Wine

Today is a very special day. Not only is it Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, it's also the day the President of the United States of America gets sworn in for his second term. We at San Diego Beer and Wine Tours have enormous respect for both of these events, and we love to celebrate special days!  That's why we're offering $5 off any wine or beer tour until January 28th so we can share our regard for them. We salute you, Martin Luther King, and we salute you, President Barack Obama.  And if there's one thing we've learned, it's that respect is best communicated while toasting with a really fine wine or an excellent craft beer. Cheers, Brooke B., Political Sipper

The holiday season is almost over, and 2012 is about to go out with a bang! At San Diego Beer and Wine Tours, we don’t really believe in the standard New Year’s resolutions.  What’s the point of a year filled with thirst and deprivation?  Plus, nobody ever sticks with them.  That’s why we have decided…

Happy holidays! This time of year has become equal parts frenzied shopping and calls to reject consumerism and simply spend time enjoying family and all it has to offer.  We are torn, because we do love a good deal and sometimes those holiday family dinners can get a little long, especially when Uncle Ed has had a little too much Christmas cheer.    However, we feel that we can learn a lot from tradition.  One of our favorites is Yule, a midwinter celebration that was originally celebrated by Germanic and Northern European people and incorporated into the Christmastime celebrations.  The festival came from "Yolnir" or "Yulnir," both alternate names for Odin, the Norse god of death, rebirth, ecstasy… and intoxication. Families would bring in evergreen branches on the iciest nights, to symbolize the return of spring.  They would then heap sticks on…

We at San Diego Beer and Wine Tours love this time of year. We are a truly international group, so our holiday memories range from bundling up and playing in the snow to shopping for Christmas presents under a relentless drizzle to merely switching from a spring suit to a full wetsuit before going surfing. There's one thing we can all agree on around here, though – it's one of the best times of the year! This year, winter has hit San Diego hard, bringing rains and chilly temperatures. That means we have the perfect excuse to wear our favorite scarves and curl up on the couch with blankets and our favorite novels. If you don't see what all the fuss about winter is about, let us help. We have some truly tasty ideas for warming up from the inside…

It was Thursday November 29, 2012, and Paul Anthony and I were very excited about the evening’s plans. We had signed up for Michael David "Zins of Sin" 6-Course Dinner at Proprietor's Reserve. In fact, we were so looking forward to eating and drinking at one of our favorite San Diego places that we arrived a whole half hour early to the event!  That was a very slow half hour as we waited with anticipatory breath and salivatory glands for an evening we predicted would be full of delightful decadence.  Erin and Michael did not disappoint. Erin impressed our refined palates with dishes she had prepared with perfect precision and a brilliant mind for impeccable wine pairing. We even got to purchase these beautiful wines at a great price. (Being a member of Proprietors Reserve Wine Club has some huge…

`Tis the season for giving. While we think that nothing is better than the gift of a winery train tour, chauffeured tour, or a beer tasting tour through beautiful San Diego, we also like to give back. In fact, it's one of the things we're most proud of! Did you know that a portion of all of our money made goes to San Diego's underprivileged children and teens, and another portion goes to people struggling with health or financial challenges? So every time you buy a tour, you're not just having a great time, you're also helping out people who need it.   If you prefer to donate directly, here are some of our favorite charities:   Summit4StemCell, tour guide Marti's organization of choice, is part of the Parkinson's Association of San Diego and supports non-embryonic stem cell research in…

San Diego Beer and Wine Tours invites you to join us November 14-18, 2012, for the week-long wine and culinary celebration: San Diego Wine and Food on the Bay's 9th Annual Classic! It's San Diego's premiere event for foodies and oenophiles, and that means we'll be there. Join San Diego Beer and Wine Tours for a great time with star sommeliers, wine makers, beer mavens, and some of the biggest names in the culinary arts. Be sure to stop by and sample the superb local wines by winemaker Tony Tiso of La Serenissima Vineyards, Warner Springs, San Diego (love your wines Tony!) and Bernard Guillas Executive Chef of La Jolla Beach and Tennis Club (mmm…Bernard you keep us coming back for more).   There will also be a taste-off for the "Chef-of-the-Fest" competition and some of San Diego's famous food trucks.  It'll be five days of…

October in San Diego is a magical time. While we don't really have classic autumn weather, the marine layer creeps in and the scorching heat abates just enough for the weather to be as perfect as it ever gets in our lovely city: not too hot, not too cold. This makes late October the perfect time to dress up and go party. Luckily for all of us, all the best Halloween parties are in late October. But perhaps you were busy or just moved here. If you don't you'll do this Halloween and you're looking for a good scare, we can help. In fact, we'd love to have you come along on our Spook-tacular Halloween Wine Tour or Trick or Treat Winery Train Tour or Halloween Beer Train. We'll have a spooky (and very tasty) good time. Costumes aren't just tolerated, they're encouraged….

Let’s talk about the top best things to do in San Diego. Utter the words San Diego to a person from out of the area and immediately images of palm trees, beaches and pristine weather fill the imagination. To so many, San Diego means visiting some of the most beautiful beaches in California, but this city has so much more to offer for a holiday getaway or staycation. Great activities abound. You’ve heard of a beach vacation yes, but how about a “beer vacation”? To describe San Diego as a Mecca for craft and micro brews is an understatement. A more accurate description would be: The Land of Fantastic Beer. San Diego’s beer history dates back to 1989, when Karl Strauss opened the area’s first brewpub in over 50 years, and it was only a matter of time until other…

It's September, the time the weather changes and the leaves start to turn (okay, maybe not so much around southern California, but we're practicing poetic license here) and stores sell out of backpacks and notepads. San Diego Beer and Wine Tours are champions of education and learning.  While we celebrate going back to school, whether you're heading off to college or graduate school or sending your kids to kindergarten, we don't think that education needs to stop when you leave the classroom.  We also think that learning should be fun.  In that spirit, we're offering $5 off our San Diego Wine Country Tour or our Beer and Food Walking Tour.  Not only will you be learning the history of San Diego's craft beer and wine, we'll also throw in some brewery and vintner science and before you know it, you'll…