Travel the world with sparkling rosé colored glasses this December with these five beautiful bottles of bubbles from Europe, South Africa, and North and South America ranging from every day pleasures at around $15 to a special splurge at around $50. While 2020’s COVID pandemic meant we couldn’t travel as we desired, we can still put rosé in our glasses and look through the world with rosé colored glasses too.
Just the peaceful sunset color of these beautiful bottles of bubbles with perk you up and remind you of pretty pink sunsets in exotic places of your past — and future!
We paired these rosé wines with a classic holiday meal Continue reading →
As the world waits with baited breath for the results of the 2020 US election, there is still much to celebrate. We have a democracy. Even with rampant voter suppression, a record breaking number of us voted.
And there are personal reasons too to celebrate.
Thanksgiving, Solstice, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, and New Years are all on the horizon.
Today is the second Franciacorta twitter tasting that I’ve had the opportunity to participate in, thanks to Balzac Communications.
Before September, I don’t think I’d ever tasted this sparkling wine from Italy that rivals Champagne in quality, but is much lesser known. You’d be amazed at the quality that you can get for the money–I know I was!
Tune in to twitter #Franciacorta to see what we think about today’s line-up. Post to follow soon with more tasting notes.
I’m also planning on spending some time with that massive map they sent to learn more about this region that I hope to visit one day soon!
PS And no, I am NOT going to let my son saber the bottles with his new Minecraft sword because Rusty Ginger fought him off!
— Gwendolyn Alley, Art and Wine Predator (@ArtPredator) October 25, 2013
Cheers!
In my book, every day is Champagne Day! But last Saturday was a super special occasion, my husband’s birthday, and Ima Zin’s, so we opened up this grand lady–a 1983 Cristal! (A report on that later!)
Today, Friday, October 25, 2013 marks the fourth annual Champagne Day, where wine lovers around the globe raise a flute to the quintessential wine of celebration, good cheer and toasts everywhere: Champagne. There will be terrific opportunities for Champagne lovers to celebrate in wine stores, restaurants, bars and in spontaneous gatherings with friends.
Share the love! Post about your experience celebrating with the #ChampagneDay hashtag.
In 2012, in addition to celebrating Champagne Day at the beach with oysters, we also held a twitter tasting for #PlanetBordeaux of a group of stellar Sauvignon Blancs and roses. This year we are taking our Champagne and heading to some hot springs!
Initially created by Vintuba wine blog to recognize and appreciate the sparkling wine that comes exclusively from Champagne, France, “Champagne Day offers the perfect opportunity to pop open a bottle, explore the beauty these wines have to offer and turn a moment into a celebration while remembering that Champagne only comes from Champagne, France,” stated Sam Heitner, director of the Champagne Bureau, USA
Today, Champagne Day brings millions of wine lovers worldwide together to celebrate in a host of events, retail opportunities and a large-scale online celebration of all aspects of this unique bubbly.Consumers across the U.S. will have many special opportunities to enjoy Champagne today with a host of Champagne Day-only deals at retailers, tastings and menu pairings at restaurants and other spontaneous celebrations. To find some of the events happening around the world and learn more about how to participate in the online celebrations, visit the official Champagne Day event page: http://bit.ly/19EIh4L.
For more information about #ChampagneDay or the worldwide effort to protect the Champagne name, please visit http://bit.ly/19EIh4L or www.champagne.us. Remember, if it doesn’t come from the Champagne region of France, it’s not Champagne!
PS If you love sparkling wines like I do, and you live in the Ventura/Santa Barbara/LA area, be sure to watch for the Tasting at the Ventura Wine Company and Cave! That afternoon, you can taste real Champagne from France as well as local sparkling wines and sparklers from other parts of the world too! (I hopet eh get in some wines from Franciacorta Italy! Those sparklers ROCK!) If you can’t wait until Sunday, December 8, they’re doing a Holiday tasting on November 10. Get your tickets now–it will sell out!
This is the time of year where everyone wants to know which wine they should have with Thanksgiving dinner. Since most people don’t want to break the bank, what follows are a numbe rof recommendations that land squarely on the less expensive side of a $20 bill.
Personally, my go to wine for turkey OR ham is zinfandel. There is alchemical magic in that combination!
How do I know? Many years ago, I worked the tasting room at Ridge and so of course I brought a bottle of zin to that Thanksgiving table.
Last year, during the weekend before Thanksgiving, I convinced my husband to make a turkey AND then a ham so I could try a bunch of wines with these classic holiday meals. I came up with these three blog posts:
Since holiday meals usually gather many people, it’s a great excuse to splurge and have different wines to enjoy with each course. In general, I would recommend Continue reading →
wine predator.............. gwendolyn alley 