Articles by Bev Stenehjem

About Bev Stenehjem
Bev Stenehjem is a wine columnist for South Valley Magazine and is the author of the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley, Arcadia Publishing. Bev also promotes the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley association on Facebook and Twitter. Reach her at [email protected].

Food at your front door

Like to cook but hate the planning/shopping? There are at least 100 different companies that offer meal preparation kits which, include recipes and ingredients delivered to your door step. Similar offerings include discounts on first orders, pre-portioned ingredients for two to [...]

Jammy Trio

On a recent Friday evening, my husband and I chose Bella Viva Ristorante and Wine Bar to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. This historic restaurant is situated in a 100-year, former Gilroy landmark, the historic Steinmetz Building. Recently renovated with graceful arches, [...]

Dine-in bar

The fun factor in downtown Gilroy just got kicked up a notch with the opening of Bartenders Union, the newest business venture of Dustin Evanger (formerly the owner of The Hill Bar & Grill in Morgan Hill) and his three business partners. A ribbon-cutting was held Oct. 23. [...]

Elegant sip

On one of the last summer weekends of the season I popped into Sarah’s Vineyard to sample the latest releases. The tasting room was bustling, while live music was entertaining picnickers outside on the patio. With the warm weather outside, general manager Steve Howard [...]

Victorious vintage

With all the new, recent awards and accolades—both near and far—it’s cheers all-around for our local wineries. Anthony Dias Blue, the well-known wine writer and editor-in-chief, for SOMM magazine, Blue Lifestyles and The Tasting Panel magazine recently awarded seven of our [...]

Fruit of the vine

It was the second weekend of September when the call for help went out to friends and club members of Satori Cellars in Gilroy. With the prior week’s unusual heat wave, the vineyard grapes were ripening more quickly than expected and it was time to harvest some of the more [...]

Autumn toasts

Just because summer is over doesn’t mean all the fun has to stop. Quite the contrary, with Bay Area weather still mild into November, fall ushers in a whole new set of events to get on the calendar. For oenophiles who enjoy sampling all the wines of Santa Clara Valley, the [...]

Linger a little longer

Be careful not to bump the noses of the two large, but gentle, Australian Shepherds as you enter Bear’s Hideaway. Not only are they there to greet you but one of them, Bear, is the namesake of this San Juan Bautista shop, which specializes in wine, beer and cigars. Lori [...]

New viognier

For most of us wine enthusiasts we get a thrill at the mention of a newly released wine, so upon hearing about Lion Ranch Vineyards and Winery’s newly released viognier, my weekend’s top priority was making a visit to their winery. Past the lion head fountain leading to the [...]

Pasta a la Piemont

Recently, I spent a night in Italy without ever leaving Morgan Hill. As the Italians would say, I had the buono fortuna (good luck) to get a seat at a sold-out pasta cooking class at the beautiful Guglielmo Winery. The class was presented by Roberta and Gioacchino Barile, a [...]
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