Chocolate and Cheese plus Dow’s 10yo and 20yo Tawny Port
Did you know that the original “Mothers’ Day” began as an anti-war movement? Heather Cox Richardson writes that “”Mothers’ Day” with the apostrophe not in the singular spot, but in the plural—actually started in the 1870s, when the sheer enormity of the death caused by the Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War convinced writer and reformer Julia Ward Howe that women must take control of politics from the men who had permitted such carnage. Mothers’ Day was not designed to encourage people to be nice to their mothers. It was part of women’s effort to gain power to change society.” To achieve that power, she also notes that it produced the movement in the US to get the vote for women.
The landscape north of Rome is lush and flower filled on the right and views of the ocean and islands dominate the left. I drove up mostly along the coast a little over an hour, and then headed toward the hills and Saturnia, home of some of the most beautiful hot springs in the world. As a hot springs aficionado I would know– and yet my previous trip here I only had time to ogle them from afar and not soak in them. That will change this trip as I am staying here for longer and with a more relaxed schedule.
Traveling over multiple time zones is confusing to mind, body, soul, and electronics. Some are more perplexed than others, some sleep like a baby, and others are given super power to just keep going and going and going and going much like the Energizer Bunny (yep I’m in the Energizer Bunny Category — hence this blog post! But then again, fading fast and might just hit publish on some deranged idea or a missive full of typos! ) Continue reading →
The Final Friday in April is Viognier Day (vee-ON-yay and vee-OWN-yay). DNA profiling at University of California, Davis in 2004 revealed viognier, a white grape, as closely related to two Italian red grapes: Freisa, and a genetic cousin of Nebbiolo. No wonder it has such attractive aromas!
Like Tannat finding a home in Uruguay from Europe, Malbec is another transplant from France to South America that is doing exceptionally well there. On April 17 in 1853, Argentina’s wine industry transformed when French soil expert Michel Aimé Pouget showed Argentineans how to adapt French varietals, including Malbec, to Argentina. Wines of Argentina created Malbec World Day on April 17 to celebrate Malbec from Argentina and “to position Argentine Malbec as one of the most prominent in the world.” Every April 17th, and throughout the month of April, look for different activities around the globe about Argentinean Malbec.
Wine has been made in Argentina since the 1500s, and today Argentina is one of the top five producing wine countries in the world. Continue reading →
Uruguay Tames Tannat: hearty wines pair with rich flavors
While Tannat came from France to northern Uruguay, it is in this small South American nation wedged between Argentina and Brazil that Tannat has made a name for itself. Pascual Harriague brought Tannat vines from his native Basque region to Salto, northern Uruguay in 1870. Harriague’s fate is tied so intimately with Tannat that it became known by his name, and
Tannat Day is held annually today, on the 14th April –the day Harriague passed away in 1894.
Tannat pairs well with rich robust cheeses like cheddar and smoky foods
The Ojai Vineyard Hybrid Wines 2022 The Ojai Vineyard Estate White, Ventura County 2021 The Ojai Vineyard Paseante Noir, Ventura County
How can farmers and winemakers mitigate against possible disasters imposed by fire, drought, pests, weather?
The climate crisis and increased heat globally has changed weather patterns; the seemingly ceaseless and dependable summer coastal California fog is less dependable. The ever present threat of Pierce’s and other disease vectors is worse with the stress of global warming. Increased intense heat in the vineyards along with drought conditions further threaten grape vines.
One answer to these myriad problems? Hybrid grapes farmed in experimental ways like what Adam Tolmach is doing at The Ojai Vineyard with vines from UC Davis planted in 2017.
Adam and Helen Tolmach; all photos by Gwendolyn Alley
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 