April 15 aka Tax Day, has come and gone! Did you get your taxes done in time?
Fortunately, this year, because Tax Day April 15 is a Sunday, and because Washington DC celebrates Emancipation Day with a holiday on Monday April 16, this year, like last year and the year before,
we all have a reprieve until Tuesday April 17.
Navarra is an up and coming wine region in Northern Spain located in the western part of the Pyrenees Mountains that form a natural boundary between France and Spain with the Basque mountains further to the West. Navarra butts up against France to the north and to the south is Rioja, famous for Tempranillo. Continue reading
This month, the Wine Pairing Weekend crew become Pilgrims on a sacred journey this April to Navarra, Spain, home to the Camino de Santiago as well as a cuisine that pairs heavenly with the region’s wines! Here’s the invitation to participate.
The famous “Way” travels from many points in Europe with most of them converging in Navarra, Spain, the focus of this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend which includes posts published this Saturday April 14 and a twitter chat that morning at 8am PST.
Navarra’s history is intertwined with the Camino de Santiago which leads to the shrine of St. James the Apostle in Santiago de Compostela, located about 400 walking miles to west, in the coastal province of Galicia, home to Albarino (read about nine meals to pair with Albarino). Pilgrims returned from the Camino bearing stories about the wonderful wine in Navarra; Rioja, just west of Navarra, became famous this way also (read about two from Rioja).
Read more about these two Garnacha from Navarra in the invite post.
Please join us as we explore this region of Spain; food ideas here. Many of us received a variety of samples from Wines of Navarra for which we are grateful. To prepare us further, Sue and I opened a sample of a 2008 Ochoa Reserva from a single vineyard which we paired with osso bucco. Read on to learn more!
What did the Wine Pairing Weekend Pilgrims do with Navarra Wine?
Here’s a preview of the posts you can expect to find by Saturday morning, April 14:
What went down this winter of 2018 and what’s up this spring?
So far this year, I’ve published 21 posts, which is not far off from my goal of 9 per month or 108 for the year. And what were the most popular of these posts from 2018?
The emphasis this winter was on women in wine: women winemakers and winery owners. Continue reading
In this Women’s History Month feature, meet Kristin Bryden, Winemaker at Zaca Mesa Winery and Vineyards in Santa Barbara County. We interviewed Kristin at the Spring Rhone Rangers tasting in Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone earlier this month. Continue reading
Wine from Rioja with a selection of Spanish cheese and meat makes for a hearty happy hour or light dinner.
In April, the Wine Pairing Weekend crew are traveling along the Camino de Santiago in Navarra, Spain. As we are hosting, a few weeks ago for the invitation post we wrote about two Navarra Garnacha, but the region has been on my mind once I started seriously considering walking the Camino.
So today I feature three wines from Rioja, another region along the Camino. Continue reading
Cantara Cellars co-owner Chris Brown with son and assistant winemaker Jesse Johnson; March 2017 photo by Gwendolyn Alley
A winery that we frequently feature is located just south down Highway 101 from me in Camarillo, CA: Cantara Cellars which uses fruit almost exclusively from Lodi, CA.
So following my post about Susan Tipton of Lodi’s Acquiesce where we also compared and contrasted Lodi with the Rhone Valley in France, it seemed high time that we wrote about Chris Brown, co-owner of Cantara Cellars and a Ventura County winery leader.
In contrast to Acquiesce’s focus on white Rhone wines, Cantara makes all reds save a Chardonnay made from family grown fruit. In addition to Rhone favorites like Syrah, Mourvedre, and Grenache, they make Malbec, Petite Sirah, Cabernet, Cabernet Franc, Tempranillo, and more, plus a number of blends, and of course, that Lodi darling, Zinfandel, including one from old vines.
In addition to the Left Bank Cuvee and Project X, Drummer Diane bought a nifty new wine opener and napkins in the gift shop of Cantara Cellars.
Last weekend my friend Drummer Diane and I visited Cantara Cellars to taste through the list and chat with Chris in the busy tasting room. Continue reading
