Wine Touring 102

[trip style = wine tasting]

The sand and rocks that make up the soil in BC's only desert offer the most optimal conditions for growing grapes. Within this plot of land, there's a micro area called The Golden Mile, known worldwide for its production of fine wine. {More on this region Thursday}.

I spent the latter part of last week partaking in one of my favourite trip styles, wine tasting, exploring the Okanagan's Golden Mile. Only in wine country for 2.5 days, I had to take advantage of my surroundings quickly and efficiently, yet slowly and savoringly to enjoy the fruits of the winemakers' labour! On the second day of zipping from one winery to another as if in a pinball machine, I was reminded of some basic wine touring 101 lessons I learned and wrote about last year, as well as some new insights I picked up for the next time you partake in trip style = wine tasting!

Wine Touring 102

• See Wine Tasting 101: basic guidelines and etiquette for tasting anywhere from Napa to the Naramata Bench.
• Map out where you want to taste in advance based on how much time you have, the geography of the area, what wines you already love and where other wineries suggest you sip and swirl.
• Don't try to do too many wineries at once. You won't have the same interest and attention span at the end of the day to properly appreciate the wines you're tasting.
• Plan time for lunch, whether you eat at a winery's restaurant or pack a picnic in a cooler you leave in the car.
• Bring lots of water and crackers with you to re-hydrate and ensure something is in your stomach at all times.
• If it's a hot summer day, seek solace in the tasting rooms from 12 - 3pm and relax the rest of the day.
• When tasting wines from white to red, always have at least 3 sips of each wine you taste. The first cleanses the palate, the second offers a first glimpse of the taste, and the third is the full effect.
• Talk to wine tasting hosts as if they are your friends, most are good with people and know a lot about wine.
• Take notes. What wines did you love, how is the wine best enjoyed, what wine making philosophy did you love, etc.
• Make note of what wines you can buy at wine shops versus only at the winery.
• Doing sequential tastings at multiple wineries tunes your taste buds to what you like and dislike.
• If there's a tasting fee, most wineries will wave or refund it with a minimum wine purchase.
• Hire a shuttle, limo or car service if you're planning on seeing more than a few wineries and not planning on using the spittoon.

Did you know? The bulk of the flavour in wine comes from the inside the grape, just under the skin.

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From The Archives :: Beat the Heat in Sonoma

[trip style = wine tasting + weekend getaway + sun] {more pics below}

{Editor's Note: This month's From The Archives, originally published July 16, 2010, explores ducking from an air conditioned tasting room to an air conditioned car to taste wine in the heat of summer. Normally, temperate travelers from temperate climates avoid the sauna-like conditions that plague many of California's hot spots during the hottest months of the year, but I learned a few cool tips and tricks that took my Sonoma wine tasting experience from Barefoot to Opus One caliber.}

Sipping on an icy lime and cucumber-infused water, I realize it’s already 6:45pm. Having just returned from a full day of wine tasting, I am lounging poolside catching the tail-end of the Sonoma sun.

Although temperatures in the Napa Valley can reach 40 degrees Celsius during the summer, it is still worth braving the heat to visit the USA’s most famous wine region. With a few minor adjustments to packing and planning, us mild-mannered Pacific Northwest dwellers can beat---even embrace---the heat in Napa.

Because Napa is inland, the temperatures are a little more extreme than Vancouver’s. While the sometimes intense midday heat makes you wish you were sipping an ice-cold mojito surrounded with spritzers by the pool’s edge, the mornings and evenings provide a cool retreat.

Embracing morning’s milder temperatures allows you to counterbalance wine tasting and start the day by walking to a local café for breakfast, hiking to perfect picture-taking vistas or biking on Sonoma’s back roads to wineries like Ravenswood, Sebastiani and Gundlach Bundschu. Save the wine tasting for the afternoon when you can sip chardonnay to your heart’s content in an air conditioned tasting room. Once you hear the next winery calling your name, dash for the car and amp the air conditioning until you find shelter from the heat at the next vineyard! Although this sounds like a bit of a process, you have to love a region where rain isn’t even part of the locals’ summer vocabulary.

If you want to see more than just a tasting room, many wineries offer tours of their production facilities and vines. Being indoors, the production portion of tours is cool, yet walking through the pinot or zinfandel vines is a little more toasty. If you can stand the oven-like conditions for an instant and want to get up close and personal with the grapes, most wineries offer umbrellas while some of the bigger players have roofed, open-air vehicles.

Depending on your affinity and tolerance for wine, after a few sequential tastings, you may want a cool, pool break. The poolside scene from 5–7pm offers less crowds and soothing, milder rays. And if you’ve been tasting cabernets all day, it’s nice to have a late siesta before another glass at dinner.

One night I abandoned my 5-7pm poolside rule and went out for dinner at 6.45pm. I made the mistake of dining outside and later realized why I got parking right in front of the restaurant in high season. Surrounded by calming water features, grapevines and the allure of open-air dining, sadly, I couldn’t enjoy my dinner on the patio because the heat was still intense. Case in point, I’d been at the pool the night before until 7pm.

The next night I strapped on my party shoes and went out at 8pm. Being a glutton for punishment, I risked sitting outside. The risk paid off. Dining alfresco at the right time was a perfect finish to an excellent day in wine country. Oddly, that night I didn’t even want wine with my gastronomic indulgences.

Sonoma Travel Tips Stay – The Fairmont Sonoma Mission Inn & Spa or El Dorado Hotel. Eat – The Girl and the Fig and El Dorado Kitchen. Do – Consider navigating to wineries near your hotel by bike. Most major hotels rent bikes to guests for $25 per day. As of this time last year, guests of Fairmont properties in the USA {and Canada} can now use on-site BMW bikes for free. Sonoma's back roads may be off the beaten track, but the wineries are worth a visit. Hint – Whether biking or driving to wineries, if traveling in a pair, share tastings so you can winery-hop without indulging in too much nectar.

Sonoma Pictures {Grape Vines.}

{Biking to wineries in Sonoma.}

{Grapes at Beringer Winery, the oldest continuously operating winery in Napa Valley.}

{The courtyard at my favourite winery in Napa: Michel Schlumberger.}

{Wine barrels being aged and stored.}

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Spotlight :: Bellevue {Washington}

[trip style = weekending + urban + active & adventure + wine tasting]

Sunday morning did not start off like any other day. With my life jacket firmly fastened and my paddle gently sweeping through the glassy water, I spotted turtles instead of people and herons in place of buildings. On this peaceful morning, my main mode of transportation was a bright yellow kayak. The only reminder of the modern world was the entrance and exit to the Mercer Slough, where I paddled underneath what seemed like a bridge. Later on when I drove over this "bridge", I learned it was actually a series of concrete spaghetti-like structures that happened to be part of the I-90. In one glance I was away from it all, gliding through lilypads, and in the next glance, in the centre of it all, standing in the shadow of tall glass highrises.

This juxtaposition became my ebb and flow when I was invited to explore Bellevue this past weekend. One second I was admiring toy-like metal and mechanical animals dancing in a dim, strobe-lit room at the Bellevue Arts Museum, and the next moment I was in traditional and modern tasting rooms, twirling, sipping and sloshing the season's best in Woodinville Wine Country---only 15 minutes away.

If you spend 48 hours in the former whaling town, you'll discover activities you'd sooner associate with a waterfront metropolis than a quiet suburb. Previously I would just go to shop, eat and sleep. Now my Visa is happy to report that I've taken off the blinders that gave me shopping tunnel vision, to stop and look at what else is out there, counterbalancing the shopping with exercise, culture and upscale dining.

Bellevue's small-town-within-a-metropolis feel is what keeps me coming back. It's a worthy alternative to nearby Seattle, and one I've probably been to a half dozen times over the past year alone. In one weekend, I can shop and walk, eat out and kayak, drink coffee and taste wine, buy at Nordstrom and browse Jimmy Choo. Like the Mercer Slough flowing into Lake Washington, Bellevue is a setting where multiple trip styles converge. It's a place occupied by some of the biggest names in US business---Microsoft, Expedia and T-Mobile to name a few---but it has a lot more to offer than just Windows 7, travel search engines and former Bachelor couple Jason and Molly.

Shop The Bellevue Collection - A fusion of sophisticated shopping, dining, nightlife and upscale hotels. The Bravern - A luxury shopping experience resembling more of a Spanish villa than covered outdoor mall, anchored by Neiman Marcus, Jimmy Choo, Louis Vuitton, Tory Burch, Salvatore Ferragamo and Hermès. Don't miss the melt-in-your-mouth gelato at Vovito Caffe & Gelato. Nordstrom Rack - The Seattle-based department store's discount outlet.

Dine Purple Cafe And Wine Bar - A funky restaurant specializing in wine pairings and local seasonal ingredients. Try the Phyllo-baked brie. Bis On Main - Known for its consistent American French cuisine and the owner's art collection. If you were going to spot Bill Gates in Bellevue, it might be here. Monsoon East - Saigon-inspired Vietnamese cuisine in a modern setting. Barking Frog - With an impressive wine list and northwest cuisine to match, only 15 minutes from Bellevue. Must-try: deconstructed movie-theatre popcorn ice cream dessert. Cupcakes Royale - Rich and cakey cupcakes born in Seattle, bred in Bellevue. Try the Salty Caramel! Munchbar - shows MMA by day and cranks turntables by night. This resto-lounge and its cultured sister Piano Bash {dueling piano bar}, are your answer to nightlife in Bellevue. Try the crispy mac n' cheese bites or mini grilled cheeses with a tomato sour cream dipping sauce.

Stay Hyatt Regency Bellevue - $$ - Friendly staff, recently renovated with a serene winter bamboo garden. {See my trip advisor review here} Westin Bellevue - $$ -  Nice rooms, large pool and great weekend packages. {See my trip advisor review here} Sheraton Bellevue - $ - Efficient lower cost option. {See my trip advisor review here}

Do Kayak or Swim - at Enatai Beach Park only a 5-minute drive from downtown Bellevue. Walk - along one of the trails in the 320-acre wetland nature park known as the Mercer Slough. Jog - on the half-mile park loop at the tree-lined Downtown Park---a 2-minute walk from the Hyatt or Westin. Stroll - along Main Street and browse the smaller, boutique shops like Glassybaby, where each famed glass tumbler is handmade by a team of four, and multiple local restaurants feature their votives. PS - I hear locals collect every colour! Sip - drive 15 minutes to access 70+ wineries and tasting rooms in Woodinville Wine Country. Visit - the Bellevue Arts Museum, where the building is an impressive as the three storeys of art it holds dear. Don't miss the museum store---a great place to find unique gifts for people of all ages.

Getting There Bellevue is three hours from Vancouver and 20 minutes from Seattle.

[photo{s} by @tripstyler]

Summer Vacation Ideas :: Budget

[trip style = budget]

Some people are really good at planning in advance, and others, not so much. I fall somewhere in the middle, though my friends would probably say I'm a planner. This post is for the late-blooming, or aspiring travel planners who want to go away this summer, but haven't gotten around to planning anything!

One of this month's 3-part features is Summer Vacation Ideas. Today we're looking at Trip Style = Budget ideas, next week we'll explore Trip Style = Luxury Summer Escapes, and the following week Trip Style = Weekending to extend your business or personal/family-related trip. Enjoy!

Budget Summer Vacation Ideas trip style = camping By now, serious campers have already reserved the A+ spots at campgrounds for a weekend or two in the 8-10 weeks we have the pleasure of calling summer {in many parts of North America and Europe}. The good news is, the first-come-first-serve or B+ spots are still available for online reservation! If you absolutely cannot handle putting up a tent, why not try a yurt? Some beautiful places to camp near Vancouver are Tofino {Bella Pacifica} and Washington {Deception Pass}. Cost: from $250 for a weekend, including camping fee, food and gas.

trip style = wine touring How could you not want to immerse yourself in cascading rows of fresh grapes and sip wine in an air conditioned tasting room? Venturing to the vines in summer is toasty but tastes so good. There are a multitude of wineries one could do as a day trip around Vancouver or Seattle, or a weekend trip to BC's Okanagan Valley, Washington's Walla Walla Valley, Oregon's Willamette Valley or California's Napa. Cost: from $50 for a day trip to $1000 for a 3-night tour including hotel, food, gas and tastings.

trip style = road trip Ahhh the summer road trip. So many memories---some I'd like to remember and others I'd like to forget {like the year we traveled sans air conditioning.} Nowadays cars have built-in DVDs, satellite radio, dual-zone a/c, cup holders and other doodads to ensure a peaceful journey. So take advantage of summer 2011, and hit the road Jack to uncover off-beat destinations {like the Old Country Market with goats on the roof---no joke---on Vancouver Island} you might miss when flying in and out of major cities. Cost: from $350 for a weekend including hotel, food and gas.

trip style = {desert} sun The desert is overwhelmingly hot in the summer, but if you like heat, frequent dips in the pool and misters, the prices are low!  The winter escape artists have left, leaving hotel and vacation rental availability that would be harder to get or cost-prohibitive in the high season. Case in point, the Colony in Palm Springs is on Jetsetter {travel flash sale website} this week for $115/night. Cost: from $1100 for flight, 3-night hotel, food rental car and gas.

*Where applicable, all cost estimations based on two people and $100/night hotels, modest car rentals and mid-range restaurants.

PS - Aside from our regularly scheduled content, don't miss next month's feature: Off The Beaten Path Escapes!

[images by @heatherlovesit and @tripstyler]

Euro Month :: Tuscany's Lucca

[trip style = sightseeing + wine tasting]

For our second installment of Euro Month, we're heading about an hour inland from the Cinque Terre to Tuscany. Tagging along with friends to the fortified city of Lucca, we discovered the joys of strolling through antique markets, winding our way into magnificent piazzas, eating out and trying our hand at cooking the region's cuisine and trying to burn off the calories biking!

For us, Lucca was all about activity and eating: biking and walking, followed by wining and dining. Even with the activity, I left a little plumper---not sure how Italian women stay so slender with croissants and pasta cat-calling them on every street corner. To compliment our immersive eating adventures, I wish I could say we actually went to wineries, which was actually part of the plan, but we didn't. After a long journey cycling along a busy road with huge big rigs passing us just a little too close, we opted for a safe type of wine tasting: with our meals at restaurants.

Biking {Lucca is a fortified city with a unique feature: you can bike, walk or run for approximately 4km along the top of the walls around the city}

{Looking into the city from the outer walls ~ the towers are left over from days of old and used to be where prosperous silk-trading families took up residence}

{More biking along the base of the 12ft fortified walls}

{Typical scene from the top of the walls looking in}

{Biking outside the fortification checking out the old aqueducts}

Eating {One of the most fun lunches while in Lucca: after biking for a few hours---and a fruitless non-encounter with wineries---we found a restaurant on top of the city's outer walls. There we enjoyed a long lunch with pasta, salad and wine, then got back on our bikes and kept on riding! In this pic: our friends and fellow prosecco-lovers.}

{I had to take a picture of this menu ~ see if you can spot the reference to "carpet-shells." I have no idea what those are, but perhaps the joke's on me?}

{Enamored by the throngs of fresh food shops, we decided to make use of our accommodation's mini kitchen and eat in one night. In this pic: naked ravioli awaiting its sauce. Soooo good.}

{After our "home"-cooked meal, we went out to this picturesque locale for some prosecco...}

{Open-air drinks in a restaurant mid-piazza ~ there were so many I don't remember which one this was...I think it was Piazza dell'Anfiteatro}

Out & About in Lucca {Walking into a Piazza}

{Tall, colourful buildings tightly hugged all the walkways}

{Love Tuscany's version of a garage, it's like art}

{Just another day aimlessly walking in the beautiful and cozy streets in Lucca}

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