PECORINO is not just a cheese, but a grape that almost went extinct!
Both Pecorino the cheese and Pecorino the wine are named after the abundant sheep and the sheep herders who roam the hills looking after them.
Native to Sibilini in the mountains of the Marche region of Italy, Pecorino was first mentioned in 1875 yet, the grape was abandoned and replaced by the more productive and easier to grow Trebianno (which I wrote about yesterday and you can read here).
In 1980, the grapevine was found in a vineyard and rescued.
Today you can find it being grown in both Marche, its native home, and in nearby Abruzzo Continue reading →
Just a quick post about what’s happening in the vineyard — with lots of photos! — and to wish you an early happy Sauvignon Blanc Day (which is Friday May 3) with a comparison of the 2017 and the 2018 vintages from Clos des Amis!
If you walk the vineyards at Horse and Hawk in California’s Lake county north of Napa, you may just find that you’re wearing diamonds in the soles of your shoes! Continue reading →
Two California girls, Gwendolyn Lawrence (Alley) and Sue McLaughlin (Hill) met through Girl Scouts at age 12. They both loved nature and being in the outdoors especially rock climbing, sailing, hiking, camping, and backpacking. They went on many adventures together, they cooked together, and they cared for the planet together.
Some things never change.
Wine Predators: Gwendolyn Alley, Sue Hill plus Kingston and Cisco
Fast forward a few dozen years, and Sue and I reconnected. We both still loved the outdoors, and cooking, but we’d both discovered a passion for wine: Sue worked at a tasting room and I wrote about wine here on this blog.
For the past seven years during the time we’ve been working together, it should come as no surprise that how grapes are grown and how wine is made has been as important an element to us as how the wine tastes and what food we’re pairing with it.
Growing up I remember seeing big gallon jugs of Chablis wine around my grandfather’s cellar and at the grocery store– right there next to the “Hearty Burgundy” and “French Colombard.”
Clearly Chablis was a white wine — but exactly what white wine was in that bottle?
While yesterday was Malbec World Day, the entire month of April is #MalbecMonth, so you still have plenty of time to enjoy a Malbec from Argentina.
Why April? Malbec from Argentina is celebrated on April 17 because that is the day in 1853 when Argentina’s wine industry transformed by the invitation of French soil expert Michel Aimé Pouget who showed how to adapt French varietals, including Malbec, to Argentina. Malbec World Day was created by Wines of Argentina “to position Argentine Malbec as one of the most prominent in the world. Every April 17th, and throughout the whole month, different activities are carried out in the main cities around the globe to celebrate the success of our flagship grape.”
Five fun facts about MALBEC in Argentina:
37.53% of the red wine grapes planted in Argentina are Malbec
21.40% of the total cultivated area in the country is Malbec.
163% increase in plantings of Malbec since 2000 (equivalent to 26,653 ha / 65,862 acres)
85% of Argentinean Malbec is grown in Mendoza
leader in volume, quality and exports of Malbec since 2011.
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 