Whole Foods Wine Bar

I checkout out the new Whole Foods on Lincoln Blvd in Venice. I love these newer Whole Foods markets. There is a lot of emphasis on prepared, ready to eat foods. Every time I have been to this one, it is a bit of a scene outside with diners enjoying a meal, or just some coffee. On this visit, my friend and I paid a visit to the tapas bar. Nestled in the wine section, they have a vinoteque loaded with wine to taste by the 2 oz. pour (they have a tasting license, so they may only serve 2oz pours rather than full glasses or whole bottles). We shared a red flight ($12.990 and a white flight ($11.99), along with the usual wine accompaniments of cheese meats and nuts ($6.99-9.99), all of which are available for purchase in their respective departments.



Not necessarily the cheapest wine deal in town, but it is fun to take a break during your shopping on a (somewhat) lazy Sunday afternoon, as we did, to sample and enjoy some interesting wines and meats.



Whole Foods
225 Lincoln Blvd.
Venice, CA
310-566-9480

Rosenthal Estate Wine Tour

I recently went on a special tour of the Rosenthal Estate winery in Malibu. The estate is not open to the public, but once a year Ian Blackburn of Learn About Wine puts together this special tour. Situated on 250 acres in Malibu off Kanan Dume Road, they have vineyards of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Chardonnay, Cabernet Franc, to name a few.



We started the tour with a tasting of a couple of their (surprisingly good) wines, while eating a light lunch from Bay Cities Deli served outside on the patio of the horse stable-turned-tasting room.




We then set off on foot and trekked around some of the beautiful vineyards, as our tour guide told us about the growing and harvesting process, while sampling more wines grown on the premises.




Scattered nearby the house were a few pieces of art. Check out these 2 pieces of the Berlin Wall.



It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. I just wanted to move into the house (13 lucky workers live on the premesis), go for a swim, and take a nap on the lawn. But I had to settle for a few more relaxing minutes on the patio, instead.