Mammoth Mountain’s record breaking snow January 2017
In California, we have had a long wet dark winter with epic rain and snow.
record breaking rain in Santa Cruz mountains
You’ve probably read about it in the news if you haven’t experienced it yourself.
And while it’s almost March, it’s not over. Winter is not over.
from Chair 14 at Mammoth
my family and I at the top of Mammoth Mountain
Mammoth Mountain’s epic snow in 2017
I know, I know, technically, winter kicks the bucket in three weeks on the equinox Monday March 20 at 3:30am PST and the days will once again be longer than the nights. But there will be more rain and more snow. You can bet on it.
SO WE HAVE THREE MORE WEEKS OR MORE OF WINTER NO MATTER WHAT THE GROUNDHOG OR THE ALMANAC HAS TO SAY!
And while you might be distracted by the Super Bowl, the Grammy’s, the Oscars, and maybe Mardi Gras if you’re lucky (and I happen to be lucky enough to have an awesome Mardi Gras party in Ojai next week to look forward to…)
SPRING and SUMMER TIME PARTIES AND BBQS ARE A LONG WAY OFF!
What to do? How to fend off the darkness, the boredom, the tedium of more snow and rain? How to survive the final three weeks of winter and that first cold month of spring?
Not a trivial wine for trivia night!
Our answer? Host a game night for friends and family with grilled cheese and fun wine!
For our wines, we chose two: Black Light 2015 white wine blend that comes with a flashlight and Q and A, a red Bordeaux blend. like Black Light and Q and A both from Rubin Family wines!Keep reading for a review of Black Light White and Q & Red along with how to make some fabulous grilled cheese sandwiches!
Malbec is an up and coming varietal that until recently was better known for its importance as a blending grape in classic Bordeaux wines (along with Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Petit Verdot).
While Malbec has long been in the shadow of Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, not much longer! As Malbec gets discovered, thanks in part to an influx of well made fruity and food friendly Malbec from South America, particularly in Argentina where it grows spectacularly well, we will be finding more Malbec! Today you can find Malbec being grown around the world with more people choosing to bottle it on its own in addition to blends as we consumers find and fall in love with this deeply purple, blue fruited, food friendly wine.
Recently, Que Syrah Sue and I sampled Malbec from five regions in the world (and three continents!). As we tasted, we contemplated Malbec and considered a number of questions including: Does price or continent matter? What about whether a winery is large or small? The five Malbec wines we tasted were:
2011 Domaine Du Theron: Cahors, France $18
2013 UNO Antigal Winery and Estates: Mendoza, Argentina $18
2014 Mercer Canyon: Washington, US $14
2012 Cantara: Clements Hills, Lodi, California, US $38
2014 Troon Vineyard: – M T Reserve, Oregon, US $55
consider having a romantic picnic inside– and eat on the floor!
While they may say “love the wine you’re with…” (oh, I mean “love the ONE you’re with”) I disagree. For Valentine’s Day or other important occasions, you want a wine and a partner you truly love.
And while sometimes you want to impress your sweetheart, sometimes you just want something that is special, but warm and comforting too.
This Valentine’s Day, consider sharing a special red wine paired with comfort foods AND your sweetheart.
And do I have two red wine recommendations for you! And a menu too!
Because in the winter, comfort food has that carmelized rich flavor that we crave…
For most people, Barolo is synonymous with Nebbiolo, and Nebbiolo with Barolo.
But Nebbiolo is made beyond Barolo and Barbaresco too, and the Italian Food Wine and Travel group this month decided to learn more, and to expand the borders of Nebbiolo– at least in our imaginations and the imaginations of our readers! While those two areas of Italy may set the “gold” standard, this month Sue and I investigated three Nebbiolo from Italy and three Nebbiolo from the United States, including two from Silver and one from Naked Winery– hence our title’s reference of “Silver” and “Gold.” We paired four of the wines with rack of lamb and mushroom lasagna recently and the other two we tasted previously.
January is Restaurant month in California promoting “culinary travel”. As Jan 20-29 is Restaurant Week for the cities of Ventura and Oxnard in Ventura County, California, on Tuesday Jan. 24, Que Syrah Sue and I decided to hit up two of them: tried and true Paradise Pantry in downtown Ventura by the San Buenaventura Mission and the brand new Cork located on Main and Santa Cruz in midtown Ventura, both offering $20 dine and wine deals. Find other Restaurant Weeks in California here.
Paradise Pantry
We arrived at Paradise Pantry before 5pm on a Tuesday, but they had a decent crowd already there because Paradise Pantry’s small bites, wines by the glass, and wine flights lends itself to every thing from a very late lunch to happy hour to an early dinner to a light dinner to a snack and a chat with a friend.
The small, narrow venue is warm and inviting with a small bar in the back, a seating area by the window with informal, comfy seating, and two tables by the other windows so you can see out to Main Street and the Mission. Small tables can be combined to accommodate larger groups. Bright artwork decorates the original brick walls. Through a wide doorway, you can access the retail shop with two large cold cases for cheese and pate, plus tightly packed rows of bottles with an emphasis on local but also including carefully curated representatives from around the world.
For Restaurant Week’s $20 deal, Paradise Pantry is offering Continue reading →
What about Ugni Blanc? Have you ever tasted a wine made with that grape?
For this month’s Wine Pairing Weekend challenge “New Year, New Wine,” Que Syrah Sue and I decided to taste a wine from a new region — New Jersey!– and to taste a wine from grapes that we didn’t think we’d had before. We considered trying a new recipe too but instead decided to explore new Welsh Cheddars along with a menu of favorites. Continue reading →
When we heard that the Italian Wine Food and Travel group was going to focus on Italy’s coastline, Sue and I immediately thought of Sicily! Not only is this an island region of Italy with 900 miles of coastline, it’s home to two of our favorite, affordable finds of 2016, Nero D’Avola, a red wine, and Grillo, white wine.
900 miles is a lot of coastline in a country with a lot of coastline!
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 