Merlot: Maligned No More— Organic Grgich Hills Estate 2021 Merlot Paired with Ahi
Once upon a time, Merlot was maligned in the movie Sideways which instead elevated in popularity Pinot Noir. While there are worse things to fight about, personally I’ll take both wines, and depending on my mood, I’ll pair either one of them with two of my favorite meals: seared ahi tuna on a bed of greens and chicken marsala with lots of mushrooms and mashed potatoes!
And don’t give me that: aren’t you supposed to pair red wines with chicken and fish and red wines with red meat?
My friend over for dinner Thursday night was quite surprised Continue reading →
Demuerte Wine glows in the dark for Celebrations of Life: Halloween + Dias De Los Muertos
Here’s a real Halloween scary story for you: Heading out of the grocery store with a six-pack carrier of wine, I passed by a fundraising table where young boys were trying to sell chocolates. “Don’t you need some chocolate to go with that wine?” asked the dad.
I shuddered and tried not to convey my horror. “NO! No thank you,” I stuttered as I hustled quickly away without a backwards glance just in case these are ghouls in disguise ready to chase me down!
This time of year, it seems everyone is trying to sell you on pairing candy with wine.
Carignan from 4 CA Regions: Bagias, Ridge, Sans Wine, Tercero
Once upon a time, Carignan was one of the most important grapes grown in France and the US. In 1961, French vineyards grew 185,000 hectares of Carignan reports AAWE. In 1971, California grew over 25,ooo acres of Carignane. Today? Not so much. Looking at this chart below you’ll see today’s popular grapes like Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Noir are placed in number nine and number 16 in 1961, far behind Carignane.
“It’s the perfect blending grape,” says Ridge’s David Gates; that’s “why it’s still around.” According to Gates in a Carignan Day ZOOM webinar in 2020, Carignan brightens acidity, brings out aromas, and pushes fruit flavors forward. This is a “bistro style wine with good tannins but not too much” says Gates, and it works on its own or blended.
In Monferrato, Piemont, Montalbera’s infinity salt water pool + bubbles + Art Predator= perfection
September 2026 was quite a month! While I didn’t win any major writing contests like I did in September of 2022 followed by my first press trip to Italy, September 2026 will still go down as an incredible month for wine, food, travel and adventure for this Wine Predator!
David Oliver’s Petaled Portal, an honorarium art project at Burning Man 2026
La Farra Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG Rive di Farra di Soligo Millismato Extra Dry
“Like the lines of a novel, exciting and passionate, the rows of vines, clinging tenaciously on steep slopes or lying gently on the plains below, draw harmonious geometries.” La Farra
When I recently returned from Italy, I was greeted with samples of La Farra Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG. I’d been invited to join a ZOOM with the producer, but I was en route to California, and missed the call. I learned from their website that the Nardi brothers Innocente and Guido grow their grapes in the hills of Farra di Soligo, located in the heart of the Conegliano Valdobbiadene DOCG since in 1997.
These days, everyone knows Prosecco, the Italian sparking wine from the Veneto that’s now widely popular and available. Or they think they do! But do you know the difference between Prosecco, Prosecco DOC, and Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore DOCG? You should! For just a little more money, you can buy a special sparkling wine — Prosecco DOCG promises character. As I tell my friends, the “G” means “Gwendolyn Guaranteed”!
But what makes a Prosecco DOCG? And what makes Valdobbiadene DOCG sparklers something to search for? Continue reading →
Pairing Albariño from Spain and Uruguay: Seek Seafood + Crab Cakes
Is Albariño the ultimate wine for summertime seafood? One of Spain’s most popular white wines, Albariño grows in Galicia on the north-western coast of Spain, and in northwest Portugal. If you’re looking for an aromatic, crisp wine to pair with oysters, crab, anchovies, scallops, swordfish, clams, even sole with beurre blanc…. look no further than Albariño, a light, bright white with sea fresh minerality that works well with seafood. While Albariño is most well-known from Spain’s Rias Baixas region where it has grown for 900 years, it’s grown in wine regions around the world including South America’s Uruguay which is producing Albariño along its coast. Albariño has a medium-sized, thick-skinned berry that’s susceptible to mildew. The wine can be made in several styles with bright acidity, floral aromas, and on the palate, peach, apricot, and citrus. grapefruit.
And what better day than today– Albariño Day, in the middle of summer, during a global heat wave– to pour this refreshing white wine into your glass? Continue reading →
