Category Archives: Great Wines under $20

4 Grenaches for #GrenacheDay To Lift Your Spirits

Picture of Grenache noir grapes from a vineyar...

Picture of Grenache noir grapes from a vineyard in Santa Barbara, California. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Please join me in celebrating Grenache Day, today, Friday September 21, 2012 by enjoying a glass of this delightful varietal! You can share what you’re drinking on twitter by using the hashtag #grenacheday.

What is there to say about Grenache?

How about it’s one of the most widely grown varietals on the planet!  However, since grenache is used primarily in blends, many people don’t know they’ve had it or that they like it!

I am one of those people who definitely enjoys grenache –with or without its traditional Rhone blending partners, mourvedre and syrah. In case you’ve  heard the term GSM –the g is for grenache, the m is mourvedre and the s is syrah. I prefer my GSMs to be heavier on the grenache and light on the syrah.

On its own, Grenache can be a bit light for some people, and too fruity. Personally, I like its fruit forward freshness with roast chicken and salads and various cheeses;  tonight we’re going to try it with some chicken legs and thighs that are marinating in fresh squeezed orange juice, fresh rosemary, raw garlic, and a prepared teriyaki sauce. Grenache is nice on the cool side (cellar temperature or colder), great with picnics, or when you want something more hefty than a rose.

Grenache is a red wine that won’t bog you down but instead lift your spirits.

Grenache Day 2012 wines from Ojai Vineyards and Cantara CellarsIn honor of Grenache Day 2012, we tasted four: one from Horse Heaven Hills AVA by Alexandria Nichole, two from Lodi California made by Mike Brown at Cantara Cellars in Camarillo, and one from Thompson Vineyards in Santa Barbara made by Adam Tolmach at Ojai Vineyards.

They were all very different and we loved them all in their own ways. All of them are gorgeous in the glass, which is typical of grenache: super pretty pink and clear, vibrant with a violet tinge on the edge. Continue reading →

2011 Big House Birdman at the Beach with Big Bad Voodoo Daddy 2012

If it’s the first week of August, it’s time for the Ventura County Fair.

And that means Fair food and Fair entertainment including fireworks every night and music too! Last night we were on the Ferris Wheel when the fireworks went off; another highlight was a deep fried hot dog with a spiral of potato chips which my son and I were going to share but he polished off by himself!

This year, like most,

don’t tell anyone but

my family, friends and I ride our bikes down to the beach to enjoy the fair’s concert from the “cheap seats” –our bike seats or a bench on the beach!

That’s what I did on Saturday to see Joan Jett and that’s what a bunch of us did tonight for Big Bad Voodoo Daddy.

Out there by the beach the sound isn’t too loud–a bonus as we’re not blowing out our eardrums and we can visit with each other. There’s also plenty of room to dance with views of the seashore!

Another bonus is we can bring our own food and drink. This year a group of us gathered for an informal light dinner along the bike path featuring local fresh olive bread, cheeses, humous, vegies, an arugula portabella feta salad, a couscous salad, and, the star of the show, raw oysters from the Jolly Oyster. Continue reading →

Pinot Gris from Alsace: Summer Sensation

A few weeks ago, SoCalArtGal, Annie AnyDay, Bacchus Schmacchus and I gathered for two twitter tastings of 9 (yes NINE!) wines in two hours!

That was a lot of wine even for us!!

First we did five wines from the Alsace region of Europe:

Lucien Albrecht Cremant d’Alsace Brut Rose
The Furst Pinot Blanc
Gustave Lorentz Riesling
Schlumberger Pinot Gris
Trimbach Gewurztraminer
followed by four delightfu, light effervescent and refreshing Vinho Verde wines from Portugal!

But for today, I’m just going to share a few notes about the Pinot Gris, later a bit about the Alsace region and soon, I promise, we’ll share our thoughts on the other wines from Alsace as well as the wines from Portugal! Continue reading →

Barossa or Queensland Australia? If it’s wine, I want to taste it!

Have you tried any wine from Queensland Australia? Did you even know there were almost 200 wineries there?

I’ve been on pins and needles waiting to see whether I am one of 10 bloggers selected to go to Queensland Australia for a 5 day blogging adventure with ProBlogger Darren Rowse. In my application I said:

I will enthusiastically use my social media “Klout” to share stories about rainforest and Great Barrier Reef biodiversity, artists and poets like Oodgeroo Noonuccal, efforts to be green, and cutting-edge cuisine. Discovering Queensland’s growing wine industry and opportunities for hiking, camping, and other family friendly adventures are also topics of great excitement to me. Continue reading →

Shannon Ridge Wines & Lamb Recipe –for your Easter dinner or spring gathering!

According to an article in today’s LA Times, Easter and Passover is when most people eat lamb. But in the US, nearly 40% of the population has never even tried it! At the peak in the 1940s, Americans consumed 6.6 pounds of lamb per person; these days, it’s less than one pound. Experts say it is because it is expensive (a rack of lamb will set you back between $12-18 or more) and because it is relatively unknown in the US so people don’t know how to prepare it.

I never appreciated lamb until I met my husband, and yes it was love at first bite! (In fact, today was our 9th wedding anniversary–we were married on Good Friday 2003!) We have lamb regularly and I have found it pairs well with many wines making for a special dinner.

So how should you prepare your lamb this Easter? And what wine should you drink with it? In this post, I’ll share Audrey Shannon’s Lamb Shoulder Recipe with some preparation tips and ideas for Shannon Ridge wines to pair with your holiday meal.

Shannon Ridge

Shannon Ridge is up in Lake County, an area that I’ve been hearing lots of good news about as an up-and-coming wine region. The portfolio of award winning Shannon Ridge wine includes the Single Vineyard Collection and Ranch Collection: the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon won DOUBLE GOLD at the recent San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc won the GOLD MEDAL at the 2011 Dallas Morning News and TexSom Wine Competition, the Riverside International Wine Competition, and the Critics Challenge Wine Competition. Shannon Ridge Vineyards and Winery was named by Jon Fredrikson as one of ten “Hot California Wineries in 2011.” Annual case sales have increased more than 300% over the past four years, from 25K in 2008 to 104K in 2011 –which means you can now find this sustainable, affordable brand in a big box store near you!

One reason I really like Shannon Ridge is their authentic commitment to sustainability and the land. The Shannons truly are farmers first. Continue reading →

WBW #74: Get Your Sparkle On!

After January’s “Spark” Wine Blogging Wednesday #73 comes a “sparkling” wine prompt just in time for Valentine’s Day write-ups. Hosted by Wine Cast aka Tim Elliot, he instructs participants to “pick a sparkling wine from any appellation, made from any grape but make sure it sells for $25 or less a bottle (€20, £16). This should open up a lot of interesting selections, from Crémant de Bourgogne, to Cava, to California & New Mexico sparkling, sparkling Shiraz, to even well chosen grower Champagne. Just post your notes by February 15th and ping me @winecast on Twitter or email me with your link at winecast (at) gmail (dot) com.”

I’ll toast to that! But there is so much more to sparkling wine than a wedding toast or Valentine’s ritual. I’d love to see the day where sparkling wines are as common a beverage with a party as beer!

These days, you can find a wide range of prices for sparkling wines just about anywhere, but it does seem like there’s been an explosion of quality sparklers for under $25–especially if you shop the sales, you can find some super wonderful wines that fit into any budget.

This has been a great few months for me for discovering and tasting sparkling wines: I hosted Champagne Day event in October, attended a big sparkling wine tasting at the Cave in Ventura, then had a big birthday celebration in January with more bubbly! Some of the highlights were beyond the price point of this prompt, however, (Sigh…can you say Bollinger?) so I will save that conversation for another time, AND I want to focus not so much on sparklers to toast with or for special occasions but those to enjoy with a meal.

One of our favorite easy quick satisfying dinners is clams sauteed in white wine, butter, and garlic. We can get fresh clams easily from the Jolly Oyster’s stand at the Ventura State Beach–so we do! But there are a number of frozen clam dinners out there or you can buy tinned clams. These options don’t compare with the fresh one but are still yummy and delightfully simple. We usually serve them over pasta but rice is good too.

I’ve paired this meal with a number of different wines but for Wine Blogging Wednesday #74, Continue reading →

Happy Valentine’s Day to YOU!!

A toast to you–my readers and especially my subscribers and followers–on this Valentine’s Day! Without you, I’d just be writing to myself–and it is so much more fun to write for someone else to enjoy!

This Valentine’s Day, I was surprised to receive a gorgeous pink bottle of The Crusher Rose of Pinot Noir,  a box of beautiful heart shaped LeBelge Truffles, and a letter of appreciation from Michael Wangbickler of Balzac Communications. Balzac often sends me wine samples (including The Crusher line-up last spring for a twitter tasting). This past November, Michael invited me to be on a panel with him and The Crusher winemaker to discuss wine and food pairing at the International Wine Bloggers Conference, an activity I really enjoyed. So a big thank you to Balzac Communications and to Mike!

Since I have to go teach writing at the college tonight, I will have to wait until I come home to celebrate Valentine’s Day with my husband and some bubbly. I better make a decision and put it in the fridge!I’ve got a few bottles around for this month’s Wine Blogging Wednesday prompt on value sparklers. Look for that post tomorrow! (I know it won’t help you much for tonight!)

So–What are YOU drinking for Valentine’s Day?