For all of you ABCers (Anything But Chardonnay people) stay tuned because I have posts coming up about Spanish Albarino, Italian Grillo, and a few other very interesting white wines! And I hope you’ll consider your stance and at least try one of the very special mineral, terroir driven Santa Barbara Chardonnays that are coming out of the region.
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) May 22, 2016
But today is a day to celebrate Chardonnay!
Last week, I attended a Santa Barbara County Chardonnay seminar moderated by Elaine Chukan Brown where we were led through a tasting and discussion of Santa Barbara County Chardonnay, followed by a walk around tasting with many of the winemakers.
I took some notes plus a series of tweets which I share below, and then this week Sue and I tasted three more Chardonnay from the area, two that you should be able to find easily in your local grocery store, one under $15 and the other around $30. (I also attended a Bordeaux varieties seminar as well as attended a walk around tasting of Rhone varietals so subscribe for more about Santa Barbara County wine!) Continue reading →
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) May 24, 2016
Time to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Judgement of Paris!
And post #500 on Wine Predator! My first posts were in 2008 where I talked about the first Wine Bloggers Conference held in Santa Rosa, CA. Any day now, I will reach 90,000 page views.
And it’s been quite a climb to write 500 posts which average close to 1,000 words (we’re talking 500,000 words, yes?) hence the choice of Tercero’s 2010 “The Climb” to mark the occasion! (Read about other Tercero reds here and Tercero whites here).
I started blogging about wine not long after I started blogging in November 2007 with Art Predator. Like the Ojai/Ventura area newspaper column that proceeded it, Art Predator is an eclectic mix of that which engages the whole soul: art, music, poetry, food, wine, nature, and more in 1750 posts and nearly 625,000 page views.
Soon I realized that I should start a blog devoted to wine, food, and adventure, so I did and Wine Predator was born.
But my interest in wine starts well before that, and in fact, it leads back to the Judgement of Paris. And no, I don’t mean the painting!
According to Wine Folly, International Sauvignon Blanc Day is today, Sunday, April 24 so Que Syrah Sue and I opened three Sauvignon Blanc wines from two continents: two inexpensive ones from South America, Decopas from Argentina (around $10) and Globerati from Chile (under $10), and a more expensive one from North America, Provenance from Napa (around $30), and notes on the wines follow.
Many wineries around the globe are celebrating this versatile, food friendly, spring time favorite today.
But then again, maybe International #SauvBlancDay on Friday, May 6, 2016? According to St Supery, Friday May 6 marks the seventh annual International Sauvignon Blanc Day.
When Que Syrah Sue dropped by on Friday to drop off my son’s newly repaired Cotillion pants a few hours before Cotillion, I knew I needed to reward her with some wine!
Somehow yesterday when I was writing about April events on the central coast, I neglected to mention the 4th Annual Magic on the Urban Wine Trail Sunday, April 17, 2016 from 3-6pm at the Carrillo Recreation Center, 100 E. Carrillo Street, Santa Barbara, CA.
A fundraiser for the PARC Foundation, PARC funds 60 summer camp scholarships for 2016 and and the Teen Culinary Arts Program which teaches at-risk teens job skills and how to make good nutritional choices.
And before the event, head a few blocks up the street to Santa Barbara’s Earth Day, which runs for two days, Sat. April 16 and Sun. April 17.
April always explodes not only with wildflowers around here, but with wine events too. Here on the central coast, it’s a great time to get out and about, see the green hillsides brimming with colorful orange poppies, purple lupine, yellow daisies of different kinds, and mustard. Read on to learn more about where you should go: Hospice du Rhone in Paso Robles, Champagne on Main in Ventura, California Wine and Jazz Fest at the Four Seasons Westlake, and the 34th Annual Santa Barbara Vintners Festival Grand Tasting.
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 