Are you tempted by Tempranillo? I am! And I’m not the only one! In fact, more people would be tempted by tempranillo if they tried it.
Today, November 8, is International Tempranillo Day–the perfect day to give Tempranillo a try! As Tempranillo is the fourth most planted wine grape planted in the world, with most of it grown in Spain, it’s easy to celebrate Tempranillo Day by simply opening and enjoying one.
One of my favorite wines from 2011 was a Tempranillo from Continue reading
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
On Wednesday, Oct. 10, Que Syrah Sue and I participated in the Thirsty Girl Twitter Tasting of three wines from Columbia Crest’s Horse Heaven Hills: their 2012 Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and a predominately merlot red blend. We thought all three were decent values at around $10; our favorites are the merlot blend, followed by the chardonnnay, and trailing in third is the cabernet. Continue reading
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.
In 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
What follows last week’s #CabernetDay? #PinotSmackdown Thursday Sept. 6, 2012! According to organizer Ed Thralls,
#PinotSmackdown is an all-day global celebration of the world’s most expressive wine grape combined with a knock-down, drag-out cage fight between YOUR FAVORITE Pinot-producing regions! All you need to participate is wine and Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, Instagr.am or your favorite social channel. Just be sure to use the #PinotSmackdown hashtag!Who makes the best Pinot you’ve ever tasted? To vote via your tweets, posts, pins, or instagr.am snapshots simply add another 2-character hashtag after #PinotSmackdown and we’ll count the votes so that region gets bragging rights for the year! Voting region hashtags:
For example, if you are drinking a Pinot from a region in California, simply tag the end of your tweets/posts with: #PinotSmackdown #CA FOR MORE DETAILS CLICK HERE |
This year for the Pinot Noir Smackdown, I’m betting many post-WBC bloggers are rooting for and writing about Oregon Pinot Noir aka #PinotSmackdown #OR. I know that the most memorable pinot noirs for me right now are from my trip last August.
Like many of the 450 attendees to the 2012 Wine Bloggers Conference in Portland, I joined a pre-excursion trip which included a late afternoon drive to the massive and beautiful King Estates for a scrumptious dinner (deserving of its own blog post) followed by an early morning jaunt from our hotel in Eugene to the Pfeiffer Winery in the southern Willamette Valley and in the northwestern part of Lane County.
It took us about 30 minutes to drive the scenic country roads, passing by alpaca farms, hay farms, forest and finally grape vines to arrive at Pfeiffer where we were greeted by Robin and Danuta Pfeiffer, an enthusiastic, energetic, boisterous and attractive couple.
At one time, Danuta was the co-host of the 700 Club. When Pat Robertson ran for President, she started over and came to Oregon to write a book and be on Air America. Eighteen years ago, she placed an ad describing herself– and looking for a man who could spell. Robin responded with an invitation to go sailing.
On that first date, Robin Pfieffer brought an unlabeled red wine saying, “It’s a little something we make–pinot noir.”
“What’s so hot about pinot noir?” Danuta asked. Continue reading
Personally, I can’t imagine a #Cabernet Day better than last year’s at the Burning Man Festival in the Black Rock Desert. I was joined at my Art Predator and Wine Predator camp in Kidsville by Jim Morris (aka Sonoma Wine Guy on Twitter) and Tony Fletcher (blogger, dj and author of several books on music and musicians including Keith Moon) plus author Mark Lorentzen aka Puma who always brings over $1000 worth of fine wine to Burning Man.
This is my friend Sophia Kidd. We’ve known each other about 20 years now, ever since I returned to Ventura and had a studio at Art City. She’s a poet, a curator currently active in the southwest China’s contemporary art scene, particularly that of time-based-art, a philosopher, a film buff, and she just spent the past three years in China getting her Masters on a very esoteric topic (yes, she wrote it in Chinese!)
And, as you can tell, she is one HAPPY BITCH!
So that’s why, when she came over yesterday so we could figure out the nuts and bolts on a performance event “dubword::GEIST” we’re curating with Steve Aguilar to be held at Art City on August 20 (for more see below), I popped the bottle cap on the bottle of Happy Bitch rose from Hudson Valley New York that I had chilling in the fridge. It’s a Continue reading
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 