Tag: California Travel

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Napa Valley Normal: Sipping Chardonnay with Delta's Sommelier

December 20, 2012 at 6:04 PM | by | Comments (0)


These "The One" glasses were designed by Andrea

Napa Valley is a weird place. It's kind of demure, with rolling hills blanketed in low rows of lush vineyards, but also kind of action central, as the chances are high that the person cooking your food or pouring your wine is at the top of the industry. Recently we ventured into kitchens, cellars and wineries (all accessible to you, too) in search of the extraordinarly yummy, which really is the norm in Napa.

In-flight wines get such a bad rap. Unlike airplane coffee, which is still all too frequently little better than "brown water," the reds and whites of the trolley have improved enough to warrant an airline bringing in someone like Andrea Robinson to expertly curate wine lists every season.

Andrea, a certified Master Sommelier/best-selling author/wine glass designer, has been the official Delta sommelier since February 2008 and it's her you have to thank for that smooth, in-flight buzz after your second glass because, to her, it's not just about getting blitzed onboard. In fact, Delta's transcontinental BusinessElite wine program turned completely to California wines from this September. The majority are from the Napa Valley, but there's always a focus on the richer, fuller bodied vintages to combat the effects of altitude on our tastebuds.

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Long Beach Airport Gets a Chill-out Fire Pit and More Reasons to Skip LAX

December 20, 2012 at 9:13 AM | by | Comments (0)

There’s plenty of airports from which to choose when you’re flying into Southern California, but there’s only one that recently took the bandages off as part of a comprehensive nip and tuck. Long Beach Airport opened back up last week, and we’ve got to say—at least from the pictures—that it looks better than ever.

The whole renovation was a good ten years in the making, and the new concourse cost around $45 million, so it’s not really surprising that they got it right with that much spending and that much time. The Los Angeles Times gets into some of the details that set the airport apart, and allow it to show off a little bit of California cool. For example, they’ve got a fire pit and lounge chairs within the new terminal, and there are plenty of local restaurants offering up more than just the regular airport cuisine. There’s even an iPad setup thing that gives flyers a little on-the-run access to email, news, and even some online ordering.

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Travel Contest Alert: Pack Your Posse Off to Palm Springs on Virgin America's New Non-stop

December 19, 2012 at 10:01 AM | by | Comments (0)

This time of the year is simply the best time of the year. Why? Because of seasonal routes, that's why! Airlines take advantage of the dreary winter weather to open up some exotic, fun-in-the-sun destinations for a limited time. There's always the Caribbean or Mexico, but the last couple years we've been kinda in love with the idea of the heading into the US desert for that needed dose of Vitamin Sunshine.

And, for the second year, Virgin America will the answer the prayers of SFers and NYers by jetting directly into Palm Springs Airport (PSP). Well, actually they already started the flights from San Francisco back in October. The big news right now is that they'll be launching the first non-stop flight from the New York area to Palm Springs this Saturday.

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The Spa Lover's Guide to West Los Angeles

December 14, 2012 at 5:01 PM | by | Comments (0)

Spas are much a staple of L.A. life as the freeway or a juice bar. But when there are almost as many spas as Starbucks, how do you know which ones are worth it? We have a couple of suggestions.

WEST HOLLYWOOD
· Blushington: This pink-and-white boutique gives off an Old Hollywood feel, and that’s precisely the idea. Here, you can get your makeup done professionally if you have a big event coming up or even sign up for a one-on-one class and learn to do it yourself. While the shop sells products from lines like Stila and Kevyn Aucoin, their signature Blushington-branded product is a makeup sponge that you’ll fall in love with.

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Yes, Virginia, There is a Sutter Home Winery

December 12, 2012 at 4:42 PM | by | Comments (0)

Napa Valley is a weird place. It's kind of demure, with rolling hills blanketed in low rows of lush vineyards, but also kind of action central, as the chances are high that the person cooking your food or pouring your wine is at the top of the industry. Recently we ventured into kitchens, cellars and wineries (all accessible to you, too) in search of the extraordinarly yummy, which really is the norm in Napa. Here, we share some of our winery picks.

A visit to: Sutter Home Winery in Saint Helena, California

The label Sutter Home doesn't exactly call to mind a stately mansion presiding over pristine rows of vineyards on prime California grape-growing property, does it? Heck, we only think of grocery store shelves and deciding which cheap, girly wine to buy for inevitable Lifetime movie marathons. Still, we now should say that's what we thought of it before setting foot at the Sutter Home winery itself in Napa, where there is indeed a Sutter Home and a property so lovely on land so expensive we wonder how $6 bottles of wine keep it all together.

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What Napa's Cakebread Cellars Has to Do with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner

December 12, 2012 at 11:07 AM | by | Comments (2)

Napa Valley is a weird place. It's kind of demure, with rolling hills blanketed in low rows of lush vineyards, but also kind of action central, as the chances are high that the person cooking your food or pouring your wine is at the top of the industry. Recently we ventured into kitchens, cellars and wineries (all accessible to you, too) in search of the extraordinarly yummy, which really is the norm in Napa. Here, we share some of our winery picks.

A visit to: Cakebread Cellars in Rutherford, California

Please allow us regale you with a brief story about how we first came to know the name Cakebread and how the small memory brought us here, right to the source at their Cellars in Napa. It was a few months ago and we were dining in a hangar at Boeing to celebrate the debut of LAN's First 787 Dreamliner. We weren't drinking since balancing our iPhone, DSLR and hors d'oeuvres proves a challenge on its own, but then someone said, "you just have to try the Cakebread Chardonnay."

We did try it. And we did like it, so much so that the funny name (which is actually the last name of the producing family) stuck in our head.

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Inside Opus One, Napa Valley's Fanciest Schmanciest Winery

December 12, 2012 at 10:02 AM | by | Comments (0)

Napa Valley is a weird place. It's kind of demure, with rolling hills blanketed in low rows of lush vineyards, but also kind of action central, as the chances are high that the person cooking your food or pouring your wine is at the top of the industry. Recently we ventured into kitchens, cellars and wineries (all accessible to you, too) in search of the extraordinarly yummy, which really is the norm in Napa. Here, we share some of our winery picks.

A visit to: Opus One WInery in Oakville, California

Oh, Opus One. Where to start? As we've already mentioned, Robert Mondavi is the OG winemaker here in Napa Valley, but it wasn't until he partnered up with big-deal French winemaker Baron Philippe de Rothschild to form Opus One that Napa Valley wines started to gain traction on the international scene. The friendship began in 1970, but it wasn't until 1979 that Opus One produced a first vintage and still later yet, in 1991, that the winery got the iconic architecture it calls home.

The vision of both Mondavi and de Rothschild was "spare no expense," and be totally "dedicated to the art form of making wine" to produce a Bordeaux-style red from the famous Californian Cabernet Sauvignon, using centuries of French know-how (and the clout helped too).

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Sippin' and Chillin' at Robert Mondavi's Massive Vineyard

December 12, 2012 at 9:02 AM | by | Comments (0)

Napa Valley is a weird place. It's kind of demure, with rolling hills blanketed in low rows of lush vineyards, but also kind of action central, as the chances are high that the person cooking your food or pouring your wine is at the top of the industry. Recently we ventured into kitchens, cellars and wineries (all accessible to you, too) in search of the extraordinarly yummy, which really is the norm in Napa. Here, we share some of our winery picks.

A visit to: Robert Mondavi Winery in Oakville, California

Robert Mondavi. It's a name you likely associate with entire shelves in the wine section of your grocery store, but what is now an empire began with some grapes in 1966 (though the first Cabernet Sauvignon vintage wouldn't be released until 1968). Mondavi is the OG (original gangster, in slang) of Napa Valley, so duh, we had to stop in.

The winery itself is sprawling, not to even consider the vineyards yet (there's 550 acres to his To Kalon vineyard alone). Likewise there's too much to be said for Robert Mondavi himself, so we'll just stick to the property you can experience. There's two tasting rooms, a slew of event rooms, another tasting room just for members of their wine club, and then the production facility and barrel rooms. We skipped the tour because of a time crunch with reservations across the way at his Opus Wine operation, but we'll be back.

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Napa Valley Normal: Drinking with Dean & DeLuca's Wine Director

December 5, 2012 at 1:25 PM | by | Comments (0)

Napa Valley is a weird place. It's kind of demure, with rolling hills blanketed in low rows of lush vineyards, but also kind of action central, as the chances are high that the person cooking your food or pouring your wine is at the top of the industry. All this week and some of next, we'll be venturing into kitchens, cellars and wineries (all accessible to you, too) in search of the extraordinarly yummy, which really is the norm in Napa.

We're kind of shocked. It was just the other week we were in wine country for what would be crash courses on wine identification during the Flavor! Napa Valley Festival. This week, we've been casually blind tasting wines before our own restaurant dinners and nailing it half the time. The other half? We're at least acing our guesses on the varietal. That shiz is cray—our confidence is soaring and a sommelier's visit to our table is no longer met with anxiety. Yay, wine!

This is all thanks to the masters, who showed up to the Flavor! Festival to discuss and, yes, decant some prize wines for the curious public. One such instructor was Kerrin Laz, Director of Wine for Dean & DeLuca.

Kerrin's class, which focused on the Napa wines to know right now, concluded with the lesson to take a proper amount of time to think about what you're seeing, smelling and tasting with each glass. No sommelier should rush you to speak of any aromas or flavor notes; you're the one about to pay for and enjoy that bottle, after all.

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Megabus Bringing Buses Back to Cali with Hubs in SF and LA

December 4, 2012 at 11:08 AM | by | Comment (1)

If airfare is out of control this holiday season there’s always an alternative way to get to family and friends, and it doesn’t involve hitchhiking or Craigslist. The cheap bus options are on the move again, and Megabus is getting ready to expand even more.

The busy bus line plans to upgrade its offerings in both California and Nevada, as Megabus is going to setup hubs in Los Angeles and San Francisco. This will open up nonstop options to spots like Oakland, Las Vegas, Riverside, Reno, San Jose, and Sacramento—as well as back and forth between San Francisco and Los Angeles—beginning at just $1 each way. As always, the earlier you book the better when it comes to catching one of the low, low fares, so if you have any plans to travel by bus it’s a good idea to start searching now.

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Wish You Were Here: Flavor! Napa Valley Festival

November 16, 2012 at 3:53 PM | by | Comments (2)


Took this photo from out the window of our rental car, just driving along

Confession: I've never made gnocchi before. This likely doesn't shock you, dear reader, but for those who know I once called Rome home and extensively traveled, ate and drank my way around, it's a little "whoa." Dumping vacuum-packed bags of frozen store-bought gnocchi into a pot of boiling water is typically dinner, or was, as today I made gnocchi from scratch in the kitchen with chefs and co-owners Tyler Rodde & Curtis Di Fede of Downtown Napa restaurant Oenotri.

This is actually something Oenotri offers on the regular, hosting both gnocchi and pasta-making classes every other week for $75 per person. This week it's a little magical, however; November 14-18 is the Flavor! Napa Valley Festival, which bills itself as a "celebration of food, wine and fun." So, while Di Fede is telling a story about how they taught 'Iron Chef' Morimoto to make a proper Neapolitan pizza, Morimoto himself may be walking by outside, heading to personally shave truffles over the entrees at the Napa outpost of his eponymous restaurant empire.

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Three November Festivals Promise Airplanes and Automobiles and Beer

November 8, 2012 at 11:17 AM | by | Comments (0)

You know we love us a good beer festival, but sometimes we could use a little more entertainment than just the ales and lagers. That’s why we were excited to hear about some of these more unique options going down this month, so let’s raise our glasses to three November beer festivals that offer up a little extra.

Auto and Ales – Hershey, Pennsylvania

Everyone knows it’s not a good idea to mix drinking with driving, but as long as you keep the automobiles and alcohol separate it’s totally fine. That’s what is scheduled for this Friday—November 9—over in Hershey, Pennsylvania at the Antique Automobile Club of America. It’s what they’re calling Auto and Ales, and it’s ready to do its thing between 6pm and 10pm.

It’s the third year of the festival, as organizers promise to bring together some of the area’s best craft brewers and best classic cars. There’s no getting behind the wheel at this event, but you are encouraged to savor a few sips while enjoying the view. Appalachian Brewing Company, Lancaster Brewing Company, and Snitz Creek Brewery are just a few of those scheduled to be in attendance, and the sips and samples can be yours for just $40.

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