Want a versatile Pinot noir? Try subtle, husky, savory, 2007 Bien Nacido from Ojai Vineyard w salmon, ham, chicken pic.twitter.com/uytSPbqhdQ
— Gwendolyn Alley, MA (@ArtPredator) February 4, 2014
The right Pinot Noir can indeed pair with dishes as diverse as pork, fish, and fowl. Continue reading
Would you buy this bottle of #champagne? For $35? Yr birthday? With @JollyOyster? pic.twitter.com/L1Bz0fUyK4
— Gwendolyn Alley, MA (@ArtPredator) January 11, 2014
Would you buy a bottle of bubbles with the foil like this, the cage open, the cork escaping?
What if you could get this Champagne for $35 when the regular price is $80?
What if your birthday was coming up? And you wanted some nice bubbles to celebrate your birthday?
This is what happened to me: I was snooping around Continue reading
got bubbles?
What do these bottles have in common? Continue reading
“I hear you hate California wine.”
That’s the first line in Jon Bonné’s new book, The New California Wine which showed up on my doorstep a few days ago. Since then I’ve discovered for myself why my wine blogging friends have been raving about it–it really is a great book. In fact, it’s all I can do NOT to drop everything and keep reading it!
I mean, don’t you want to know what comes after that first line?
As a nationally recognized wine authority and the wine editor for the San Francisco Chronicle, Bonne certainly knows his wine. But it is his historical narratives and personal anecdotes that caught my imagination right away and seduced me into reading far longer than I had planned to–it’s finals, and I have huge piles of research papers to grade. But when I came down with that bug that’s going around, I had a chance to spend a little more time with his book to discover that he offers a seriously comprehensive overview–over 600 wines from long time producers and favorites like Ridge and Ojai Vineyards to the positively youthful Donkey and Goat from the Brandts, and from larger vintners that you can find in a grocery store to tiny ones like William Allen’s Two Shepherds– to guide readers in understanding what’s going on today in California viticulture. Continue reading
Back in the early 80s, when I was barely legal and going to Foothill community college, I worked at Ridge Winery in the tasting room up on Montebello Road.
For those of you who remember, you are probably laughing because there was no “tasting room” at Ridge –there was only a tasting table outside, a simple picnic table where we had five wines, usually four zins and a claret, lined up along with a basket of fresh bread (from “City of Paris” as I recall); you went inside the cellar where Kathy poured other offerings and helped you make your purchases.
We were having a Christmas party or some sort of potluck as I recall and it was quite cold. I was a newlywed with a Crockpot and as I was going to
be at the tasting room all day, I suggested I make mulled wine. After all, there was always plenty of leftover wine lying around that I never got around to drinking during the week so why not pour all those together and mull them?
You can only imagine the look of horror at my suggestion–mull a Ridge wine? Continue reading
We are about ready to saber these #Franciacorta bubbles from Italy! #minecraft @JulieanneCase @mwangbickler pic.twitter.com/onqYDwEmwP
— Gwendolyn Alley, MA (@ArtPredator) November 21, 2013
Today is the second Franciacorta twitter tasting that I’ve had the opportunity to participate in, thanks to Balzac Communications.
Before September, I don’t think I’d ever tasted this sparkling wine from Italy that rivals Champagne in quality, but is much lesser known. You’d be amazed at the quality that you can get for the money–I know I was!
Tune in to twitter #Franciacorta to see what we think about today’s line-up. Post to follow soon with more tasting notes.
I’m also planning on spending some time with that massive map they sent to learn more about this region that I hope to visit one day soon!
PS And no, I am NOT going to let my son saber the bottles with his new Minecraft sword because Rusty Ginger fought him off!
On the heels of #zinfandelday! Getting ready for #lodiwine twitter tasting today! Discover more than great zin! pic.twitter.com/OsiI7fk84w
— Gwendolyn Alley, MA (@ArtPredator) November 20, 2013
What’s my favorite wine for Thanksgiving? ZINFANDEL! It’s magical with turkey and ham, and it can stand up to all those crazy rich side dishes.
So what better time to celebrate zinfandel day but in November as we’re preparing for Thanksgiving and figuring out the wines we want to enjoy on this special day?
Today I’m heading over to Cantara Cellars in Camarillo CA where we will taste zinfandel from the Lodi region as well as other wines from Lodi that you might want to consider sharing with your friends and family on Thanksgiving, or other special occasions. We’ll be posting pictures and tasting notes with the hashtag #lodiwine if you want to follow along.
These are the wines that were sent to me as samples for the twitter tasting that we will be opening today from 5-6pm:
