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Father's Day Travel: Last-Minute Mancations

If you're anything like us, you usually forget Father's Day until the reminder call from Mom on Sunday morning. Since you surely didn't get around to planning that golf trip to St. Andrew's or the Alaska fishing expedition, here are some Father's Day trips you can actually pull off at the last minute.

For the Jazzhead: The JVC Jazz Festival kicks off in New York on Sunday. Please your dad by declaring a newfound appreciation for Herbie Hancock. (He doesn't have to know you're going for Mos Def.)

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Wine Travel / Wine / Summer Travel / Rural Travel / → All Tags

Adventures of Link: Our Long Wine Weekend

We've spent the last few days touring around Upstate New York, investigating some of our old favorites and finding new places to add to our Upstate Travel Map. It's been going pretty well!

We hope to bring you more on the region later this summer, but in the meantime, here are some wineries that we've enjoyed on our latest trip. Trust us, you won't mind 100-degree heat when you're sipping on a frosty Finger Lakes Riesling.

Related Stories:
· Villa Bellangelo [Official Site]
· Glenora Wine Cellars [Official Site]
· Prejean Winery [Official Site]
· Six Mile Creek Vineyard [Official Site]
· Wine Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: brewrat]

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Nantucket Wine Festival Fun

If you're a wine aficionado but don't want to trek all the way to Napa this spring, you can keep it East Coast during the the 12th Annual Nantucket Wine Festival from May 14-18.

The fest is staged entirely in downtown Nantucket, making everything walkable and easy to find. And what's "everything" you ask? An amazing line-up including seminars from famous epicureans (Jody Adams, Anthony Susi and more) to an auction dinner at the White Elephant to a special "Great Wines in Grand Houses" program where guests enjoy intimate wine tastings in some of the island's classic--and classy--homes.

Tickets are going quickly for all events, but if you want to splurge, buy the "Grand Cru" for $550 per person and you'll have an all-access pass to the week's events. If you're looking for a quaint spot to stay, check out The Cottages, a collection of 33 little rental homes set on Nantucket's wharf, a short walk from downtown. Don't forget your whale critter tie!

Related Stories:
· Natucket Wine Festival [Official Site]
· Datebook [NYT]
· Nantucket Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: ThunderChild5]

Camps / Wine / Venice / Learning Holidays / → All Tags

On Our Next Summer Camp ...

We thought our summer camp days were long passed, but a recent list publicized by Reuters of the top ten camps for adults has got us thinking twice. The list includes a few camps we're personally not so interested in--poker camp in Vegas, or crossword puzzle creation camp on an Eastern Caribbean cruise--but there are also a few we're really hoping our parents will spring for.

Winemaking camp in the Napa Valley, for example, sounds like a nice way to spend a few days, especially if we get to sample plenty of what the camp leaders have already prepared. In Venice, there are gondolier training camps, vet safari camps in Africa where you can follow a micro-chipping, ear-notching vet on his travels and elephant care camps in Northern Thailand.

The list is full of programs offered by hotels or tour operators that perhaps aren't strictly vacation camps at all, but we do like the idea. We're going to put the gondolier camp on our birthday wish list. Are you listening, Mom?

Related Stories:
· Top 10 Quirky Vacation Camps for Adults [Reuters]
· Hilton Venice Offers Gondolier Training Classes [HotelChatter]

[Photo: Ayres no graces]

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HOWTO: Drink Wine Inelegantly in Paris

It's not very elegant--in fact we think it's downright un-French--but there is at least one restaurant in Paris serving house red wine in baby bottles. And since this unusual practice apparently circumvents tax laws on glasses of wine, we can only imagine that there are other places offering the same.

Intelligent Travel alerted us to the existence of the Le Refuge des Fondus in our favorite neighborhood of Paris, Montmartre. This is the place to go when your budget is running low: They'll serve you a fondue meal including an appetizer and desert and a "bottle" of wine for a highly reasonable €17 (US$26).

The baby bottle certainly makes drinking a lot easier, if also a little less classy, and the price is something we're more than happy with. We're thinking this is something that would also work well in other situations. You'll see us grabbing a bottle on our next turbulent flight.

Related Stories:
· All (Baby) Bottled Up in Montmartre [Intelligent Travel]
· Jaunted Embedded Travel Guides: Paris Wine [Jaunted]

[Photo: zumakeylimepie]

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It's Summer Somewhere: Mendoza Wine Tours

On Monday we covered a grapey getaway in South Africa. Another great place to go vineyard hopping this time of year is in the mountainous Mendoza province of Argentina, the fifth largest producer of wine in the world.

Postales del Plata offers packages ranging from weekend jaunts to ten-day wine safaris, including bookings at country lodges surrounded by grape-producing fields. In case you're not ready to travel now, return for winter wine tastings and some of the best skiing in the Southern Hemisphere.

Related Stories:
· It's Summer Somewhere: Muratie Estate [Jaunted]
· Wine Travel coverage [Jaunted]
· It's Summer Somewhere Map [Jaunted]

[Photo: c-weiss]

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It's Summer Somewhere: Muratie Estate, South Africa

South Africa is a great summer trip, as we've told you before. But if you're a vineyard fan now's really the time to get there for a seasonal plus: grape harvesting and stomping.

We'd recommend heading to Muratie Wine Estate at the base of the Simonsberg in Stellanbosch. March 1 brings their "Great Muratie Port Stomp" where for 40 Rand (about $5) you can go and stomp the new port grapes, reserve your own bottle of port, picnic on the lawns of this historic homestead and listen to the sounds of Jannie "Hanepoot" van Tonder's great 18-piece band playing a South African jazz program.

Stay on-site in one of the estate's two guesthouses or stay in Camps Beach, minutes from Cape Town with the same laid-back vibe at The Bay Hotel. It's got amazing views of Table Mountain, the ocean and is backed by the Twelve Apostles. Rooms are chic and minimalist with neutral decor. Be sure to do it up as The Bay's where all the beautiful locals come to congregate.

Related Stories:
· Cape Town Tourism [Official Site]
· Muratie Wine Estate [Official Site]
· It's Summer Somewhere Map [Jaunted]

[Photo: :: Rick ::]

Shopping / Shopping-In-Brooklyn-Map / Beer / Wine / Alcohol / Brewery Tours / → All Tags

Shopping in Brooklyn: Beer and Wine

New York's special spot in booze history (birthplace of Schaefer and Rheingold, and home to more than 100,000 speakeasies during Prohibition), combined with a young population willing to spend a big chunk of their income on booze, has led to Brooklyn's vibrant and varied brew-and-spirits scene. From brewery tours to affordable wine shops, Kings County can cater to both connoisseurs and novices alike.

Brooklyn's Top Booze Shops

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Wine Travel: Soaking in Vino in Japan

Today's the third Thursday in November, which means the corks come out of the world's most overrated vino today. Beaujolais Nouveau has already touched down in Japan, where true wine fans aren't just drinking the stuff, their swimming in it.

The Yunessun Spa Resort in Hakone is one of many hot springs-fed resorts in Kanagawa. Its aptly named wine spa is stocked with Beaujolais, and the on-duty sommelier would be happy refill your glass. (Please don't drink directly from the pool.) If you're teetotaling on your Japan trip, Yunessun also offers a coffee spa and a green tea bath.

And it seems those non-alcoholic options are a good hedge. Though Japan consumes a quarter of the world's Nouveau, taste for the seasonal wine is dwindling. In ever trendy Japan, not even a pool full of booze can't catch on for long.

Related Stories:
· Yunessun Spa Resort [Official Site]
· Japan Tepid on Pricier Beaujolais Nouveau This Year [Reuters]
· Japan Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: REUTERS/Toshi Maeda]

Germany Travel / Wine / Alcohol / Wine Travel / → All Tags

Fall Culture Travel :: Germany's Young Wine

You don't have to stay at home just because the leaves are changing. Follow along on our Fall Culture Map to discover what's happening this autumn.

Sure, Oktoberfest has wrapped in Munich, but there are other culturally appropriate ways to get tipsy this fall. We're talking neuer wein, and the Rhine Gorge is the place to track the stuff down.

Beaujolais nouveau's somewhat earthier cousin, neuer wein is just what it sounds like in slurred English: new wine. It's served when the alcohol content reaches four percent and left unfiltered. Unlike more mature, drier offerings, neuer wein tastes very fruity and sweet like a hard grape lemonade. Just as each region produces different wine varieties, neuer wein has a lot of tastes and names but the most common moniker is Federweisser.

The young stuff hits the streets across Germany in early September and hangs around until late October. Because it's a beverage in transition, the flavor changes throughout the autumn, getting up to 11 percent alcohol by the end of October. It's also nearly impossible to ship due to the loads of gas produced by the active yeast; this is a strictly regional specialty. Look for it at street stalls paired with onion tarts (zwiebelkuchen) in towns like Boppard, Oberwesel and Koblenz.

Related Stories:
· Upper Middle Rhine Valley World Heritage Site [UNESCO]
· Germany Travel [Jaunted]
· Fall Culture Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Martin Winery]

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Wine Travel: Sheldrake Point

Okay, it's not Napa, but there are some great finds in New York's Finger Lakes wine country. We'll be drinking it all in this week, and mapping our favorites.

Down by the shore of Cayuga Lake, Sheldrake Point is another off-the-main-drag winery and tasting room that we love. It also has a nice bistro that makes it a perfect stop in the middle of a marathon day of wine tastings.

First, though, the wine: Sheldrake offers up a combo of free tastes and a premium list, so you can decide how much you'd like to drink. The list of wines is fairly large, and it's estate grown, meaning the stuff in the bottle comes from the vines you just drove past. Most of the basic bottlings are quite nice; don't bother with the over-priced barrel reserves.

After a tasting, it's lunch time. Sheldrake's Simply Red Cafe has some cheese plates and appetizer-y stuff, but go for the entrees. The mussels are steamed in green curry, and the quiche is nice and hearty. Just make sure to leave room for the "Slow Ass" molasses, apple and raisin spice cake.

Related Stories:
· Sheldrake Point [Official Site]
· Upstate NY Travel Map [Jaunted]
· Wine Travel coverage [Jaunted]

Haunted-Travel / Upstate-NY-Travel-Map / Wine / Wine Travel / Finger Lakes / Alcohol / → All Tags

Wine Travel: Miles Wine Cellars

Okay, it's not Napa, but there are some great finds in New York's Finger Lakes wine country. We'll be drinking it all in this week, and mapping our favorites.

Miles Wine Cellars caught our interest from the get-go, mostly because it shares a name with Paul Giamatti's loveably pathetic character in Sideways. A short jog off the major highway running down the western shore of Seneca Lake, Miles is a perfect spot for a picnic and, of course, some wine tasting.

Before you get to the bar, though, take a walk through the Greek Revival tasting room and HQ. Owners Doug Miles and Suzie Hayes say spirits occupy the house, though it was early enough in the day that we didn't see any apparitions on our visit.

When it comes time to taste, the deal here is the same as at Rooster Hill: Five tastes cost $2.50, and you'll keep the glass. Miles has a fairly small production, so they decide what you get to taste. (This keeps the good stuff in stock.) When we were there, the '05 Pinot Noir was drinking quite nicely, as was the '05 Riesling.

Related Stories:
· Miles Wine Cellars [Official Site]
· Upstate NY Travel Map [Jaunted]
· Wine Travel coverage [Jaunted]