Spur of the Moment Local Grenache Day at Plan B and Cantara Cellars

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Speaking of local wines and wineries that will be attending and pouring at today’s “A Taste of VC”, on last week’s Grenache Day Friday Sept 16, the wine samples of Garnacha from Spain that I was expecting didn’t arrive leaving me free to taste whatever I wanted! I was planning on opening one from The Ojai Vineyard or Twisted Oak from my cellar, but as I was at an afternoon meeting in Camarillo, on my way home I stopped by both Cantara Cellars in Camarillo and Plan B Wine Cellars in Ventura for a spur of the moment locally made Grenache!

Because I couldn’t let Grenache Day go by without drinking one of my favorite wines! Read why here. Continue reading →

A Taste and a Toast to Local!

 

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How can people connect their food from field to fork?

More and more events around the country and indeed the world seek to do so Continue reading →

Have a Bodacious and Naked Cabernet Day 2016!

Have a Bodacious and Naked Cabernet Day?

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Is that a bit odd to say? No not at all if you are celebrating Cabernet Day with a bottle of Napa Valley Bodacious Cabernet Sauvignon

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or a bottle of Oregon’s Naked Cabernet Sauvignon! Or like me, BOTH plus…

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Naked Cabernet Sauvignon 2014 . Columbia Valley This Naked promises long legs and a smooth complexion.

we’re going to be enjoying a bottle of Andis Cabernet Franc from Amador County and a red blend “Midnight” with a lot of cab from Lange Twins! It’s Cabernet Day, right? Not Cabernet Sauvignon Day! Continue reading →

Pair Sequoia Grove Cabernet With Your Favorite National Park: Happy 100th Birthday NPS!

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McClure Lake in Yosemite National Park’s backcountry: 10,000′ elevation and 2 miles off the Pacific Crest Trail

The National Park Service turns 100 on August 25, 2016  and Sequoia National Park, a national park in the southern Sierra Nevada that includes Mount Whitney, was established on September 25, 1890.

And Cabernet Day is Thurs. Sept. 1, 2016!

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So to celebrate these momentous occasions, Que Syrah Sue and I opened a Sequoia Grove Cabernet Sauvignon.

Continue reading →

South African Cuisine: Food with spice and wine that’s nice!

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What do you know about South African wine? What about South African cuisine? Have you ever tasted either?

If you are typical Americans like Que Syrah Sue and I, you may never have had wine or food from the region! While I had tasted wine in Egypt when I went there January 2011 just before the revolution, I don’t think I’ve had wine from that continent.

But this is changing rapidly as more wine is produced for export. You can even find tasty, inexpensive South African wine at Trader Joes like the one below.

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When I heard that Wine Pairing Weekend was focusing on South African wine and food to pair with it, Sue and I got very excited: we had recently tasted and wrote about South African Sauvignon blanc wines for Sauvignon Blanc day, and we were eager to try more!

Sue in particular was engaged by the jalapeño jelly notes in the wines and we were curious how that herbal spiciness might play itself out in other wines from the region.

Right away I contacted the media agency who had sent me the first wines asking if they could send me any others –and they said yes!

Sue got right on to researching the foods and what she found Continue reading →

Happy Belated Albarino Day and more from Twisted Oak Winery!

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the Twisted Oak frikken enjoys Albarino

How did I miss Albarino Day–and the accompanying festivities which stretched for a week?

Because as much as I love Albarino, the food friendly white originally from Galicia Spain, I had a good reason–I was backpacking in a remote area of Yosemite National Park and had no cell or internet access!

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But I made up for it! On my way from Yosemite to the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi, I parked my van first at Twisted Oak Winery, located in the Sierra foothills near Murphys and specializing in Iberian wines like Albarino! Continue reading →