About The Appellation Trail
The Countdown!
Update: As of December 26, 2011 we have visited 45 appellations and thus succeeded in our quest!
Appellations Visited
- Santa Cruz Mountains
- Central Coast
- Santa Clara Valley
- Lodi
- Mokelumne River
- Clements Hills
- Borden Ranch
- Jahant
- Clarksburg
- Amador County
- Paso Robles
- Edna Valley
- San Luis Obispo County
- Santa Rita Hills
- Santa Ynez Valley
- Santa Barbara County
- Alexander Valley
- Sonoma Coast
- Carneros
- Sonoma Valley
- Russian River Valley
- Dry Creek Valley
- Sonoma County
- Cienega Valley
- Mt. Harlan
- San Benito
- Saddle Rock – Malibu
- Livermore Valley
- Southeastern New England
- Massachusetts
- Temecula Valley
- Riverside County
- San Pasqual Valley
- Sierra Foothills
- El Dorado
- Fair Play
- Puget Sound
- Oakville
- Napa Valley
- Oak Knoll District of Napa Valley
- St. Helena
- Sonoma Mountain
- Yolo County
- Mt. Veeder
- Rutherford
Who?
Nicole Gustas and Mike Rainey. We’ll get bios up here sometime soon. In the meantime…
We’re just a couple of people who love wine. While we may occasionally make a comment about a raisin flavor in our wine, we’re not wine snobs.
We’ve been known to drink wine out of a box; when it comes to box wines, we’re especially fans of Black Box. Our favorite find of last year were 500-mililiter tetrapaks of Alice White wine (chardonnay and shiraz) at Big Lots for $1 each, perfect for bringing to Burning Man.
The downside of not being wine snobs is that our vocabulary for describing what we taste tends to be somewhat limited. Hopefully this will change as the year goes on.
What?
The Appellation Trail: 52 weeks, 40 wine appellations. We’ll visit 40 wine appellations over the year.
When?
Over the course of 2011. Like any great project, if it does well enough, there will be a sequel, only one of us will demand too much money and be recast with a young unknown or older almost-has-been.
Where?
Wine-growing areas across the United States. According to Wikipedia there are 197 American Viticultural Areas (aka appellations) in the United States, so we’re not likely to run out.
If we get around to renewing our passports, Canada and/or Mexico might make it on here in 2011, but don’t hold your breath.
Why?
There’s a whole post on that.
How (do you determine what qualifies as a visit?)
There’s a post on that, too.
