I’m not ashamed to say that I appreciate taking a moment to taste, pay attention to, and reflect on a particular grape and the wine made from it. I’m grateful for the samples that make it easier and an online community with which to share them.
But in the best events, it’s not just about the wine, but about the connection, Paul reminds us, and a connection that’s not just my lips to my glass kind of connection but to an experience. An experience with your family– family by blood, by marriage, by choice along with a connection to the “one wine world.”
As you can imagine, an important member of my chosen family is Sue Hill. Continue reading →
Campania — pronounced like lasagna — is the Roman name for the coastal areas of Italy located on the “shin” of the boot.
“Campania” means happy, blessed fertile valley, and indeed it is: the soils are rich and fertile because of volcanic activity in the region from Mount Vesuvius including the AD 79 eruption that buried Pompeii under 13-20′ of ash, pumice, and rubble.
Ancient Greeks between the 8th and 7th centuries BC. arrived, and they observed the local viticulture being practiced, and they called them “the people who have vines on poles.” Continue reading →
What’s your go to meal and your go to wine pairing during this period of Shelter in Place when we are not going to the store on a whim? Continue reading →
By now, everyone on Planet Earth probably knows that April is Earth Month.
And with so many of us practicing #SIP — as in Shelter in Place not Slurping in Place — the only where we can celebrate Earth Day and Earth Month is at home.
So at home it is! With a nice Earth friendly wine in our glasses whether we are #SIP with family or virtually! Continue reading →
Yes, last Tuesday I suddenly became a foster mommy for three foundling kittens.
And suddenly my time has been consumed with tending kittens rather than tending this blog!
I’ll be back to wine in no time — I promise! I’ve been tasting and taking notes on a number of really interesting California wines for Sustainable California Wine month and I’m really excited to share them!
With tasting rooms around the world closed, wineries are struggling. While alcohol consumption may be up, if people are buying wine, they are getting it at the grocery store, not directly from a winery from visiting a tasting room –which means that many organic, biodynamic, and sustainable smaller wineries with a smaller footprint may get lost in the shuffle.
April is Earth Month, so now more than ever purchasing wines that pay attention to the triple bottom line matters. And if you can’t get to the tasting room, because it is closed or too far away, it will be much harder to do so.
“We are very much a wine business that focuses on selling wine directly to our customers and the cellar door is our lifeblood — that is where they first meet us,” said Hugh Hamilton CEO Mary Hamilton here.
In Australia, 30% of wineries could close permanently, Continue reading →