— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) November 4, 2015
What? There are CARS bubbling out of the Italian Alps? No I don’t mean that kind of Ferrari. I mean bubbles from the sparkling wine grown in the Alps and made in the winery started by Guilio Ferrari over 100 years ago!
On Tuesdays in November from 6-7pm I am participating in Protocol Wine’s Wine Studio Project tasting and education series with Ferrari, a sparkling wine producer from Trento which is located in the Dolomite region of the Alps in the northeastern part of Italy. To learn with us about Ferrari this month, check out the hashtags #winestudio and #FerrariTrento as we taste Ferrari’s award-winning wines: Brut, Rose, Perlè 2007, and Guilio Ferrari 2001.
Founded in 1902 by Giulo Ferrari, a pioneer in Italian viticulture, Ferrari was the first Italian winemaker and viticulturalist to dedicate his vineyards almost entirely to Chardonnay. In 1952, Giulio Ferrari chose Bruno Lunelli, owner of a wine shop in Trento to take over. Lunelli increased production yet maintained quality while children Franco, Gino and Mauro added Ferrari Rosé, Ferrari Perlé and Giulio Ferrari Riserva del Fondatore. A third generation Marcello, Matteo, Camilla and Alessandro Lunelli continues the tradition.
Are you ready to be tempted by Tempranillo on Tempranillo Day this Thursday November 12, 2015? That’s right,
International Tempranillo Day is the second Thursday in November which means this year it is Thurs. Nov. 12!
While you may not recognize Tempranillo by name, if you’ve ever had wine from Rioja, then you have tasted this spicy, lively varietal. Continue reading →
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) October 28, 2015
Chocolate is a food of the Gods. So thought the Maya about chocolate and I bet you may agree.
You may not, however, know how time consuming the production of chocolate is: it takes 400 or so cocoa beans to make a single pound of chocolate. Those cocoa beans go through an intense process to go from raw bean to roasted and fermented to ground cocoa to a bar with sweeteners that you want to consume; this process takes from two to four days to make one bar of chocolate.
Wine also is a food of the Gods and very time consuming, especially if you want a wine to go with CHOCOLATE like a port or port style dessert wine.
Only fortified wine produced in the Douro Demarcated Region which conforms to the technical characteristics defined by the IVDP is Port
The maker must be registered and authorised by the IVDP to produce Port
The label must be approved by the IVDP
The bottle must bear the IVDP issued and numbered seal of guarantee
For Chocolate Day, I splurged and bought some chocolates and opened one bottle of Port and three dessert wines, and we tasted them together. While not all dessert wines are fortified with port, the ones I tasted are.
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) October 28, 2015
Oh yeah baby.
The chocolates: Marich chocolate strawberries, blueberries, and salted cashews; Divine dark chocolate with hazelnuts and cranberries. We also combined the chocolates with Lancaster caramels.
The dessert wines: Sandeman Founders Reserve Porto, Kachina Port Sonoma County CA, Cantara X Lodi CA, Silver Fifty Cask Santa Barbara County. Continue reading →
Tomorrow is the sixth annual #ChampagneDay! The 2015 #ChampagneDay is set for Friday, October 23.
What makes Champagne Champagne and not just another bottle of bubbles you wonder?
Champagne is from the Champagne region of France, which, on July 5th 2015 was granted World Heritage status by UNESCO.
Champagne is from the Champagne region of France, making it the only sparkling wine that can be called Champagne.
Champagne is from Champagne, France.
But beyond the fact that CHAMPAGNE only comes from the Champagne region of France and all other bubbles are just sparkling wine and NOT Champagne? This video offers a few clues: Continue reading →
Another weekend, another Festival, yes? Everyone is trying to cram in as many fun activities outside while the weather is still nice and warm (and maybe too warm lately!) before the rainy and snowy weather sets in.
This weekend I want to suggest something extra-ordinary: Continue reading →
Miss out on the recent Sunset Savor the Central Coast during the last weekend of California Wine Month? Then definitely don’t miss this weekend’s Santa Barbara Vintners Celebration of Harvest!
Before I get to posting about Sunset Savor (including notes from two sessions I attended “Three Styles of Sparkling Wine” and “Central Coast Wine and Cheese Pairing”), I want to make sure that you know about this weekend’s Celebration of Harvest Weekend October 9-12, 2015.
