Countering Paris Blues with French Rosé and Monte Cristo
Paris. The City of Light. Named after the Parisii, a Gallic people who inhabited it early in its history. Subject of countless works of art, including films. Home to street cafes– which in turn are home to stolen kisses, substantial sighs, sips of coffee, and nibbles of treats both savory and sweet.
I’ve been in Paris in the heat of summer Continue reading
Tablas Creek
“What grows together goes together.” “Local wine, local food.” You can’t get much more local than sheep raised among the vines. Bonus: these vines and sheep grew together at Tablas Creek in the hills above Paso Robles only about 150 miles from my home (and much less as the crow flies!)
In between rainstorms on my way to spend a few days in Paso Robles, Continue reading
Tablas Creek
“What grows together goes together.” “Local wine, local food.” You can’t get much more local than sheep raised among the vines. Bonus: these vines and sheep grew together at Tablas Creek in the hills above Paso Robles only about 150 miles from my home (and much less as the crow flies!)
In between rainstorms on my way to spend a few days in Paso Robles, Continue reading
Keeping It Local with Clos des Amis Wine; photo of Gwendolyn Alley and friends by Claudia Miklas
“Locally grown, locally made.” That’s the message that greets you when you visit the Clos des Amis website. Many people are surprised to find that Ventura County not only has a history of wine grape growing but that wine grapes are grown here NOW– not far from where I live– and made into wine locally as well. It’s surprising because much of the wine made in Ventura County comes from elsewhere– mostly from Santa Barbara and Paso Robles. but also Lodi and Los Angeles. Continue reading
Que Syrah Syrah Syrah: 3 from Santa Barbara
What’s local when it comes to wine? For me, based in Ventura in Southern Central California, in an eight hour drive I can get to just about every wine growing region in California — both above and below the border in Mexico! From the well known areas like Sonoma and Napa, to lesser known gems like Mendocino and El Dorado, as well as Baja’s Valle de Guadelupe, it is all relatively accessible.
But I’m only an hour away from the verdant vineyards of Santa Barbara County where a geographical anomaly allows the cooling Pacific Ocean breezes to race east along the Santa Ynez River Valley from the Pacific to Lake Cachuma. Continue reading
seafood stew, Sardegna wine and cheese
While you can pair whatever food you want with your wine, we have learned time and time again that “What grows together goes together.” Some foods just make some wines so much better. Just as you can elevate a wine with food you carefully choose to pair it with, the right glass can make a decent wine better (and a great wine not so good, too!). Continue reading
Which wine region in the world has more cattle than people (four to one!), a literacy rate of 98.7%, provides laptops to all students and teachers, and grows Tannat near the Atlantic coast? If you guessed Bordeaux, France, you guessed incorrectly: we’re talking today about the unexpected in URUGUAY. Continue reading
Château Puyanché, Côtes de Bordeaux, 2015
Throughout the world, traditional wine grape growing regions and newer ones too are facing the challenges of climate change. Paso Robles is finding success with grapes like vermentino at Tablas Creek and Robert Hall as well as with grapes originally from the Rhone. On the other hand, areas once questionable are becoming viable; with increased temperatures, getting grapes ripe enough is not the challenge it once was in Bordeaux and Champagne. In fact, according to the Huglin classification, the wine-growing climate in Bordeaux went from Continue reading
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 