getting ready for Italy!
I didn’t plan to take the SLOW ROUTE to get to the huge celebration of Slow Food in Torino, Italy called Terra Madre but that’s exactly what happened! For my first trip to Italy from Southern California, a missed connection in NYC meant overnight on the floor (and a cupboard!) in two terminals at JFK… Continue reading
winners!
Well, I have some very exciting news, and a cause for celebration!
Remember the essay I wrote for the Jancis Robinson Wine Writing Contest about regenerative agriculture? I was very pleased and surprised that my essay was selected for publication (see here), and then even more so when my essay made the shortlist (see more here!
Today, Sept. 23, Jancis Robinson announced the winners of this year’s contest. I did not make the top three of the vote getters for the People’s Choice, which was won by Diana Hawkins whose essay I enjoyed so much I had my college students read it.
However, Continue reading
Alicante Bouschet
After enjoying Alicante bouschet from Portugal, my writing partner Sue Hill has had her eyes peeled to sample some from California and hopefully compare. Continue reading
Santa Barbara County AVAs in order of addition: 1 = Santa Maria Valley; 2 = Sta Rita Hills; 3 = Ballard Canyon; 4 = Happy Canyon; 5 = Los Olivos District; 6 = Santa Ynez; 7 = Alisos Canyon; move your mouse onto the map to see the key
While most mountain ranges snake south to north paralleling the ocean, in California’s Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, the Transverse Range is exactly that — crosswise, or perpendicular to the Pacific and running west to east. This anomaly is what makes Santa Barbara AVAs special: air off the cold Pacific Ocean rushes east, cooling inland valleys to make them habitable for vines, and closer to the coast, to provide a cool climate terroir that produces stellar Pinot Noir and Chardonnay as well as spectacular Syrah, gorgeous Grenache, and captivating Cabernet.
AVA stands for American Viticultural Areas, and indicates an appellation of origin, a specific region that offers unique or special characteristics. The US has 260 AVAs with over half of them (142) in California. Within an AVA, sub-AVAs further differentiate, and often particular grapes prevail. Obtaining an AVA is complicated, complex, time consuming; only the truly devoted will succeed in proving the uniqueness of the terroir: geography, topography, climate, geology and more factors go into proving the distinctness of an area.
Why learn about AVAs? Knowing more about an AVA can help you find the wines you will love! Santa Barbara has 7 officially recognized AVAs: Santa Maria Valley AVA, Santa Ynez Valley AVA, Sta. Rita Hills AVA, Ballard Canyon AVA, Los Olivos District AVA, Happy Canyon AVA, and Alisos Canyon AVA.
Lupine with lupine
The Jancis Robinson team recently announced a shortlist of 20 entries from the 2022 wine writing competition — and I made the list with my stories of regeneration which includes a walk with my foster dog Lupine (read here). To determine the Reader’s Prize, you can vote for up to three entries from now until Wednesday, September 21 9am UK time (basically midnight Sept. 20 Pacific time).
It’s easy to vote; you can can find the link to vote and the shortlist here.
“We have been able to read about organic viticulture in Crete, sheep and goats in Oregon, and even cider production in Napa,” write the editors. Continue reading
2018 Orriu Cannnonau di Sardegna + curdbox cheese board supplies
LUPINE
UPDATE 9/9/22: I made the shortlist! To determine the Reader’s Prize, you can vote for up to three entries from now until Wednesday, September 21 9am UK time. It’s easy: you can can find the link to vote and the shortlist here.
The young foster dog “Lupine” was restless. I’d just finished a 90 minute conversation with Ventura County fifth generation farmer Phil McGrath, a statewide leader in regenerative farming, or as he likes to think of it, successional farming, meaning farming in a way that considers successive generations. So begins my submission to the Jancis Robinson Wine Writing Contest 2022 edition which you can read here. It includes a far reaching range of regenerative stories including Burning Man artist Valerie Mallory, Champagne’s Vincent Charlot, Italy’s Antonella Manuli, and Oregon’s Troon.
Last year I wrote one of 136 essays on the subject of old vines entered in Jancis Robinson’s annual wine writing competition. About half were selected for publication, and I made the cut in 2021 when my article about old vines was selected to be published at Jancis Robinson. That article “Meet Magdalena” features the organic Zinstar vineyard at Lucas in Lodi.
This year’s competition is inspired by the Regenerative Viticulture Foundation, and we were tasked with writing “An account of regeneration in the wine world, whether of a vineyard, a soil, a winery, a person, a family, a community, a business – anything in the world of wine involving genuine renewal.” Continue reading
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 