Monthly Archives: October 2022

Let Light Shine: Diwali Party + Calligraphy Pinot Noir

Diwali and Calligraphy Pinot Noir

Do you do Diwali, the five-day festival of lights observed throughout South Asia and by South Asians scattered around the world? Coinciding with the conclusion of harvest and the new moon, Diwali acknowledges the “darkest night” and commemorates the triumph of light over dark, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance.

Held annually in late October or early November with the new moon which this year is Oct. 24 or Oct. 25 (depending on where in the world you are!) Celebrants consume  Continue reading →

Falling for Fall with Four French Wines plus Instant Pot Beef Bourguignonne Pot Pie #Winophiles

4 French wines for fall with beef pot pie and cherry tomato salad

A few days after the equinox in 2019, Sue and I few from LAX to CdG to compete for Team USA in the World Wine Tasting Competition. In Champagne and the Loire, the weather was already turning from warm harvest days to drizzly ones as picking came to a close.

Quite a contrast to the previous year when I was in Champagne Continue reading →

Smoked Lamb/Beef Meatloaf Says #MerlotMe with Sonoma’s Decoy and Washington’s Pedastal #WinePW

#MerlotMe

Before I left for Italy to attend Terra Madre and the Wine Media Conference where I spoke about Slow Food and Slow Wine followed by a press trip to  Alto Adige, Sue and I met to participate in #MerlotMe with early arriving wines… and while I’ve been in Italy, they continued to arrive! Plus I actually tasted some fabulous merlot here in Italy that I’ll be sharing later in the month. 

But for now, here’s two wines we enjoyed, Continue reading →

And the winner is: Luxembourg wins World Wine Tasting aka Championnat du monde de dégustation 2022

So what happened today in the Championnat du monde de dégustation 2022 aka the World Wine Tasting Championship?

Just a reminder: this is where competitors taste 12 wines and then have to determine grape, country, region, year, and producer, earning points for each category. And the winner for 2022? Luxembourg with 139 points! There’s some doozies in this year’s competition; scroll down to see how each country placed.

Remember — everyone who made it to Champagne, France to compete is a WINNER!

As announced by La Revue du vin de France, the scores are:

1. Luxembourg (139 points)
Zaiah Amann
Hervé Amann
Guy Bosseler
Jules Hoffelt
Coach Daniel Poos

2. Portugal (123 points)
Raul Riba D’Ave
Paulo Peixoto
Tiago Simões
Carlos Sancho

3. Espagne (122 points)
Marla González
Eduard Ros
Raúl Moreno
Francisco Montoya
Philippe Cesco (coach) Continue reading →

World Wine Tasting Championship Harvests 10th vintage and what’s up, Team USA?

Organized by La Revue du vin de France (or RVF), the World Tasting Championship harvests its Tenth consecutive vintage this weekend at Ayala in Champagne, France.  Building on the success of the French Tasting Championship  and the European Tasting Championship, La Revue du vin de France inaugurated its first World Tasting Championship in 2013 with 12 teams in competition at Château Larrivet Haut-Brion. Over the past year, countries interested in the competition determined a team to take part in the world competition as one of 34 teams here 12 wines from around the world challenge teams to identify blindly the grape variety, the region, the producer, the wine and the vintage, gaining points for correct answers. Who ever earns the most points wins. 

Continue reading →

And the Wine Media Conference in 2023 will be held…

a Lugana excursion group at Ottella

At the official close of the conference, owner of Zephyr Allan Wright acknowledged the hard work of Laura Donadoni and Giovanna Prandini, founder and winemaker of Perla del Garda, a sustainable winery in Lonato del Garda, as well as the work of conference organizer Sarah Wohlner. 

And in 2023 the Wine Media Conference will be held… Continue reading →