Latest news with #Tuscan-style
San Francisco Chronicle
5 days ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
This California wine region's coolest tasting room? The visitor center
There are more than 60 wine tasting rooms in the budding Lodi wine region, yet the best stopover is the last place you'd expect: the visitor center. Here, it's not about the decor (minimalist), the vibe (amiable) or even the inexpensive tasting fee (just $12). The main draw is the incredible wine selection: over 200 bottles from more than 70 local producers, most of which don't have their own tasting rooms. Located 35 miles south of Sacramento and long overshadowed by glitzy Bay Area destinations like Napa and Sonoma, Lodi (San Joaquin County) is a quiet farm town with no Michelin-starred restaurants or fancy resorts. The longtime home of the Robert Mondavi Winery-founded Woodbridge, it's historically known as a commodity region; the majority of Lodi's grapes are sold in bulk to California's largest wine companies and often placed on the bottom shelf. But this affordable region is slowly gaining recognition as one that's more diverse and premium than its reputation suggests. The 25-year-old Lodi Wine Visitor Center (2545 W. Turner Road), which is also the only true wine shop in the city, is leading the revival. In the ivy-covered, Tuscan-style building, you can find plenty of Lodi's signature Zinfandel, as well as natural wines, the Greek white wine Assyrtiko and an off-dry Verdelho made by a two-time Lodi mayor. All bottles are under $70. 'You can really come in and visually do a 360 in the tasting room and see how far (Lodi has) come and how many different types of wines there are,' said Stephanie Bolton, the research and education director of the grower-funded Lodi Winegrape Commission, which operates the center. 'Once you walk in the door, that becomes very clear.' Local tourism boards typically operate regional visitor centers, but Lodi is the only California wine region that has a visitor center dedicated exclusively to promoting local wines. It may seem surprising this isn't found in a region overflowing with wineries like Napa Valley, but Bolton believes that would create an overly competitive environment. 'You have to set a lot of fear and ego aside to do something like (this),' she said. Growers, on the other hand, all benefit from the collective effort. In Lodi, there's roughly 80,000 acres of grapes, but only about 85 wineries, and many of those winery owners were growers first, Bolton said. Increased demand for Lodi wines should translate to higher demand, and prices, for the grapes. 'There's a camaraderie and deep-rooted (feeling of), 'We're all in this together,'' said Paul Marsh, the visitor center's manager and wine club director. Founded in 2000, the Lodi Wine Visitor Center is located right off a main thoroughfare next to what many locals refer to as Lodi's 'one nice hotel,' Wine & Roses. The hotel was recently renamed Appellation Lodi – Wine & Roses Resort and Spa as part of a major renovation by celebrity wine country chef and hotelier Charlie Palmer. His new cafe, Maison Lodi, adjoins the visitor center. To establish the tasting room, which welcomes over 20,000 people a year, the Lodi Winegrape Commission had to create a 501(c)(3) educational foundation to secure an Alcohol Beverage Control license to serve and sell wine, recalled executive director Stuart Spencer. When it first opened in the same building as the commission's offices, the wine region had just seven tasting rooms, so the vision was to exclusively highlight wines made from Lodi grapes, including wines produced outside the region. The center still takes this seriously: Jeff Perlegos, co-owner of Perlegos Family Wine Co., said the commission rejected one of his wines because it was only partially made from Lodi grapes. Locals and industry members make up about 40% of the center's annual visitation, said Marsh, a former restaurateur and sommelier with red-rimmed glasses. But for tourists, it's designed to be the first stop on their visit, a sort of concierge that can help them curate an itinerary fit to their specific tastes. 'We have to be the stewards for Lodi right now, especially during this weird, wonky time in the wine business,' said Marsh. 'It's our job to make sure we get that person to that place they didn't know they needed to find.' Part of that stewardship is hiring qualified tasting hosts. '(Marsh) has had success recruiting sommeliers, which provides a very professional style tasting. Sometimes, you go into a tasting room and you just have people pouring the wine and they barely know their own product,' said Jeffrey Farthing, the longtime winemaker for Lodi's Michael David Winery. He sells wines from his small side project, Purple Corduroy, at the center. 'They have had a lot to do with the success of my teeny tiny brand,' he continued, estimating that the wine center sells over 60 cases of wine for him a year, almost as much as his distributor. 'They know me, they've taken the time to get to know me, learn the story of my wines, and they present that to the customer.' Lodi native and second-generation farmer Perlegos said his brand also 'benefits' from the staff's expertise as he works with some unconventional grapes like the Greek Assyrtiko and Sicily's Nero d'Avola. 'Our varieties are very different,' he said. 'They're very knowledgeable and they do a lot of work with the folks that come in there to educate them and show off what's different in Lodi versus other regions.' Wineries like Perlegos are slowly helping debunk the stereotype that Lodi is synonymous with big, high-alcohol red wines — mainly Zinfandel. 'Old Vine Zin is definitely the heartbeat of the area, but so many people are searching out Lodi fruit, not only because of the accessibility of it, but the fact you can do something Italian, Spanish or South African,' said Marsh, pointing to Pinotage, the stigmatized red grape that's most famous in South Africa, as an example. 'Some people are doing incredible Pinotage (in Lodi).' A tasting of four wines costs $12, and Marsh switches up the eight-wine lineup every week. 'The part that gets me is seeing that eyebrow raise. Someone says, 'I only drink Pinot Noir,' and I'll ask, 'When's the last time you had Carignan? Or Cinsault?' And a light bulb pops in their head,' he said. 'Everyone loves that old pair of Levi's that fits perfectly, but every once in a while, you've got to try a new pair of pants on and see if that changes some things.' Those eyebrow raisers have kept longtime local Barbara Rankin coming to the center about every month for the past decade. 'Variety is what I'm after. I want to find a gem,' she said. 'It's the only place to find cool, otherwise unknown wines.' Lodi Wine Visitor Center. 2545 W Turner Road, Lodi.
7NEWS
5 days ago
- 7NEWS
Grand estate with dark history lists: murder and celebrity wedding are in its recent past
A grand estate in the NSW Blue Mountains with a tragic past has hit the market. The 5.2ha garden estate with a Tuscan-style home is in Mount Wilson, which has a full-time population of just 81 people. Owned by the one family for 25 years, it was the wedding venue for celebrity couple Jesinta and Buddy Franklin. However, more recently, it hit the headlines after a shocking murder was committed there. Nine-year-old Charlise Mutten was murdered at the property in January 2022. She had been visiting her mother, Kalista Mutten, and her partner at the time, Justin Stein, for the Christmas holidays that year. She was visiting from the Gold Coast, where she lived with her legal guardians, her grandparents. The property is owned by Justin Stein's mother, Annemie Stein. Mr Stein, 33, was found guilty of Charlise's murder and sentenced to life imprisonment without parole in August 2024 for the horrific crime. Now, just under one year later after he was sentenced, the property has come on the market. The estate, once known as Wildenstein Gardens, hosted luxury weddings in the large home and generous grounds. Today, the four-bedroom, three bathroom house, which was built in 2005, remains impressive. According to the property listing, the home has a commercial-grade kitchen, a games room and a formal lounge for entertaining. There is also a covered terrace surrounding the home, which was used as a reception area during weddings. The gardens today are still impressive but appear slightly overgrown in places and unkept. There is also a gardener's residence on the estate. In earlier times, when the home was operated as a luxury wedding venue, the grounds were immaculately maintained. They provided the stunning backdrop for ceremonies held there, including that of former AFL great Buddy Franklin and his model wife, Jesinta. The Stein family has owned the impressive home for the past 25 years and has been used as a private residence for most of those years. James Stein Jnr, an interior designer and event planner, held his wedding there in 2015, and then established the successful wedding venue for a number of years. The mountain retreat also operated as a venue for deluxe afternoon teas, with guests able to enjoy the extensive gardens and refreshments at the venue. The home still features boutique designer touches such as original iron gates, circa 1860, at the entrance to the estate and an Italian carriage door at the front entry point of the home. The property is listed for an Expressions of Interest sale with Plus Agency with a closing date of June 18. Listing agent Theo Penemenos said there had been quite a bit of interest in the property, which was "unique" in terms of its size, gardens and quality of the home.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Benny Blanco Found Love and Wants the Same for You: 'Don't Settle"
Benny Blanco is so ready to be a wife guy. So much so that when I approach his Beverly Hills abode—a Tuscan-style home where he's lived the past six years solo, cushioned by hedges and hot pink bougainvillea flowers—the award-winning songwriter-producer greets me after his workout wearing floral gym shorts, plus a tie-dye T-shirt bearing a portrait of himself and his pop star fiancée, Selena Gomez, printed across the chest. 'It was a gift from my friend Patrick,' says Blanco, 37. 'I don't know what's wrong with me.'Our interview takes place inside his personal movie theater, where the couch and walls are equally swathed in plush red velvet upholstery. A nearby candy bar is stocked with M&M'S, Skittles, and a myriad of other sweet treats. Yet Blanco will soon frequent his meticulously curated home much less; just after announcing their engagement in December 2024, he and Gomez purchased a Spanish-style estate in the Hills, where he'll have an abundance of space to work his magic in—'magic' as in interior decorating.'I love making a house my own,' he says. 'I'm not in there with the staple gun, but I'm in there with tchotchkes and a lot of creativity and heart. I hate it when you go into a person's house and you're like, 'Ooh, it feels like nobody lives here!' I don't want to be scared to sit down on shit.' In March, Blanco and Gomez released their joint album, I Said I Love You First, a collection of saccharine pop vignettes devised in a guest room in Blanco's home and primarily sung by Gomez in her signature sad-girl dulcet tones. The couple got additional help from such friends as Charli XCX in the brattified hyper-pop track 'Bluest Flame,' Gracie Abrams in the pop-punk fizz of 'Call Me When You Breakup,' and María Zardoya (of The Marías) in 'Ojos Tristes,' which interpolates a 1981 ballad by the enigmatic Spanish chanteuse, Jeanette. The project came about organically, says Blanco, after many romantic moments spent sharing records. The two have bonded over classics by Aretha Franklin—'One Step Ahead' is the couple's favorite—and Taylor Swift, who happens to be one of Gomez's longtime pals.'In the car, we'll have our little Swiftie moment,' he says. 'She's a true Swiftie, through and through. Then she got me on the train, and now I'm a full Swiftie. I don't listen to a ton of contemporary music anyways, but Selena would play me the deep cuts. And I was like, 'Damn… Taylor's pen is so fire!'I Said I Love You First—and its deluxe edition released on May 2nd, …And You Said It Back—wasn't Blanco's first collaboration with Gomez. The two first melded minds in the studio while making Gomez's 2015 album, Revival, which yielded two of her biggest hits to date: 'Same Old Love' and 'Kill Em With Kindness.' 'I met Selena when she was 16,' Blanco says, explaining her mom connected them professionally as she prepared to sign a record deal. 'We didn't work together until many years later. They say you've probably already met the person that you're gonna spend the rest of your life with… I never believed that shit until it happened to me.''And now I get to kiss her,' he adds. 'It's like my own little fairytale I concocted.' He won't say as much, but his songs with Gomez are just a handful of highlights in Blanco's illustrious career. He founded his boutique labels under Interscope (Mad Love and Friends Keep Secrets) and boasts credits on some of the biggest hits of the past 20 years, including Kesha's 'TiK ToK,' Katy Perry's 'Teenage Dream,' and Maroon 5's 'Moves Like Jagger.' Blanco was just 20 years old when he was signed as a producer to Kasz Money Productions, which is how he ended up working on the first major hit in his repertoire: Britney Spears's 2008 classic, 'Circus.' 'I was like, 'Mom, I'm going in the studio with Britney Spears,'' Blanco recalls. 'She was like, 'No, you're not.' And I was like, 'I swear, I am!' That's how it was. Even when my songs got big, my mom was like, 'Yeah, but what's your backup plan?'' For all his resulting fame and fortune, Blanco coasts through our conversation with an unpretentious, down-to-earth cool. He was born Benjamin Joseph Levin in Grand Prairie, Texas—the exact same birthplace as his betrothed—and was raised between Virginia and Maryland. He first developed an affinity for pop when he was 5 years old, citing his mother's copy of the 1992 Prince album, Love Symbol, which Blanco remembers as 'his 'Sexy M.F.' era.' 'We used to have one of those portable CD players that you had to plug into the wall, so I would drag that around everywhere and just get naked and dance,' Blanco recalls. 'My first two [records] I ever bought were [singles]: Nas, 'The World Is Yours,' and All-4-One's 'I Swear.' That's what started it all.' Blanco attended public school in Virginia, where he made friends of various nationalities and walks of life—and he studied their music, too. Under the influence of DMV-area legends like Timbaland, Missy Elliott, and Pharrell Williams, Blanco experimented on beats with his buddies using the Korg Triton, the holy grail of the Virginia sound, and aughts-era production software like Fruity Loops and Sound Forge. Thanks to the burgeoning club music scene in neighboring Baltimore and the bloghaus sound bubbling up in New York City, Blanco began building his own effervescent and quirky approach to pop by collaborating with rapper Spank Rock, as well as the late turntablist Disco D. College wasn't on the agenda for Blanco, who skipped class in high school to play at dance parties in Brooklyn. But he didn't even possess a laptop, a turntable, or a hard drive—just a cumbersome iMac G5 monitor he drove up from Virginia and lugged sheepishly from club to club. After his shows, Blanco and his friends 'would sleep in the train station, a park, or even the McDonald's in Times Square.' As for his parents, he adds, 'They didn't really know. Are you kidding me? My mom would have lost her mind if she knew I was sleeping on a park bench!' Blanco considers his mother to be his biggest role model. In the wake of her divorce from Blanco's father, she equipped her son with ample relationship advice. 'My mom always took the time to explain how a female mind works because she was going through so many dating traumas when I was growing up,' he explains, crediting her love for painting and music as a source of his own creativity, joy, and tenderness. 'I've had some tough times, but I've always been like a very happy person. I just wake up stoked every day.' His resulting emotional intelligence became evident during a recent appearance on celebrity life coach Jay Shetty's 'On Purpose' podcast. Blanco left audiences positively floored by the ease with which he took responsibility for his role in maintaining relational harmony: 'I think people's biggest problem, especially men, is we don't listen all the time... A woman will tell you exactly what she needs.' 'I'm 37 years old,' says Blanco. 'I hope I know how to treat a woman by now! Like, you should always ask a woman what they wanna do. Don't always talk about yourself. Then you put it into practice… and you fuck up so much, oh my God. You know how many frogs I had to kiss to get to Selena?'I can't help but wrinkle my nose at the comparison. 'They were beautiful frogs!' Blanco assures me, 'And like, guys are so bad... I know so many awesome women who are single. And it's like, how are they single? They're 10 out of 10! But there are so many fuckboys. Don't settle, ladies. Not for some dude that uses more hair gel than you do.' It begs my next question: Did you have any men in your life who helped you develop emotional competency? To that, he smiles and shakes his head. 'Nah,' he says. 'But some things [I] learn from friends of mine. I see them do something stupid, and I'm like, 'Oh my God, I'll never do that in a relationship.' Then sometimes you see your friend do something rad, and you're like, 'Ooh, I'm taking that little idea.' You stop learning when you stop listening.' There are no guarantees of a Benny and Selena On the Run world tour as of yet. Besides planning their upcoming wedding, Gomez has been in New York shooting the fifth season of Only Murders in the Building, the Emmy-winning mystery comedy series with Martin Short and Steve Martin. In the meantime, Blanco dreams of starting a family with Gomez someday. 'I love kids; I love being an uncle,' he intimates. 'I want to be a dad, though, God willing. I'm just dreaming and praying every day.' And he hopes their latest record, with all the love and goodwill baked into it, will resonate with young men and women looking for their other halves—musical and otherwise. 'These are the years of strong women, and to me, it's so important that powerful women are being heard and loved and respected,' Blanco says. 'I can't wait to see what it does for this next generation of music. And for women in general, not having to take shit from dumb men… And not having to sing as much about suffering, I guess!'Photographer Leeor WildStylist Chloe BadawyGrooming Giuliana BartolettiSet Stylist Amy Jo DiazSpecial Thanks PolaroidRead the original article on InStyle
Buzz Feed
02-06-2025
- General
- Buzz Feed
Tell Us Household Items From 20 Years Ago That've Disappeared
Times change, and so do the things we use. It's hard to think of it now, but there was a time it seemed like every house had a VCR player. Or a phone book. That's not the case anymore. So it begs the question: What's a household item that you used to find in every home but would be hard-pressed to come across today? It could be a stack of CDs... ...a landline... ...or a Tuscan-style kitchen aesthetic. (Okay, this one you still might find occasionally.) Whatever it is, let us know in the comments or through the anonymous form below. The best responses may feature in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post!
Miami Herald
27-05-2025
- Automotive
- Miami Herald
‘Man shed,' wine cave and pool make TX estate for sale an ‘ideal escape.' See it
'Paradise Ranch' indeed. A Texas home is creating quite a stir on a popular real estate page on social media thanks to its luxurious features. Especially its attached showroom. 'The 6215sf showroom was constructed from a 100yo barn and features a soda shop counter. This space is fully air-conditioned and heated, and is attached to the main house. If you're not a car enthusiast, this space has a TON of potential to become your ideal escape! Think Pickleball, Basketball, Multi-Generational Living, the sky is the limit!!' the listing on Realtor says. The home itself is in the gated community of Paradise Ranch. And the showroom is just the starting point of this 12,501-square-foot home — which is listed for $5.7 million in McKinney, Texas — with its Tuscan-style build and other premium features which, per the listing, include: GymWine caveIndoor poolFour-stall barn The home was featured on Zillow Gone Wild, a popular Facebook page that highlights unique houses for sale across the country. Needless to say, people enjoyed the features. 'That soda counter is genuinely cool and honestly, I'm a sucker for classic cars. I love looking at them,' one person said. 'This has the most ultimate man shed I have ever seen,' another noted. 'If you need me, I'll be in the garage, the pool or the theater,' someone commented. McKinney is about a 40-mile drive northeast from Dallas.
