We were up in Mammoth for a holiday weekend ski trip where I also had a twitter tasting with Steven Kent Wines and Jim Demetriades, owner of Rafters hosted me! And what a gracious host! I was able to use a beautiful side room for the tasting, sommelier Chip Irmish set me up with the correct glasses I’d need as well as a dump bucket, and an ice bucket. Staff brought water, and either Chef Kerry Mechler or various staff brought out the six dishes that chef had chosen to pair with the six wines.
Here in Part 2, I’ll move from the whites on to the Pinot Noirs, one from Carneros and one from Santa Lucia Highlands, near Monterey. (Want to read about the Lola and the Dutton Chard?)
Last month, after a bluebird afternoon on the slopes at Mammoth Mountain, I participated in a fantastic Twitter Wine tasting featuring Steven Kent Wines hosted by The Rafters Restaurant at the Sierra Nevada Resort 202 Old Mammoth Road, Mammoth Lakes, CA. Established in 1967; Rafters was recently reborn as a world class restaurant with a 7000 bottle wine list!
Sommelier Chip Irmish had glasses ready and the wines chilled perfectly for me when I dashed back after a few quick turns on the slopes. Continue reading →
It’s Harvest Time in New Zealand and Spring Time in California! Celebrate both with the first Thirsty Girl #TGTaste Twitter Tasting of 2013 set for Wednesday March 27 at 5 pm PST (8 pm EST). You’re invited! Continue reading →
While I am not packing my bags and brushing up my Spanish for my trip to Chile (at least not this time!), I was excited to open my box of goodies from the Foods from Chile folks.
Enclosed, packed in a Foods From Chile muslin bag, I found these products made from Chilean foods: a bottle of 100% pure blueberry juice, a jar of onion jam in merlot wine, a bottle of extra virgin olive oil, and a can of mussels in oil.
That same day I also received three bottles of Malbec for Malbec Madness April 17–two from Argentina, and this 2011 Casillero del Diablo from Concha y Toro in Chile!
In addition, I’m looking forward to tasting two more wines from Chile that are on their way: new releases from Viña Ventisquero, a leading producer of estate and single vineyard wines–Queulat Sauvignon Blanc and Queulat Pinot Noir.
Well, I guess I’m not going on this trip to Chile. Simply Budgeted, Brian Mellot, (not the Wine Predator!) won the Foods From Chile #TicketToChile contest and will be heading out to Chile in April. Instead of 10, judges actually selected 12 finalists, including myself, to submit a video. Interestingly, a number of the finalists are wine bloggers!
While I am really curious to see those videos, a quick perusal of the following links to the winning bloggers didn’t easily reveal anyone’s videos. It was fun to check out the competition and you might enjoy reading some of these blogs too:
In part one in this series of posts, I review two white wines from Steven Kent Wines, the luscious LaRochelle Chardonnay (pictured) and the lively Lola, a Bordeaux blend, and I wax enthusiastic about Rafters Restaurant, which is one of three restaurants and four bars at the Sierra Nevada Resort in Mammoth Lakes CA.
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 