• Wine country lodging at its best: the “Vineyard Top Ten” places to stay
  Someday I hope to be your host at one of these top ten lodging facilities located in and near California’s most celebrated vineyards. They’re not cheap places to stay, but you will experience the best of the best of the California wine country, and pl
  (tags: wine country lodging best top ten stay dining vineyard california http://www.californiawinehikes.com winehiker)

The following list presents the top ten lodging facilities located in and near California’s most celebrated vineyards. They’re not cheap places to stay, but if you can plan your vacation budget well, you will experience the best of the best of the California wine country. I look forward to being your host someday at these fine establishments when you choose a rewarding vacation full of fun, camaraderie, fine food and amenities, and of course, tasting locally-produced wines and exploring nearby hiking trails.*

10. Farmhouse Inn: Russian River Valley
Located in the small town of Forestville, California, in the stunning Russian River Valley region of Sonoma County’s famed wine country, Farmhouse represents the finest level of Sonoma inns, restaurants and spas – where sublime guestrooms, farm-fresh food and seasonal body treatments come together in one unforgettable experience. Their restaurant received the prestigious Michelin Star, and they are also rated by Zagat’s as a Top Three Wine Country Restaurant for Northern California.

9. Santa Ynez Valley Marriot
With tranquil views of the Santa Ynez Valley, this premium hotel is surrounded by rolling hills dotted with horse, ostrich, and llama ranches, ancient oaks, and thousands of acres of some of the world’s greatest vineyards. Every suite has been decorated and named for a local vineyard, and some rooms boast Jacuzzi tubs and dining room areas. The Santa Ynez Marriott provides the perfect stay for a wine-tasting weekend in this popular Sideways setting.

8. Poetry Inn: Silverado Trail Napa Valley
The Poetry Inn is an extraordinary new sanctuary perched on a hillside in the Stags Leap District offering staggering views of the Napa Valley and a place to rest among the vines. Guests can live the life of a Napa Valley vintner, if only for a night, enjoying a massage in the open air, sipping sparkling wine on a private terrace, or just lounging by the pool. Each suite boasts wood-burning fireplaces, soaking tubs, and outdoor showers.

7. Inn at the Pinnacles: Monterey
Located in the Gabilan Mountains of Monterey County, Soledad, California, the Inn at the Pinnacles offers luxury accommodations in the peaceful, serene setting of beautiful Steinbeck Country. It is nestled in the heart of a working vineyard, offering romantic views from every direction. The Inn is just a short drive to Monterey County’s finest wineries, world-famous Carmel, and Monterey Bay.

6. La Residence Inn Napa Valley
Rekindle your romance at the luxurious La Residence property in Napa Valley. The elegant French-country barn rooms provide verandas with views of the vineyards as well as fireplaces and private baths. (In collaboration with La Residence, WineCountry.com provides an exclusive experience which includes a romantic stay plus private access to Hall Rutherford’s stunning hilltop winery with an intimate tour and sommelier wine tasting for two.)

5. BeautifulPlaces: Sonoma Valley Tuscan Retreat
Escape to the wine country with fellow food and wine enthusiasts for a 5-night/6-day wine country gourmand extravaganza created for you by BeautifulPlaces, Vacation Homes of Distinction. Miraval is an elegantly appointed 4-bedroom Tuscan retreat, perched high above the heart of Sonoma Valley vineyards, and complete with a pool, expansive terraces, and a gourmet kitchen imported from England.

4. Vintners Inn & Ferrari-Carano Winery
The exclusive Vintners Inn is a 92-acre wine country resort featuring lush grounds, surrounding vineyards, and European-style charm. Your room may display a view of the sumptuous vineyards or a flower-filled central courtyard with bubbling fountain. Enjoy dinner at their elegant John Ash & Co. restaurant just steps away from your room. You will also be guests at the Ferrari-Carano Winery where you’ll experience a private tour and exclusive private tasting at the ultra-premium Prevail tasting room.

3. Kings Hill Cellars
Enjoy the ultimate insider wine country adventure: make fine wine, tutored by a master winemaker with 30 years experience using state-of-the-art equipment. Kings Hill Cellars is a private “members only” winery dedicated to making the best wine possible, while sharing the experience with its members and having fun in the process. In addition, you will be their special guest for a weekend while staying in Kings Hill Cellars’ elegant guest house over the winery.

2. Grape Leaf Inn
Indulge yourself in this one-of-a-kind opportunity to savor a relaxing Sonoma wine country experience. Stay in their luxurious, fully-equipped cottages surrounded by 80-year-old Zinfandel vines. Enjoy the most spectacular view in the northern sonoma wine country and stroll through the vines at your leisure, soaking up the peaceful ambience.

1. Inman Family Wines & Olivet Grange Vineyards
Why just visit the vineyards when you can stay in the vineyard? In collaboration with WineCountry.com, Olivet Grange Vineyards and Inman Family Wines offers the Ultimate Wine Country Exclusive Experience with a 2-night/3-day getaway for wine adventurers. This wine experience also includes touring the vineyards with owner Kathleen Inman and a spectacular 5 -course dinner menu that pairs with the wines.

Source: WineCountry.com

~winehiker

*If you wish to know more about my winehiking vacations, please see my recent blog post titled California Wine Hikes announces 2008 multi-day winehiking tours.

• WholeHealthMD
  WholeHealthMD.com is dedicated to providing the best in complementary and alternative medicine. Developed by a team of leading board-certified doctors and specialists.
  (tags: alternative fitness healing health medical natural reference)
• Fitness Jumpsite: Calorie Calculator
  When you enter your weight and the average amount of time you spend doing an activity, the Activity Calorie Calculator returns an activities page personalized for you for 222 different activities. The winehiker apparently burns 10 calories for each minute
  (tags: calculator calories health reference tools)
• 15 stretches you can do
  If Kermit the Frog can do ‘em, I know YOU can.
  (tags: exercise fitness health humor training)

• An Inconvenient Truth Sparks Parents’ Anger, Bizarre Reactions
  Some people just prefer to live with blinders on. Newton’s Laws are probably bogus, too, according to the righteously indignant. How inconvenient for them!
  (tags: al gore global warming climate change inconvenient truth parents ignorance reaction)
• Exxon Secrets
  Exxon’s connection to Global warming? See for yourself in this Flash presentation.
  (tags: big business climate ENERGY environment flash global green reference Science warming)
• Science of Cooking
  Discover how a pinch of curiosity can improve your cooking! Explore recipes, activities, and Webcasts that will enhance your understanding of the science behind food and cooking.
  (tags: cooking cuisine education food learning recipes reference resources tips)

From Wine & Spirits Daily, we have some spirited news for American lovers of Champagne:

Champagne Imports Grow By 12%
While Britain currently holds the number one spot for Champagne exports, the U.S. remains its second largest market by volume. According to the Comité Interprofessionel du Vin de Champagne (CIVC), Champagne exports to the U.S. were up 12% to over 2 million cases last year, helped by a surge of popularity in the rosé category (a whopping 32%). Overall, Champagne shipments to the U.S. stood at about $534 million.

If my buying habits are any indication, then these numbers must be true. Apparently as goes the winehiker, so goes the nation. (Oh, if only that statement were true, too!)

In fact, if the nation should ever beat a path to my door, you heard it here first, folks: I’ll be pouring doubly on the bubbly, vous pouvez être sûr.

~winehiker

• Glowing attributes for wine drinkers
  Just checking my site stats this morning revealed the search term “wine drinkers”. In and of itself, the term wouldn’t warrant undue attention, but I decided to click through to see the Google results. I was intrigued by what I found.
  (tags: wine drink drinkers drinking health consumer active winehiker http://www.californiawinehikes.com)
• The Serendipitous Escafeld Exchange
  Elsbeth Wetherill at Escafeld Vineyards not only writes the Vineyard Diary blog, she contributes to Vagablond.com. Her article today profiles this winehiker’s California Wine Hikes website, while her award-winning 2004 Petit Verdot today arrived at my home.
  (tags: hiking escafeld vagablond california wine hikes petit verdot http://www.californiawinehikes.com blog blogger)

I just learned that my latest WineQ shipment arrived at my home via FedEx this morning. In that shipment are three bottles of wine, one being the double-gold-medal-winning 2004 Petit Verdot from Escafeld Vineyards of San Antonio Valley, Monterey County.*

I can’t wait to try it, for a number of reasons, chief among them being that I’ve never tried a pure-varietal Petit Verdot, much less such a highly-acclaimed one. But what’s unique about this wine, aside from its stature among the wine judges at this year’s SF Chronicle wine competition, is that it is also the first wine to be produced from the newly-designated San Antonio Valley AVA. That alone might just be reason enough to pop its cork. That, and its great value, at $19.95 a bottle.

What’s also unique is that on the same day that this bottle arrived, Escafeld’s resident blogger, Elsbeth Wetherill, published an article about me and my wine-touring business, California Wine Hikes, on the luxury travel, food, wine & shopping site, Vagablond.com. I think that’s a wonderful, kharmically delightful exchange of entropic energies. And so why wouldn’t I toast Elsbeth’s scribing efforts tonight with a glass o’ that PV?

I hope you’ll click over to read Elsbeth’s article on Vagablond. You might also consider reading Elsbeth’s blog, Vineyard Diary. But you really ought to consider buying this Escafeld Petit Verdot before I’m (certain to be) tempted to buy it all.

~winehiker

*The other two bottles are a 2004 Silvaspoons Vineyard Petite Sirah from Twisted Oak Winery and a 2003 American River Red from Lava Cap Winery, both located in the Sierra Foothills AVA of California.

Just checking my site stats this morning revealed the search term “wine drinkers”, which had directed the reader to my recent post, Wine drinkers: do you Q? In and of itself, the term wouldn’t warrant undue attention, but I decided to click through to see the Google results. I was intrigued by what I found.

Aside from my own search listing, I found the following link titles:

• Wine Drinkers Have Healthier Lifestyles
• Drinking Wine May Lower Risk Of Dementia
• Wine drinkers ‘follow their own path in life,’ a survey says
• Wine drinkers think positive
• Wine drinkers live more healthily than beer drinkers
• U.S. wine drinkers becoming more sophisticated in their tastes
• Generally Wine Drinkers Are Happy, Healthy, Wealthy & Wise
• Wine Drinkers May Live 4 Years Longer

I’ll assume that the person searching for the term was looking for articles about wine drinkers and not looking for people to drink wine with. Aside from the notion that hyperbole must invariably play a part in this happy little googling drama, it is certainly becoming rather publicly apparent that drinking wine – at least on a moderate daily basis – is a good healthy pursuit for us humans. And though I love a good hoppy ale every now and then, perhaps these stories explain in part why I’ve forsaken a previous preference for beer in favor of all those healthy little oligomeric proanthrocyanidins.

Heck, I’m already living longer! But really, I think that someday you’ll be able to – wineglass in hand – be able to substitute the word winehikers in place of wine drinkers in your Google inquiry. The resulting link titles, I believe, will deliver the same essential truths.

Eternally drinking positive,

~winehiker

• California Wine Hikes announces 2008 multi-day winehiking tours
  Friends, I’m looking forward to hosting my wine and hiking tours at a variety of top California destinations for hikers and wine lovers of all knowledge and skill levels. Today’s post summarizes my lineup of multi-day tours scheduled for the 2008 season.
  (tags: wine, hiking, hikes, tours, vacation, experience, california, stress, relax, health, healthy, http://www.californiawinehikes.com winehiker)

If you were to take a vacation for a week, would you consider your body’s health to be one of your vacation priorities?

Sadly, many of us who lead stressful lives tend to deal with our stresses on vacation by doing more of the things that have caused us to want a vacation in the first place: overeating, drinking too much, sleeping too little or too much, unhealthful habits, not getting enough exercise. Many Americans, however, are beginning to recognize their need for balance in their busy lives, and realizing that their health also comes first when they’re on vacation. There’s actually a term for this kind of person, and that’s active traveler. The demographics of active travel are indeed staggering.

At California Wine Hikes, we feel that the vacation you really deserve is the vacation that your body and mind both need. We also believe that a California wine country experience shouldn’t just include wineries but the wine country itself. Indeed, much of the California wine country is readily adjacent to great explorations of Nature. That’s why on our tours, we choose to add healthful outdoor exercise followed by good, healthy food plus wine tastings, to result in an active wine country vacation.

Learning about wine is part of the California Wine Hikes experience, and so is learning about the world that surrounds us outdoors. All of our five-day/four-night tours are designed with a quality California experience in mind, and are therefore limited to a small group size. At California Wine Hikes, we’ve learned that there is a trade-off between quality and quantity, and that the small size of our group tours, at only 11 guests, offers every guest a greater number of enriching discoveries and memorable moments, from the trail to the tasting room.

As you look ahead to your next wine country escape, we hope that in addition to your love of wine and great dining, you’ll consider the health of your mind and your body. Make it a priority to allow yourself a relaxing, uplifting, and educational tour with California Wine Hikes.

We’re looking forward to hosting our 2008 wine and hiking tours at a variety of top California destinations for hikers and wine lovers of all knowledge and skill levels. Here’s our new lineup of multi-day tours scheduled for the 2008 season:

• Paso Robles & The Santa Lucia Range
  February 17-21, 2008
  Take delight in tasting fine Central Coast Syrahs and Zinfandels and enjoy moderate-level invigorating hikes offering incredible views of the surrounding Pacific Ocean and the Central Coast wine country.
• York Mountain & Edna Valley: Hiker’s Paradise
  June 4-8, 2008
  Veteran hikers will find ecstatic pleasure in this budget-oriented Central Coast tour, which offers tough hilly hikes and incredible views of the San Luis Obispo wine country and the deep blue Pacific Ocean.
• Jack London & The Valley of the Moon
  June 15-19, 2008
  On this deluxe adventure, hikers and hedonists alike will get a thrill from all that Sonoma County has to offer in the variety of hiking terrain and fine wine, as well as the region’s historical richness and laid-back character.
• Chiles, Pope & Napa Valleys
  June 22-26, 2008
  On this premium hiking and wine-tasting adventure, you’ll enjoy some of the best exercise and best wines possible in a region known the world over. Wine lovers and outdoor enthusiasts will benefit immensely from all that Napa County has to offer in its rich variety of fine wines, dining, and hiking trails.
• Calaveras Big Trees & Gold Rush Country
  July 27-31, 2008
  This budget-oriented tour will have you wishing you lived in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, for it is here that you can soak up some Gold Rush Americana and also visit renowned wineries, discover giant sequoia groves, and hike High Sierra peaks, all within a day’s drive.
• Santa Maria Valley & The Foxen Canyon Wine Trail
  September 7-11, 2008
  Easy hiking, an affordable tour, beautiful scenery, bird watching, and some of the world’s finest Pinot Noir await you along the famed Foxen Canyon Wine Trail.
• Santa Barbara & The Santa Ynez Valley
  September 14-18, 2008
  Flanked by the Santa Ynez Mountains to the south and the San Rafael Mountains to the north, this well-established wine region maintains a pleasant, temperate climate. Moderate hiking, exquisite luxury, and some of the world’s finest Syrahs are in store for you on this deluxe California wine country adventure.

More 2008 tours will be added in the coming weeks, including day tours, overnight tours, midweek wine dinners, and more. To learn about these upcoming events before the public does, be sure to subscribe to this blog today. Subscribing is easy, takes only moments and, best of all, it’s absolutely free.

~winehiker