• Tue. Feb. 12 Fat Tuesday
• Thu. Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day
• Thu. Feb. 14-18 Valentine n Wine, Ventura County
• Fri. Feb. 15 Twitter Tasting 4-6pm PST Steven Kent Winery
  
• Sat. Feb. 16 Garagiste South Tasting, Solvang
  
• Thu. Feb. 21 City of Bordeaux Twitter Wine Party
• Fri. Feb. 22 Dark and Delicious Petite Sirah Tasting, Rock Wall, Alameda

Happy Valentine’s Day! Unless you’ve spent your life under a rock, you know that Thursday February 14 is Valentine’s Day, a day when young and old celebrate love and friendship.

Last Friday, I received an unexpected early Valentine’s gift from the fine folks at Balzac Communications: two bottles of Martin & Weyrich 2011 Moscato Allegro: one rose, one white to make my Valentine’s Day even sweeter! Although now that I think about it, I remember last year, Balzac sent me a bottle of the Crusher Rose and a box of truffles–yum! As if my life as a wine blogger wasn’t already overflowing with benefits!

While I haven’t opened either yet, with residual sugars just above 6%, I know they will have a nice sweet character, yet the Muscat Canelli grape from which the Moscato Allegro is made is reknowned for retaining its acidity so it should have a good balance without being cloying. The rose, as you can see from the photo I posted on twitter, is a deep salmon color which comes from a “kiss” of red wine (instead of having the color from a red grape that didn’t have contact with the skin which is what makes red wines red).  The high residual sugars also means these wines are lower in alcohol–only 8.5% instead of the more typical 12-14% –a great wine for dessert on a school night or to mix in a cocktail or with St Germain! The screwtop has me thinking about bringing one along on romantic picnic. Retails for $12. When I get a chance to open them, I’ll let you know what I think!

Tue. Feb. 12 is Fat Tuesday! We’ll celebrate Mardi Gras Sat. March 2 in Ojai. Will you be celebrating? How? What wines do you enjoy with New Orleans style cuisine? I’m thinking this Moscato Allegro might be a good choice for that spicy cuisine and good times!

To be continued with details about the events listed above!

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• ‘Wabi Sabi Love’ Author Arielle Ford Shares What to Get Your Lifelong Valentine This February 14th as She Helps Readers Make Every Day Valentine’s Day (prweb.com)
• Garagiste Expands South: February 16th Festival Hosts 30 Santa Ynez Valley ‘Garagiste’ Winemakers in Solvang, CA (prweb.com)
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