Prosecco is popular, no doubt about it, and especially this year when it seems there’s little to sparkle about.
But there’s so much more to Italian Sparkling wine than Prosecco! Continue reading
St-Nicolas-de-Bourgueil’s Amirault “Le Vau Renou” 2016 Cabernet Franc
On a crisp fall morning in the Before Time, Sue Hill and I set out from our Air BnB with views of the castle of Montreuil-Belay near the heart of the Loire in the Cabernet Franc growing region of Saumur. Prepared once again for rain showers, we had no idea what else the day might bring beyond meeting with Xavier Amirault at Les Quarterones and hopefully tasting his wines. With this being the end of harvest, we knew he might be needed and we had no idea what might happen with the weather. Continue reading
Wine Predator’s ZOOM Poetry Reading December 3, 2020
Wine Predator Poetry Reading
Did you know that the Wine Predator –aka me, Gwendolyn Alley– is a published poet?
I started in journalism, earned a creative writing degree from UC Santa Cruz, and then began doing poetry as a grad student in English at the University of Nevada Reno. My publications include my poetry collection middle of the night: poems from daughter to mother :: mother to son, some three dozen poetry broadsides in Art/Life (a limited edition magazine sought, bought, and collected around the world), a co-edited collection (with Danika Dinsmore) between sleeps: the 315 experiment 1993-2005), plus two major public art poetry commissions, one in Pasadena and one in Santa Barbara.
A Wine Lover’s Holiday Gift Guide #1: Wine4Me’s Whimsical Wine Calendar
Post-Fire Interview with Stu Smith of Smith-Madrone plus 3 wines with pairings and a helping of gratitude
Stu Smith of Smith-Madrone
“I like wine – I think it’s my favorite beverage on the face of the earth,” said Stu Smith General Partner and Enologist at Smith-Madrone. “Wine’s first obligation is to give pleasure—it’s hedonistic.”
Thank goodness for wine in 2020!
In a year full of fire and disease, drinking wine is one of the few pleasures we can count on, and for that we’re grateful.
But making red wine in 2020 from Napa? May not happen.
“This year has been a strange year for all kinds of reasons,” Stu said.
In the Before Times, I visited Stu at Smith-Madrone high above Napa Valley on Spring Mountain among the Madrone trees — hence the name, a marriage between the Smith brothers, Charlie and Stu, and the Madrones which embrace their vineyards.
winemaker to winemaker: Gretel Compton of Clos des Amis and Stu Smith chat at Smith-Madrone
Two weeks ago, Stu and I chat again via cell phone. Service is spotty in the best of times up there, and because of the Glass Fire, there’s no land lines. Power only recently returned thanks to several hundred PG&E employees who formed a temporary city at Charles Krug.
“What do you see when you look out?” I asked Stu who has found a spot near the winery with reception.
“I’m looking at Chardonnay and Cabernet Franc to the right and olive trees to the left,” he responded. The white wine grapes were losing their leaves, while the reds were still holding on to theirs. In the valley, he reported that with the temperature dropping down to the 20s, vines there had more color. Between the rows of vines on Spring Mountain, the cover crop was starting to come in fresh and green in response to the first real rains of the season.
“Looking over the vines I can see the part of Howell Mountain that burnt,” Stu continued.
Happy Thanksgiving 2020 COVID Edition: Masks and MusiKaravan
Today is a day set aside for gratitude, for giving thanks.
But 2020 is an odd combination of the same and strange. Continue reading
Carménère: The Vine That Masqueraded as Merlot in Chile
Concha y Toro Carmenere
After phylloxera wiped out Carménère in Bordeaux, it wasn’t replanted: too prone to disease and too late in ripening. With so few vines planted, commercial Carménère was considered extinct.
Until in 1994, Carménère was discovered in Chile masquerading as Merlot! Continue reading
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 