a regular reader of my blog, you probably know about the never-ending renovation I’ve been doing on my house in wine country. I find myself going up north to meet with a contractor or furniture delivery person at least once a month. While this might be annoying to some, and it is to me, the best part of these trips is getting to see Kayla.

It’s a rare event that Kayla and I are in the same zip code and don’t do some sort of wine tasting. So on this trip to Sonoma County, she and I decided to hit up J Vineyards for a quick tasting and pick up my wine club shipment. Marris was in town and joined in on the adventure. But before we go there, let’s learn a bit about the winery and my history visiting them. Continue reading →

Wines of the Wine, Cheese and Dessert Party

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This post is really just a list. A list of the wines the wines people brought to our Wine, Cheese and Dessert party. A few of these bottles are from my rack but obviously the majority are from the guests. I wish I had written down all the cheeses we enjoyed. There were quite a few great cheese. Can’t really say much for the wine; I only drank my Meeker and Turnbull cabernets.  Continue reading →

Beautiful Day in the Wine Valley

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Sunday greeted Ryan and me with some of the most beautiful weather we’ve seen in a while. It also gave us an entire day hanging out with Kayla in the wine valley, checking out wineries, tasting a dozen or so bottles and buying a few as well.

We hit up Unti Vineyards, Preston Vineyards, Quivira Vineyards and Winery, Mounts Family Winery and finally an epic winery tour from Michel-Schlumberger Wine.

I picked up a bottle from Unti, Preston and Mounts. I was pretty tempted to get Michel-Schlumberger’s 1991 cabernet but rumor has it Ryan and I are looking at taking advantage of a big wine sell soon…

We ended our day absolutely devouring some tapas at Willi’s Seafood & Raw Bar.

Discarded, Discarted, Descartes

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One person sees a bunch of abandoned shopping carts, I see a bunch of failed attempts at stealing shopping carts, failing to realize they have electronic locks that kill the wheels when they reach the end of the parking lot.

I also imagine a kid running with the card, hopping on the back, gliding carefree and fast through the parking lot when, WHAM! Wheels lock and he lands in one of those bushes.

I can be sinister like that.

There’s also a René Descartes joke in here for the philosopher in all of us.

Wine and Friends

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You might remember that I went to court just a couple of weeks ago to deal with a squatter who had been living in our family cottage in the wine valley. We won the lawsuit and he was to be evicted 5 days after the judgement had been made official, ie, after he was informed and the Sheriff had posted notice on the house.

Well the day came that I was going to have to meet the Sheriff’s deputy and do the official turning over of property from the squatter back to me.

Not a fun trip to make really. Luckily my dear @KaylaGettys organized a super fun blind wine tasting with some of her friends in Healdsburg. So, the night before I had to be in Forestville, I went to Healdsburg, met some really amazing people, drank some fun wine and generally had an amazing time.

Without that night I don’t think I could have made it through the day that followed.

Impromptu Visit to the Wine Valley

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A jaunt over to Ikea to buy a dresser becomes a trip to Sonoma Valley for @Marris_Returns and I. We met up at Ikea where said dresser was purchased. Meanwhile Marris gets a phone call about a cousin about a trip to Napa.

One thing lead to another and the trip to Napa was cancelled almost as soon as it started. But, instead of getting all down about the whole deal, we decide to surprise @KaylaGettys with a trip to her winery in Healdsburg, Seghesio Family Vineyards.

Well, that trip to Seghesio became a trip to Seghesio, Mauritson Vineyards, Amista Vineyards and finally Sbragia Family Vineyards where we met the owner’s daughter, Gina. We hoped to squeeze in one more winery, Preston Vineyards, but we were a bit too chatty with each of these great, small production wineries.

Continue reading →