Lava Cap, Kehret, Cantara Petite Sirah
Working at the outdoors tasting table at Ridge Winery in the Santa Cruz Mountains in the mid-80s is where and when I first sampled Petite Sirah. While the wines might have come from Paso Robles or Sonoma, to my memory these juicy, rich, dark, delicious wines came from California’s “gold country” — the Sierra Foothills like Amador and El Dorado Counties. Continue reading
Judgment of Paso line up
When I learned that David Glancy of the San Francisco Wine School was organizing a blind comparative tasting he called “Paso Robles vs The World,” my mind immediately jumped to the 1976 Judgment of Paris that put California’s wines on the world map (including Ridge where I once worked), and from there to the idea of a Judgment of Paso. While the Judgment of Paris has been recreated ad nauseam around the world, the concept still captures the imagination: how would wines from one area tasted blind compare with another? I set my sights on attending — and Continue reading
Campania’s Key Grapes: Aglianico and Falanghina
Campania’s two most important grapes– Falanghina and Aglianico– aren’t well known in the US and are rarely grown in the states with notable exceptions in Paso Robles where Castoro grows Falanghina and Aglianico at Sunce. While Aglianico may be considered one of Italy’s three best wine grapes, Continue reading
Sparkling wine from Mendoza, Argentina: Mairena Espumante Extra Brut
In 2023, the World Wine Travel group of wine writers is focused on South America, and this month the theme is wine from Argentina that’s not MALBEC from Mendoza. While important, Malbec is not the only thing going on in Argentina! As I recently participated in an AMAZING tasting with SF Wine School and Argentina’s Continue reading
The Ojai Vineyard 2009 Syrah special bottling is indeed special
The final Saturday of February is “Open That Bottle Night”– a night when you just say, heck why not, life is short, drink the good stuff. Not sure about you but that’s kind of been the mood around here for the past few years during the pandemic anyway…
Champ Divin Crémant du Jura Brut Zéro
Looking for a new adventure in wine, food, and travel? Searching for a region known for natural wines grown using organic, biodynamic, or sustainable practices? Then Jura is the place for you! The word “Jura” comes from juria, a Latinized form of the Celtic jor meaning”forest”, and refers to The Jura Mountains, the French department of Jura, the Swiss Canton of Jura, AND the Jurassic geologic time period first identified here. Located in the mountainous northeastern part of the French Alps on the border of Switzerland, near Germany and Italy, Jura’s dramatic landscapes and forested slopes attract adventurous athletic activities followed by rich cheese, mushroom dishes, and wine soaked chicken along with the regional wines that feature unusual grapes made into wines that may surprise even the most jaded palates.
wine women working sustainably in Bordeaux, France pictured in Los Angeles, CA January 2023
It’s a man’s world, as they say, and James Brown croons, but women are making their way in it: from the famous groundbreaking widows of champagne to today’s women who remind us about the health of workers and their families, the wine industry is changing in France and around the world accepting more women in more roles among the ranks of men. With March 8 International Women’s Day, and entire month of March Women’s History Month, Continue reading
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 