Spending a weekend sipping superb wines while savoring the perfect food pairing sounds like heaven. Add in breathtaking scenery and the relaxing ambiance of Sonoma County’s Wine Country, and now you have paradise perfected! This magical wine and food weekend becomes reality on November 1st and 2nd as the Wine Road hosts the 27th annual Wine & Food Affair. A Sneak Peek at the Food Pairings With 50 wineries to select from, there are too many food pairings to list, so here are just a few highlights. If you love Italian-based comfort food, check out: Mushroom and Winter Squash Risotto at Pedroncelli Winery Lobster Ravioli with Vodka Sauce at Pech Merle Winery Tatiana’s Famous Lasagna at Colagrossi Wines If you’d rather pair Mexican, French or Cajun with delicious wines, here are some options: Roger’s Colorado Pork Green Chili at J. Cage Cellars Creamy Mushroom Chicken Facon Grand Mère at GC Lurton Vineyards Alison’s Jambalaya at Mat

The 2025 Barrel Weekend is all about tasting wines from the past, present and future. This annual weekend event has been reimagined for its 47th anniversary, letting the wineries along the Wine Road focus on more than just tasting wines from the barrel. And, giving tasters new opportunities for exploring and learning about wine. More Tasting Options With wineries pouring wines from past (library wines), present (current release wines) and future (barrel samples), attendees have more choices and can choose what they most enjoy or what they seeking to restock their wine cellars. As you look through the online Barrel Weekend program, you’ll discover wineries pouring wines from one, two or all three of the category options. This information lets you, the ticket holder, design the tasting path that suits your palate preferences. If you love tasting only barrel samples and possibly buying wine futures, you can still do that. But, if you prefer to taste wines that are currently availabl

Afternoon Brief, March 7th

Coravin and the Fight against Wine Fraud: Coravin got a mention in a story about disappearing wine this week, but it's usually on the side of the angels...

Afternoon Brief, March 6th

First-of-Its-Kind Industry-Wide Initiative Launches to Address Sexual Harassment in Beverage Alcohol and Hospitality: 86 Harassment is a free industry resource providing employers and employees with access to training, education, a confidential hotline, and prevention tools from industry experts...

Afternoon Brief, February 7th

Prohibition Era Over? State House Passes Bill to Legalize Sale of Liquor, Wine in Small Towns: The House passed a bill that would no longer prohibit Mississippi’s small towns from selling liquor and wine — a Prohibition-era carryover still enforced for municipalities in many “dry” counties...

Afternoon Brief, January 10th

Association Touts Wine’s Many Assets as It Counters Anti-Consumption Push: It is a little more than a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) released a report that sent shivers through the tasting rooms of alcoholic beverage producers internationally...

Afternoon Brief, November 6th

Wine the Winner in Ohio Court Case: Advocates for interstate wine shipping can mark one down in the win column after an Ohio lawsuit took another twist...

Afternoon Brief, November 1st

California Scrambles to Finish Harvest: With a superb vintage in the offing, growers are racing against time to get the grapes into the winery...

Afternoon Brief, October 26th

Washington State University's Sensor-Laden Chardonnay Block Collects Data for AI Scientists and Offers Demonstrations for Growers: Automating vineyard irrigation requires a network of sensors, solar panels, wires and data loggers that can be at risk of run-ins with equipment. That’s one of the first lessons the engineers learned at Washington State University’s Smart Vineyard demo farm in Prosser...