Category Archives: Travel/Outdoors

Best Wineries in America

I’m still waiting for my shipment of Foreplay from the Naked Winery. The South Dakota vineyard doesn’t exactly make the finest tasting wine but who wouldn’t want a bottle of Penetration displayed on their rack? It’s not surprising that South Dakota can’t outrank California (or even place on the list) as the wine capital of the country, but it does go to show that wine is fermenting in all 50 states.

The wineries on this TheDailyMeal.com list were nominated by sommeliers, wine writers, chefs, and restaurateur. After the master list was made, the experts returned to vote on the finalists based on wine quality, consistency, and value. The whole list has 101 wineries on it but since I’m not a winesnob I figured 20 was good enough on this blog.


 

THE LIST

1. Ridge Vineyards — Cupertino, California

2. Au Bon Climat Winery — Santa Maria, California

3. Calera Wine Company — Mt. Harlan, California

4. Littorai Wines — Sebastopol, California

5. Woodward Canyon Winery — Lowden, Washington

6. Dunn Vineyards — Angwin, California

7. Heitz Cellars — St. Helena, California

8. Matthiasson Winery — Napa Valley, California

9. Sandhi Wines — Santa Barbara, CA

10. Copain Wine Cellars — Healdsburg, CA

11. Tablas Creek Vineyard — Paso Robles, California

12. Caymus Vineyards — Rutherford, California

13. Chateau Montelena — Calistoga, California

14. Domaine Drouhin Oregon — Dayton, Oregon

15. Shafer Vineyards — Napa, California

16. Corison Winery — St. Helena, California

17. Duckhorn Vineyards — St. Helena, California

18. Bonny Doon Vineyard — Santa Cruz, California

19. Schramsberg Vineyards — Calistoga, California

20. Robert Sinskey Vineyards — Napa, California

Park City Arts Fest This Weekend!

The Park City Arts Fest starts tonight and I won’t kid you; the downtown area becomes a zoo ten times worse than during Sundance and many of us locals run the other way. More than 200 vendors from 30 States and Canada exhibit mostly high-priced ‘art’ in booths that line Main Street. There’re all sorts of really cool items and I’ll post some photos after tonight. I like to go on the locals opening night stroll and leave the crowd scene to everyone else.

If you aren’t afraid of crowds then you will most likely dig the mingling vibe that arrives with the event. Artists from across North America are happy to hang and chat with you and share their stories. You will also undoubtedly run into those you already know.

The festival runs from Friday evening at 5:00pm through Sunday evening at 6:00pm all along Main Street. The $10 tickets go to support the Kimball Arts Center in Park City. There’re over-priced food and beer vendors at the top of the street but skip those and have a better-tasting sit-down meal at one of the several Main Street restaurants with patios.

Park City USA- City of Champions

We are now the “City of Champions” and in honor of our Olympic celebrity, Park City, Utah, is having a parade.

This weekend’s homecoming applauds the more than 20 Olympians and Paralympians who live, train and coach in our little town.

Hometown medalists Joss Christensen (2014 Freeskiing gold medalist), Steve Holcomb (2014 Bobsled 2x bronze medalist), Ted Ligety (2014 Alpine Skiing gold medalist), and Sage Kotsenburg (2014 Snowboard gold medalist) will wave to the crowd on Main Street, April 5, from 1-5 p.m.

Stein Eriksen, 1952 Alpine Olympic gold medalist and long-time Park City resident, will be the Grand Marshal for the event.

The parade leads to the Town Lift Plaza for a meet and greet, live music, food, drinks and fireworks show.

photo courtesy Park City Mountain Resort

The celebration continues Saturday, April 6, over at Park City Mountain Resort where Ted Ligety learned to race.

 

1:00 p.m. – Parade of flags down lower PayDay run
1:15 p.m. – Ted Ligety introduced on stage, participates in live Q&A with guests
1:30 p.m. – Remarks from former world champion Stein Eriksen , US Ski & Snowboard Association President Bill Marolt and Park City Mayor Dana Williams
1:45 p.m. – Remarks from Ted Ligety
2:00-3:00 p.m.  – Meet and greet with Ted Ligety at PayDay plaza
3:00 p.m. – Live music featuring Bryon Friedman on PayDay Deck at Legacy Lodge

Park City-based Olympians closed out the 2014 Sochi Olympic Winter Games with three gold medals, two silver and three bronze medals. If Park City competed as its own country they would have finished 14th in the world medal standings between South Korea and Sweden.

For more information, please contact the Youth Sports Alliance at events@ysapc.org, 435.214.0792, or visit ysaparkcity.org.

Utah Interconnect Closer to Reality?

(Photo by Ryan Freitas)

It’s been bantered about since the demise of SkiLink and today, SkiUtah, shouldered by the managers of the seven Wasatch ski resorts, is poised to make the idea official. A press conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. to announce a lift-served interconnect set to rival anything in the U.S. ski industry.

The big downfall to SkiLink– a concept to connect Canyons and Solitude resorts via a cablecar – was that it would have traversed public lands; a plan that instigated an immediate uproar from the politically active backcountry brigade. This time around it seems the plan to link resorts from Snowbird to Deer Valley will involve a series of chairlifts on private lands.


It’s not like the route doesn’t already exist. The SkiUtah Interconnect Tour has guided riders from Snowbird to Alta to Brighton to Solitude to Park City to Deer Valley for more than 20 years. But it usually involves a lot of pushing and hiking. Locals are speculating over the kind of lift alignment that might skirt public lands, offer skiers a ‘connected’ experience like they have in Europe (and without the effort of backcountry hiking/avalanche expertise), not encroach on backcountry enthusiasts’ scene, and what kind of lift ticket would be sold for such day.

The Utah ski industry has long rallied that to stay relevant and competitive, Snowbird, Alta, Solitude, Brighton, Canyons, Deer Valley and Park City Mountain Resort, must share skiable borders.

Colorado and California attract three times the riders we have on Utah’s slopes but Ski Utah has said that they could close that gap with an interconnected system.

Save Our Canyons Executive Director Carl Fisher told the Salt Lake Tribune last night that he doubted the links could be made without touching public lands. If they did, it would mean years of environmental impact studies by the U.S. Forest Service.

He also said that if it smells like resort expansion the public would react negatively. More details to come after the conference!

Snowbasin’s Pots of Gold

Get thee to Snowbasin this Saturday. The resort is calling all leprechauns in celebration of Saint Patty’s Day. They’re placing three pots of gold somewhere on the mountain. They could be in the lodges, on the hill, and anywhere in between. Don’t look for the rainbows though, no one’s giving away the location of these babies easily. There are three valuable prizes up for grabs including a 2014/2015 Adult Premier Pass. The Pots O’s Gold Search begins at 9 a.m. and ends when the last one is found or 4 p.m.; whichever comes first. If none of the pots are found by noon look to Facebook and Twitter for clues every half hour.
When you’ve worked up an appetite, scoot over to Earls, Needles or John Paul Lodge for traditional corned beef and cabbage, Shepard’s Pie, and Guinness Beef Stew. Bag Pipers will also be in Earl’s Lodge during the afternoon spreading some Irish cheer. At 3:30 p.m. Earl’s goes off with ‘This Must Be the Band’- Talking Heads tribute band- on stage for a free concert.

Alta hosts recreational racing on Fridays and Saturdays at the top of Sunnyside from 11 a.m.- 3 p.m., conditions permitting. The races are open to anyone who wants to try for a gold, silver or bronze Alta pin but you’ll need to register at any ticket office or at the top of the race course. A single run is $3, while Unlimited Runs is $10. Awards are based on a handicap system similar to NASTAR- by age and gender, determined by a pace setter’s time. If your time does not qualify for a medal, you still get a white Alta pin for participating.

Brighton shares the Bonanza with you every Friday night: Roast marshmallows with the kids or a romantic date at the bonfire on Fridays. The yumminess begins at 6 p.m. on the deck of the Alpine Rose.

Snowbird brings on the spring party at Creekside Day Lodge in Gad Valley. Local reggae-rockers, Uniphi, play live while the giveaways fly. $8.50 gets you a burger and brew. The bash moves over to the Tram Club where all 21+ can clink green beers and Irish car bombs.

The Canyons wants to see St. Patrick’s weekend as a spring-long event. They kick it off with the 2014 Operation Smile Celebrity Ski Challenge at noon. The annual fun race raises money for the more than 200,000 surgeries performed around the world to give children born with cleft palates and lips a brand new smile. Most of the celebs hanging out today are from TV shows like Barrett Foa (“NCIS: Los Angeles”), Missy Peregrym (“Rookie Blue”), Jason Ritter (“Parenthood”), Nicole Sullivan (“Cougar Town”), Michael Trevino (“Vampire Diaries”), Alan Tudyk (“Suburgatory”), Aisha Tyler (“The Talk”), and Jenna Ushkowitz (“Glee”). Stick around the resort all week for concerts, magicians, jugglers, s’mores at the Umbrella Bar firepit (3-4 p.m.). Folk Hogan will perform at the Resort Village stage today from 3 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Park City Mountain Resort is hosting a Ski Beach in the meadow at the PayDay Lift midstation from noon-3 p.m. today. Families can picnic with games, burgers and drinks for all ages. Look for the fenced in area between PayDay and Heckler Runs. The Ugly Valley Boys open the Miller Lite Après Concert Series at 3 p.m.

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