Idiot’s Grace: Explorers in the Columbia Gorge AVA #WinePW
Wine Pairing Weekend Group Goes Under the Radar This month, our Wine Pairing Weekend blogging group members are highlighting wine regions which are overlooked, the Cinderellas of the wine world. Come along and look under the radar with us, you might find something new! Scroll to the bottom of this post to find links to … Continue reading
Red Wine with Fish? Yes! Duckhorn Merlot and Swordfish #MerlotMe
Red Wine with Fish? Believe It! Not every red wine and not every fish. I would avoid a tannic Cabernet with a delicate poached white fish recipe, but big oceangoing fish are delicious with many red wines. Swordfish is almost always sold as steaks, and it is delicious cooked on the grill. Add a little … Continue reading
Merlot and the Pot Roast Two-Step #MerlotMe
Joyce’s Pot Roast Two-StepJoyce, my mother-in-law, was staying with us early in the Pandemic . We had fun making a couple of videos of her tried and true pot roast technique. First, for the pot roast itself, then using the leftovers for pot roast soup. Joyce firmly believes the real reason to make pot roast … Continue reading
Try Merlot as Your Pizza Wine #MerlotMe
What’s Your Go-To Pizza Wine? Do you have a favorite pizza wine, something you always reach for? If it’s a typical red-sauce type pizza I usually grab something Italian: Barbera d’Asti, Langhe Nebbiolo, Chianti Classico. October means #MerlotMe though, so I decided to take some Merlot samples with us up to the lake. We nearly … Continue reading
A Tale of Two Merlots at the Grill #MerlotMe #WinePW
Wine Pairing Weekend and MerlotMe Our Wine Pairing Weekend group has had fun singing the praises of Merlot for the last 5 years, and we’re excited to continue the tradition in 2020. I’m not sure Merlot ever went away, though it certainly stepped out of the spotlight. Fortunately, the producers who loved the grape and … Continue reading
A Fistful of Beaujolais Rosés to Enjoy Before the Summer Departs
Rosé All Year? Not for Me! Do you drink rosé all year long? Not me, I’m a summer (ok, extend that into September) rosé fan. Not because I have anything against rosé, it’s just the cold Minnesota winters encourage drinking those big reds that languish in the cellar in July and August. I had … Continue reading
Willamette Valley – Beacon Hill Winery & Vineyard
Willamette Valley Wines – Sub AVA Tour – Soil As we virtually tour the sub AVA’s of Willamette Valley, we’re finding that each of the AVAs shows a unique character. One of the variables is the soil common in that AVA, there being 3 main types in the Willamette Valley: volcanic, marine sedimentary, and windblown. … Continue reading
Willamettte Valley Wines – Sokol Blosser
Willamette Valley Wines – Sub-AVA tour As we drive around the Willamette Valley (virtually) we see the rich soil of the valley floor is great for lots of agriculture, but not grapes. Grapes grow best on the hillsides in poor soil. We start to see the smaller AVA’s defined by a minimum altitude contour line. … Continue reading
Willamette Valley Wines – Carabella
Willamette Valley Wines Tour – Kickoff We’re starting our Willamette Valley virtual tour by trying some moderately priced ($30-45 generally) estate wines from different sub-AVA’s within Willamette Valley. For this first look, we’ll concentrate mostly on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. First up: Chehalem Mountains AVA and Carabella. (click on any image to see in a … Continue reading
Banyuls Pet-Nat with Treats à La Buvette #Winophiles
French Winophiles Detectives Search for Roussillon Our French Winophiles group had a fun assignment this month: Search out a white wine from Roussillon. We’re well familiar with the larger Languedoc-Roussillon region and it seemed easy at first. We found out that white wines from Roussillon are not so easy to find in the US! However, … Continue reading
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