Theme Tours

We know we're called San Diego Beer and Wine Tours, but we don't just deal with beer and wine. In fact, we never have. We understand that beer and wine without wonderful food pairings is like having peanut butter without the jelly, ice cream without the sprinkles, yin without yang – you get the picture. All of our tours, as a matter of fact, include food tastings to go with your beverages – the equivalent of a full meal. We don't just tour the finest wineries and breweries in San Diego. Our tours are filled with the best food this town has to offer, no matter what you're in the mood for! It's a great way to savor the best gourmet, farm-to-table fare while you sip without having to commit to the price of a full meal. Plus, you get to…

International Beer Day is almost here! The worldwide celebration is going on anywhere there's beer, all over the word. We'd be thrilled to not only help you celebrate it, but also perhaps introduce you to some brews you might not have known exist. There's so many wonderful beers in the world to choose from! San Diego Beer and Wine Tours will take you to the best local breweries to celebrate this special day (and all year round!). Think globally, drink locally! International Beer Day is nothing to sneeze at, either. The party, which takes place every first Friday in August, was first celebrated in 2008, and the idea, like all great ideas, quickly spread. Now, International Beer Day is celebrated in at least 50 countries and 207 cities, all over the world! San Diego has one of the best beer…

It's wedding season!  Actually, we know that you can get married any day of the year, but here in southern California, the summer is the season of love! June through August seem to be the magical months. That's when the skies are bluest and the beaches are the most beautiful — the winning combination for amore. We love weddings! But, marriage isn't all about the wedding: It starts with a proposal. (I’d cut this next line: And while there are very few bad places to ask the person of your dreams to spend your lives together, some are more unusual than others.) Here's our list of romantic places to propose to your soon-to-be life partner: 1.     Balboa Park. Get an eyeful of San Diego's history, culture, and lovely architecture. If you stop in the middle of the bridge,…

Easter has a very special place in our hearts around here. For one thing, we love making the usual jokes about how beer lovers always have a “hoppy Easter,” but for another thing, the history of Easter is in many ways the history of beer. It all started during the ancient pre-Christian times, when Ishtar was the Babylonian goddess who represented the dawn and the springtime. Say her name out loud, and you'll hear how easily it became the word Easter. During the spring festivals, worshipers said, the sun would hop for joy as it rose in the sky. Water drawn during this time was said to be especially healing, too. And the goddesses of spring and fertility in nearly every culture eventually became goddesses of the fields and agriculture; as beer is the reason for agriculture (and actually for…

There's no such thing as a perfect child. Admit it – you were a brat growing up just like all the rest of us. Do you see those grey hairs on your mom? Those are your fault, every single last one of them. That time you came home three hours late without calling? The time you got under the sink and tried to eat Drano? How about the time you brought home that really inappropriate “friend” in high school? Oh, we know. We've all been there. At this point, the only appropriate question is, “How can I make this up to my mom?” The answer is simple: with wine. That's why we at San Diego Beer and Wine Tours have put together a wonderful Mother's Day gift to help you apologize for all those months as a kid you spent…

Today is April Fool's Day, also called “The Worst Day on the Internet.” In an age where just about anything can go viral, and gullibility is compounded by clickbait, it's best not to trust anything for the next 24 hours or so. We promise to not be part of this trend. We, instead, embrace an original rite of spring, the "renewal festival," which occurred in many cultures throughout the world and were characterized by lighthearted pranks and a temporary reversal of the accepted social order. (Yes, we know that the whole mockery mess supposedly began when France shifted from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one somewhere in the 16th century, thereby switching the New Year to January 1st instead of April, but we prefer the friendlier origin story.) So, we are taking this opportunity to announce that we are…

Happy Spring! The vernal equinox is the first day of spring. That’s when the day and night are roughly equal in length. Now nighttime is just going to keep getting shorter, until we’re at summer’s glorious peak! Not that springtime in San Diego is anything to sneeze at, unless you’re allergic to pollen, of course. In fact, it’s one of the most gloriously beautiful times of the year here, with rare flowers popping out of the desert and cherry blossoms adorning Balboa Park. It’s also a great time of year to sit outside and sip some light springtime wines. We recommend light-bodied wines. Here are a few to try: Prosecco is a light and sparkly wine, and at its best it’s fruity without being oversweet.  It’s also quite wallet-friendly, running about $10 a bottle. Perfect for sipping with or without…

Above photo courtesy of my dear friend and neighbor, please respect the ownership of this photo and do not distribute, thank you-Shira Bliss Top o’ the Irish to ya! There aren’t many things we love more than beer, food, and wine, but if there was anything that went with them it would be dogs. “Hardly a bar in Ireland didn’t have a dog,” says our own Shira Bliss, ” and I’d love to see more of that in the US.” Shira’s our resident Ireland expert – after all, she was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Saint Patrick’s Day! You can’t get much more Irish than that. San Diego is one of the most dog-friendly cities in the world, so in the spirit of St. Patrick’s Day we’ve compiled a list of places you and the pooch can go tip…

It's almost that wild and wonderful day, Fat Tuesday, where you're expected – no, commanded – to wear feathery hats, colorful clothes, and beads. It's also the last hurrah before the start of Lent, which is a time of fasting and repentance for those who observe the Catholic faith.  The origins of Mardi Gras as it's known today are traced back to medieval Europe, where farmers would slaughter and eat a fatted calf and drink enormous quantities of red wine.  In fact, Carnival or Carnaval, as the week leading up to Mardi Gras is called in some regions, comes from "carna vale": farewell to the flesh.   However, the story of these traditions go back even further than that, to ancient Roman or possibly pre-Roman pastoral times, to Lupercalia, the festival of Lupercus, the god of shepherds, and Lupa, the…

Just say no. Saint Patrick was an Irish hero for, according to folklore, driving all the snakes out of Ireland. For the purposes of this piece, we're going to skim over the fact that this was probably an allegory for his actual work helping extinguish Druidism throughout the island, and instead focus on what he really should have been doing – fighting back against the tyranny of bad beer, and worse: green beer.  In his absence, though, we'll do our part by giving you our annual list of our favorite San Diego breweries that provide Irish-style beers. It's a tough job, but we're just the people to do it!  First is the venerable and justly famous Red Trolley Ale from Karl Strauss. It's been a winner for ages, because it's delicious, and also because it's named after our famous trolley…