
Sunset magazine recently featured the 154-year-old Victorian home of a Napa Valley couple that had great bones, but was bogged down with layers of wallpaper and colored with garish blue paint. The home had been neglected for 30 years, but a lot of hard work combined with the couple's pared-down aesthetic transformed it into a welcoming, light, and airy space that any of you would swoon over. To see the transformation, .

Parts of Northern California have this amazingly fresh, fragrant scent. I'm not sure if it's the eucalyptus trees, the ocean air, the smell of grass, or what — I just know that it is wonderful. So it's no surprise that
Olivina, a body-care company in Napa Valley, captures its surroundings so well.

For my birthday I invited a small group of friends to join me for a wine tasting in Napa. We visited a few wineries, but our favorite was
Miner family vineyards. The excellent PR girl had arranged a private tasting and tour, complete with a surprise birthday cake for yours truly!

A few weeks ago I found myself at one of the Bay Area's top 100 restaurants,
Redd in Napa Valley. My cheffie buddy and I glanced at the menu before deciding that there were too many delicious dishes to choose one each. So we decided to try the five course tasting menu.

Today's date, May 24th, is a memorable day in California wine history. Before 1976, France was regarded as the only region to produce great wines. 31 years ago, a blind taste test was conducted by a group of eleven of France's most prestigious figures in the wine industry.