Inside Wine Santa Barbara Off To A Great Start

Lila and I started Inside Wine - Santa Barbara in September last year--just on a whim, because we love wine and food and thought it would be a way to bring people together. Our first event was held at the beautiful courtyard of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. We had 60 people show up--a successful start to our new wine tasting group. We started the wine tasting group on Meetup--a social network designed to "build community"--one that is very effective in getting like-minded people together, whether they like wine tasting, hiking, reading, or whatever.

In October, Karen Steinwachs poured her Buttonwood Family Winery wines for us and the Hyatt Santa Barbara hosted, laying out a beautiful spread of food--a "build-yourself" appetizer bar with hummus, tapenade, cheeses, pita, Parmesan crisps, various flavored honey, and fruit that paired very well with Karen's wines.

The Hyatt also lit the big rock fireplace in La Cantina room, which made everything very cozy. We enjoyed Buttonwood's 90 point Sauvignon Blanc Zingy and Cabernet Franc, among others.

We had lots of rave reviews on the tasting, like this one from Richard: "I want to THANK Tama and Lila for a wonderful event! The venue was just perfect and the Hyatt provided very nice appetizers. Lila and her helpers did a great job of keeping the tastings poured and it was a delight to have Karen, the winemaker at Buttonwood, present to tell us about her wines and wine making. FABULOUS!!!"

In November, we had a simple get-together at the stylish Bistro 1111 at the Hyatt Santa Barbara--they have really good happy hour food--like ahi tuna sliders and garlic flatbread--and all small plates and well drinks are just $5 each. It was a fun, casual way to get to know some of our Inside Wine - Santa Barbara members better.

As a thank you to our members, in December, we had a Holiday Party with some amazing prizes--beautiful wine gift baskets from Touring & Tasting that were chock-full of gourmet treats, like organic local pistachios, and stunning wines, like the Havens Meritage and the Lucas & Lewellen Cabernet Sauvignon; a round of golf at the prestigious Ojai Valley Inn; movie tickets; and a gift certificate to Seagrass Restaurant. The Hyatt had decorated the room festively, with a sparkly Christmas tree and holiday decorations.

Later that month, Lila hosted a wine tasting of the wines she reps with Franco Wines, at Vino Divino. I bought several bottles, including a wonderful Amarone that I neglected to photograph, that lasted for a week open--not turning, but developing in the bottle with age. Molto gustoso!

In January, Clay and Fredericka Thompson, of Claiborne & Churchill, came down to pour their well-balanced Alsatian-style wines for us. They even brought us tank samples of their 2012 Gewurtztraminer that was going through cold stabilization. I wrote at length about Claiborne & Churchill in this post.  They have a remarkable story, and Inside Wine Santa Barbara was as enthralled with is as I was when I visited their winery in Edna Valley.
 Some of our lucky Inside Wine members won door prizes of $25 gift certificates to Claybourne & Churchill. As member Debbie said, "A very lovely event. Great wine, nice venue and wonderful crowd."

Our last event was a tasting of Stacked Stone Cellars wines. Winemaker/owner Donald Thiessen poured his Paso Robles wines for us. He's a small-lot producer with a dry-farmed, head-pruned estate Zinfandel vineyard. He blends west-side Paso grapes into field blends where he can balance the ripe fruit with acidity and tannins. Affable, with a good sense of humor, Donald quipped that wine making is turning green into red--his "green" (cash) into red (wine)...and that the tasting was an attempt to turn red into green (i.e. sell some wine). He outlined some of the history of Zinfandel from its roots in Croatia, to the introduction into Italy, where it is called Primitivo, to the US. He jokingly told us that he is a wime maker who doesn't drink wine...because what he does is "research", not drink.

So, after half a year, I can say that Inside Wine Santa Barbara has been both a success and a lot of fun. In the year ahead, we're looking forward to a "field trip" to the Lompoc Wine Ghetto and a more structured wine tasting with a sommelier--we'll see what this year brings!

Follow us on Facebook and check out our Meetup page.

Where To Taste and Stay in Sonoma County

Touring & Tasting's Vice President of Business Development, Nancy Burgner, just returned from a trip to Sonoma. Together, we were rhapsodizing over the Bodega Bay Lodge, since she had just returned from her stay there and I had just had a perfect sojourn with my sweetheart at the Lodge between Christmas and New Year's. I've written about the Bodega Bay Lodge before (see post). It was our fifth or sixth vacation at this one-of-a-kind accommodation--a luxury retreat from the world with all the plush amenities to make a stay comfortable, like a gourmet restaurant, top notch spa services, spacious suites, fireplaces, and the like--but located on the edge of Doran Beach and the Bodega Head State Marine Conservation Area.

From its prime location, one has a panoramic view of Bodega Bay and the quiet pools of water in the estuary reflecting the sky. There is a profound sense of calm and peace that envelopes the property. Fresh air blows in from the sea and all cares and stress fall away in the presence of Nature's pristine beauty.


 There's plenty to do besides relax. We often play golf at the ocean view Links at Bodega Harbour, but the ground was sodden with rain that had inundated Northern California during the previous week, so instead, we drove to Spud Point for lovely walks along the paths that front the ocean and along the raised walkway across the harbor where people catch crabs with buckets baited with tuna fish.

At the Spud Point Crab Co., a load of live crabs had just arrived from a fishing boat and customers were already queuing up for their crab-packed sandwiches and tasty clam chowder. We had our picnic on this bench under the cerulean sky--quite a view!


The next day, we drove to the tiny town of Bodega, famous for being the location for Hitchcock's classic thriller "The Birds". The Bodega Country Store has a wall and a display case packed with movie memorabilia.

Their rich crab mac 'n cheese, sprinkled with their signature topping made from oregano, bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, is highly recommended! The friendly storekeeper gave us free samples of their New England style chowder and we ogled their smoked salmon--we will definitely return to taste more of their fare. Also, the church and school that were used in the film can be viewed across the street.


A short drive led us to the Joseph Phelps, Freestone Vineyard tasting room where I purchased a bottle of their FogDog Chardonnay which I love for its crisp, pear and citrus flavors, with an edge of minerality.

Of course, we had to go next door to the Wildflour Bakery, which bakes its sinfully delicious breads, scones and biscotti in a wood fired brick oven. There's no skimping on ingredients here. Yes, that is an enormous quantity of butter the baker in the photo is cutting into his scones. Their sticky bun is a foodie's wonderment--an enormous bread made from fresh ground whole grains, packed with dried fruit and slathered in a sweet sticky sauce that tastes like butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. During the last trip with the kids, we devoured one in record time--nom nom.


Nancy had highly recommended the Honor Mansion for our stay in Healdsburg. This stately Victorian on a quiet residential street is rated #1 on TripAdvisor out of all the accommodations in Healdsburg. The lists of awards and accolades is too long to mention here, but I will say that their attention to detail is extraordinary--from candles and aromatic bath salts so one can enjoy one's big soaking tub at leisure (our spacious bathroom had a fireplace, too!) to baskets of tea and hot coffee brought to your room in the morning, even when you have a coffee maker in your well equipped wet bar.


Breakfast is served in the main house, which has with tall ceilings and windows and period furnishings. We felt proprietary about "our" sunny breakfast nook where we partook of the lovely gourmet buffets of fresh baked scones, eggs, breakfast meats, fresh fruit, cereal and yoghurt. Rain prevented us from taking advantage of the four acre grounds and its PGA designed putting green; tennis, basketball, croquet and bocce courts; and pool. But, we took note that this would be a great place to bring the kids, especially as all the sports equipment is on site.


Anyway, I could barely be pried out of the downy four poster bed with European linens. I could easily have spent several days reading in bed, soaking in the tub or sharing a bottle of bubbly in the jacuzzi on our private deck. But, there were meals to pursue, so we made forays into town for food, eating for the first time at Willy's Seafood and loving it so much we returned for dinner. The restaurant features fresh, innovative cuisine stylishly presented. We ate tapas style, sharing plates like clam flatbread, fish tacos and the best warm raspberry crème brûlée I've ever had (and I am particular about my crème brûlée).

The wine list is excellent, particularly for those like us who like to share wines by the glass so we can try more than one wine with a meal. We shared a crisp glass of M. Chapoutier “Belleruche” Côtes du Rhône Rose and round Lambert Bridge Chardonnay.

We stopped for a picnic at the picturesque Dry Creek General Store then visited the distinctive Hop Kiln Winery. The tasting room is housed in the historic buildings built in the 1880's to process hops for beer; they are a California Historic Landmark. A wall of windows looks out onto the duck pond and 248-acre estate planted mostly to the Burgundian varietals of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and there are shelves of gift and food items to peruse, in addition to tasting their portfolio of wines.

The Honor Mansion poured a Mauritson Zinfandel at one of their complimentary wine and cheese hours. The wine enticed us to drop by the Mauritson tasting room on our way out of town. The Mauritson family has been farming in Sonoma for 140 years and they have estate vineyards in Rockpile as well as Chalk Hill, Dry Creek Valley and Alexander Valley. They are all great winemaking AVAs, but there is something very special about Rockpile wines. Only 15 producers make wines from Rockpile grapes, since only 160 acres of vineyards are planted in this tiny winegrowing region.

Carol Shelton and Paradise Ridge are two of the other wineries making Rockpile wines, and they, like Mauritson have garnered numerous medals for their terrific wines.

The Rockpile vineyards are between 800 - 2,000 feet in elevation, so they remain mostly above the fog line. The ground has sparse soil and little water, so the grapes grown here need to be tenacious. One benefit is that the climate is moderate and the fruit ripens fully and evenly. The result are wines loaded with fruit and flavor. SFGate writes, "Established in April 2002, the Rockpile AVA (short for American Viticultural Area) in the northwestern corner of Sonoma County is rapidly gaining recognition as the source of some of California's biggest, richest, most intensely flavored Zinfandels, Syrahs and Petite Sirahs."

Sun-dried Tomato, Olive, Onion and Rosemary Bread

A little experiment: take two equal parts of a bread dough and bake them two ways. One was placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment and the other in a preheated Dutch oven.
The result: the loaf baked on a baking sheet had the same tender, chewy texture inside as the other, but the crust was markedly different. It was smooth and dry and very thin.
The loaf baked in the Dutch oven had a textured surface that had more chewiness and visual appeal. The loaf also had quite a bit more oven rise, resulting in a larger, fluffier loaf.

Tama's Sun-dried Tomato, Olive, Onion and Rosemary Bread
 

Ingredients:
1 + 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
1/3 cup + 2/3 cup warm milk
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup bread flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil from the jar of sundered tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
2 tablespoons pitted and minced cured olives--salty ones, like Greek olives
1/8 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

*Makes a small 8" loaf, this recipe is easy to double--just double all ingredients for two small loaves.

Directions:
In a medium bowl or measuring cup, mix 1/3 cup warm milk, sugar and yeast, stir well. If yeast proofs--activates by starting to grow, continue.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, flours and salt together. Make a well in the center.

To the milk/yeast mixture, add the remaining 3/4 cup warm milk and oils. Pour into the center of the flour and mix together. As the dough comes together, use your hands to work it into a dough ball. Then, turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead for at least 10 minutes, until the dough passes the "window pane" test.

Lightly spray the bowl with olive oil, round the dough and put it inside, cover the top with a moist towel and set in a warm place for 2 hours until doubled in size.

Punch the dough down, add the sun-dried tomatoes, onion, olives, rosemary and 1/2 teaspoon yeast. Knead until they are well incorporated into the dough. Let rise for about 45 minutes.

In the meantime, place your oiled Dutch oven on the middle rack and preheat to 375 degrees.
Carefully lift the heated Dutch oven off the rack, gently drop the dough ball into it, cover immediately and put back into the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes until the bread sounds hollow when tapped. Let the bread sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve warm with melted Brie and a fruit forward red, like the Jaffurs Syrah, for a wonderful treat.

*Windowpane test: if the dough can be stretched out so you can see light behind it without the dough tearing, then the dough passes the windowpane test.

 

Festive Kale and Pomegranate Salad and Sonoma Travel

The two weeks prior to Christmas are always a blur of extra work, wrapping, cooking, and too many Christmas cookies! This year, the kids made tamales for Christmass and I made this colorful salad of kale and pomegranates.

Tama's Roasted Carrot, Kale and Pomegranate Salad

Ingredients:
4 large carrots, cut into 1/2" chunks
spray olive oil
1/2 pomegranate
1 bunch kale
1/4 - 1/2 lemon, juiced
salt
freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Turn the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, add the carrots and spray them on all sides with olive oil. Bake for around 1 hour, until soft but not mushy, with browning around the edges. Remove and let cool.

Remove the thick part of the kale stems, then slice the leaves thinly. Put into a non-reactive glass, ceramic or stainless steel bowl. Squeeze 1/4 of the lemon over the kale, sprinkle liberally with salt, a few turns of pepper, then drizzle with olive oil. Using your hands, work the dressing into the kale so it is coated completely with dressing. Adjust seasonings, adding more lemon to your taste. The dressing should be bright and acidic.

Mix the roasted carrots and kale in a colorful serving bowl, top with pomegranate seeds.


Cooking Tip:
To remove the pomegranate seeds without a mess--and having clean hands at the end--use this technique I learned from Chef Michele Molony.

Fill a large bowl with water and place the pomegranate half inside. Push on the round "back" of the pomegranate to open it, then brush the seeds out--all underwater. The seeds will sink to the bottom, the skin and membranes will float, and your hands will be clean.

The two of us are on our annual post-Christmas trip to N. Cal wine country. We've been staying at the historic Honor Mansion in Healdsburg. Built in 1883, the main mansion has tall ceilings and beautiful furnishings. We've enjoyed our gourmet breakfasts in this sunny window seat that we decided is "ours" for the duration of our stay. This morning, tender fresh berry scones with a lemon-y icing awaited us, along with a spinach egg bake and fresh pineapple.

We've had one day of glorious sunshine between soaking rains and spent it at the Healdsburg Golf Club at Tayman Park, up to our ankles in mud due to the 6" of rain that fell last week, but enjoying the views and hilly terrain of the 9 hole course.

We've eaten at our favorite Bistro Ralph on the main square, which always satisfies with tasty food and excellent wines by the glass, downing wild mushroom soup, butterleaf/mustard salad and short rib ravioli.

We loved lunch at Willi's Seafood and Raw Bar so much we went back for dinner! It's a stylish tapas-style restaurant with delicious food--like succulent lobster spiced with remoulade sauce and wrapped in a soft roll, fresh oysters on the half shell, fish tacos in handmade tortillas, and clam and garlic flatbread.  Their by-the-glass wine list is superb and we tried the Dominio de Tahrsys Cava, Rochioli Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Oakwild Ranch "Old Vine" Russian River Valley Chardonnay, M. Chapoutier "Belleruche" Côtes du Rhône Rose, all great pairing with seafood.

I try to avoid eating dessert, but crème brûlée is my weakness. I used to be teased that I should have a blog just for it, but someone has beat me to it: www.cremebrulog.com

Willi's Seafood crème brûlée is one of the best I've had--with warm raspberries and a thin caramelized sugar crust. MMMmmmm...

How To Make Good Pie and Tart Crusts

COOKING TECHNIQUES -- PIE AND TART CRUSTS

One of the hallmarks of a good cook is the ability to make a tender pie or tart crust. Here are some simple tips for good crusts.

#1 USE PASTRY FLOUR AND HANDLE DOUGH AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE:
Tough crusts can result when the gluten in the flour is developed by over handling the dough. Gluten is a protein that forms long strands that gives bread dough its stretchiness and gives bread its chewiness. The elasticity of bread dough contains the bubbles of gas created by the yeast--which is what makes the holes in the bread. But, pie and tart crusts should be flaky, not chewy, so low gluten pastry dough is best. Also, minimize handling of the crust dough to keep it tender.

#2 KEEP YOUR BUTTER AND WATER COLD:
When small bits of butter in the dough melt in the oven, steam is released to create flakiness in the cooked crust. You want to have small bits of butter dispersed in the dough, but not melted butter soaked into the flour. The aim is to coat the bits of butter with flour, add just enough liquid to hold the dough together and do it all quickly before the butter starts to melt and blend with the flour. Keep your butter and water as cold as possible. There are several techniques for the butter, including grating frozen butter. My technique is to cut the butter into small cubes, then put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill before pulsing it into the flour in a food processor.

#3 USE A PLASTIC BAG TO MINIMIZE MESS
Put the flour/butter mixture into a plastic bag, then add the ice water. This minimizes the mess and you can easily squeeze the dough together into a ball inside the bag. Then, press it into a disk while it is still in the bag, this will minimize time spent rolling the dough. Refrigerate it for at least 20 minutes before rolling it out.

#4 USE PARCHMENT PAPER AND SLURRY TO GREASE THE PAN
This is what professional bakers do--make a slurry of 2 tablespoons melted butter plus 1 tablespoons flour to brush on over a sheet of parchment paper cut to fit the bottom of the tart or pie pan. I cut the parchment paper for a tart so it goes 1/2" up the side of the pan. This way, after the tart is cooled, it's easy to remove the ring and slide the tart off the bottom of the pan onto a serving dish by holding onto the edge of the parchment paper.

#5 USE A SILPAT
Professional bakers use a silpat for a number of techniques. It is a non-stick silicone mat. Lightly flour it, put the dough disc on top, put a light dusting of flour on the top of the dough and roll out quickly. The silpat is the width you'll need for a tart pan, so it's easier to roll out the proper sized circle. Flip the silpat onto the tart pan and peel it off the crust. This minimizes cracking that can happen if you use the traditional method of draping the dough over the rolling pin to transfer it into the tart pan.

#6 MAKE SURE THE OVEN IS TO TEMPERATURE BEFORE BAKING
Start preheating your oven in plenty of time to allow it to come to temperature before you bake the crust. If you put the crust in the oven when it is still heating, the butter melts into the flour without creating steam and your crust will most likely be tough. You may find an oven thermometer helpful in learning how long it takes your oven to preheat; every oven is different. Hope these tips on crust-making techniques helped!

TWO OF MY RECIPES USING CRUSTS:

BABY ARTICHOKE AND MUSHROOM QUICHE

PUMPKIN PIE TART WITH CRUNCHY NUT TOPPING

ROASTED VEGETABLE TART (bottom photo at right)

ALMOND TART (middle photo on right)
Ingredients For the Tart Shell:
1 cup cold butter
1 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
cold milk, if needed

Ingredients For Greasing the Tart Tin:
4 tablespoons melted butter
4 tablespoons flour

Ingredients For the Filling:
2 cups blanched almonds
1 1/3 cup sugar
4 eggs
zest of 1 lemon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
confectioner's sugar for topping

Directions For the Tart Shell:
Cut the butter into small cubes, then put back into the refrigerator as you prepare the other ingredients. Whisk the egg in a small bowl. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and sugar. Add the butter and cut in with a pastry blender or quickly rub together with your fingers until the mixture is like crumbs. Mix in the egg and the smallest amount of milk possible, just so the dough can be gathered together, but is still a bit crumbly. Turn into a plastic bag and squeeze into a ball. Put in the refrigerator for 1/2 hour.

Mix the melted butter and flour together in a small bowl. Cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom of your tart shell, then brush the butter/flour mixture on the parchment and inside the walls of the tart tin.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured board and press into the tart tin, trimming off any excess. Prick the bottom all over with a fork. Put in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.

Preheat the oven to 355 degrees.

Directions For the Filling:
Pulse the almonds in a food processor until roughly chopped. In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and eggs together. Mix in the lemon zest, almonds, cinnamon and nutmeg. Pour into the tart shell and bake in the oven for 1/2 hour or until golden brown.

Let the tart cool in the pan. When cool, remove from the tart tin. Cut decorative shapes from a piece of paper--shown in the photo is a circular zigzag made by folding a square paper into fourths, then along the diagonal, then cutting diagonally. You can also make leaf shapes, etc. Put the decorative shapes on the cooled tart, then sprinkle confectioner's sugar through a sieve. Remove the decorative shapes to see the pattern in the sugar topping.

2012 A Year of Weird Weather, but California's Harvest is Great

"We’re short of wine," declared Bertrand Girard, chief executive officer of Groupe Val d’Orbieu, the largest French wine cooperative in the world's largest wine region when he was asked about the 2012 harvest. He added, "We’ve never seen that in three or four decades." Terrible weather decimated the harvest in southern Europe with a 1.3 billion bottle shortage forecast this year. The weird weather included massive storms, a cold start to the season, hailstorms and a summer heat wave.

Copa-Cogeca, which calls itself "The united voice of farmers and their co-operatives in the European Union", predicts a 10%+ drop in European Union grape production this year. The harvests in France and Italy may be their smallest in 40 to 50 years. Champagne is expected to report a 40% drop due to frost and Bourgogne Beaujolais 30%. Drought and excessive heat hit Italian vineyards hard; they expect a 8% drop in overall harvest. BloombergBusinessweek reports Italian Pinot Grigio prices are already up 10%. Nyetimber, the largest vineyard in the United Kingdom that produces award-winning sparkling wine, is scrapping harvest altogether because the grapes failed to mature due a cold, wet summer.

Weather.com writes "What's made 2012 so strange? Two words: 'timing' and 'location'. We've seen events occur much earlier in season than what's considered average.  We've also seen weather events in locations you wouldn't expect. Finally, we've seen persistent "high-amplitude" weather patterns crank out impressive precipitation totals (rain and snow) and prolonged heat or cold."

Weird weather included 18 feet of snow that fell in just two days in areas of Germany, Austria and France, after the warmest autumn in 150 years. Hailstones the size of softballs fell in Hawaii, of all places. Then, there was the devastating storm Sandy, which was called a 'megastorm' for its 1,000 mile diameter.

The result for wine lovers? Budget wines from Europe are going to be more pricey. For example, Spanish bulk wine has doubled in price from two years ago. And some wines will be more scarce (and more expensive) like Champagne.

The silver lining?

Across California, wine grape growers are praising this year's crop as "outstanding" and "ideal".  “Mother Nature smiled upon the California wine harvest this year with a bountiful crop of amazing quality,” announced Kathleen Heitz, president of Heitz Wine Cellars.  Frank Cabral of Trinchero Family Estates agreed, saying "The 2012 harvest has been exceptional…the 2012 harvest is shaping up to be one that will become known for its abundance of fruit and quality of wines.” Sounds like we'll be enjoying stellar wines from the Golden State--I'll toast to that!

Recap Wine Tourism Conference 2012

Two decades ago, there were less than 2,000 wineries in the United States, now there are nearly 8,000, with wineries in every state of the nation. Representatives from 19 states, plus 2 provinces in Canada, came to the Wine Tourism Conference sponsored by Touring and Tasting and hosted at the Flamingo Hotel in Santa Rosa last week. A great deal of terrific wine was tasted, a mountain of business cards exchanged, and a cornucopia of ideas shared in the seminars, panel discussions and break out sessions on how to promote wine tourism through networking, social media, advertising and partnerships with government and private enterprise.

Wine country tourism is big business. An estimated 17 million people will visit wineries in 2012, contributing to a chunk of the $852 billion spent overall this year on domestic travel. Overall, the wine industry contributes $162 billion to the US economy and has revitalized many rural areas. In the 1980s, Paso Robles was a pastoral ranching and farming community of less than 10,000. Today it is an international destination with first-class wineries, accommodations and restaurants. Their tongue-in-cheek promotional video called the PasoWineMan has gone viral on YouTube, exemplifying the reach of new media. As David Bowman, VP of Marketing for JUSTIN Winery said, "we take a very irreverent approach" in marketing and in winemaking, with tremendous diversity of varietals and techniques embraced in this AVA, the second largest in California after the Central Coast AVA.

Todd Davidson, CEO of the Oregon Tourism Commission and one of the panel speakers, noted that "the wine and film businesses are the 'dynamic duo' of Oregon's economic recovery" with 8,000 new wine jobs added in the state last year. His remarks on the growth of wine biz was echoed by other panelists including Steve Warner, President and CEO of the Washington State Wine Commission, who said that his state is in the midst of "explosive growth". He credits Washington State's success on the ideal terroir of eastern Washington where 99% of the vines are on their own rootstock, not having had problems with phylloxera due to the sandy, dry soil. Sparse precipitation minimizes pest and disease issues, but since the fourth largest river by volume flows through eastern Washington, growers can irrigate precisely. However, in regards to wine tourism, they are challenged by their distance from major urban centers. Their marketing effort is multi-pronged and includes partnerships with private enterprises. For example, private enterprises help facilitate wine country travel by allowing travelers to rent a car one-way without the usual additional fee, so they can drive one way and fly out the return affordably.

Virginia is in an enviable location for wine tourism, being just a two hour drive from Washington DC and within a day's drive of 2/3 of the entire population of the United States. Virginia wineries are also enviable for the support their state legislature and their governor provides. A percentage of wineries' excise taxes fund the Marketing Office ($1.35 million in 2010) and tax credits are offered for winery startups. Annette Boyd, Director of the Virginia Wine Board Marketing Office, outlined some of the many ways they are promoting their wine country, noting that the traditional stalwart of a current driving map with a comprehensive list of wineries remains the workhorse of their promotion.

Morgen McLaughlin, CEO of Finger Lakes Wine Country New York, stressed the need for a media rich website, among other important factors in marketing wine country. Their website brings together the ideas she and other panelists highlighted: social media links, videos, informative content, partnership between wineries, accommodations, restaurants, transportation, events and a convenient trip planner that can be accessed via computer or mobile phone.

Traci Ward, Director of Marketing for Visit California presented promotional videos and outlined the myriad ways that travel marketing organizations can help wine country businesses promote tourism to their area. One of the points brought up by various panelists was how much organizations and state and federal agencies can assist businesses in marketing their wine region.

Touring and Tasting sponsored the Regional Wine Reception on Wednesday, with representatives from 40 winery regions pouring their wines--including up and coming regions like Idaho and Colorado. The Wine Tourism Conference was organized by Zephyr Adventures with the support of an advisory board which included Sonoma County Tourism. Touring and Tasting's Dan Fox was praised opening day by the moderator, saying "There was nobody who worked as hard as Dan Fox of Touring and Tasting on making this year's Wine Tourism Conference a success". Kudos to all for an excellent conference, providing a wealth of information on specific marketing strategies and innovative ideas on public relations. Portland, Oregon will be the host of the 2013 Wine Tourism Conference, scheduled for November 14-15, 2013.