Cabernet Franc? You’re not likely to find this wine on its own shelf at the neighborhood grocery store– even though it deserves one! Better known as a blending grape found in Bordeaux wines, Cabernet Franc can also stand alone, as has been well-proven in Chinon in the Loire Valley of France for many years.
In fact Cabernet Franc Day founder Lori Budd of Dracaena Wines chose December 4 for the annual celebration of Cabernet Franc because it is the anniversary of the death of Cardinal Richelieu who is credited with transporting the grape to the Abbey of Bourgueil in the Loire Valley in the 17th Century. (Also of note: Alexandre Dumas features the Cardinal in his novel The Three Musketeers!)
This year, we decided it would be fun to taste a “classic” version of Cabernet Franc — a Chinon from France that people can find easily at Whole Foods plus three from less common wine growing regions: El Dorado County CA, Lake County CA, and Idaho: Continue reading →
While I have never been to Tuscany, it is a region of Italy that captures the imagination: sunsets, rolling hills with views of the ocean, vineyards, and bottles of Chianti wine in those quaint straw bottles. But Tuscany offers much more to the world of wine than Chianti! Continue reading →
What should you pour on Thanksgiving to pair with turkey, ham, or prime rib?
I say Old Vine ZINFANDEL!
(Although I must admit after tasting these three Beaujolais with coq a vin I was reminded how well that works too!)
Last Wednesday, on Zinfandel Day 2017, Sue, John, and I tasted FOUR old vine or ancient vine zinfandel: three from Lodi as part of a Facebook live event and one from Mendocino; all four were samples sent for our review consideration. Two of them should be easy to find in your nearby supermarket! Plus I tasted a blend that features Lodi and Mendocino old and ancient vines fruit that has been aged in bourbon barrels — and you should be able to find that one as well.
Beaujolais is a great greeter wine– a wine to greet guest with to rev up there palate and say HI!. Much like Sauvignon blanc can be a greeter wine, beaujolais has acidity and brightness, it awakens the palate and prepares you for what’s to come. Pair this wine as a greeter wine with pate and a triple cream brie and your guest will love you!
Each year, the third Thursday of November is the day that Beaujolais Nouveau is released.
What’s the big deal? Beaujolais nouveau is the first wine of the vintage! A red wine made with Gamay grapes grown in the Beaujolais region of France and fermented for a few weeks and then bottled 6-8 weeks following harvest, on the day of release, Beaujolais Nouveau celebrations used to include races to get the wine delivered around the world. These days, it’s shipped in advance but no one may sell it until after midnight.
As fresh, fruity, and fun as Beaujolais nouveau is, there’s a lot more to the region of Beaujolais than nouveau wine!
This Thanksgiving, we’re grateful for old vine zinfandel from Lodi!
With Zinfandel Day today, and with Thanksgiving coming up, my thoughts turn to zinfandel, my go to wine when it comes to holiday ham, turkey, or prime rib. It’s a wine that works well with many of the sides too.
While many know zinfandel as an inexpensive, fruit forward wine that pairs well with pizza or burgers, some people are making top shelf zinfandel, often from old or ancient vines, a red wine that is elegant as well as rich, spicy, and complex and worthy of sharing with friends and family on special occasions. They taste and feel like a high quality wine. People often dismiss Zinfandel possibly because they haven’t tasted the really good ones, so they don’t know how very nice a really good Zin can be.
A selection of old and ancient vine Zinfandel from Lodi: some of these vines are over 100 years old!
You are invited to join us for an old-vine Zinfandel virtual tasting on National Zinfandel Day November 15th at 3 pm PST. The virtual tasting will be presented LIVE on Lodi’s Facebook page with wine grower Keven Phillips of Michael-David Vineyards, owner and winemaker Kyle Lerner of Harney Lane Winery and Stuart Spencer winemaker of St. Amant Winery and the program director of the Lodi Winegrape Commission.
In anticipation of this event, Sue and I opened two high end Old Vine Zinfandel Continue reading →
Every year the Wine Bloggers Conference features live blogging where wineries have five minutes to pour and present their wines to a table of bloggers who then do their best to tweet and take notes. This year there were around 25. or 30 tables with 6-8 people at each. For wineries, it’s a great chance to meet with an engaged group. For bloggers, it tests you to see how well you can taste and find a story to share in five minutes. In the past, I tried to do tasting notes. These days, I am using my camera to take notes and I am more interested in capturing the story and noting whether the wine or the wine’s story caught my interest enough to investigate further.
This year the red wines ranged from Pinot noir to petite sirah and in price from around $20 to around $70. I was able to get 10 tweets up, one about each wine. Continue reading →
