"I've had my fair share of beach vacations, but I'm telling you, there's no place like Margaret River," Hardy, the vice president of Friends of the Cape to Cape Track, shares in his tour of his home region. "You don't have access to waves like this anywhere else in the world." While Hardy happens to be a seasoned local, he explains that it's still a wave for everyone, especially at spots like Gnarabup Beach, with plenty of surf schools around to show you the ropes.
the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) rules, set by the USDA, declared that importers-that's right, the firms that typically handle sales and logistics, not just the winemakers- also need to be certified organic in order for the wines to retain the label. According to a spokesperson from the USDA, the regulations are an effort to "better protect organic businesses and consumers" and "keep fraud out of the market."
Jesse Hall can't remember a time he wasn't inseparable from the sea. Born and raised in Sonoma County, Hall spent his youth surfing the Marin coast and sailing San Francisco Bay. By his early 20s, he was shaping surfboards in San Diego, where he rode the mellow waves of Pacific Beach. Winemaking is similar to surfing in that you're living moment by moment, said Hall, founder of Seawolf Wines in Mendocino County's Yorkville Highlands.
Jesse Hall can't remember a time he wasn't inseparable from the sea. Born and raised in Sonoma County, Hall spent his youth surfing the Marin coast and sailing San Francisco Bay. By his early 20s, he was shaping surfboards in San Diego, where he rode the mellow waves of Pacific Beach. "Winemaking is similar to surfing in that you're living moment by moment," said Hall, founder of Seawolf Wines in Mendocino County's Yorkville Highlands.
Founded in 1992 by Miguel Torres and Robert Drouhin to promote the exchange of ideas, its members include Domaine Clarence Dillon (Château Haut-Brion), Famille Perrin (Chateau de Beaucastel) and Alsace's Famille Hugel, as well as Sassicaia makers Tenuta San Guido, the Douro's Symington family, Riesling specialists Egon Müller and Tuscany's 26 th-generation winemakers Marchesi Antinori. Earlier this week, all 12 descended on the Paris's Grand Palais for the launch of the PFV Generations Case, an ultra-limited-edition case of 12 wines - one from each family. Treats in the coffret include a 2016 Chateau Mouton Rothschild, a 2004 Vega Sicilia Unico, and a Champagne Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill 2002 (which the house's 6 th-generation ambassador Bastien Collard de Billy was pouring on the night, and I can report tasted absolutely stellar). To sweeten the deal, each case also includes a VIP visit to every estate, some of which aren't open to the public. The case is priced at €32,000 and only a dozen have been created.
Only eight miles long by three miles wide, the small wine region established its AVA (American Viticultural Area) in 1982, just one year after Napa Valley. It's only one-tenth the size of its famous neighbor, yet the diversity in tasting rooms is impressive. You can travel from a blue Victorian house to gorgeous gardens, a vintage gas station-turned-tasting room, and even an award-winning modern architectural masterpiece all within minutes.