Wine and Yoga

What does yoga have to do with drinking? They both are very communal. After a yoga class, most people’s defenses are down. You feel very balanced and a little more open, and it’s a calm place where people have time for each other.

To many, wine country evokes Bacchanalian images of eating and drinking, followed by spa treatments involving hot stones or mud wraps. But now that paradigm has shifted: Visitors who once wanted to be wined, dined, and pampered are instead seeking a pastime that requires a bit more sweat. Yoga venues that promise to de-stress city folk in a spectacular setting—often with a side of gourmet sips and bites—are popping up all over, including Yoga in the Vineyard and Napa Valley Yoga Retreats. Then there’s Ubuntu, a vegetarian restaurant and yoga studio, and Ubuntu Annex, a retail space peddling yoga gear plus specialty items from the restaurant, both owned by vintner Sandy Lawrence. While the restaurant has become a culinary phenomenon, Lawrence—a former Miami businesswoman­ who is also the proprietor of organic winery Lion’s Run—has emerged as a leading advocate of what might be called “sustainability, the lifestyle.”

Read the full article with links to where you can go here.

Temecula Wine in China

Exporting to China? Seems counter-intuitive, but the wine business is booming there. For the last several years I've been reading quite a few articles about the rising popularity of wine in the East, as well as the declining purchase of Saki (matched with an increased export of saki...).

Why not capitalize? A group of Temecula winery owners is joining Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone on a six-day November trade mission to Hong Kong in hopes of one day cashing in on a growing Chinese thirst for wine.

The group will attend an international wine and spirits fair and network with government officials and others in an attempt to get a foothold in the Chinese wine market, where sales jumped 20 percent to $2.8 billion last year, according to the county Office of Foreign Trade.

Read the full article here at the Press Enterprise. In China at least, wine makers won't have to endure the wrinkling of noses from the Napa blokes...

San Diego Beer Week

WooHooo!!! An entire week devoted to one of my favorite subjects, beer! San Diego Beer Week promotes San Diego's thriving craft beer culture by sponsoring a ten-day countywide festival that attracts beer tourism, fosters knowledge of our regional brewing heritage, and serves as a showcase for San Diego's breweries, restaurants, pubs, and other businesses with ties to the craft beer community.

Home to more than 33 brew houses, San Diego County is fast becoming one of the country’s premier craft beer destinations. With so much good beer flowing, it’s time for San Diego to host its own Beer Week. Running from November 6th through the 15th, San Diego Beer Week is a ten-day celebration of San Diego’s thriving brewing culture, inspiring people to drink local craft beer.

Whatever... I'm just excited that there's a drinking schedule and everything!! Check it out here at SDBW.org