Articles by Laura Ness

About Laura Ness
Laura Ness is an accomplished freelance writer offering travel tips and commentary on the California wine industry.

Stefania marks five years

Stefania Romero and her husband, Paul, have been at their Day Road location for five years now. Their tasting room is pure Americana barn, furnished with reclaimed local barnwood and anything else that Paul could find by reaching out on Nextdoor.  There’s a beautiful old [...]

Winery shifts focus away from incubator

Musical chairs has been the theme for tasting rooms in South County this year. We asked Jeff Fadness of La Vie Dansante to set the vinyl straight. Fadness said Blended, A Winemaker’s Studio, functioned exactly as originally intended, as an incubator for new wineries to make [...]

Time on Day Road

The weather was just shy of extra toasty Cheez-Its, and the hills shimmered in the relentless bleached blue of the sky. But there was a breeze, and the grass shimmied in it, as the tiny vines at Calerrain contented themselves in the sun.  Inside the tasting room, the 2018 [...]

A love story, with wine

Sofia Fedotova never imagined she’d one day own a winery in California. Growing up in the Ural region of Russia, she worked for a consulting firm specializing in seminars for CPAs. In a happy tale of internet matchmaking gone right, Sofia’s online profile caught the eye of [...]

Wineries come and go

Change is ever afoot here in wine country. TASS has departed the shared tasting room called Blended, and Medeiros Family will do the same on Oct. 6, leaving La Vie Dansante dancing solo. Says TASS owner Ron Mosley, “Both of us just ran into better opportunities.” Ted and [...]

Fall Passport in the valley

It’s that time again: Passport month in the Santa Clara Valley kicks off on Friday, Sept. 6, at the Coyote Creek Golf Club, 5:30-8:30 p.m.  The $100 VIP ticket includes reserve tastings, one-hour early entry, passed appetizers from 5:30-6:30 p.m., followed by appetizers [...]

Fundraisers for Gilroy shooting victims

Many are scarred and still shaken by the trauma of being caught up in the horror of the mass shooting at the Gilroy Garlic Festival in July. It’s hard to even say the word “Gilroy” without thinking of the tragedy. We pause to remember those lost, and their families and [...]

Market set to return Aug. 10

The first Makers Market held at The Stomping Ground in July featured more than a dozen local craftspeople whose wares are featured in Makers Market shops at Santana Row, Napa and San Francisco, along with food and live music. It was such a big hit that Janu and Jason Goelz are [...]

Veraison underway at local vineyards

August is the month when veraison occurs in earnest, in both white and red grapes. Berries begin swelling rapidly and whites transition from a Thompson seedless shade of pale green to a warm greenish-yellow. Chardonnay will gradually glow like polished gold. Reds blush [...]

Gilroy Garlic Festival 2019 wine garden

Get ready for garlic, wine and country music as the 41st annual Garlic Festival returns with Grammy Award-winning, multi-platinum-selling singer/songwriter Colbie Caillat and her new Nashville band, Gone West. Cook-offs helmed by celebrity chefs Tom Colicchio (Top Chef judge) [...]
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