For Dry January I’ve been experimenting with no alcohol and low alcohol beverages including FRE wines which are wines with the alcohol removed. There are many reasons you or I may choose to cut back on alcohol, but it’s especially important when you’re at altitude like on a ski trip to Lake Tahoe or other high altitude ski areas to be careful with alcohol consumption because it can lead to altitude sickness. So I brought 6 FRE wines with me to Tahoe a few weeks ago for my birthday where we were staying with my son who goes to college in Ski Business and Resort Management in Incline Village.
“Congratulations on writing 1000 posts on wine predator!” says WordPress.
As such, it seems appropriate to make it about “Local Love, Local Wine” because while I first started going wine tasting in Napa and Sonoma then worked at Ridge Vineyards in the early and mid-80s, in the mid 1990s, I got back into wine as the Art Predator by writing a newspaper column that included “all that engages the whole soul” from art to literature to film to wine to food, all local. I didn’t make a lot of money in that gig, but I did have trade: free food and drink at many area restaurants.
One of the restaurants, the long gone Nora’s of Ojai, featured wines from The Ojai Vineyard Continue reading →
Now here we are solidly in Autumn, but at another transition: it’s Election Day, and a good time to once again turn our attention to comfort food and wine, which again means Italian. Later this week, we have Primitivo and Zinfandel from Miraflores in El Dorado, then we compare and contrast a Turley Zinfandel with an Italian Primitivo. We’re pairing these wines with food inspired by The Godfather movies.
But today, we again turn to biodynamic Montinore (and that’s not because, based on all of my friends talking about day drinking today, you can drink more biodynamic wine without getting a hangover!) Continue reading →
June 2017 photo at Acquiesce, Lodi by Gwendolyn Alley
When you think of wines from the Lodi area, what comes to mind for most people is ZINFANDEL — and plenty of it!
But in the past few years, particularly thanks to tasting wines from Cantara Cellars as well as participating in twitter tastings and from attending the 2016 Wine Bloggers Conference in Lodi plus a press trip to Lodi last June, I’ve come to appreciate and advocate the range of wines coming from this region of California.
Today I want to introduce you to a winery in Lodi that specializes in white wines from the Rhone Valley: Acquiesce. Continue reading →
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) October 27, 2012
If you listen carefully, these witches seem to say that Winemaker and Water Witch Marc Mondavi’s Divining Rod #wine draws you in to drink! Yes, that’s right–how many wines do you know that were crafted by a bona fide witch??
If you’re looking for a great wine for your favorite witch or warlock for Halloween or other fall festivities, you can’t go wrong with either the Chardonnay or the Cabernet Sauvignon for under $20 (both on sale right now at Vons for under $15!)
After a long day at work, I opened the 2010 Divining Rod Chardonnay from the Santa Lucia Highlands to pair with my pasta and shrimp. It was room temperature but I opened it anyway to have a glass while I was getting dinner together. I wasn’t expecting a lot, but I got a lot! I was surprised and impressed at how delicious it was and looked forward to tasting it with dinner after it had some chill time in the refrigerator. It was the perfect accompaniment with dinner–refreshing, citrusy, nice body, not too heavy but enough to stand up to the butter and garlic and shrimp.
With a fresh, clean, bright, nose, the 2010 Divining Rod Chardonnay certainly put a spell on me from beginning to end, making me very happy! Continue reading →
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 