Check out some of these great books if you are a wine-lover planning a vacation in California!

A Traveller's Wine Guide to California by Robert Holmes

Award-winning photographer and author Holmes was named Travel Photographer of the Year by the Society of American Travel Writers in 1990, 1992, and 2010. He offers wine tourists a handy guide to California's well-known and lesser-known wine-producing regions. The text opens with an introduction to the winery experience, the American wine classification system, traveling and lodging in California, and general tips on what to drink, followed by sections covering the wine-producing regions--Napa Valley, Sonoma County, Mendocino County, San Francisco, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County, Southern California, Central Valley, Sierra Foothills and a sampling of listings for brandy, sake, and artisan foods. Illustrated with maps and full-color photographs, the guide also contains a list of California/wine industry websites, wine events, grape varieties, and further reading suggestions.

California Wine Country by Philip Goldsmith

Locals and wine lovers Philip Goldsmith and Michael Cervin have the inside scoop on how to best experience California's Wine Country, from swirling and sniffing lessons at Yountville's Goosecross Cellars to glider rides over scenic Santa Ynez Valley. Goldsmith and Cervin offer great trip ideas, including Weekend Wine Warriors, Understanding California through Wine, and Highway Hugging. Whether you're planning on doing some serious wine-tasting or simply taking a leisurely trip through some of California's most beautiful areas, Moon California Wine Country gives you the tools you need to create a more personal and memorable experience.

The Wine Seeker's Guide to Livermore Valley by Thomas C. Wilmer

The Wine Seekers' Guide to the Livermore Valley is the first exclusive guide to this little-known wine region, introducing adventurous wine lovers to more than forty wineries, the owners and winemakers, and their superb wines. The guide provides directions, operating hours, and contact information for each winery, a map of the region, recommendations for where to stay, and a detailed restaurant guide. The Wine Seekers' guides lead readers to delight-filled locales where exceptional but perhaps unheralded wines are produced with old-world quality by families eager to share not only their award-winning products but also their harmonious lifestyle and welcoming communities with visitors.

During a recent visit to my sister in Toronto, we spent a couple of days exploring the Niagara Region. The only thing we really planned was overnight at the Prince of Wales Hotel in Niagara-on-the-Lake, which was offering a great deal for an upgraded room and dinner for two.

Although the drive is on the 403 freeway, it’s quite an interesting drive, at least once you’re past Burlington, with Lake Ontario on your left. Once you’re within the Niagara Regional Municipality you’ll see all sorts of signs for wineries and it’s best to leave the highway for the backroads.

Before we went we saw self-drive wine tasting tours offered online (e.g., $20 to taste at 3 wineries). Not wanting to commit, and having viewed wineries before, we decided to just see where we ended up. Turns out that there are loads of wineries, some are affiliated (e.g., in the same valley) and offer maps and free tastings, and even if they charge it’s free if you buy a bottle or two. The most they seemed to charge is $2 a taste. Tasting the wines was fun and made a change from the Okanagan wines we’re more used to in Calgary. Many of the wineries offer other goodies, including local cheese.

Once you’ve tasted your fill, there are other delights: we hit pay-dirt in the small town of Jordan, with a lovely casual café as well as a fancier restaurant, an antique store with great prices (even including Ontario HST!) and an art gallery co-owned by a friend of a friend. Walking around Niagara-on-the-Lake (and trying to avoid the crowds) is also fun with lots of nice, browseable shops.

I have to admit that late May in southern Ontario is quite lovely: warm weather without humidity; they don’t even understand the concept of late snow falls, let alone Monsoon June!

Gerry

Check out some of these great titles for touring the Niagara region!

We have some great books on touring the wine regions of British Columbia as well as recipes inspired by B.C. wine. Check out these books to get the insider scoop on how to find some wonderful wine tours.

John Schreiner's Okanagan Wine Tour Guide by John Schreiner

The lush Okanagan Valley is internationally acclaimed for its wine industry. Updated and revised with more than 60 percent new material, John Schreiner's Okanagan Wine Tour Guide provides succinct insider profiles of each of the region's 129 wineries, and for the first time covers winery producers from Creston, BC. Included are thumbnail sketches of wineries and winemakers, as well as everything you need to know to take a fascinating self-guided tour through the valley that produces 95 percent of British Columbia's wines. Schreiner peppers the book with fascinating facts acquired through his own winery visits, and gives his recommendations about what to sample from each cellar. Maps, addresses, telephone numbers, and website addresses round out this comprehensive guide.

Island wineries of British Columbia by Gary Hynes

Winner of the Gourmand International Wine Books Award 2011 for Canada

Celebrate the unique flavours, terroir and grape varieties that can be found only on the wine islands off the west coast. A collaborative effort from the writers of EAT Magazine, Island Wineries of British Columbia is your guide to a growing wine culture and the food movement that accompanies it. Starting with the history behind the regions wine production, this book is an intimate conversation with local wine producers, their individual stories, their most memorable creations and where you can find their beautiful wineries. Complete with maps and suggested wine tasting excursions, Island Wineries of British Columbia also explores the island's meaderies, cideries, fruit wines, artisan distilleries and craft beer. You’ll find recipes from some of the regions most talented chefs, including offerings from Café Brio, Camilles, the Sooke Harbour House and Stage Wine Bar; each recipe has an emphasis on local ingredients and provides exquisite pairings of wine and food.

Winefeast: Eat, Drink & Discover BC Wine by Troy Townsin

This beautiful book features more than 120 tantalising wine-inspired recipes that have been collected from BC's top winery chefs and winemakers. Legendary chefs like Michael Allemeier from Mission Hill Winery and Bernard Casavant from the Burrowing Owl have contributed their favourite cooking-with-wine recipes to this compilation, making it a must-have for anyone with an interest in Canada's culinary hertage. The recipes focus on gourmet cooking that uses easy to find ingredients and simple instructions so that both novice and experienced cooks can recreate these culinary delights at home. Winefeast introduces readers to the world of wine and contains informative, and at times humorous, sections on how to taste wine and improve sensory evaluation skills, how to cook with wine, as well as histories of all the different grapes and wine styles that are produced in British Columbia. There are also sections on food and wine pairing as well as detailed maps and region-specific guides with wine touring highlights so that visitors and locals alike will have all the information they need to tour BC's spectacular wine country. The book contains mouth-watering food shots and breathtaking scenic photography by Gary Faessler. Winefeast is the perfect gift or must-have keepsake for anyone with a passion for food and wine. With a copy of this book and a bottle of BC's finest, readers will have no problems creating a 'wine feast' that will delight guests and quench their thirsts for BC food and wine knowledge.