Did you know that California has almost 90k acres of Chardonnay– the most popular white wine in the world? Coming in second is Sauvignon blanc with less than 17k acres. What about white grapes originally from the Rhône region of France planted in California? Not so many! There’s only 2.5k acres of Viognier, 620 acres of Grenache blanc, and 150 acres of Vermentino grown in California according to the California Wine Institute. If you add in miscellaneous rows of Rhône white grapes, it’s unlikely that there’s much more than 4k total. No surprise Americans are more familiar with Chardonnay and Sauvignon blanc than Viognier and other white grapes from the Rhône region– an area of southern France where red grapes like Syrah and Grenache are better known and more widely grown (stay tuned and subscribe for Grenache Day in September!)
With this summer’s record breaking heat, and the dog days of August upon us, we turn to white wines to cool us off. First up, five from Iberia– a region of the world most well known for their red wines. We have two from Spain and three from Portugal — including two Albarino, one from each country just in time for Albarino Day which is today! We paired these refreshing, chill white wines with Spanish style tapas, Mediterranean orzo salad, oysters, and whole grilled snapper for a dinner that keeps the house cool too.
Coming soon: Rhone whites from southern France and Rhone whites from Southern California for Aug 4 “White Wine Day”!
How to Do a Wine and Cheese Tasting to Celebrate Wine and Cheese Day
We all know that wine and cheese is a match made in heaven. But which wine with which cheese? As they say, what grows together goes together, but not all cheeses from a place go with all the wines. So we chose a range of four wines from four countries in the EU (Italy, France, Portugal, and Germany) to pair with a range of eight cheeses (Italy, France, Portugal, Germany, England, Spain) just in time to share with you for Wine and Cheese Day held annually on July 25. Not only did we come up with a nice variety of cheeses but a variety of cheeses made with different milks (cow, sheep, goat) as well as cheeses from different countries with a variety of textures from fresh to aged.
If you’re building a cheese board, and you’re unsure of the wines that might be poured,
Shiraz is just another name for Syrah, the dark skinned grape from the Rhone region of France. Or is it? While in the US, we follow the French and call it Syrah, if the wine is grown in a hot climate, it will offer a flavor profile that lends itself to the typical rich juicy jammy Australian style called Shiraz. Under US wine laws, wines made from Syrah or Shiraz can call it by either name. As the third Thursday in July is Shiraz Day, we are celebrating with a Shiraz (aka Syrah) from Lieu- Dit Malackoff, Pyrenees Australia paired with a summery menu featuring a smoky meatloaf full of rich bacon!
Are you having a sparkling summer so far? With Prosecco Week, Sparkling Wine Week, and now International Cava Day on July 12, we have had lots of reasons to break out the bottles of bubbly! One of the reasons I love these wine celebrations is that they give us a moment to pay attention to a particular wine, region, or style– in this case Cava– and a chance to review what that wine is all about. Most people know that Cava is a sparkling wine from Spain, but did you know it’s made using the same method as they do in France for Champagne or Cremant but with grapes indigenous to Iberia like Xarel·lo, Macabeo, Parellada? Read more about the authorized grapes here.
I was excited to learn that Spain leads Europe in certified organic vineyards, and that the category of organic Cava grew by almost 25% last year!
Fresh from the grill: halibut and pizza with wines from Sicily #ItalianFWt
Looking for a healthy easy meal from the grill? This summer season, seek Sicilian wines to pair with pizza and halibut cooked outside! More often than not, Sicilian wines are made with organically grown grapes — winds and other weather patterns on the island in the south of Italy provide vines with the healthy conditions they need to grow. Without the disease pressure found in other areas of the world where grapes are grown, it is easier in Sicily to grow organically — so they do! They just don’t always get them certified, or post that info on the label even if they are growing grapes without chemicals.
And instead of grilling meat, how about fresh halibut Continue reading →
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 