Fall Flavors Inspired by France’s Loire: Muscadet, Savennieres

How do you transition from summer to fall? After Labor Day, do you leave your white shoes and your white wines behind? Continue reading →

2018 Horsepower Grenache, Fiddleneck Vineyard, Walla Walla Valley

“The point is to create an honest wine that has an identity. You want to taste the place,” says Christophe Baron. And the point of Grenache Day is to celebrate the pure identity of this grape which often gets lost and blended. So what better wine to feature on Grenache Day than Christophe Baron’s Horsepower Grenache paired with roasted blue cheese stuffed figs, bacon wrapped squash bites, eggplant bruschetta, and grilled rack of lamb laden with garlic and rosemary? 

At biodynamic Horsepower Vineyards located in the Stones of the Walla Walla Valley, Continue reading →

4 Organic CA Cab Sauvignon

As summer yields to autumn, we transition to fall flavors, yet it can still be quite warm. What wine to drink and food to pair? Since it is California Wine Month, we decided to focus on iconic Cabernet Sauvignon grown organically or biodynamically. but from two lesser known regions, Continue reading →

2022 Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc and Viognier

Did you know that the National; Park Service just celebrated their birthday? On August 25 in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson signed the act that created the National Park Service. This summer marks the second year of Pine Ridge’s partnership with the Nation Parks Conservation Association (NPCA). Projects include “the establishment of new national park sites including Avi Kwa Ame National Monument, new emergency fuel reduction treatments and historic legislation providing nearly $1 billion for the National Park Service to respond to climate change.” Continue reading →

Côtes du Rhône Organic Rosé Wines

When Sue came over to do Rosè from Provence paired with fish tacos for this month’s “Summer in Provence” prompt with the Winophiles, I discovered I was fresh out of Rosè from Provence! Instead of making a run for the store, I turned to France’s second oldest wine region, Côtes du Rhône, located just north of Provence, where recently Continue reading →

Sparkling Whites from Mendo’s Scharffenberger and Marche’s Mai Sentito Pair with Pizza

What are your favorite pairings with pizza? When I was a kid, it was root beer. When I was older, I loved sharing pizza and a pitcher of beer with friends, and famed Italian pizza chef swears by beer; he even has a signature beer available at his award winning restaurants 50 Kalo in Rome, Naples, and London.  Wine lovers like me turn to red wine, favoring Chianti or Montepulciano d’Abruzzo, and if I can find it, Nerello Mascalese.  But on a warm summer night, I like Continue reading →

2 Red Pet Nats by Women Winemakers Paired with Pasta Bolognese and Fennel Flower Salad

Following years of drought, devastating floods bring more rain in a few weeks time than in the previous year. Sound familiar? Maybe a little like California in 2023? While we in California did experience floods that triggered an emergency declaration in many counties of California including Ventura where I live, today I want to call attention to the spring floods that came in May to Italy’s Emilia Romagna when the same amount of rain that might fall in seven months fell in two weeks in a series of storms, and people are still recovering. Continue reading →