“We have rarely seen such a close final, except for one point!” reports Philippe De Cantenac, founder of the RVF World Tasting Championship aka Championnat du monde de dégustation which was held today, Saturday October 14 at Château Sainte Roseline in Provence. As a competing member of Team USA in 2019, I was curious to see who won and what the wines were. Continue reading →

Ettore’s Organic Mendocino Merlot

When we think red wine, we tend to think red meat. And when we think Italian food, we tend to think osso bucco, meaty ragus, pizza piled with pepperoni. While these may be obvious pairings, they are not the only ones– especially in the fall when there’s a rich abundance of fruits and vegetables that offer plenty of flavor and umami to pair with red wines like this herbal, mellow merlot from Mendocino’s organic Ettore. Continue reading →

BiancaVigna amphora orange glera sparkling wine paired with small bites inspired by Venice’s cicchetti 

An orange wine made in amphora from the Glera grape? Say what? Background: Until 2009, Prosecco, located in the Veneto region of northern Italy, meant a place, a grape, and/or a style of wine. That’s a lot of territory to cover for one word! ‘The European Union ratified this, effectively making it illegal for wine producers anywhere outside northeastern Italy to label their wines as “Prosecco”. Continue reading →

What does Netuno Gengibre –a Brazilian ginger liquor– have to do with Burning Man 2023 or with fig cookies? It all has to do with Placement, my friends, Placement. And that’s Placement with a capital P because Placement is where it’s at for Burning Man theme camps, which form the communal core of Burning Man’s Black Rock City located in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert about a two hour drive northeast from Reno. Continue reading →

Fall Flavors Inspired by France’s Loire: Muscadet, Savennieres

How do you transition from summer to fall? After Labor Day, do you leave your white shoes and your white wines behind? Continue reading →

2018 Horsepower Grenache, Fiddleneck Vineyard, Walla Walla Valley

“The point is to create an honest wine that has an identity. You want to taste the place,” says Christophe Baron. And the point of Grenache Day is to celebrate the pure identity of this grape which often gets lost and blended. So what better wine to feature on Grenache Day than Christophe Baron’s Horsepower Grenache paired with roasted blue cheese stuffed figs, bacon wrapped squash bites, eggplant bruschetta, and grilled rack of lamb laden with garlic and rosemary? 

At biodynamic Horsepower Vineyards located in the Stones of the Walla Walla Valley, Continue reading →

4 Organic CA Cab Sauvignon

As summer yields to autumn, we transition to fall flavors, yet it can still be quite warm. What wine to drink and food to pair? Since it is California Wine Month, we decided to focus on iconic Cabernet Sauvignon grown organically or biodynamically. but from two lesser known regions, Continue reading →