Celebrate Regenerative Oregon Leaders with Brooks Pinot Noir, Montinore Italian Red Blend, Troon Amphora Mourvedre
When you think of Oregon, what comes to mind? Misty mornings along the coast? Snowy Mt Hood and the Cascade Range? Warm inland days with cool nights? Portland’s Powell Books and rugged, green individualism? An ethos of progressive sustainability? Vineyards of Pinot Noir? Oregon is all of this and more contributing to make the wine and the place special. Oregon Wine Month, which concludes today, celebrates it all! Here on Wine Predator, where we focus on sustainability and wine pairings, we have three red wines by three of Oregon’s leaders when it comes to growing grapes and making wine sustainably: pioneers Brooks and Montinore, and now Troon. Three very different red wines from three different parts of Oregon: Continue reading →
When I purchased this bottle of Mila Vuolo’s Aglianico from Campania, Italy, I had no idea that I’d be introduced to a passionate woman winemaker working organically and biodynamically. All I knew was it was Aglianico and I like Aglianico and it’s hard to find Aglianico and it was under $20. Continue reading →
It’s time to celebrate! After a year of lock downs during the COVID 19 pandemic, now that so many people have one or both vaccines, it feels like the world is starting to open up again. And so yes it’s time to celebrate and what better than sparkling wine and hugs for hard working moms, teachers, and friends?
When it’s a wine made from a Rhône grape grown anywhere other than the Rhône region in France!
This seems obvious to me now following a webinar all about the wines of the Rhône where they made this point.
Just like the only wine you can call Champagne is from Champagne. Everything else is simply sparkling wine.
The words “sparkling wine” is an easy replacement for Champagne. But I haven’t found a reasonable term that covers those grapes we commonly associate with the Rhône Valley of France. Earlier this year I called wines from Tablas Creek “Rhône Inspired” but that’s not satisfying to me as a wine word smith.
What is satisfying? These four wines from the El Dorado AVA using grapes from the Rhône River Valley in France.
Sangiovese lovingSue shows off her purple teeth: we asked these three after a practice for the US Wine Tasting Team!
“Sassicaia, Sassicaia, all they want is Sassicaia!” wailed the young sommelier from China during a tasting lab of Sangiovese and other Italian indigenous grapes during the VinItaly Wine Ambassador Course in Los Angeles in February 2019.
“How can I get them to try something else?” she asked plaintively. The group of wine professionals gathered weighed in, but none of the suggestions seemed to click. Continue reading →
By now, everyone on Planet Earth probably knows that April is Earth Month.
And with so many of us practicing #SIP — as in Shelter in Place not Slurping in Place — the only where we can celebrate Earth Day and Earth Month is at home.
So at home it is! With a nice Earth friendly wine in our glasses whether we are #SIP with family or virtually! Continue reading →
That’s why the Wine Pairing Weekend crew headed to the grill this month — and paired those grilled goodies with wine from Australia — where, while it may be winter Down Under, they have some mighty fine wines to pair with your shrimp on the barbie as well as your sausages and shiraz! Plus it’s great prep for the Wine Bloggers Conference there in 2019!
Before I get further into telling you about the two wines pictured Continue reading →
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 