Welcome to February Fun –the Fat Tuesday edition where I’ll share details about this week’s events.
Tue. Feb. 12 Fat Tuesday
Thu. Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day
Thu. Feb. 14-18 Valentine n Wine, Ventura County
Fri. Feb. 15 Twitter Tasting 4-6pm PST Steven Kent Winery
Sat. Feb. 16 Garagiste South Tasting, Solvang
Thu. Feb. 21 City of Bordeaux Twitter Wine Party
Fri. Feb. 22 Dark and Delicious Petite Sirah Tasting, Rock Wall, Alameda
Tue. Feb. 12 Fat Tuesday!
Did you know today is Pancake Day? Do you know why? (And what do you pair with pancakes??) According to wikipedia, during Lent, people often give up rich foods including butter, milk and eggs, key ingredients in pancakes. Because so many people would use these ingredients up by making pancakes the day before Lent, it became known as PANCAKE DAY! (What do YOU pair with pancakes and syrup? Riesling? Something sparkling and a bit sweet?)
While I suggested pancakes for dinner to my husband, Chef Tim Kilcoyne at The Sidecar Restaurant is doing it up right with gumbo and oyster po boys and more–with oysters from the Jolly Oyster, of course–and my husband has got his hopes up for that!
Th Feb 14-18 Valentine n Wine, Ventura County: Starting on Valentine’s Day and going all weekend is the third annual Valentine n Wine passport weekend event in Ventura County. Continue reading →
Thnx 4 Valentines Day present from fine folks at Balzac & Martin & Weyrich: 2 bottles of Allegro Moscato #wine! pic.twitter.com/Q6hJN1Kq
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) February 11, 2013
Tue. Feb. 12 Fat Tuesday
Thu. Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day
Thu. Feb. 14-18 Valentine n Wine, Ventura County
Fri. Feb. 15 Twitter Tasting 4-6pm PST Steven Kent Winery
Sat. Feb. 16 Garagiste South Tasting, Solvang
Thu. Feb. 21 City of Bordeaux Twitter Wine Party
Fri. Feb. 22 Dark and Delicious Petite Sirah Tasting, Rock Wall, Alameda
Happy Valentine’s Day! Unless you’ve spent your life under a rock, you know that Thursday February 14 is Valentine’s Day, a day when young and old celebrate love and friendship.
Last Friday, I received an unexpected early Valentine’s gift from the fine folks at Balzac Communications: two bottles of Martin & Weyrich2011 Moscato Allegro: one rose, one white to make my Valentine’s Day even sweeter! Although now that I think about it, I remember last year, Balzac sent me a bottle of the Crusher Rose and a box of truffles–yum!As if my life as a wine blogger wasn’t already overflowing with benefits!
While I haven’t opened either yet, with residual sugars just above 6%, I know they will have a nice sweet character, yet the Muscat Canelli grape from which the Moscato Allegro is made is reknowned for retaining its acidity so it should have a good balance without being cloying. The rose, as you can see from the photo I posted on twitter, is a deep salmon color which comes from a “kiss” of red wine (instead of having the color from a red grape that didn’t have contact with the skin which is what makes red wines red). The high residual sugars also means these wines are lower in alcohol–only 8.5% instead of the more typical 12-14% –a great wine for dessert on a school night or to mix in a cocktail or with St Germain! The screwtop has me thinking about bringing one along on romantic picnic. Retails for $12. When I get a chance to open them, I’ll let you know what I think!
Tue. Feb. 12 is Fat Tuesday! We’ll celebrate Mardi Gras Sat. March 2 in Ojai. Will you be celebrating? How? What wines do you enjoy with New Orleans style cuisine? I’m thinking this Moscato Allegro might be a good choice for that spicy cuisine and good times!
To be continued with details about the events listed above!
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) October 17, 2012
When I was a poor college student (except for the year I worked at Ridge!), and then a student loan paying underemployed thirty-something artist/poet/writer, my go to wines were from Chile. My friends and I knew that with Chilean wines, we could get the best bang for our buck!
Last fall, I had the opportunity to taste four wines from Concha y Toro’s Gran Reserve Series with TasteLive and we were happily surprised to find that you still get a BIG BANG for your buck with Chilean wine. Since Foods from Chile is hosting a contest to take a blogger to Chile (!!), I figured I’d throw my hat into the ring and turn my notes into a long over due blog post and submission. (UPDATE: Vote for me here please!! http://promoshq.wildfireapp.com/website/302/contests/310099/voteable_entries?page=1)
Plus there’s ANOTHER contest that you can join in! Celebrate the “Affordable Luxury” of the Gran Reserva Serie Riberas reviewed below: enter their photo contest for chance to WIN $1,000! Extra points for mentions of these wines, wine, cameras, and rivers! http://ow.ly/hjsCr Here’s my submission: Continue reading →
May all your thoughts be positive
and your experiences be good.
May you be free of problems, sickness, and sadness.
May your life be long and peaceful
and may you quickly reach enlightenment.
–Metta prayer
The year of the Black Snake begins on Sunday February 10, 2013 with the new moon rising in Aquarius–and I’m celebrating with an Italian wine!
According to Geomancer and Philosopher Paul Ng, the year 2013 is “Mountain-Thunder Rhythm”– a year of conservation, a year of rebuilding, and a year of changes.
Han-Ban.com says that “the year of Snake is meant for steady progress and attention to detail. Focus and discipline will be necessary for you to achieve what you set out to create.”
The Snake is “enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined.” Hmmn, I wonder which wines are SNAKE wines??
If you will be celebrating with Chinese or another Asian cuisine, you might be wondering what wine to pair with the complex, often spicy dishes. Continue reading →
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) January 13, 2013
For my birthday in 2011, I was in Egypt. Last year, I had a huge party. This year, I wanted something more quiet.
On the eve of my birthday, we drove late into the night to arrive in the first few minutes of my birthday at Benton Hot Springs Bed and Breakfast in eastern California near the Nevada border. Appropriately, we stayed in the “Cowgirl Room”!
Because of a reservation mix-up, for our accommodations the rest of the weekend, Tamarack Lodge upgraded us to a luxury two bedroom cabin where this exquisite bottle of Roederer Champagne waited, chilled, which we enjoyed with oysters I brought from the Jolly Oyster in Ventura plus some rosemary crackers and goat cheese. It was worth every penny (and since it was room service, I’m sure that was a pretty penny!)
That night, we had dinner at the Lakeside Restaurant (review to follow!). While they have a nice list, I had brought something even better, a Marilyn Remark 2003 syrah that fellow wine blogger David Rodriguez (aka @zensolo on twitter) had given me in November (review to follow!) All in all, it was a perfectly incredible day!
On Saturday we skied all day and we cooked dinner in: arugula salad with portabellas cooked in a 30 year tawny port and fresh manila clams from the Jolly Oyster with an amazing chardonnay from Ojai Vineyards (review to follow!). For dessert, we had the 30 year tawny and salted chocolate almonds.
Sunday morning as we were packing up, I realized there was one glass remaining of the Roederer. I’d never tried the spoon trick before–imagine my pleasure to discover that it works perfectly and the Champagne paired delightfully with my bagel and lox!
Thanks to Mammoth, Tamarack, The Lakeside, The Mill, Zensolo, Tony, Benton, and my family for such a wonderful birthday weekend!
PS Do you like the daffodils? Believe it or not, I brought them from home!
Once a week, Jordan Winery posts a new video on their youtube channel. Yesterday, award winning Jordan blogger and PR person extradinaire Lisa Matttson and her team at Jordan went “Gangnam Style” and posted this parody of PSY’s K-POP youtube megahit that has had the most views of any video ever. While the Jordan video may not hit the million mark, it went from 250 yesterday to nearly 1000 views today and is sure to bring a laugh to wine drinkers familiar with the images in the original.
PS Time for bubbles! Tomorrow 12/16 is the Ventura Wine Company’s Champagne tasting and Weds 12/19 is Thirsty Girl’s tasting of bubbly from Chateau Ste Michelle!
December kicks off with a bang in Ventura County with the Third Annual Winter Wine Walk in downtown Ventura. The rainy night and a friend’s party kept me away this year, but you can read my thoughts about the 2011 and the 2010 Winter Wine Walks. I know one friend who had his car hit by a drunk driver tonight; I hope the damage this year is minimal because I like the idea of the event and I’d like to see it be successful. Until someone pays for a stronger enforcement present like that required at the beer festival, I fear that people will continue to take advantage of the “wild west” atmosphere that prevails and drink to excess.
Both Saturday Dec. 1 and Sunday Dec. 2 join a Holiday Open House from noon – 5:00 p.m. at the Camarillo Custom Crush Winery 300 South Lewis, Unit C. For a cost of $20, you can get a taste of what Ventura County winemakers are up as winemakers will pour their juice. Check out the local wine gifts for the holidays, too.
ne, Ventura County: Starting on Valentine’s Day and going all weekend is the third annual Valentine n Wine passport weekend event in Ventura County. Continue reading 
