Short and sweet: our list of luscious (and local) dessert wines for the holiday

Silicon Valley wineries offer up some fantastic finishes to your feast By Carol Maskus Merry and bright: we found six local dessert wines to keep your holidays festive. (Photo by Charles Russo) Chocolate torte, Buche de Noel, rugelach, sweet potato pie: a big part of holiday feasting is the dessert. And while we often go all out for dessert over the holidays, we typically neglect to properly pair our sweets with appropriate drinks. This can leave ...

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Our guide to six of Silicon Valley’s most stellar vineyards

Here is what’s fermenting at the local wineries of the Santa Cruz Mountains by Laura Ness Mindego Ridge: 10 acres of sun-warmed Pinot vines off Alpine Road. They are fairly anonymous and the majority are not open to the public. Their acreage is often small and they don’t benefit from the name recognition of places like Napa and Sonoma. Even still, a notable array of Peninsula vineyards have quietly made a reputation for themselves in ...

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Crushing it with the winery world underdogs of Russian Ridge

How a San Carlos nurse won top wine awards (and developed purple hands in the process) Nicole Ruiz Hudson Russian Ridge Winery owner Scott Townsend (imbibing at left) and his son Spencer at their tasting room in San Carlos. (Photo by Charles Russo) The inside of Russian Ridge Winery is comfortably cool compared to the midday heat broiling the industrial San Carlos neighborhood just outside the roll-up doors. A huge skylight illuminates the winery’s interior workspace ...

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