After three decades of growth, the industry has seen three years of negative sales. Grape farmers are being severely undercut by cheaper bulk wine from abroad. Sudden, unpredictable tariff shock is knocking exports and profit margins off kilter. And there’s been studies of late suggesting that Gen Z, those born between 1997 to 2012, is abandoning the wine life and maybe even alcohol altogether. But local growers are optimistic nevertheless.

Ahead of his annual bash, we caught up with the host of one of the Capital Region’s biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations — and the keeper of a vault holding 500 different whiskeys from across the world. 

The food recovery process for SB 1383 is divided into separate tiers. Tier 1, which involves large grocery chains and food distribution centers, went into effect in 2022. The following year, Rancho Cordova’s locker alone recovered 800,000 pounds of food. In that same period, Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services oversaw the redistribution of 14.6 million pounds of edible food that came directly from Capital Area grocery stores. 

Stepping through the Oriental Saloon in Tombstone, Arizona, there’s a sense of history colliding with the American imagination that is as heavy as its oak bar columns. It’s possible to drink here and wonder if the whole story of Western settlement can be crystallized by 17 violent months that happened in the still-dusty streets outside the door. 

These taphouses and tasting rooms are putting a twist on that slogan from the TV show “Cheers” by being places where everybody knows your dog’s name.

Eric and Tracy Denio remember Roseville before it was a suburban powerhouse — back when their childhood days were spent roaming among fields, ranches, ponds and gravel pits. Flash forward to today, and Denio’s Farmers Market & Swap Meet is surrounded by oceans of homes and shopping centers that span for miles in every direction. But one thing that hasn’t changed is its ethos.

Enelalma, a name that comes from the Spanish term for “in the soul” and embodies Shelby’s belief drinking great tequila is a spiritual experience.

As the Capital Region was recovering from one of the worst financial shocks in living memory, three organizations on the frontline of that comeback had to find new leadership at the same time. Comstock’s explores how their tactics worked and what lessons were learned along the way. 

Whether in Sacramento or the upper climbs of the Gold Country, craft distillers are ready to give the drinking public a taste of all of the possibilities within libation. 

Vidhu Shekhar is government strategy leader at Microsoft. He is directing the mega-company’s mission to help state and local authorities improve their effectiveness through generative AI. 

The anything-goes medium encompasses all kinds of local practitioners, from storytellers recording in their home offices to laughing exchanges recorded in band rehearsal rooms. 

Statewide, students lost four months of math progress and a month in reading progress between the start of the pandemic and the end of 2022. Has that picture improved? 

“When you talk about business, ours has allowed us to bring our culture back,” Tayaba notes. “Building our dance arbor, having our ceremonies — obtaining eagle feathers, abalone, clam shells, pine nuts, items that aren’t easily foraged today — it all costs money. Now we hold workshops, classes, dance practices. We’re trying to rebirth weavers, because our grandmothers were weavers.”

Some moments in pop culture deserve a toast, such as when Season 3 of “Star Trek: Picard” sent critics and “Trekkies” on a warp-speed ride of jubilation, most hailing it the franchise’s best story in decades. Thanks to a small winery in Lodi, enthusiasts who were on that galactic high could pour their pleasure right into a glass. 

Clad in a faded Star Wars T-shirt, Kevin Hernandez begins introducing elated kids to Darth Vader and Rey Skywalker in the flesh. The children start getting light saber training from these live-action characters, slashing and twirling their replica space swords around the heart of Denio’s Farmers Market & Swap Meet.

The viticulture program at UC Davis, as well as its sister programs at Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo and Fresno State University, are quickly growing a new crop of women winemakers who could steer the industry in new directions. 

The two entrepreneurs have tapped an experienced mixologist to work with them on developing their cocktail menu, and have relied on some of the most experienced non-alcoholic distilleries in the nation to help create an experience.

Though quality breweries are cropping up between Donner’s Pass and South Lake Tahoe, the first to drive its stakes in the snow — and the one that’s now shipping beer across the world — is FiftyFifty.

These days, Lake Tahoe’s south shore has enough breweries for a full tasting tour, giving explorers more reason to drive into the mountains.

Carlos Rodriguez found a piece of the California dream by taking inspiration from his childhood in Mexico. He recently planted 2,000 agave crops on his land in Vacaville, which he’ll eventually use to propel the state’s newest movement in craft spirits. 

Northern California’s agave pioneers are helping to evolve the crop from a novelty to a force of stability within California’s changing bread basket.  

In 2007, genetic researchers in Madrid used new DNA techniques to identify the origin-point of mission vines. What they found was that the mission grape’s backstory involved more travel, travail and endurance than anyone guessed.  

In 1968, a lone vintner set out to prove the region’s surviving mission grapes were still marketable. He was in a race against time: Most of the landmark roots were being torn out during that epoch, their soil swapped for better commercial farming options. The late Charles Myers set off a chain of events that would ultimately launch Amador County onto the global wine market. 

The competition’s American debut is taking place in Sacramento partly because two of the captains for the U.S. team hail from the city.

These Capital Region butcher shops are family-owned businesses that offer meat from high-caliber livestock and the magic of housemade marinades.

Winemakers are challenged with the consistent threat of wildfires and their aftermath, plus drought conditions and complex water realities.

As national and international tourism decreased during the pandemic, regional visitation saw a boost. We profile three small picturesque towns that got a big increase in visitors.

Local food may be the future, but many Northern California farmers are struggling or retiring. To brighten the future of farming, nonprofits are cultivating a new crop of agrarian dreamers with comprehensive farming programs. 

Lately, Nevada County eateries aren’t just embracing a farm-to-table trajectory; they’re finding small but meaningful ways to send their experiences home with their customers.