It’s always fun to be able to say, “Hey, did you hear about (fill in the blank)?” when you’re chatting with wine friends.
Here are five things we’ve been “hearing” in recent weeks…
* Plans are in the works to add a boutique hotel at Napa Valley’s historic Freemark Abbey winery. The St. Helena landmark is now owned by Jackson Family Wines.
* A wine futures auction — at which attendees bid on wine that may not even be bottled yet — raised nearly $4 million for efforts to promote, protect and enhance the Napa Valley. The event is called Premiere Napa Valley, and is conducted by the Napa Valley Vintners association.
* One drink per day could help you become a nonagenarian. There have been so many studies over the years about wine drinking and longevity that I’ve lost track. But this one certainly underscores that moderate consumption is not a bad thing.
* Firefighters often are called upon to perform tasks other than extinguishing fires… such as rescuing cats from trees. But in the Austria town of Lustenau, those first responders were asked to prevent 1,590 liters of Zweigelt, stored in a 10-foot-tall wine bottle, from flooding the restaurant that had it constructed as a centerpiece for the dining room. The firefighters were called in when the bottled started leaking. And it seemed like such a good idea at the time…
* Sonoma County Restaurant Week is misnamed. It actually lasts more than a week, this year running from February 21 through March 1. It’s a great opportunity to enjoy some fabulous meals around a wine-tasting vacation. It might be a good idea to start planning for 2021 now.
