On The Barbie: Rack of Lamb with Brothers in Arms Shiraz #WinePW

A Tale of Two Countries

When I found out I was going to be hosting this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend excursion to the Land Down Under, I knew what wines I wanted to open — a 1998 Brothers in Arms Shiraz from Langhorne Creek in South Australia. Sue was surprised to discover that I had in my stash a bottle of 1998 Shiraz — but even more surprised that I wanted to also open a 2005 bottle of Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon –even if it was made by the famous Australian winemaker Chris Ringland.

“There’s a story here,” I told her. “It’s a Tale of Two Countries — and me.
And I’ve been waiting for years to tell it.”

Of course when you have a wine that old there’s a concern that it may not be any good any more. So we had a back-up Shiraz. Fortunately the 1998 Brothers in Arms Shiraz was spectacular so we wrote up our back up Shiraz from Terlato and Chapoutier in the preview post! 

So what’s the story?  Continue reading →

Do you know the way to R A D Rosé? Here’s Six from CA for Rosé Days!

these 5 plus at the last minute I added “a tribute to grace”

Although I drink Rosé all year, as spring moves to summer, they say

‘Tis the season to Rosé all day!

Certainly there is no better wine for summertime picnics, backyard BBQs, and outdoor happy hours!

With the Rose Revolution still going strong for over five years, there is great debate about both the grapes used and the method for making it.

Patrick Comiskey, the LA Times wine writer, and a friend on Facebook, started a thread about Rosé by asking which grape “varieties are exceptional for the purpose of making rosé wines, and varieties which make for poor examples?” This led to a wonderfully educational conversation on the topic of Rosé as well as clarifications about the process in general and that informed his article.

SO–

  • With the second Saturday of June National Rosé Day coming up this weekend, we have six from California for you in this post — just keep reading! (Here’s our post from last year when we compared two from Lodi with two from France!)
  • With the fourth Friday of June newly proclaimed by Provence as  International Rosé Day we will have 3-4 from Provence France for you!
  • With The French Winophiles doing French Rosé the third Saturday in July we will have 3-4 MORE wines from France for you!
  • With August 14 also proclaimed an International Rosé Day we will have 3-4 wines from around the globe for you including South Africa, Italy, and possibly the middle east! (Here’s our post from last year where we wrote about rose from Chile!)
  • That’s somewhere between 12 and 16 bottles of ROSE!

So YES, we will be drinking AND writing about rosé all summer! Subscribe and stay tuned!

To start us off, do you know the difference between:

  • saignée and rosé?
  • one grape variety or a blend of many?
  • how and when you should drink rosé?

If you’re not sure, read on — plus our tasting notes about some rad rosé from California and info about Experience Rosé in Napa at CIA June 16 as well as two events in Ventura on Rosé Day June 9! Continue reading →

Preview: Wine Pairing Weekend’s AUS Grilling Adventure #WinePW

It’s summertime and the grilling is easy!

That’s why the Wine Pairing Weekend crew headed to the grill this month — and paired those grilled goodies with wine from Australia — where, while it may be winter Down Under, they have some mighty fine wines to pair with your shrimp on the barbie as well as your sausages and shiraz! Plus it’s great prep for the Wine Bloggers Conference there in 2019!

Before I get further into telling you about the two wines pictured Continue reading →

Talking Dirty: Oregon’s Dry Farmed Chardonnay

Happy Chardonnay Day! Happy Oregon Wine Month! Here’s some dry farmed wine from Oregon for you!

Calling all Cougars! Ready to talk dirty with me?

If to you “Talk Dirty” is simply the 2013 hit by Jason Derulo with the catchy middle eastern accents (see below), then you’ve come to the wrong place.

If, however, you’re into DIRT as in EARTH as in SOIL and even DRY FARMING, hang on to your hat because we’re going for a ride starting NOW with Dry Farmed Chardonnay from Oregon on Chardonnay Day today!

To get us going, here’s Continue reading →