Wine

We at San Diego Beer and Wine Tours have been giving a lot of love to beer lately. Not that there's anything wrong with that – after all, our fair city is the craft beer capital of the country, and possibly the world, with microbreweries and nanobreweries springing up everywhere like toadstools after a rain. But we want to remember where we came from and give wine the love it deserves, as well. After all, we started out as La Jolla Wine Tours!  Luckily, San Diego isn't just a place you can find all the craft beer you can handle. Thanks to its Mediterranean microclimates and mild winters, it's also a wonderful place to find wines.  “But, SDB&WT,” we hear you say, “where do I begin my journey to becoming a wine aficionado?” Luckily, California has your answer, courtesy of…

We’ve already covered how to dip your toe in the unfamiliar waters of wine if you’re a beer lover. Now if you’re a wine-drinker trying to unravel the mysteries of beer, we can help you! We have consulted the greatest craft beer experts of our time, who by a lucky coincidence work here, at San Diego Beer and Wine Tours, for ways to navigate the seas of San Diego’s craft beer scene with ease. If you love deep, plummy reds like pinots, we think a darker beer with coffee notes will be right up your alley, like Alesmith’s Nautical Nut Brown Ale. (We love this beer!) A stout or a porter, like Rogue’s Chocolate Stout, will also make your palate sing. If you like your wines (reds or whites) really dry, you’ll probably love bitter ales like IPAs. One of…

  Let’s say you’re a beer lover trying to figure out what all the fuss is about wine. We recommend going by the beers you love, of course. The good news is, if you're a microbrew fan you're already well on the way to learning to appreciate the nearly-infinite varieties of wines!   If you love ales or lagers: Try dry white wines such as Napa Valley or Sonoma chardonnays, such as the Beringer Private Reserve Chardonnay. The dryness and mouthfeel of the wine will provide a tasty and familiar way to quench your thirst on hot days. If you love bitters or IPAs, you're already learned to that astringency is your friend, so sip on a verdicchio.  Tannins should also be a treat for you, so try a bordeaux on for size. If you love stouts: You want more…

At San Diego Beer and Wine Tours we delight in the the "Dog Days" of summer because we know how to beat the heat.  In southern California it has been really, really, really hot– How do you stay cool in heat like this? If you're looking for ideas, as usual, we have plenty. Hamilton's Tavern.  Dark, comfortable, and cool in every sense of the world, Hamilton's has an enormous beer selection, good food, “Firkin Fridays,” where they open up a cask – and most importantly of all, Hamilton's has a hard-working AC. While you're there, explore the lovely community of South Park, which has plenty of low-key watering holes where you can sample fabulous local craft beers.  If you want a fresh sea breeze to cool your sweaty brow, we love the La Valencia Hotel's balcony bar overlooking La Jolla Cove. The…

At San Diego Beer and Wine Tours we LOVE good beer and wine.  We also love our pets, but as any vet will tell you, booze and Fluffy don’t mix – no matter how much they want it. Well, until now.  If you want to share your tasting experience with your dog or cat, you can now do so without fear of doing them serious bodily harm.  A company from Seattle has pioneered – wait for it – Bowser Beer. The non-alcoholic and non-carbonated drinks come in flavors like Beefy Brown Ale and Cock-A-Doodle-Brew. This isn’t the first marriage of pets and potables.  A San Diego company, Doggie Beer Bones, uses recycled grains from homebrewed beer to make baked dog treats. San Diego Beer and Wine Tours loves dogs. There is also a wine on the market for dogs and cats…

San Diego Beer and Wine Tours is off and running to the races!  Are you ready for a day at the racetrack? The rest of San Diego certainly is. Some 45,000 people are expected to head out to the Del Mar race track on opening day.  If you’ve never been, you’re in for a treat: it’s a see-and-be-seen kind of event, where thoroughbreds meet high fashion and haute couture. It’s also the perfect day to sit back with one of San Diego’s finest craft beers or a glass of wine and watch the crowds and their sartorial choices: big hats and short skirts on the women, linens and pinstripes on the men, and bright colors for everybody. San Diego Beer and Wine Tours enjoys a day at the races! What you wear and where you place your bets is totally…

San Diego Beer and Wine Tours is grateful for all its growth in the first two years.  My, how we’ve grown! It’s been exactly two years since Shira Bliss and her partner Paul Anthony first launched La Jolla Wine Tours, and what a ride it’s been since then!  We went from wine and food walking tours, to chauffeured winery and brewery tours of San Diego’s Wine Country, to our environmentally-friendly “green” train tours. San Diego Beer and Wine Tours is proud of their success… That first jaunt, on July 12, 2010, was a three-hour walking tour that began at the Empress Hotel and ended at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. Our seven guests tasted the best of La Jolla: seafood, freshly made pasta, and other delectable dishes. Today, you can take your pick of outings, and on our chauffeured tours we’ll pick…

If you’re looking for a top-notch hotel in San Francisco/Sausalito we highly recommend The Inn Above Tide. This is a great place to stay when you’re planning on touring the nearby wine country. The scenic vineyards of Sonoma and Napa are just a short drive north. The management at Inn Above Tide go above and beyond the call of duty. We were greeted by generous, kind staff that were more than willing to attend to our needs. Once escorted to our luxurious room we were thrilled with the special tokens of appreciation there to greet us, such as the personalized welcome note and beautiful bottle of local wine. The view of the bay from our room was unparalleled. The cozy fireplace a welcome addition; they even built the fire for us.   The afternoon wine reception in the drawing room was delightful…

For those of you who follow soccer (or what the rest of the world calls football) today is an important day: it's the final day of the Euro Cup, the little sister of the World Cup.  Today, football fans all over the world will watch with bated breath as Italy and Spain square off for the European championship.  We would like to take this opportunity to toast both teams.  For Spain, we recommend a lovely Priorat from the northeast, but if dropping $50 on a bottle isn'tyour thing, we of course think a Rioja would be superb, or a garnacha blend from the Campo de Borja region. If Italy's your team, southern Italy boasts the dry and strong white Fiano variety, or go north for one of Umbria's nearly-black, aromatic Sagrantino wines.  Of course, if you want to be non-partisan and…

Happy Independence Day! This is the national day of the United States, and in case you haven't been paying attention, it usually involves fireworks, backyard barbecues, and – of course – beer. We at La Jolla Wine Tours and San Diego Beer and Wine Tours have a special place in our heart for beer. We think it's delectable, especially something from The Lost Abbey or AleSmith Brewing Company. Yet, this year, for something different, how about pairing wine with your 4th of July barbecue fare. But not just any wine. Instead of red and white, try orange and green wines on for size. Green wines, or vinhos verdes, are light, delicate, and fizzy whites – perfect for summer! The “green” refers to the youth of the wine. It's supposed to be consumed a year after bottling at most and as…