Before I get to posting about the Wine Bloggers Conference in Santa Barbara where I tasted hundreds of Santa Barbara County wines as well as wines from Greece, Portugal and other wine regions of the world (and brought back over a dozen open bottles of wine to taste and write about!), I’m going to France via a twitter wine tasting tonight with Arrogant From by Paul Mas! If you don’t have the wine, you can
This live tasting features owner and winemaker Jean-Claude Mas and the discussion will be lead by Michelle McCue, McCue Communications who I met for the first time at the Wine Bloggers Conference!
Follow the conversation on twitter by checking out the hashtag #ArrogantFrog.
You can ask questions too via @paul_mas, hashtag #ArrogantFrog. You can send them via me and I’ll forward them or ask them yourself. They will do their best to get all of them answered by Jean-Claude, depending on time.
I’m here in Santa Barbara at this year’s Wine Blogger’s Conference. On Saturday night, we’ll find out where we will go next year! Before the conference officially started, on Wednesday I spent time with Larry Shaffer at Tercero, learned about the various AVAs in the Santa Barbara region with Fred Swan of the San Francisco Wine School and toured Star Lane winery in Happy Canyon, then checked into the Santa Ynez Marriott in Buelllton for the conference proper.
NOTE: Heading to the Wine Bloggers Conference in Santa Barbara? Here’s a quick intro to a few wineries in Ventura County that folks on the way to WBC14 might want to try…Also, the first winery mentioned, Labyrinth, will be pouring in the red speed tasting.
On Chardonnay Day, which is the Thursday before Memorial Day every year, Pineapple Helen and I made a plan, and in the early afternoon, we hit the road in West and North Ventura County search of Chardonnay. Continue reading →
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) June 18, 2014
Twitter wine tastings are fast and fun–and you get to taste wine in a community of friends without leaving your own home! You can compare notes, learn from experts, test your palate against other wine influencers, consumers, and bloggers, and also get ideas for food pairings.
Open to everyone, the trick is to find out about these tastings in time to get the wine so you can join in! Some of the wines are obscure, and the point of the tasting is an introduction to them. Other times, the wine is a new release.
For this week’s tasting, which takes place from 5-6pm PST Weds June 18, the wine, Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc, is easy to find at most grocery stores while next week’s tasting which features Crémant d’Alsace Bruts will likely need you to go to a specialty wine store.
So what wine do you need to get and how do you take part?
To celebrate their 40th vintage, Caymus Vineyards has released a 40th Anniversary special edition of their 2012 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon, and they are organizing a HUGE anniversary party which they hope will be the largest virtual Twitter tasting ever, with wine writers, bloggers, collectors, enthusiasts and consumers across the country to participating. Continue reading →
This is no ordinary second label–the name “Josh” comes from his dad, and the wine shows substantial respect for this “legacy.” Joseph Carr created the label in honor of his dad, Josh with varietals to embody his spirit: “Bold and expressive, but unassuming and approachable – it’s funny how these characteristics remind me of someone I knew. It’s a wine I made for family, friends, and a man I called dad.” Continue reading →
According to Rueda.com, VERDEJO is Spain’s favorite white wine and yet it’s one that most Americans don’t know, may never have tasted, and don’t know how to pronounce.
And yes, the folks at Rueda are probably a bit prejudiced because Verdejo is the indigenous grape to that region of Spain.
Just in time for summer patio parties, Thursday June 12 is ideal for an introduction to this crisp, food friendly, minerally white wine from Spain because it is the first Verdejo Day.
I pride myself on having a little bit of everything in my cellar but I have to admit this while I have Portugal’s popular vinho verde in the house, I will have to find a store that has some Verdejo in order to taste, toast and tweet about it.
Or I could attend one of these fun events–and one is even conveniently located about an hour away in LA! Here’s a link to a 40% coupon to attend #VerdejoDay in LA (no that’s not an affiliate link–not making a cent and not even been offered a ticket!)
What do you know Verdejo? What will you be drinking for #VerdejoDay on Thursday?
trick is to find out about these tastings in time to get the wine so you can join in! Some of the wines are obscure, and the point of the tasting is an introduction to them. Other times, the wine is a new release.
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 