When you think of wine from Rioja, Spain, you think red, right? and then maybe tempranillo?
But there is more to Rioja than red wine or tempranillo (even if tempranillo is over 75% of the region’s planted grapes!)
In fact, this wine growing region in northern Spain boasts white wines–and some tasty affordable white wines at that!
A few weeks ago, Que Syrah Sue and I participated in #riojabuzz where we tasted a $15 white wine from Rioja, the 2013 Cune Monopole and a $25 bottle of red wine from Rioja, a 2004 Tempranillo Gran Reserva. Both were delightful and a good value. Still in the Rioja mood, a few days later, I opened the 2010 Cune Rioja Crianza. Continue reading →
Just think about it! Maybe you need to do a little wine blogging or tweeting right after work? Or maybe you’re doing #winechat this Wednesday May 14 from 6-7pm with Napa Valley’s Cairdean Estate?
Just pack up your glasses and your wine and you’ll be set!
When the wine for tonight’s #winechat on Oregon Wine didn’t show, we didn’t let that stop us.
Instead, we followed Plan B: I went into my sample stash and found a bottle of Hawks View Cellars 2010 Pinot Noir and Amy “The Crush” went to good old BevMo to discover the Erath Winery‘s 2012 Pinot Noir on sale for $16.99.
We were in business–the #ORwine business. Which left us with the question of food to pair with these pinots!
Marshall MoneyBags grilled us up a chicken breast with mushrooms, asparagus and basil pesto as well as a chunk of salmon with a simple salt and pepper sand lemon seasoning. We put together an arugula, beet, and goat cheese salad plus we had ham and asparagus, brie and blueberries and a very tasty french baguette. Continue reading →
And watch this fabulously fun and happy video of wine country Porto uploaded and featuring our wine friends from Catavino, Gabriella and Ryan Opaz plus their baby Mica!
Today is also the first day of SPRING here on the northern hemisphere. On a recent drive up the coast through Santa Barbara County wine country, the vines were busy with bud break, a sure sign of spring.
Coming soon: blog posts about four stops on that trip, dinner at Gardens of Avila, wine and cycling at Peloton Cellars in Avila, tasting (and shucking oysters!) at Casa Dumetz, and beer tasting in Los Alamos with Emilio Estevez. Plus, before Women’s History month is out, posts about women winemakers!
And in the southern hemisphere, today is the first day of FALL and so harvest is in full swing.
That’s the idea of the tweet-up on the first Wednesday evening of March–to taste and tweet about wines made by women March 5, 2014. We’re going to get started at 5pm Pacific Standard Time.
Every third Friday in February, 800 or so Petite Sirah enthusiasts gather at Rockwall Winery in Alameda CA to sing the praises of Petite Sirah at the always sold out in advance PS I Love You event, Dark and Delicious which features 50 some dark Petite Sirahs paired with 25 or more delicious dishes. Tickets are $65–and if you want one, you better buy it immediately!
Since Que Syrah Sue and I can not make it up north for the festivities, we decided to have our own Dark and Delicious evening at my house in Ventura. We each brought one of our favorite Ventura County winery Petite Sirahs to the table along with various cheeses and other bites.
In fact, this wine growing region in northern Spain boasts white wines–and some tasty affordable white wines at that!
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 