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Indiegogo: Help Save 85 Year Old Vineyard in Italy

February 18, 2016 posted by Shona Milne

You can help save a 85 year old vineyard in the Monferrato region of Italy. They are fundraising on Indiegogo. They are running out of time. Their infomation is below also. 

We are Michela and Georg, a couple living in Italy. We are desperately trying to find funds to save our 2.5 acres, 85-year-old Single-Vineyard. If not, it will be uprooted by law at our expenses and therefore lost forever.

There’s not much time left before the deadline for uprooting that has been established by the Agricultural Office of Piemonte on april 1st!

Michela works from home as an editor for a publishing company, Georg teaches German part time as a Lecturer at Torino University and does some writing for children and translations.

4 years ago we bought half of an old farmhouse in Moncucco Torinese, nestled in the hills of Monferrato 30 km south-east of Torino. These rolling hills form a wonderful landscape and are full of wine and history. So far we have managed to renovate only a part of our farmhouse but we had to stop any further work simply because the money is tight. But that is not why we are here! If you want to know more about our place, have a look at this article. Less than 50 meters from our house are the ruins of the castle of Pogliano already known as early as in the  13th century.

Together with the farmhouse came 2.5 acres of an old vineyard that produces Freisa–wine.

Here you find an interesting article in English about Freisa (and the first picture of the article is about 1 km from our vineyard, which lays halways to the castle of Moncucco Torinese!)

A living example of bio-diversity

The vineyard was planted at the very end of the 1920’s and therefore is amongst the oldest implants of vineyards in the whole region. Some of the single roots contain genoma that today are either extremely rare to find or have not been mapped before. Therefore, this vineyard is a symbol of bio-diversity, but it risks to be uprooted by law..

The vineyard came as part of the property but we didn’t know anything about vineyards and wine-making. For some 20 years a farmer had leased the vineyard for a low annual fee from the old house-owner, doing all the work and selling the grapes to the “Cantina Sociale” (wine-cooperative) of Castelnuovo Don Bosco. He agreed on keeping things the way they were with the previous owners and we signed the contract. So we figured we’d have plenty of time to deal with the vineyard after the renovation of the house. The vineyard was looked after by the farmer and we concentrated on the house and on the vegetable garden.

Things were not as they seemed to be

After we moved in, we noticed that the farmer was keeping the vineyard with decreasing effort, letting it gradually slip out of control. He simply was getting too old. In order to keep a vineyard in shape, during winter you have to prune and tie each plant with great care, replace rotten stakes with new ones and control the wires in case they are not strong enough to sustain plants with 8 – 10 bunches  or during storms. Once the stakes start to tilt, a tractor can’t get in between the rows and at once the whole vineyard gets out of control very fast.

The picture below was taken when we started the work on the house. Even if you don’t know much about vineyards, you can clearly see how badly all stakes were tilted and that the weeds were totally out of control.


The old farmer told us he hadn’t felt well lately and needed to retire. What a blow. We had to take a decision, and fast. No farmer nearby was willing to step in, considering the state the vineyard was in. We called friends, searched for experts on vineyard-farming, met a number of people and asked for their opinion. After long discussions we decided to take on the work ourselves. We knew it would be a hard task. We had no idea how hard it would have been…

This is a detail how parts of the vineyard looked 3 years ago!

In the pic above you see the terrible shape the stakes and the weeds are in the part of the vineyard we couldn’t get under control.

Here I’m working in the “good” part with a little help from a friend.

Here you see what a battle it is to get things under control once you allow wild trees and bushes to grow!

A stroke of luck

Amongst many others, we talked to Mario Casalegno, (a professional wine-maker with a degree in viticulture and “agrotecnico”). Living nearby, he came to look at our vineyard. He was thrilled by the age of the vines, the wonderful exposure and soil, that would guarantee excellent wine. He said he would help us out as much as possible (for free in the first season) with the tasks of the vineyard, come by with his tractor for the necessary treatments against major grape diseases, for the milling and to help us keep the expenses to a minimum. Most of all, Mario said he would do the wine-making in his professional cellar… not for money, but in return for a little bit of our wine. Because he is a professional oenologist and undergoes quality control, the location of our vineyard and his wine-making will mean that our wine would have the official Italian and international registered designation of origin (D.O.C). But most of all, it’s top quality-wine.

So that was a new start with high hopes…

Michela is very good at pruning!

What we have done so far

We are now into our third year. The good news is that we managed to clean and maintain slightly more than a fourth of the whole vineyard. Mario came over many times and talked us through every step. It was no piece of cake, but hard work. For this recovery, we have each put every year more than 500 hours’ work in. And the results are:

  1. this first part of the vineyard has been thoroughly pruned throughout the last 3 years, thus verticalizing again the vine-plants, giving them new strength and stamina;
  2. the worst 250 – 300 tilted stakes have been replaced, all by hand, mostly replanting the old wooden stakes in new holes about a meter deep. We bought approximately 80 fairly new stakes replacing missing or rotten ones;
  3. all missing/old wires were replaced by new ones (there are 4 wires running between the stakes);
  4. we cut and uprooted hundreds of small trees that had started to grow between the rows.
  5. we took care of most of the weeds growing underneath and between the rows by hand and with a trimmer (which is a very important and time-consuming task!);
  6. we did all of the disease-management treatments with a backpack sprayersince no tractor could pass through the “bad part” of our vineyard.

During harvest 2013 we managed to produce 800 liters (210 gallons) of wonderful wine from the “good part”.

Mario concentrating on his old hydraulic press


this is how the “good part” of the vineyard looked like in September 2015:


We replanted the stakes (except the row on the right, at that time we were working on it) in the “good part” of the vineyard (the weed was cut with a trimmer shortly after we took the pic).

There is nothing in nature that gets out of control so fast as a vineyard, and if you don’t prune in winter you have no grapes in autumn. The weeds grow fast, the plants grow wild and start crawling in every direction (without production of grapes), the stakes tilt and everything turns into a jungle within a year.

The bad part of the story

2014 was an extremely bad year for wine-makers. In spring it started to rain and temperature dropped. And this didn’t stop for months. The plants caught grape diseases such as powdery and downy mildew, black rot, phomopsis. (See here for further info). Unluckily the rotten weather didn’t stop and it rained every single day until harvest time, which was the worst case scenario, simply because you can’t treat when it rains. Speaking about bad luck: it was the worst year in vine-making in the last 100 years in Piedmont – and had little to do with our inexperience. Even our 60 tomato-plants died of fungi. Because of the rotten weather, the ministry of agriculture gave authorization for spraying hard-core fungicides. We discussed the matter and preferred to lose our entire harvest rather than use chemicals that alter the plants’ DNA and end up inside the wine you drink. Sometimes Nature decides against us, and we had to accept it, even if for us it meant losing sales of more than 900 gallons of wine. That sum would have gone into putting the vineyardinto good shape. Mario too had big troubles with his own vineyard and we didn’t see him for over three months.

Losing the complete 2014 harvest

Without fungicides, we watched thousands of bunches of our vineyard rot before our eyes. We didn’t even need to harvest, because there was not a single grape left on the branches. What we didn’t know was that one of the various diseases that affected our grapes had also crippled the shoots that in spring 2015 would have grown to become future stems, then branches and in the end produce bunches. So we should have used the hardcore treatment after all, even had we decided not to make wine out of our grapes because we had used chemical fungicides.

The consequences of a bad year: bad can get worse

The bad year cost us any income from our wine we had hoped for. Also, the two of us had simply not enough time to take care of such a great amount of work. We did what we could and gave it all the time we had.

If we don’t get very lucky, the bad part of the vineyard will be uprooted within this year. Uprooting means that the wires have to be torn away, each and every stake will be torn out and every plant will be cut at least 1 meter below the ground (otherwise they shoot again). All this has high costs and we can’t do it on our own. For uprooting you need 5 – 6 men and a tractor for more than a week. And the expenses – some 4.000/5.000 € – would nearly be enough to put our vineyard back to shape.

This would be a terrible blow and not an acceptable solution; this is not the way we want to deal with our vineyard. We know that with Mario’s help the vineyard will produce 900 gallons of wonderful wine in two years’ time… if only we had the chance to save it. We feel it’s important to bring it back on its feet and into production. It’s not for the sake of money, but because it is 85-years old and in a perfect histoical position. Yes, it will always produce less wine than modern vineyards, but such a wonderful wine is worth every effort. And that’s why we are here asking for your help.

With a bit more money than the uprooting would cost, we can manage to save a whole vineyard, and thus keep it in shape for years to come!

What we will try to do (and the relative costs):

  1. Get rid of the weeds and wild tree-shoots: 2.000 €;
  2. New stakes ( for a reasonably low price): 2.000 €;
  3. New wires: 500 €;
  4. Plant the stakes and fix the wires: 1.500 €;
  5. Pay a farmer with a tractor to do the necessary 6 – 8 treatments in 2016 plus mill between the rows: 1.000 €

Total: 7.000 €

We do not want to get rich. We need at least 7.000 € to get the remaining old part of the vineyard in working shape and producing again by 2017. And we can’t even think of planting the new stakes by hand, because we’re talking about 500 stakes at least (on a long working day I manage to plant about 10 – 12 new stakes by hand, and fix/change the wires). All this has to be done before the plants start to shoot, which is about the beginning/middle of April. Also, the stakes have to be paid for. The total amount of work is so high that we need at least 1.500 € for two or three specialized farmhands with a tractor who first get rid of the old stakes and then plant the new ones by ramming them a meter deep into the ground with the tractor-bucket. Only afterwards we can put in new wires, prune the plants and tie them to the wires.

Cow dung is good for our organic vegetable-garden. In Italy, actors wish good luck to each other by saying “dung” before going on stage. So maybe this helps our vineyard, too?

 

What happens if we don’t reach the necessary funding?

Should we end up with less than we need to cover all the expenses for the whole vineyard, we will employ the funds for saving the “bad part” of the vineyard. The lesser money we will receive, the lesser of the vineyard can be salvaged (For example with 4.000 € we can modernize only about half of the “bad part”). In this case, part of the expenses of point 1. would necessarily go into the uprooting of the vineyard we were not able to modernize… it’s impossible to leave it as it is for one more year.

Here you can see a pic from today (1/12/16). Beautiful morning to work in the vineyard! What a difference between the “good” and the “bad” part (looks more like a jungle)! The lower row needs new stakes, that’s where I will be going soon.

 

Depending on how much funds we will receive, we could eventually decide to pay for point 1. and the pruning of all plants of the vineyard (without pruning there will be no future production of grapes) and make at least sure that a tractor can be used between the rows for the treatments. This would leave the problems of putting in new stakes and wires, but the plants pruned, the weeds cut and the milling done by tractor would give us another year’s time to somehow buy new stakes, eventually funded in part by the sales of our wine in two years’ time. It’s going to be tough, but we care for environment and Nature and work our land as much and as good as we can. We planted and keep an organic vegetable-garden that gives us fresh organic vegetables all year round. We also planted fruit-trees and had solar panels installed on our house roof. We are extremely conscious about not increasing the industrial agriculture that makes people believe you can bend Nature at your will, that you can eat whatever you want in every week of the year. We believe in sustainability and try to protect our environment, using the absolute minimum of chemical treatments for our vineyard and the wine, while industrial agriculture with consumer-centered laws alters the equilibrium we should strive to maintain.

Are there other ways to help us without donating money?

It’s possible, but it’s up to you.
One way for you to help us would be coming over to our place in Moncucco Torinese for some days or a week, possibly in two or three, and give us a hand with the work in the vineyard.
What you can do depends on whether you are experienced with pruning or not. If so, Michela would show you how to do it here, because every region requires a different pruning. If not, there are hundreds of stakes to be uprooted and new ones to be planted, old wires to put up, weeds to cut… There are so many things to do…
In this case Mario (who has in his farmhouse a small “agriturismo” would give you free boarding and we would, happily, make sure that you don’t starve nor be thirsty!
Have a look at our perks, if you have a little time left.

What happens if the funding exceeds our goal?

We don’t even want to hope for this! But, of course, we are very concerned about the vineyard every day. There would be other things we urgently need in order to get it really going strong in the next years.
– a small second-hand tractor;
– design and produce state-of-the-art labels for our bottles;
– high-quality empty bottles (yes, bottles do cost, too);
– try to go totally organic (which is more time-consuming and thus expensive).

So, rest assured: nothing will be wasted

What is Freisa? (Sorry, but we need to sketch a short history of wine-planting in our area)

Freisa is a very old native red wine, amongst the oldest native wines of this area, mentioned already in the 16th century.

“Freisa can be a wonderful wine with structure, and those typical, intense notes of blackberry, raspberry and freshness. Barrel aging can contribute to such balance.”

Paul Balke

DNA researchers discovered that Freisa is the genetic “grandfather” of Nebbiolo, and therefore of Barolo. Nevertheless, in the past 40 years the area dedicated to Freisa has shrunk drastically. In the 70s, phylloxera hit so hard that most of vineyards in Piedmont had to be replanted (luckily ours survived). Most farmers at this point decided to change wine variety, because Freisa, at this point, was the Cinderella of vine-plants; it neither had the high production-rate per acre nor the appeal that Nebbiolo or Barolo were starting to build. Big and medium wine-makers switched to other native grapes that produce 40% more wine per acre with better selling varieties for the fast-growing international customers.

As a result, Freisa has become increasingly rare. Estimations say there are only some 2000 hectares of Freisa left in Piemonte.

It’s a questionable victory of modern marketing and mechanization over thousands of small-end medium wine-producers, which means that this excellent, astonishing, full and rich native wine (alc. 12,5% maintaining its wonderful organoleptic qualities well over 10 years in a bottle) is slowly going down memory lane.

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About Me

Shona Milne

I live my life around what is in my wine glass, the food on my plate, where I am, and my friends around me. It’s not wine snobbery. It’s what wine pairs with a hot dog or a five course dinner…Read More

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      • Oregon Winery to Woodinville: Panther Creek
      • Summer Northwest Berries: Tulalip Resort Casino
    • ► May (11)
      • Wine Club by Margaritaville: St. Somewhere
      • Tea & Crumpets: Celebrating the Royal Wedding
      • Summer Entertaining: Wine and Cheese Pairing Tips
      • Wine World Festival Sobre las Olas: Reserva Conchal Costa Rica
      • Chef Kathy Casey: New Burger Lounge, Rel'Lish, Opens at Sea-Tac Airport
      • Mother's Day: Tulalip Resort Casino Celebrates Mom
      • Celebrate World Cocktail Day With Booking.com and Taste Signature Cocktails From Around the World
      • Baskin-Robbins: Wine and Ice Cream Pairings
      • Easy Mint Julep Recipe: Kentucky Derby Day on Saturday
      • Easy Guacamole Recipe: Cinco de Mayo
      • Easy Margarita Recipe: Cinco de Mayo
    • ► April (11)
      • World Whisky Record Broken: The Macallan 1926 for $1.2M
      • Ultimate Travel Bucket List: Flight Network
      • Adventure Travel: Wind & Wine Croatia
      • Earth Day 2018: Blue Marble Cocktails Picks Up
      • Humboldt Distillery: Celebrates 4/20 With Legal Cannabis-Infused Vodka Cocktail
      • Taste Washington: Wine Lovers Set Attendance Record
      • Weekend Getaway Travel Packing List: Miss Mikayla G
      • Spring Feasts: Unexpected Wine and Food Pairings
      • Luxury Space Hotel: Travel to the Final Frontier
      • Lychee Frosé Piscine: A Summer Sipper
      • Maryhill Winery: 2018 Summer Concert Series
    • ► March (8)
      • Tulalip Resort Casino: Chefs Prime Picks
      • Taste Washington: 21st Year Begins on Thursday
      • BevMo!: Customers Create New Wine Portfolio
      • Holland America Line: Food & Beverage Aficionado Cruises 2018
      • Taste Washington: Red & White Party
      • James Suckling: Developing Holland America Wine List
      • Washington State Wine: Lighter Grape Harvest 2017
      • Wine to Weed: Big Moon Sky Cannabis Dispensary
    • ► February (7)
      • Johnnie Walker Launches: Jane Walker Edition, Donating $1 For Every Bottle Made To Organizations Championing Women's Causes
      • Move Over, Rosé Wine! Angry Orchard Rosé Hard Cider Is Here, Poised To Be The Year's Hottest Drink
      • New Oregon Non-Profit: Certifies Craft Wineries Nationally
      • Wine Flies Free: Alaska Airlines Expands Its Program
      • Celebrity Cruises: Celebrity Edge Continues to Surprise With Inaugural Season
      • Open Table: 100 Most Romantic Restaurants
      • Board Track Racer: New Tasting Room in Woodinville
    • ► January (5)
      • Campari: The Legend of Red Hand Short Movie
      • Sea Aged Wine: New Discoveries
      • Seattle Wine and Food Experience: Grand Tasting
      • Tangent: Canned Wines
      • World Tourism Day: Protecting Culture and Heritage
  • ► 2017 (50)
    • ► December (2)
      • New Year's Eve: Three Cocktails To Try
      • Pet Pictures With Santa: Castillo de Feliciana
    • ► October (2)
      • TulaBene: New Restaurant at Tulalip Resort Casino
      • First Ever: Book Signing While Stomping Grapes
    • ► September (5)
      • Tulalip Oktoberfest: A Bavarian Journey
      • Costa Rica Rainy Season: Best Things To Do
      • Best Cities for Rosé Lovers: Redfin Has Top 11 Cities
      • Buy Beer, Help Pets: Purina Helps Shelter Pets Find Forever Homes
      • Cruise Dining: Celebrity Cruises Revamping Its Dining Experience
    • ► August (9)
      • Rosé: Fastest Growing Wine Category in the U.S.
      • Chateau Ste. Michelle: New Visitor Center Opening
      • $4.19 Million: Auction of Washington Wine Breaks Record
      • Rosé All Day: Wine Consumer Survey
      • Wine Tasting & Education: Cruises Appeal to Beginners and Connoisseurs
      • American Whiskies: Mash Up at Tulalip Resort Casino
      • Don't Let Them Disappear: Amarula Helps Elephants
      • New Zealand: Food and Wine Tours from In Depth
      • Taste Washington: 2018 Dates Announced
    • ► July (5)
      • Port Wines: Celebrate Their History
      • Auction of Washington Wines: 30th Annual Event
      • Tulalip Resort: Blazing Paddles Stone Fired Pizza
      • Celebrity Cruises: Holder of 48 Wine Spectator Awards
      • Al Fresco Dining: A-List Wines from Napa
    • ► June (2)
      • Voyage to Alaska: Culture, Cuisine, & Conservation
      • Easy, Breezy: Cocktail Ideas for Summer
    • ► May (4)
      • Summer Sipper: Ideas for Entertaining
      • Rosé Wine: Scrumptious Food Pairings
      • Lamb Jam Seattle: Tickets on Sale Now
      • Wildland Adventures: Southern Italy Epicurean Adventure
    • ► April (4)
      • First Annual Jet City Rosé Experience: Charles Smith
      • Warm Weather Entertaining: Sonoma Wine Tasting & Cooking Lesson
      • The Perfect Pairing: Amarone Wine & Prime Strip Steak
      • Nasty Woman Wines: Politics Drove Her To Make Wine
    • ► March (8)
      • Glass Pop! Recipe: Glass Distillery
      • Celebrity Cruises: Mobile Cinema at Sonoma International Film Festival
      • A Perfect Easter Pairing: Lamb Chops & Red Wine
      • Vegas Uncork’d: 10th Anniversary on April 27-30th
      • Celebrity Cruises: Book Your Cruise on Edge Now!
      • Taste Washington: Celebrating 20 Years
      • Women In Wine: Women's History Month
      • Vergenoegd Winery: Ducks Reduce Need for Chemicals
    • ► February (5)
      • Food Network: South Beach Wine & Food Festival
      • National Margarita Day: February 22, 2017
      • Valentine's Day Wines: Under $10
      • Seattle Wine & Food Experience: Culinary Exploration To Your Palate
      • Leonetti, Figgins, & Toil Oregon: Taste of Tulalip Seminar
    • ► January (4)
      • Nate Berkus: Design Ambassador for Celebrity Cruises Edge Class Ships
      • Chocolate Exposed: Tulalip Goes Crazy for Cacao
      • Food Truck Festivals: Expanding Into New Markets
      • Havana, Cuba: Flights Available on Alaska Airlines
  • ► 2016 (92)
    • ► December (9)
      • Woodinville Wine Country: Wine Tourism in Washington
      • Cunard: WSET Qualifications on Board Queen Mary 2
      • Port Primer: Not Just for the Holidays
      • Cranberry Compote: Tequila Twist
      • Celebrity Cruises: New Sailings for 2017-2019
      • Guests for the Holidays: Let Blakely Trettenero Help
      • Peared-Up: Tulalip Resort Casino
      • Wildland Adventures: Chile & Argentina Wine & Food Tour
      • Celebrity Cruises: 'Gilt at Sea' Pop-Up Shops On Board
    • ► November (7)
      • Tulalip Casino: Holiday Happenings
      • Eco Wines: Rated Higher Than Regular Wines
      • Cannabis Expo: Las Vegas
      • Chicago Cubs: World Series Championship Brut
      • International Tempranillo Day: November 12, 2016
      • Thanksgiving: Tulalip Resort Casino
      • Tulalip Holiday Wine Sale: Tulalip Resort Casino
    • ► October (4)
      • Seattle Wine & Food Experience 2017 (SWFE): Now a Three Day Festival!
      • WineCraft: Harvest Wine Auction on November 6th
      • Cork Club: Recycle Your Corks
      • Hong Kong: Wine and Dine Festival
    • ► September (10)
      • Canyon Ranch Spa at Sea: Celebrity Cruises
      • Oregon Garden Resort: Peaceful Garden Getaway
      • Towel Animal Menagerie: Celebrity Solstice Cruise to Hawaii
      • Soiree en Blanc: 2016 Flash Mob Picnic
      • Celebrity Cruise: Hawaii Sailaway
      • KRIS & Americans for the Arts: Team up for the Arts
      • Celebrity Cruises: Continues Top Chef at Sea with Partnership with Bravo Media
      • Heathman Hotel: Vintimate Social
      • Celebrity Cruises: Luxurious Mediterranean Sailings
      • Lake Crescent: National Park Service #NPS100
    • ► August (5)
      • Knack: Made to Order Gifts With a Personal Touch
      • Celebrity Cruises: New Culinary Experiences
      • $3 Million: Auction of Washington Wines 2016
      • National Filet Mignon Day: Ruth's Chris Steak House
      • Accolades: Paso Robles' Cabernet Sauvignon
    • ► July (2)
      • Lavender Lemonade: Summer Sipper
      • Auction of Washington Wine: Adding to the Celebration
    • ► June (6)
      • Sparkling Wine Week: July 1-7, 2016
      • Bacardi Rum: Sustainable Sunglasses from Barrels
      • Los Angeles: Food and Wine Festival
      • Wine & Jazz Festival: Tri-Cities Washington
      • Wine in the Desert: Arizona
      • Jimmy Vestvood: Wine Tasting
    • ► May (10)
      • Craft Beverage Yakima: Hotels, Restaurants, and Transportation
      • Summer Sipper: Rosé Recommendations for Summer
      • Craft Beverage Yakima: Beer, Cider, and Spirits
      • Cunard: World's Finest Wine Cellar at Sea on National Wine Day
      • Lodmell Cellars: Fourth Generation Walla Walla Family
      • California Wine Road Trip: Livermore Valley
      • Chateau Ste. Michelle: Riesling Rendezvous
      • Craft Beverage Yakima: Wine
      • New Wine Discoveries: Garnacha
      • Culinary Classic: San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival
    • ► April (5)
      • Lila Wines: Wine in a Can
      • Women of the Vine: Educational and Inspirational
      • Israel: Kosher Wine Trail
      • Merger: Alaska Airlines and Virgin America
      • Wine Diva Shirts: Available on Amazon
    • ► March (14)
      • Zaca: Night Out Recovery Chewables
      • Canada to India: Ice Wine in India
      • Les Dames d'Escoffier: Mentorship Experiences for Women
      • Vinum Meum: Bohemian Glass Wine Stoppers
      • Winesong: Benefitting Mendocino Coast Hospital Foundation
      • Seabourn Cruise: Launching The Grill by Thomas Keller
      • Taste Oregon: In Washington on March 21st
      • Spring Barrel Tasting: Yakima Valley
      • Semiahmoo: NW Wine Encounter
      • Taste Washington: Red & White Party
      • Romantic 2018 Summer Cruise: Wine Diva Deb
      • Instagram: Beaujolais Wines Joins
      • Wine Diva Doggie Shirts: Available on Amazon
      • Magellan Inn: Zen in the Costa Rica Jungle
    • ► February (13)
      • Journey to the North Cape: Wine Diva Deb
      • Matador Droplet Bag: All Purpose Travel Accessory
      • Auction: Pappy Van Winkle Whiskey
      • Matador Pocket Blanket: Don't Travel Without It
      • Indiegogo: Help Save 85 Year Old Vineyard in Italy
      • Costa Rica: Ten Things I Learned
      • Luxury Food & Wine Tour: Wine Diva Deb
      • 10th Anniversary Vegas Uncork'd: Tickets Available
      • Welcome Aboard: Holland America and Chateau Ste. Michelle
      • Cheers, Chablis: International Women's Day
      • How to Pronounce Italian Wines: Select Italy
      • Wine & Travel: Adelman Travel & HMS Travel Group Merge
      • Modern Traveler: Ora TV
    • ► January (7)
      • Seven Hills Winery: Purchased by California Company
      • Romance in Your Glass: California's Central Coast
      • Third Annual Wine & Food Experience: Masters & Makers
      • 5th Riesling Rendezvous: July 17-19th at Chateau Ste. Michelle
      • Carmel-by-the-Sea: Relais & Chateaux GourmetFest
      • Global Symposium: Women of the Vine
      • Valentine's Day: Cognac and Chocolate
  • ► 2015 (94)
    • ► December (9)
      • Kick Off the New Year: Niagara Icewine Festival
      • Sutter Home: Home for The Holidays Winners
      • Impress Your Friends & Family: Food & Wine Pairings
      • Last Minute Gifts: The Matador Pocket Blanket
      • Last Minute Gifts: Matador Droplet Wetbag
      • Last Minute Gifts: Tasting Wine and Cheese
      • Pioneer Square Opening: The Estates Wine Room
      • Road Trip: Napa Valley
      • Top Chef: Season Thirteen Back to California
    • ► November (4)
      • United Arab Emirates: Caviar Tasting
      • THE NOW: Moët & Chandon
      • Operation Gratitude: Sutter Home Family Vineyards
      • Crystal Cruises: Global Flavors on Wine & Food Festival Cruises
    • ► October (17)
      • Pacific Coast Wine Trail: A Secret Spot
      • Women in Wine: Leadership Gathering
      • Modern Family: Drinks Amavi Wines From Walla Walla
      • SommCon: Wine Education in San Diego
      • Winner Announced: Best Dressed Somm
      • The Wine Bible: New Edition Has Arrived
      • Kickstarter Campaign: Brimoncourt Society
      • The Next Great Food City: Santiago, Chile
      • Discover California Wines: Mendocino County
      • Wine Tourism Day: Have a Glass or Two to Benefit Local Charities
      • Sutter Home: Home for the Holidays
      • San Diego Bay Wine & Food Festival: Raise a Glass!
      • Drink Like A Master: Moët Hennessy
      • Seeds of Empowerment: Cambria Estate Winery
      • Keep A Breast Foundation: Little Black Dress Wines Raises Awareness
      • Food & Wine Culture: 8th Cayman Cookout
      • October: #MerlotMe
    • ► September (4)
      • Off the Beaten Path: Growing Wine Regions
      • Esquire's Sommelier Series: Uncorked Premieres in November
      • Food & Wine: New York City Festival
      • Wine: Women Like Men Who Drink Hearty Red Wines
    • ► August (8)
      • Summer to Fall: Wines That Bridge the Gap
      • New Season: Season Two of Booze Traveler
      • KitchenAid & Food Network: The Apple Challenge
      • California Wine Month: September Harvest Season
      • Stock Offering: Willamette Valley Vineyards
      • Vinturi: The Sound of Wine
      • Road to Discovery: Plated Hits the Road
      • Macy's: Launching Private Label Wine
    • ► July (7)
      • Culinary Contest: Glorious Bites Challenge
      • Ruffino Prosecco: Al Fresco Limited Edition Flutes by Govino
      • Urban Winery: Charles Smith Comes to the Jet City
      • The Taste LA: Labor Day Weekend Food Festival
      • Wine Cruises: Princess Cruises
      • Russell Dean Lowell: In Search of Duende - Life Adventures of a Chef
      • Brown Bag Wine Tasting: Wil Wheaton
    • ► June (13)
      • Red, White, and Bubbles: What's in Your Glass for Summer?
      • Marcus Whitman: More Rooms Added
      • Columbia Crest: Contest to Become “Executive Crowdsourcing Officer"
      • Salish Lodge: Culinary Adventures
      • Brown Bag Wine Tasting: Brandi Glanville
      • Summer Grilling: Tom Douglas
      • Pairing Guide: Wine and Food
      • Brown Bag Wine Tasting: Ray Isle of Food & Wine Magazine
      • Brown Bag Wine Tasting: Marcellus Wiley
      • Wine Road Trip: California
      • Munchies Presents: Steven Spurrier
      • Wine Tourist Magazine: International Wine Tourism
      • Italy: Food and Wine Vacations
    • ► May (9)
      • Brown Bag Wine Tasting: Season 2
      • Vinho Rosé: #SummerSipper
      • Holland America: Gourmet Food & Gourmet Service
      • Glenfiddich Single Malt Scotch Whisky: Family Spirit Celebration
      • Craft Spirits: On the Rise
      • Vinho Verde: #SummerSipper
      • Little Black Dress: Celebrate Mother's Day
      • Cinco de Mayo: Celebrate!
      • Alaska Cruise Season: Holland America Lines
    • ► April (4)
      • Wine and Yoga: In Sonoma
      • Wine Series Launch: City Prints Map Art
      • Service Dog Fundraiser: Bean & Aauuga
      • Vivino: Over 9 Million Users
    • ► March (4)
      • Menu for Lago: Debuting at Bellagio in Las Vegas in April
      • Mash Madness: Bourbon vs Whiskey
      • Tuscany Getaway: Wine and Relaxation
      • 2015 Best Wine Travel & Emerging Destination: Croatia
    • ► February (7)
      • Travelers: Choosing Destinations Based on Food & Wine Activities
      • Margarita Day: Salud!
      • Murder She Baked: Hallmark Channel
      • Holland America: Cooks Up Reimagined Culinary Experiences
      • Happy Valentine's Day
      • The Rocks District: Newest AVA in Oregon
      • Vinexpo: Wine Lovers Gathering
    • ► January (8)
      • CIDER Act: Reintroduced in DC
      • Award Winning: Make A Meal App
      • Walla Walla: February is for Foodies
      • Cunard Line: 175 Years of Cruising and Crossings
      • New Year: Food and Wine Pairing Recipes
      • Sip: Sip California to Launch in March
      • Aspen: Après Ski Cocktail Classic
      • Downton Abbey: Raise Your Glass
  • ► 2014 (26)
    • ► December (8)
      • National Bloody Mary Day: January 1st
      • National Champagne Day: December 31st
      • Egg Nog Day: December 24th
      • Efeste: Food Pairing with Riesling
      • Alaska Airlines: Partners with Seattle's Tom Douglas
      • Brown Bag Wine Tasting: Motorcycle terms with James Reddick
      • Repeal Day: December 5th
      • Sea Dream Yacht Club: 2015 Wine Voyages
    • ► November (6)
      • Whisky in Space: Ardbeg Returns
      • Wine Gift Guide: The Holidays Are On The Way
      • Beaujolais Day: November 20th
      • Brown Bag Wine Tasting: Adam Corolla
      • Cakes Under the Influence: Cake Day November 26th
      • White Truffel & Miraval Tasting: Hotel Arts Barcelona
    • ► October (9)
      • Sonoma: A Wine & Food Affair
      • Whistler, Canada: Cornucopia Celebration of Food & Drink
      • Wine Adventure: Howard Kleinfeld
      • Brown Bag Wine Tasting: Beer Terms
      • Sabor a Cabo: Food and Wine Festival
      • #ChampagneDay: October 24th, 2014
      • Wine Tourism: Lula Cellars in Mendocino
      • Brown Bag Wine Tasting with William Shatner
      • Silver Oak Winery: Women In Wine Sense
    • ► July (3)
      • The Winery
      • Wine Cellar 1
      • Wine Cellar 2

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