Yearly Archives: 2010

Invitation from Bianchi Winery and Wine Predator to Zin a Little (a competition!)

One of the last things my mom did for me before she passed away was to sign for some wine from Bianchi Winery to store in the cellar at her house until I had a chance to write about it .

 

Knowing that I am a huge zin fan (and a fan of well made HUGE zins), they had sent me the following–a bottle of Bianchi Zin (as well as a bottle of Petite Sirah!) and an invitation to meet Bianchi Winery’s winemaker Tom Lane (who, they claim) offers “a savory blend of quirky humor, mixed with deep passion and winemaking insights.”

As I’m considering how to celebrate Global #Zinfandel Day this Friday November 19, I’m wondering if maybe it’s time to sample that bottle of Bianchi Zin.

Winemaker Tom Lane certainly has the credentials–with “countless accolades and medals under his belt after more than 25 years of winemaking.”  Tom graduated from UC Davis and began his professional winemaking career at Navarro Vineyards then he joined Concannon Vineyard where “Tom helped the winery earn hundreds of accolades, including Wine and Spirits Magazine Winery of the Year in 1995 and 1997.”  Tom’s also received a Dan Berger Winemaker of the Year, 1997 and Jerry Mead’s Winemaker of the Year in 1996.

Since driving from the Ventura area to Bianchi by myself to taste wine and hang out with Tom would be MUCH more fun to do with others, tell me in the comments why I should choose YOU to go with me! Bonus points for people who blog and tweet regularly about wine. Bonus points if you like The Write Alley on facebook! More bonus points if you’re a subscriber to this blog! And if you tweet this (be sure to mention Art Predator!), you are definitely in the running.

This opportunity is open to as many people as I can fit into my car!

In The Big Green Box, Good Old Vine Zin!

Last weekend, for my son’s 7th birthday, we invited everyone he and we could think of to join us at Sycamore Cove State Beach campground for a camp out and birthday party.

So what wine did I bring to go along with bugs and hot dogs?

You might be surprised to discover I brought Pepperwood Grove Old Vine Zinfandel–a wine in a box.

Now before you turn up your nose, hear me out.

We do a LOT of camping. We go to Burning Man. We gather with friends for BBQs at the beach. We go off road for hours and hours on end to get to a remote campsite or hot spring. We are SERIOUS campers.

And I am serious about wine as well–even when I’m camping! After all, that’s when we really eat well and we have time to relax and enjoy ourselves, the view, the evening air…For proof, Continue reading →

Super Simple Pumpkin Soup pairs well with Halloween & Ghost Pines Merlot

We love Halloween around here! We love pumpkin bread and pumpkin soup and even Smashing Pumpkins Ale! We put pumpkin in our pancakes and waffles regularly–not just at Halloween.

We also love all the scary stuff and costumes, and Twisted Oak’s River of Skulls has been a favorite seasonal wine as you can read in this post.

So when a friend of mine sent me this recipe a month ago for a pumpkin soup, I knew we’d be having it during this Halloween season. She also suggested that I pair it with a merlot, Continue reading →

Wine Predator Speaks at Governor’s Women’s Conference

Instead of going to the European Wine Bloggers Conference this year in Vienna, I put those plans on hold when I was nominated and then selected for a makeover and to speak at this year’s Women’s Conference in Long Beach.

Preparing for this event kept me very busy! I apologize for neglecting this blog and promise to get back to it! I have some great wines I am looking forward to reviewing–and I’m going to talk about glasses, too!

So what have I been doing? After getting the house ready for filming the “before” section, going down to Hollywood for a fitting and more filming, finding a theme song, and more, I went to work on taking advantage of the opportunity to be in front of as many as 10,000 women–and being listed as speaker at such an important conference! (Read about preparing for the conference here.)

In the past few weeks, I prepared and published a limited edition of a poetry collection (a regular edition will be released by en theos press December 2010),  and I worked with graphic artists and printers to have new business cards and bookmarks to promote my book and my business, The Write Alley Coaching and Writing Strategies.

Read more about my makeover here:

So "How Do I Look?" Today was the BIG DAY, the day of the Style Network “How Do I Look” show’s big reveal of myself and three other women at the Women’s Conference in Long Beach, California. It was also the “Day of Transformation and Healing” at the Women’s Conference with lots of amazing speakers including Deepak Chopra and Tony Robbins. Unfortunately, I was only able to get a very small taste of the conference. (More on that in a later blog post; a blog post from … Read More

via The Write Alley

Wine Predator Releases Poetry Collection “Middle of the Night”

Tonight we celebrated the release of my new poetry collection, Middle of the Night Poems from Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son from en theos press–and we chose champagne, of course!

Actually, Grandin, to be precise, is a French sparkler NOT from Champagne but from the Loire Valley.  I picked up at a tasting at a local restaurant featuring wines from the Henry Group and others. I paid around $20 for it and found it a refreshing change from the typical supermarket sparklers which most of us more commonly enjoy. It offers fine bubbles and lots of complexity–not sweet or fruity, but nutty (almond and hazelnut) with lots of acid (lime? lemon?), spice, and yeast.

We had the Grandin with a dinner of fresh shrimp right off the boat, simply prepared in butter and garlic, with pasta, and I have to admit that it was gone before I realized I lacked sufficient wine notes to say much about it except that, given the opportunity, I would absolutely buy it again.

Read more about Middle of the Night Poems from Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son from en theos press, the poetry collection we were celebrating, below. By the way, this is NOT a collection of poetry about wine…but poetry by someone who LOVES wine!

New Poetry Book Arrives! Just in time for the Women’s Conference in Long Beach on Monday, I have 108 signed limited edition copies of my new poetry book, Middle of the Night Poems From Daughter to Mother :: Mother to Son (en theos press). I also put my “chop” on it: a special jade stamp the traditional red wax with my name in Chinese. The signed limited edition published for the Women’s Conference will be available at the Devone Designs Perfect Fit Jewelry display in the … Read More

via The Write Alley

Wine Weds: San Francisco International Wine Competition Double Golds

Last week I was invited by the Tasting Panel to test drive the winners from the San Francisco International Wine Competition for myself. The event, held at Waterloo and City near Venice in Los Angeles, was self paced and self pour and organized in a recommended order. Friend Kathy Talley joined me; we didn’t always agree so it was fun to  compare notes. Here are some observations: Continue reading →

Wine Weds: Frei Brothers Sustainably Grown Syrah, Cab, Sauv Blanc, Chard

It seems to me that if a winery donates wine for an event, the wine should be respected: served in wine glasses by someone who knows a bit about the wine, and with information about the wine available.

So when Frei Brothers donated several cases of wine to me to use at various arts, cultural, and environmental events, I spent some time becoming familiar with the wine and producing materials for a display on the table for those interested in learning more. I would also be pouring the wine.

The following are some of those materials that I developed for the VCCOOL Benefit Concert August 28 and for the Art City First Fridays Open House and ArtRide after party. My information came from materials Frei Brothers sent, from their website, from my tasting notes, and from fellow blogger Rob Bralow in this blog post by which includes an interview with Frei Brothers Chief Viticulturist Jim Collins discussing specifics. Continue reading →