Freixenet Mexico Finca Sala Vivé Vina Dona Dolores Brut Reserva with fried lobster and shrimp as part of a taco bar
Is it Cava if it’s made by one of the largest Cava makers in Spain?
Is it Cava if it’s made by Spanish winemaker Lluis Raventós?
Is it Cava if it’s made with 50% Macabeau, 50% Xarel-lo, two of the main varietals in Cava?
Is it Cava if it’s made in MEXICO?
If you’re a fan of Cava, the affordable, available sparkling wine made in the traditional method in Spain, you will love Freixenet’s sparkling wine made from commonly used Cava grapes grown at 7000′ elevation just north of Mexico City.
I was this many years old when I learned that grapes are grown and wine is made in the main part of Mexico.– including sparkling wine! While I had tasted wine from Baja on trips there in Valle de Guadalupe Continue reading →
(Updated 4/12/22 with pre-order info). Steve Beckmen says when growing grapes, he lets them be what they will be, and when making wine, he lets the wine do what it is going to do. His vineyards look different than what’s expected and that’s fine by him because healthy vines lead to delicious naturally made wines. Demeter certified in 2009, the Santa Ynez family owned and operated biodynamic leader Beckmen Vineyards continues to experiment and learn from the vines to make the best biodynamic and most natural wines possible. These are just a few of the reasons why Beckmen Vineyards is in Slow Wine Guide USA and received the prestigious SNAIL award from the Slow Wine Guide in the new 2023 edition which can be pre-ordered here NOW and will be released in a few weeks. Three of their wines are included in the Guide, and all three were nominated for “Slow” wine awards– but only one is allowed!
A draft of the Slow Wine Guide “Snail” designation reads: “A Ballard Canyon benchmark, Beckmen’s biodynamic farming and acclaimed wines make it a winner.”
In April, we invited our fellow wine writers to discover the wines of the Italian edition of Slow Wine Guide — or to write about wines that deserve to be included paired with a menu that evokes also the ethos of the “Slow Food” movement. The Slow Wine Guide for Italy reviews more than 2,500 wines and 300 wineries offering a comprehensive guide of Italian wines available in three languages: German, Italian, and English.
“Wine is the flower in the buttonhole of agriculture and it carries the expression of the terroir and the community.” So states Carlo Petrini.
Fast does not always mean best. That’s the message of the Slow Food and Slow Wine movement which celebrates taking the time to make food and wine the old fashioned way. Continue reading →
“We teased him about buying a beach,” says Anne Bousquet about the sandy soil in the Argentine vineyards purchased by her father using money from the sale of his vineyards in France, “but he was adamant because this soil makes elegant wines and that characteristic was very important to him as a Frenchman.” Continue reading →
After plentiful December rains, followed by unusually dry weather through winter, spring dresses the hillsides of the Santa Clara Valley in orange poppies, purple lupine, yellow mustard, glossy avocado, and green grasses turning golden on sunny slopes. On this early spring morning, I’m headed to Santa Paula’s Clos des Amis South Mountain Winery for a story about Ventura County’s women in wine.So begins my latest cover article for the VC Reporter published in the March 24, 2022 edition and which you can read here.For the story behind the story, and for more fun photos from that day, keep reading!
VC Reporter cover 3/24/22 with Gretel Compton and Lisa Stoll in the Clos des Amis Albarino vineyard; read the story here
It’s bud break, an especially exciting and vibrant time to visit the vineyards as we embrace a new cycle of life coming out of the dormancy of winter and the labor of pruning the vines. Lots of lovely lupine in bloom too! Continue reading →
Harvest in the southern hemisphere is in full swing, and Jane Richards at Eight at he Gate in Southern Australia reports that all of the Pinot Gris and Chardonnay is in, and even with some big rain events, fruit was clean and quality very high. Continue reading →
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 