Hi, all you wine lovers, it’s Elin, your expert in all things vino, with the latest news and tales of my adventures. This month, I happily traded a blast of East Coast cold for the warm sun of Napa, Sonoma and Lodi in California. One draw was the 2025 Old Vines Conference, a five-day extravaganza packed with tastings, discussions, panels on new scientific and historical research, and tours of twisted, gnarled 100-year-old vines. All of it convinced me that we should all be buying more old-vine wines.
But I also managed visits to other important California vineyards, including under-the-radar Vine Hill Ranch in Oakville, one of Napa Valley’s most prestigious sources of cabernet sauvignon. Nine well-known producers use the estate’s grapes to create their own interpretations of the site and put the vineyard’s name on the label like a badge of honor. More on this worldwide trend in a minute. First, here’s what I’ve been reading: