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Oysters and Smoked Meats at Jamison’s Ale House
The first time I went to Jamison’s Ale House and Oyster Bar in Amador City, CA, I knew I would be going back often and would want to share it with you. UPDATE Fall 2018: Sadly, Jamison’s Ale House and Oyster Bar is permanently closed. It was sure fun while it lasted! Jamison’s Ale House If you want to know anything about beer or home brewing, visit Jamison’s Ale House and talk to co-owner Virginia Vasquez. Virginia has been judging beer for nearly 20 years, both commercial and home brew competitions. As a result, she began to appreciate how important it is to understand the ingredients, process and history of beer. She has organized pub crawls all over Northern California, blogged and written for a…
This One’s All About the Food – #wbc17 – Part 2
Wine Bloggers Conference Food – Recap Part 2 In my last post I promised to tell you about the Wine Bloggers Conference food. I had two meals while I was at the conference that were absolutely outstanding and wanted to share them with you. Jordan Winery Dinner Excursion When I registered for the conference, we had several choices for dinner on Friday night. I didn’t really know anything about the wineries putting on the dinners but after a review of their websites, I chose Jordan Winery. From the moment I stepped on the bus, I knew the hospitality would be amazing. Our hostess for the evening, Lisa Mattson, Director of Marketing and Communications for Jordan, started the trip explaining how welcoming guests with a glass…
Wine Bloggers Conference 2017 Recap — Part 1 #wbc17
If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you know that I just returned from the Wine Bloggers Conference in Santa Rosa, CA. I attended my first International Food Blogger Conference in Sacramento a few weeks ago and this was also my first wine bloggers conference. It was a great conference and I hope to be able to attend next year. I can tell you now that it will be in Walla Walla, Washington, but we didn’t get to find out until the final minutes of the closing remarks. The Wine Bloggers Conference and Wine Country Fires I didn’t write a recap of the Food Blogger Conference, which I should have, so I didn’t want to miss sharing the Wine Bloggers Conference with you —…
Wilderotter Vineyard and Winery: From Small Beginnings
Jay Wilderotter is one of the lucky ones. He found his passion a long time ago and lives it every day. He told me, “I never feel like I’m going to work.” Jay and his wife, Maggie, own Wilderotter Vineyard and Winery in the Shenandoah Valley in Plymouth, California. Jay says, “My business is threefold: vineyard, winery and hospitality [referring to the Grand Reserve Inn which I’ll tell you about in another post] and every day is different.” Wilderotter Vineyard and Winery Jay has been in the wine business for 27 years. For the first 15 of that, he was a grower and sold to other wine producers. He participated in the production of the wines made from his grapes and, with the help of…
Mobile Bottling Truck: Indispensable for Many Small Wineries
What do you do if you are a small, family-owned winery and don’t have the room or don’t want to invest in a bottling line? You could hire a mobile bottling truck. During a recent visit to Jeff Runquist Wines, the mobile bottling truck happened to be there and I got to take a look inside. The process was fascinating and mind bogglingly fast! Click play on the video to see just how fast. How the Line Worked in this Mobile Bottling Truck The boxes of bottles are emptied on a table. The bottles are put in the sparger which turns the bottles upside down and injects them with nitrogen. This removes all the air from the bottle so that the wine is not exposed…