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
VinGardeValise Piccolo Review
VinGardeValise Piccolo VinGardeValise makes a line of wine suitcases designed to safely carry between 5 and 12 bottles of wine in checked luggage. As a traveling wine enthusiast, I’m always looking for a way to bring wine back with me from wine country visits. Today I’m reviewing the smallest member of the VinGardeValise family, the … 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
Willamette Valley – iOTA Cellars
Willamette Valley Sub-AVA Tour Continues We’re nearly done with our tour of the sub-AVA’s of the Willamette Valley AVA. Today we visit the Eola – Amity Hills AVA through our friends at iOTA Cellars. (click on any of the maps to see full size in a slide show) Eola-Amity Hills AVA Traveling due south from … Continue reading
Willamette Valley – Maysara with a Brick House Guest Appearance
Willamette Valley Wines Sub-AVA Tour McMinnville is our next sub-AVA on our virtual tour through Willamette Valley. Today we’re exploring McMinnville through biodynamic grower, Maysara. We’ll also touch on biodynamics at both Maysara and Brick House Vineyard. (click on any of the maps to see full size in a slide show) McMinnville AVA From Willamette … 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
Willamette Valley Wines – Be Careful What You Wish For!
Would You Like to Review Some Willamette Valley Wines? This spring, I received an email from Willamette Valley Wineries Association inquiring whether I would be interested in sampling some wines. I’m a big fan of Oregon wines in general so of course I agreed, anticipating 3-4 bottles of wine. I posted a video with the … Continue reading
A Moldova Phoenix Story – Castel Mimi
In 1893, Constantin Mimi founded his Castel Mimi winery and vineyards near the village of Bulboaca in what is today Moldova. He completed his viticulture and oenology studies in Montpellier, France. By the early 1900’s his wines were recognized internationally and especially loved in the Russian Empire. Turbulent 20th century in Moldova As a small … Continue reading
