Yes, last Tuesday I suddenly became a foster mommy for three foundling kittens.
And suddenly my time has been consumed with tending kittens rather than tending this blog!
I’ll be back to wine in no time — I promise! I’ve been tasting and taking notes on a number of really interesting California wines for Sustainable California Wine month and I’m really excited to share them!
With tasting rooms around the world closed, wineries are struggling. While alcohol consumption may be up, if people are buying wine, they are getting it at the grocery store, not directly from a winery from visiting a tasting room –which means that many organic, biodynamic, and sustainable smaller wineries with a smaller footprint may get lost in the shuffle.
April is Earth Month, so now more than ever purchasing wines that pay attention to the triple bottom line matters. And if you can’t get to the tasting room, because it is closed or too far away, it will be much harder to do so.
“We are very much a wine business that focuses on selling wine directly to our customers and the cellar door is our lifeblood — that is where they first meet us,” said Hugh Hamilton CEO Mary Hamilton here.
In Australia, 30% of wineries could close permanently, Continue reading →
It’s feels almost like every night is “Open That Bottle Night.” That’s the yearly event on the final Saturday of February where we are all urged to open that bottle because why not?
With so many people working at home (if they are working at all), every day seems like Saturday and any day you may lose your sense of smell, sense of taste, or worse to the dreaded COVID-19.
At the South Mountain winery in Santa Paula CA, Clos des Amis winemaker Bruce Freeman contemplates Malbec’s gifts to the world.
“That’s kind of why you like Malbec,” says Clos des Amis winemaker Bruce Freeman. “It has some cajones! It’s not just a fruit bomb; it comes back at you. Caught ya, not got ya! It seems like it will be a sweet thing but then it’s sassy.”
With April as Malbec Month, and Malbec Day this Friday, April 17, NOW is the time to share Malbec! But it’s also a great wine to drink all year around — with grilled meats in the summer and braised meats in the winter, and with cheese and cured meats all year.
“Why then the world’s mine oyster,
Which I with sword will open.”
William Shakespeare, from The Merry Wives of Windsor.
With April being Earth Month, and with us all stuck at home, why not take a jaunt around the world via white wines?
And why not try to find ones that are sustainable, organic, or earth friendly?
And why not see which one pairs best with oysters?
AND Why not do it as a blind tasting? With seven white wines from the Northern Hemisphere? To help prepare to compete in the US Wine Tasting Open and the the World Wine Tasting Championship in France? Continue reading →
Spring and easter is all about regeneration: green pops out everywhere, Jesus comes back from the dead, rabbits deliver eggs. Some say the word Easter comes from Ēostre, a Germanic goddess who had festivals held in her honor during the month Ēosturmōnaþ, the equivalent of April by pagan Anglo-Saxons which was followed by the Christian Paschal month which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus.
April is also Earth Month, and the perfect time to celebrate regenerative agriculture. But with the current corona virus crisis, all Earth Month gatherings are off.
And so are wine events. Fortunately,
/model Crisis Bunny MB Hanrahan. Photo: Dina Pielaet.
Now that many of us have some extra time on our hands to complicate life, love, and wine in the time of the corona virus, one question about wine may have crossed your mind:
Where did wine originate?
If you guessed Italy, and specifically Sicily, you wouldn’t be far from the truth. Wine has been made on that island since 4000 BC.
But even earlier than that wine was made further east, in Georgia. According to Wikipedia, people began making wine there in 6000 BC.
/model Crisis Bunny MB Hanrahan. Photo: 
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 