Cool Concept ... Blending Cabernet at Conn Creek Winery

Conn Creek Winery Gardens (Photo: Alice Joyce)

Conn Creek Winery

offers Cabernet Sauvignon tastings in their AVA Room as part of a unique blending seminar for small groups (no more than 10 people).

Above photo: Outside the AVA Room

Conn Creek Winery AVA Room (Alice Joyce photo)

Participants take part in a guided walk-around barrel tasting, sampling wine from single-vineyard sites in 14 sub-appellations – AVAs – within the Napa Valley.

After learning about various techniques and approaches to winemaking, each guest will come away with a bottle they have blended.

Creating your own unique label is part of the fun.

Conn Creek Gardens (Alice Joyce photo)

Under the shade of the pergola in the Garden at Conn Creek, on Silverado Trail in St. Helena, California.

Conn Creek Entry Garden – Alice Joyce photo

New landscaping in front of the winery building & driveway entrance designed by Jonathan Plant & Associates of St Helena.

Winery Gardens: Books on Amazon.com

July 28th, 2010 | Tags: , | Category: Green Destinations, Wine Country | One comment - (Comments are closed)

Wine and Roses! Chateau St. Jean

Destination:  Chateau St. Jean Winery – Sonoma Valley

Chateau St. Jean Winery Formal Gardens (photo: Alice Joyce)

A perfect day in Wine Country:  Stroll the formal gardens at Chateau St. Jean in Kenwood - Garden Plan designed by Olin Partnership – followed by wine tasting, and a tasty light lunch from the winery’s charcuterie.

Chateau St. Jean Cascading Blooms (Clytostoma callistegiodes, ALICE JOYCE photo)

The garden layout draws inspiration from the Chateau, a Mediterranean-style villa built in the 1920, while the landscape, with its graceful proportions and symmetry, distinctively echoes traditional gardens of Italy and southern France. Fountains, statuary, and a classic pergola draped in blooming vines enhance the setting.

Chateau St. Jean Reserve Wine Tasting

Reserve Tasting - Chateau St. Jean

Reserve Tasting …

Chateau St. Jean

Statuary Chateau St Jean (Alice Joyce photo)

Handcrafted by winemaker Margo Van Staaveren, Chateau St. Jean’s  Reserve wines include brilliantly complex, award-winning reds and lively whites:  To savor on their own or pair with summery meals, Chateau St Jean Fume Blanc, Lyon Vineyard,

or the buttery Chardonnay, Sonoma County: Both wines are elegant and focused.

Tasting the deeply satisfying Chateau St. Jean Reserve Merlot is truly memorable. You may well be tempted to take home a bottle. And not-to-be missed, Chateau St. Jean’s celebrated Cinq Cepages Cabernet Sauvignon presents a captivating blend, with its soupcon of  Merlot, Cab Franc, Malbec, and 1 % Petite Verdot.

Chateau St Jean formal parterres (Photo Alice Joyce)

Italian stone pine, London plane and windmill palm trees provide order and structure in the central parterre, and adjoining garden rooms. American arborvitae hug metal arches to establish transitions between spaces. Look for decorative highlights like potted Citrus specimens, especially ‘Dwarf Satsuma Mandarin.’ The heady scent of  frothy, profusely blooming ‘Iceberg’ roses will stay with you.

Chateau St. Jean Winery (photo: Alice Joyce)

Many showy shrubs reach their peak bloom in summer: Hydrangea ‘Lanarth White’ and H. ‘Mariesii Variegata’ thrive in a shady haven beneath California sycamores.

Chateau St. Jean's Pergola (photo: Alice Joyce)

Visitors can enjoy self-guided tours of the gardens during open hours.

June 15th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: San Francisco, Wine Country | 4 comments - (Comments are closed)

Resources & Links