All this time you’ve probably been wondering – where’s the wine? At Beacon Point in St. Thomas, we found Guava Berry Wine. I’ll tell you about that stop later in the story. We docked at Charlotte Amalie at about 8:00 Wednesday morning, splitting up into three groups. One group chose the Skyride, a seven minute ascent in a gondola with a spectacular island view. Another group opted for Coral World Ocean Park for a chance to get up close and personal with marine life. My group decided to visit The Butterfly Farm. Located near the Havensight Mall, The Butterfly Farm offers visitors a chance to see butterflies at every stage of their growth cycle. The group there is dedicated to learning more about these delicate creatures and how they impact our planet’s environment.

Green Swallowtail

We were blessed with Read more »

After a wonderful day on the Island of Grand Turk, we re-boarded the ms Eurodam and got right back to work. There were wines, avocado oils and balsamic vinegar to taste! Linda Kissam was our host as we tasted 10 wines from Keyways, Tesoro and newcomer Lorimar. The group was impressed with the selection provided and Linda did an excellent job presenting the wines. We then tasted some incredible avocado oils from Oak Mountain: Toasted Onion, Chili, Roasted Garlic, Lemon Pepper and Key Lime, followed by the Dark Sweet Cherry Balsamic Vinegar. Avocado oils have a higher flash point, meaning they can sustain higher cooking temperatures before burning. All of them tasted delicious and the balsamic vinegar was a big hit. After the tasting, we retreated to our cabin to freshen up and then made our way to the Crow’s Nest for the drawing for IFWTWA’s scholarship auction. Not only am I Read more »

To say this has been an interesting week would be a gross understatement. My wife Laura and I learned we would be joining a group from the International Food, Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) on their Eastern Caribbean Cruise about two weeks prior to departure. Late Friday evening we arrived in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to board our ship the following morning. When we awoke it was 43°, pouring rain and windy. We both remarked the beginning of our Alaskan cruise had been far warmer. The Eurodam is a lovely ship, about two years old now (a baby by nautical standards) and carries approximately 2200 passengers. We set sail under stormy skies about 6:00 pm with the ports of Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas and Half Moon Cay Bahamas lying ahead of us. We quickly began meeting members of our group – Leigh Cort who specializes in historic inns of the south, Chef Jean Read more »

If you look closely, you’ll notice the cougar at Cougar Winery is wearing a San Diego Charger’s cap. There’s your first clue. Next, you’ll notice Radio Margaritaville playing not so softly in the background. This isn’t your parents’ winery. Welcome to Cougar!

Cougar has recently become my favorite winery to visit in the Temecula Valley and there are plenty to choose from. For starters, I don’t think you’ll find a better pourer anywhere than Jamie Schmutzer. Her passion for wine shines through in everything she does. If you’re lucky enough to have her pour for you and you’re not smiling when you’re done, check yourself into the hospital. Clearly there’s something wrong with you. Mike, Kim and Joey are exceptional as well. Any one of them will be glad to give you a tour of the winery, show you the tanks and the crusher/destemmer and Read more »

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Steve and Valerie Andrews from Oak Mountain & Temecula Creek. They were some of the first winery folk we met way before we started WINEormous. They are genuine, no-pretense people and Steve’s wines continue to get better with each new vintage. Kimberly and Buzz Olsen at Tesoro have Read more »

Steve & John Thornton

In my last post I reflected on the incredible events that have happened in the few months since we launched WINEormous. I had intended that to be an all-encompassing story, but what has happened to us in the Temecula Valley alone deserves its own focus. WINEormous began as a concept. It would be a blog with stories focusing on wineries and the people who make them run – owners, winemakers, pourers, folks on the bottling line, all of them. We are blessed that there is so much material in our own backyard. At last count there were more than thirty wineries in the valley with more on the way. I’ve written about seventeen of them, so I have my work cut out for me.

When you’re new, you start with a blank canvas. Getting your foot in the door can be a daunting proposition. Linda Kissam was instrumental in opening many, many doors for us. She now serves as executive director of the Fallbrook Area Visitor’s Bureau and is the former executive director of the Temecula Valley Winegrowers Association. When I first approached her about lining up interviews with some of her clients, she delivered in a big way. I thank Linda for setting up stories about Thornton, Orfila, Keyways, Oak Mountain, Temecula Hills, Villa di Calabro, Briar Rose, Ponte, Tesoro and Fallbrook Wineries for me. I have her to thank for putting me in touch with Vine Times magazine, a publication for which I now contribute. She arranged for me to attend a luncheon with members of the International Food Wine and Travel Writers Association of which I am now a member. I’ll be joining Linda this coming Saturday for Read more »

It’s been a hell of a year. Until early May, I was selling real estate, or at least attempting to. In March, my then fiancée, now bride, Laura and I spent the weekend in Paso Robles with our dear friends Denny and Jodi Jones. If memory serves me correctly, it was the 5th visit there for Laura and me in about a year’s time. We took Denny and Jodi to one winery after another, introducing them to winemakers we had met and to some phenomenal wines, too. At the end of the weekend, Denny told me what an incredible experience they’d had. He told me I ought to think about taking people out and giving others the same experience we had shared with them. That started the ball rolling. I had been writing a blog on a real estate web site for about two years, sometimes writing about real estate, but more often about travels, wine and life in general. My brilliant wife suggested I started a wine blog and do what Denny suggested and start taking people to wineries. The seed was planted. The name WINEormous popped into my head and we both liked it. We chuckle sometimes when we hear wine descriptions that talk about pencil shavings and the like. We love a good nose on a wine, we love to swirl the glass and let the wine open up, then savoring the mouth feel and picking up the fruit. That’s when I came up with Read more »