Columns

Time on Day Road

Laura Ness is an accomplished freelance writer offering travel tips and commentary on the California wine industry.
Latest posts by Laura Ness (see all)
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

Laura Ness is an accomplished freelance writer offering travel tips and commentary on the California wine industry.
Latest posts by Laura Ness (see all)
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

Laura Ness is an accomplished freelance writer offering travel tips and commentary on the California wine industry.
Latest posts by Laura Ness (see all)
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

Laura Ness is an accomplished freelance writer offering travel tips and commentary on the California wine industry.
Latest posts by Laura Ness (see all)
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 [...]

Ride into fall

Latest posts by Curt Hentschke (see all)
Autumn is arriving, bringing with it a gaggle of great bicycle opportunities. I mean, on Sept. 19, who wouldn’t want to dress up like a buccaneer and go out riding on Talk Like a Pirate Day?  Three days later, on the 22nd, Viva CalleSJ returns to the streets of San Jose. [...]

Fundraisers for Gilroy shooting victims

Laura Ness is an accomplished freelance writer offering travel tips and commentary on the California wine industry.
Latest posts by Laura Ness (see all)
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 [...]

A Coe Park classic

Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
Ask any volunteer at Henry W. Coe State Park who has spent time in the visitor center what most visitors are looking for, and the answer will be the same: “We’d like to go on a short hike, maybe a couple hours, nothing arduous.” Ask those same volunteers for the [...]

Market set to return Aug. 10

Laura Ness is an accomplished freelance writer offering travel tips and commentary on the California wine industry.
Latest posts by Laura Ness (see all)
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 [...]

South Valley responds to annual summer hiking trek

Ron Erskine is a local outdoors columnist and avid hiker.
Ron Erskine
Latest posts by Ron Erskine (see all)
In December 2012, I wrote this in my “Getting Out” column: “Each new year, we resolve to lose weight, exercise more, or make some other pledge of self-improvement that usually withers and dies before January is gone. But sometimes, if the challenge has enough allure, and [...]

Veraison underway at local vineyards

Laura Ness is an accomplished freelance writer offering travel tips and commentary on the California wine industry.
Latest posts by Laura Ness (see all)
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 [...]
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