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There Will Be No Shortage of Booze at The Post Ranch Inn Next Weekend
If you're planning to attend the Big Sur Food & Wine Festival, the Post Ranch Inn wants to further tempt your taste buds with its new Chefs & Vintners Celebration package on Nov. 6 and 7.
The two-night deal will include breakfast at Sierra Mar. But the reason to partake in the package is the vino. Kick off the drunken fun on Friday with the Limestone Quest Dinner, featuring Josh Jensen of Calera Winery in Hollister and Stephan Asseo of L'Aventure Winery in Paso Robles. The winemakers will be there to school you on their pinot noirs and chardonnays. The booze will complement a six-course dinner from Craig von Foerster, Sierra Mar's executive chef, and Cal Stamenov, chef and culinary director of Marinus at Bernardus Lodge in Carmel Valley.
Tags: Hotel Wine Tastings / Wine-Tasting Hotels / Marriott Hotels / Chicago Hotels / → All Tags
Crush Some Grapes at the Chicago Marriott Mag Mile's Wine Tasting
If you've always wanted to try making wine after seeing that I Love Lucy episode where Lucy stomps grape with her feet and laughter ensues, go to the Chicago Marriott Downtown Magnificent Mile's annual Wine Tasting and Grape Crushing event on Oct. 20 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Okay, so you won't actually be stomping on grapes with your feet and it won't be as hilarious. Instead, you'll use a destemmer crusher machine to help turn those grapes into vino. At least it'll save your tootsies from turning purple and your clothes from getting stained.
As part of the second annual festivities, Executive Chef Myk Banas of the hotel's restaurant, Harvest, will host a wine tasting inside the Grand Lobby. You'll get to swish the 2008 Farmstead Red American Sangiovese wine from last year's harvest crush. There also will be hors d'oeuvres paired with the vintage, such as various house-made sausages, like chicken sausage, and artisan cheeses from the Midwest. After the tasting, you'll have your chance to crush hundreds of grapes for next year's 2010 vintage.
Tags: Staycation Hotels / Wine-Tasting Hotels / Temecula Hotels / Hotel Deals / → All Tags
Temecula Creek Inn Puts on an 'Artisan Wine Dinner' to Lure You Down to Temecula
We know, we know, Temecula is not as exciting a wine destination as some of California’s other regions, but sometimes Angelenos don’t have the time to zip all the way up to the Russian River Valley for dinner. For just a quick overnight stay, Temecula can be just the right distance, especially when the Temecula Creek Inn is hosting an Artisan Wine Dinner with Boorman Vineyards Estate Winery. Dare we say it's a perfect Staycation Hotel?
On Friday, October 23rd, guests can head to the Temet Grill at the 350-acre resort for a four-course meal created by Executive Chef Salvatore Giuliano, and paired with Boorman’s premium wines, like a 2003 Cabernet Sauvignon, a 2007 Pinot Noir, and a 2007 Barbera.
Tags: Hotel Restaurants / Sonoma Hotels / Wine-Tasting Hotels / → All Tags
Local Goodness at Farmhouse Inn's Restaurant
Earlier this week, we told you about the saunas at the Russian River Valley’s Farmhouse Inn, but we didn't mention the delicious meal we had in the hotel's Michelin-starred restaurant, Santa Rosa. We were invited by the Wine Road of Northern Sonoma County to eat at Chef Steve Litke’s table (after poking around the Inn’s rooms) and we wanted to tell you about some of the dishes we got to try...though we weren't quite so willing to share the actual food!
Litke aims to “tell a story about Sonoma County” with each meal, so he incorporates all kinds of sustainable, locally farmed produce, like the gorgeous heirloom tomatoes that went into a tri-color gazpacho topped with lump crab meat. In fact, Litke claims that the 10-mile commute from his home to the restaurant takes him about two hours usually because he makes so many stops at gardens, farms, markets and dairies to check on the latest produce.
Like many restaurants in the area, Santa Rosa’s menu changes seasonally, as evidenced by the chanterelle mushrooms that adorned the appetizer of Atlantic sea scallop wrapped in Berkshire pork belly on a bed of Romano and marrow fat beans.
Tags: Hotel Packages / Fairmont Hotels / San Francisco Hotels / Sonoma Hotels / Wine-Tasting Hotels / → All Tags
Fairmont Lures Us In With Chocolate and Pinot Noir
Fairmont Hotels may have opened up three new hotels along the ancient silk road yesterday (Cairo, China, Abu Dhabi) but they still have a special place in their hearts for California with their new “Chocolate at Pinot” Package available at their San Francisco and Sonoma hotels.
Some people get their antioxidants from green tea, and others get them from blueberries. Us? We prefer fight free radicals with red wine and dark chocolate. Hey, it still counts, so don’t judge us. Now thanks to Fairmont, we can indulge our (healthy, we swear!) cravings with this new four-day package.
With it, you can spend the first two days, Willy Wonka-ing it up at the Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghirardelli Square, which is actually in the former world-famous Ghirardelli Chocolate factory facility in the heart of San Francisco. Then take the second two days to relax from the bustle of the big city out at the Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn and Spa, a grandiose pink resort with a nearly century-long history of gentrified rustication near many of Sonoma’s most famous wineries, and just a couple miles from the town of Sonoma itself.
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The Ivy Hotel's Ultra Lounge Turns into a Wine Bar
San Diego's Ivy Hotel will unveil a new Ultra Lounge and Wine Bar on Oct. 1 to give you more and cheaper options to get tipsy off of vino.
Although the hotel's been promoting the "new Ultra Lounge and Wine Bar," it's not so much "new" as it is a shift in focus to wines. The Ultra Lounge didn't close for renovations or anything. Instead, 20 new WineStations were installed along orange walls in the ground-floor lounge.
The WineStations will pour 80 wines by the glass, allowing you three ways to get drunky-drunk: You can order "taste" portions at 1.5 oz. each, "half" glasses at 4 oz. and "full" glasses at 6 oz. Prices range from $1.76 for a taste of the 2007 Williamette Valley Riesling to a full glass of the 2004 Opus One for $28.47.
The taste option will allow oenophiles on a budget to sample some rare vintages for cheap, which is a departure for the luxury hotel, whose rooms run around $200 a night.
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Wine-Tasting in Temecula Just as Expensive as Wine-Tasting in Napa
Sorry Temecula Valley, try as we might, we aren’t blown away by most wine coming from your region. Maybe someday, but right now, we think a little more finesse is in order to play with California's big guns.
Nevertheless, we heart wine and want to stay in the loop of what’s new (without having to commit to buying a whole bottle without a little R&D) and find the best way to sip, swirl and swallow your way through any wine region is by spending some time in its tasting rooms. Timing-wise, we're on the heels of grape harvest and there's no better time to witness the action of what goes into picking and processing grapes to make the almighty elixir we call wine.
Personal preferences aside, Temecula Valley is a far more civilized experience than braving the always-packed tasting rooms of certain unnamed wine regions in Northern California. Just saying.
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Urban Vibe, Rural Setting At Austria’s Loisium Wine Resort
HotelChatter's Eric Rosen recently spent some time in Austria and Germany. All this week, he'll be rounding up his hotel observations. Any tips, suggestions, questions? Let us know.
Though it has been open since 2003, the futuristic Loisium Wine and Spa Resort in Austria’s bucolic Kamptal Valley has maintained an air of quiet sophistication even while educating visitors on Austria’s burgeoning wine scene.
That is partly thanks to its out-of-the-way location in the small town of Langenlois, about an hour northwest of Vienna. However, the Loisium is at the nexus of several of Austria’s wine appellations—the Wachau, Kremstal, Kamptal and Weinviertel—so it makes for an ideal base from which to explore many of Austria’s most famous wineries.
Not only that, but the welcoming staff, the gourmet restaurant, the Aveda spa, and the on-site “Wine Cellar World” vinotheque make the minimalist-mod resort an all-in-one stop.
Tags: Wine-Tasting Hotels / Yosemite Hotels / Holiday Hotels / → All Tags
The Ahwahnee Announces Line-Up For Its 2009 Vintners' Holidays
A few winters ago, we got to go wine and dine during The Ahwahnee’s Chefs’ Holidays. We’d lived in California for nearly a decade and had never made it to Yosemite National Park. Although food and wine is a major motivator to get us to any destination, the prospect of experiencing one of the country’s greatest parks sans the thongs of summer tourists sounded way appealing. It was and now, we’re convinced that Yosemite National Park may be one of the best all-season, outdoor destinations in California.
So, we’re pretty psyched that The Ahwahnee just announced its 2009 season lineup for its Vintners’ Holiday (the wine-centric version of the Chefs’ Holiday) and we’re scheming ways to get in on the grape-fueled action.
Tags: France Hotels / Country Hotels / Narbonne Hotels / HotelChatter Reviews / Wine-Tasting Hotels / → All Tags
Waves, Vines and a Touch of Celebrity at the Chateau L’Hospitalet
Cradled in the hills between the town of Narbonne and the Mediterranean beaches in France’s Languedoc region, the Chateau L’Hospitalet is a hotel, restaurant, winery and visitor center all in one.
L’Hospitalet is the brainchild of former rugby star, Gerard Bertrand, who took over his family’s winemaking business. The hotel has 22 rooms with rates starting at 72 euros (no meals), though some of the suites can cost upwards of 300 euros. Rooms come with satellite flatscreen televisions, a little sitting area, desk, and full bathrooms. Everything is colorful, but understated and uncluttered. The bathrooms are large for Europe, and the showers have the best water pressure in France. The only drawback is that some of the first-floor rooms do not have windows.
Tags: Wine-Tasting Hotels / Paso Robles Hotels / Hotel Services / → All Tags
Horsing Around at the Hotel Cheval in Paso Robles
With over 200 wineries, Paso Robles is quickly becoming one of the country’s most important wine regions. Until now, though, the lodging options in the area have either been ultra-luxe or bargain basement. Located right off the historic town square of Paso Robles itself, the Hotel Cheval is a moderately priced new option for a weekend of Central Coast carousing and quaffing.
The hotel has only 16 rooms, arranged around a courtyard with an outdoor wood-burning fireplace. There is also a Library where you can unwind from a tough day of drinking, as well as a Parisian-style zinc-topped bar shaped like, what else, a horseshoe.
Tags: Wine Bars / Wine-Tasting Hotels / Four Seasons Hotels / Hotel Bars / San Francisco Hotels / → All Tags
A New Underground Wine Bar Opens in the Four Seasons San Fran
Bringing the taste of Napa Valley to the heart of San Francisco, the long-awaited subterranean wine bar, The Press Club at the Four Seasons is open for business and getting some attention. The bar should have opened last summer but hey, when it comes to wine, sometimes a little extra aging is a good thing.
The bar is the joint venture of eight wineries including Fritz, Hanna, Landmark Vineyards, Miner Family, Mount Eden (actually from Santa Cruz), Pahlmeyer, Saintsbury, and one of our personal favorites (and a Napa legend), Chateau Montelena.
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