I will enthusiastically use my social media “Klout” to share stories about rainforest and Great Barrier Reef biodiversity, artists and poets like Oodgeroo Noonuccal, efforts to be green, and cutting-edge cuisine. Discovering Queensland’s growing wine industry and opportunities for hiking, camping, and other family friendly adventures are also topics of great excitement to me. Continue reading →
What’s a locavore? Depending on who’s doing the defining, a locavore is someone who eats foods grown and produced within 100 miles. Others define it as 400 miles.
Why would you take on the challenge of eating locally?
One reason is that it is much better for the planet to eat food that comes from your neck of the woods. Your carbon footprint is lower because what you consume is not traveling as far, and local food and especially food purchased from a farmers market consumes less materials and requires less packaging.
I know a number of people who have taken on the 100 mile Locavore challenge and enjoyed it. They had “freebie” days and they could purchase a certain number of products which were from outside the boundary. We grow such a diversity of products all year around here that it is much easier to do it here than…
Tonight I’m celebrating my wedding anniversary AND participating in the TGTaste on Wednesday, April 18 at 5 pm PST with Chateau Ste. Michelle’s Winemaker, Wendy Stuckey and head Thirsty Girl, Leslie Sbrocco.
While I have a love for writing about wine, I also have a passion for poetry: I’ve been an award winning and published poet for nearly 20 years, and an exhibiting artist since 1994 with three solo shows in Ventura and one on the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
I first published my poetry and art in 1995 ArtLife Limited Editions with broadsides of my paintings, mixed media, and installations with my words. Since 2001, I’ve been participating in the 3:15 Experiment where poets wake at 3:15am every night during the month of August to write. In 2006, I co-edited a book of 3:15 Experiment poetry.
Last March I published this book of 3:15 Experiment poetry which traces my journey from being a daughter to becoming a mother to losing my mother the night before the 3:15 experiment in 2010.
Last year, following the publication of a similar list and various online discussions about it and the fact that it too was a list of male wine bloggers, Jo Diaz posted her list of women bloggers. (If you need a refresher about this, you can do so here.)
This year, two bloggers responded with their own lists–and I made both of them! Continue reading →
I’m a seasoned writer and wine blogger, about to hit 300 blog posts over here on Wine Predator (and 1300 on Art Predator!), but even if you’re a beginning wine blogger, with only a few blog posts and wine samples under your belt, you can probably relate to this Writers Clock!
I do have two revisions: instead of “Toss,” it should be delete or trash, then undo! And instead of “Submit,” it should be “Preview”!
I love that every hour it’s time for an adult beverage! And I think it’s about time for one for me–an Ojai Vineyard Rose in fact, nice and crisp for this warm spring day! This rose is mostly Roll Ranch Syrah from the upper Ojai Valley (read more about Ojai Vineyard’s Roll Ranch Viognier and Syrah) with 5% grenache and 5% riesling. I opened yesterday to have with our Easter ham, mashed potatoes with castella blue cheese and asparagus. Awesome pairing and a super pretty salmon color–or like the pale pink blush on an apricot or a peach…
Ojai Vineyard Rose crab oysters
The Ojai Vineyard rose is also interesting with oysters, which is what I’m enjoying right now: they bring out the minerality in each other, more complexity in both the Pacific and the kumamoto oysters and the rose. Not a sweet but a tangy tangerine, rose flower and dried petals, dried apricot on the long finish. Barrel fermented in older oak, it’s got a real cork closure, it clocks in at 13% alcohol, and less than 600 cases were made. join the club like I did and you won’t miss out! With my club discount I think it was about $15.
The Ojai Vineyard Rose is NOT your grandmother or aunt’s pink wine or white zinfandel–it is NOT sweet, fruity or anything that they would probably like, except the color. This is a wine that can hold its own with spicey ham, blue cheese potatoes, oysters and crab drenched in butter…
According to an article in today’s LA Times, Easter and Passover is when most people eat lamb. But in the US, nearly 40% of the population has never even tried it! At the peak in the 1940s, Americans consumed 6.6 pounds of lamb per person; these days, it’s less than one pound. Experts say it is because it is expensive (a rack of lamb will set you back between $12-18 or more) and because it is relatively unknown in the US so people don’t know how to prepare it.
I never appreciated lamb until I met my husband, and yes it was love at first bite! (In fact, today was our 9th wedding anniversary–we were married on Good Friday 2003!) We have lamb regularly and I have found it pairs well with many wines making for a special dinner.
So how should you prepare your lamb this Easter? And what wine should you drink with it? In this post, I’ll share Audrey Shannon’s Lamb Shoulder Recipe with some preparation tips and ideas for Shannon Ridge wines to pair with your holiday meal.
Shannon Ridge is up in Lake County, an area that I’ve been hearing lots of good news about as an up-and-coming wine region. The portfolio of award winning Shannon Ridge wine includes the Single Vineyard Collection and Ranch Collection: the 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon won DOUBLE GOLD at the recent San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition and the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc won the GOLD MEDAL at the 2011 Dallas Morning News and TexSom Wine Competition, the Riverside International Wine Competition, and the Critics Challenge Wine Competition. Shannon Ridge Vineyards and Winery was named by Jon Fredrikson as one of ten “Hot California Wineries in 2011.” Annual case sales have increased more than 300% over the past four years, from 25K in 2008 to 104K in 2011 –which means you can now find this sustainable, affordable brand in a big box store near you!
One reason I really like Shannon Ridge is their authentic commitment to sustainability and the land. The Shannons truly are farmers first. Continue reading →
Have you tried any wine from Queensland Australia? Did you even know there were almost 200 wineries there? 
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 