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Led by host Martin Redmond, this month the Italian Food Wine Travel group is checking out Italian sparkling wine and — you guessed it — we chose Bellavista Continue reading
I will always remember my introduction to Port wine.
I had thrown my first “Warm Up The Winter” party with my house mates at our big old Craftsman house on the bluff above downtown Santa Cruz. We were celebrating that we got our hot tub fixed and I made my first batch of porter for the occasion. Continue reading
November is full of “wine days” — days set aside to celebrate certain wines. For example, Merlot Day is Nov. 7 (for unknown reasons), Tempranillo Day is set each year by TAPAS and is usually around the second week of November, then Beaujolais Day is always the third Thursday in November because that’s the day they release the Beaujolais Nouveau, Zinfandel Day is the third Wednesday placing it squarely in advance of Thanksgiving, and followed by Carménère Day Nov. 24
These wines are all relatively known and easy to find but what about Carménère?
Nov. 24 is Carménère Day because Nov. 24 is the day in 1994 that someone figured out that those vineyards of vines in Chile and the wines they were making from them weren’t actually Merlot but Carménère.
Seriously. 1994. Continue reading
Just in time for the holiday season, today we celebrate that quintessential California wine, Zinfandel, on Zinfandel Day which is held the third Wednesday of each November.
The fifth most popular wine in the U.S., Zinfandel places around fourth in California in terms of production of fruit.
So says Mike Brown, winemaker and co-cowner of Cantara Cellars which uses primarly Lodi fruit in the wines they make in their Camarillo facility — and the wines we chose to toast on Zinfandel Day and to discuss below! Learn more about Cantara here in my interview with co-owner Chris. Continue reading
As the holidays approach, it’s time for toasts– and what does it better than sparkling wine? Continue reading
Today’s the third Thursday of November which means it’s Beaujolais Day, the day that the Beaujolais Nouveau is released.
Beaujolais Nouveau is a wine that was picked just a few weeks before, fermented, and bottled. It’s bright and fresh and meant to drink young. This was the first wine of the vintage but also, if you’d run out of wine, the first wine available. It’s a moment to reflect on the past year — and our hopes for the future!
Beaujolais Day is the perfect time to celebrate all wine from Beaujolais — and Gamay Beaujolais the grape too — as well as this year’s harvest.
Beaujolais is a great wine to pair with Thanksgiving meals — from appetizers through to roast turkey and many of the sides. Today we have a cheese plate, a pear salad, roasted carrots, and fried chicken! Go here to read how in 2016 we paired Beaujolais with pumpkin soup, gourmet mini-pizzas, and a persimmon salad; or here to read about how in 2017 we paired Beaujolais with a dried cherry and pomegranate salad, roasted brussel sprouts with bacon and Coq au vin. Both posts link to posts from the #Winophiles with reviews and pairings for Beaujolais. And back in 2010, we paired a Beaujolais with pork loin. And here are more pairings!
A little less than a year ago, on Monday December 4. the Thomas Fire erupted near Thomas Aquinas College between Santa Paula and Ojai off highway 150. In spoken word performance piece that I co-created with Rasika Mathur and performed with her at the Lobero Theater, I point out that the Thomas Fire was started by “Thomas” Edison and I ask whether it will convince Doubting Thomas of climate change. At the event, Rob Write also performed the song featured in the video below.
This was on the heels of Continue reading
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 