When you decide to move your precious wine collection, there are several steps you will need to do to insure a safe move. The first thing you should do is have your collection appraised by a qualified appraiser. This will help set the value of the collection for insurance purposes, either for a personal property rider on your homeowner’s insurance or for the moving company’s insurance policy.

First-time wine cellar owners often dream of being able to select wines from their collections for decades to come. Unfortunately, unless you are buying delicate, heavy bodied wines from Old World vintners, you may find that your favorite wine may only be drinkable for a very short time.

Anyone who has tried to buy wine over the internet may be well aware of the obstacle course of wine shipping laws tripping up oenophiles all over the U.S. today. Unless you are fortunate enough to live in what is referred to as a “reciprocal” state, it may quite literally take an act of congress for you to buy a bottle of that great boutique wine you tried during your wine country vacation last year.

A pickup party is one of the standard perks of wine club membership. Usually 3 or 4 times a year, club members who live close enough by, or who happen to be visiting the area, pick up the newly released club selections on a special day at the winery. Lots of wine is poured (of course) with complementary foods, often a barbecue, and sometimes, live music. It was all of these at the club pickup party we visited at De La Montanya Winery & Vineyards.

A pickup party is one of the standard perks of wine club membership. Usually 3 or 4 times a year, club members who live close enough by, or who happen to be visiting the area, pick up the newly released club selections on a special day at the winery. Lots of wine is poured (of course) with...

Taking a large group or even hiring a bus for a trip to Sonoma? IntoWine.com has scoured Sonoma County to find the wineries best suited to host large groups. The list below is in no particular order. Imagery Estate Winery Glen Ellen - The vibe at Imagery is one of wine, art, and nature. Imagery is a biodynamic winery so a huge emphasis is placed on preserving and embracing nature. Nature lovers will love walking the grounds to discover and encounter the bio-diversity. The tasting room is as much art gallery as it is wine bar as dozens and dozens of paintings adorn the walls. Imagery is known for its unique artist-commissioned wine labels so it is a must visit for label collectors. As for the wine, Imagery is a biodynamic farm with an emphasis on rare grapes and diversity in their wine offerings. More...

On a warm Tuesday in June, my wife Emily gently told me she thought she might be pregnant with our first child. We hadn’t planned this, and I was having trouble adjusting to the idea. The next evening I was eating Chinese food , and when I opened the fortune cookie, I decided to interpret the fortune in light of whether Emily was pregnant.

This is the second article ( Part one is here ) in an investigative series on Sicilian wines. Part Three of this series will be a focus on the Sicilian palate, foods and wines from the southern most region of Italy. My wife’s cousin, Fabio, navigates the winding roads up the east side of Mount Etna as naturally as the breeze follows the Sicilian coastline. We are en route to the small mountain town of Randazzo where Fabio’s friend is the winemaker at a winery called Gurrida . Over the course of an hour, we have passed thousands of acres of vineyards and citrus groves and several ancient villages carved (literally) out of lava.

There are some Sonoma wineries that simply have the good fortune of being located in a prime spot for visitors to take in a grand view. IntoWine.com has scoured Sonoma County to find the wineries that are worth checking out if only for the view. The list below is in no particular order. Marimar Torres Estate Sebastopol - Nestled in the rolling hills of western Sonoma County, Marimar Torres Estate off the beaten path for winery hoppers but worth the trek out of the way. The grounds and the views at Marimar Torres are splendid, particularly during the Spring/Autumn seasonal changes. More...

You did want to know how to say, “Trockenbeerenauslese,” didn’t you? Auslese - OWS-lay-zuh Beerenauslese - Buh-air-en OWS-lay-zuh Deutsche Landwein - DOYTCH-uh LANDT-vine Deutsche Tafelwein - DOYTCH-uh TOFF-el-vine Eiswein - ICE-vine Kabinett - Kahb-in-ET Qualitätswein bestimmter Anbaugebiete -...