I realized today that I haven't posted any upcoming events for a while. So here you go!

Castle Rock Wine Fest Grand Tasting
July 21 noon-7pm
$36 for tickets ($15 for DD's)
Hosted at the Grange at the Meadows. Features Colorado wines, gourmet foods, and a host of vendors.
www.castlerockwinefest.com

Experience Wine Classes
"Summer Wines" on July 26
$40-45, check out the website for location.
www.experiencewine.net

Blue Star Wine Tastings
Wednesday Wine Tastings, $20
"Tribute to Elvis" August 6
"Pinot Noir" September 10
www.thebluestar.net

Power Liquor Mart Events
Free, just call to reserve a spot.
"Italian Wines" July 21
"New World and Old World" July 26
"Wines of the World" July 28
www.powersliquormart.com

Colorado Mountain Winefest
September 13-16
Various prices for classes and tastings.
www.coloradowinefest.com

Please let me know if any of you are going to an event and we can try to meet up there. I would love to meet some readers!

Late last month Copia, The American Center for Food, Wine, and the Arts, unveiled it's newest "toy". The WineStation is a device from Napa Technology that not only automates portion control, but also preserves wine for up to 60 days and tracks customer preferences. Check out this link for a video of the WineStation.



At Copia, each pour is given a price and guests then purchases "tastes" with a pre-loaded card that is inserted into the machine. With 10 machines in all, Copia is offering 40 wine selections through WineStations. Six machines are dedicated to customer education, with each one offering a different focus. Such as malolactic and non-malolactic fermentations, vineyard techniques, and even wine faults. There is even one machines that asks guests to try and identify the grape variety used.

I've got to say that I think this is an absolutely fantastic idea. What they've essentially done is created an interactive visitor's center for wine. It's great to see technology being used to advance the wine industry. If you're in the area, please let me know what you think of this new setup. I can't wait to take a look the next time I'm in Napa.

Now this is really a great website. Wineanswers.com is a site that has just been launched by the wWine Market Council as a 24-hour-a-day resource for all types of wine information. From a database of wine and food pairings to articles by some of the nation's leading sommeliers and wine experts, this is truly a wonderful resource for any wine lover.

Check it out! And feel free to post a comment to let others know what you think.

If you happen to be traveling in California, I came across a fun tour company. Californiawinehikes.com offers tours ranging from one day hikes to week long excursions in wine country.

One of their more popular hikes is "Walking the Zinfandel Trail". It's a single-day tour that costs $85 per person. The description says that it covers 4 easy, flat-to-rolling hills on a trail that lies right outside the tasting room of the Picchetti Winery. The hike is followed by a gourmet lunch and wine tasting at Picchetti's picnic grounds. The hike also includes trail snacks and bottle water.

I think this would be a great way to explore wine country in an active and and fitness minded way. And what better way to reward yourself for exercising, than to have a nice glass of wine!

I was just reading the newest issue of Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel (one of my favorite magazines) and saw a great little article on a wine from Argentina called Iron Wine. Iron Wine sells malbec-cabernet and chenin blanc in 12 ounce aluminum cans. Each can has a special lining that keeps the product isolated in an inert environment.

Unfortunately the wine isn't available in the U.S. But it is available in upscale shops and bars in Argentina for $2 to $6.

This is just fun.
This "cordxedo" is made out of over 800 corks, from over 200 wineries, and weighs 15 pounds. Check out www.corkxedo.com for more pictures and a list of the wineries it includes.

I'm really excited about this, I just signed up to be a consultant for the Traveling Vineyard. The Traveling Vineyard is a group that does in-home wine tastings, with the opportunity to buy the wines you've just tasted. They also have a wonderful selection of wine accessories and an "around the world" wine of the month club. From what I've seen so far they have a great selection of wines, mainly from smaller vineyards. And there are wines from all over the world as well, not simply Californian wines as you might expect.

Check out my Traveling Vineyard website if you'd like to know more. And please feel free to contact me if you'd like to host a tasting, or learn more about becoming a consultant yourself.