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
Moldova Wine & Food – Here’s Your Invitation! #WinePW
Moldova Food & Wine Pairings – Traditional and Creative August 2019 I had the pleasure of being included on the first press trip sponsored by the Wine of Moldova. After the trip I approached my contacts in the organization to gauge their interest in collaborating with our Wine Pairing Weekend group of bloggers, and here … Continue reading
Blogging through the Corona Virus Pandemic
Covid-19, Stay at Home, and Extra Free Time The situation with the Covid-19 outbreak is a serious one, indeed. Like many around the world, we are staying home and doing our best to be safe and keep others safe as well. One unexpected outcome is that people seem to have a renewed interest in cooking. … Continue reading
A Stroll Around Saint Emilion with a Visit to Les Cordeliers #Winophiles
French Winophiles Highlight Crémant de Bordeaux and Other Crémant Wines Crémant refers to any French Sparkling wine made in the Methode Traditionelle, outside the Champagne region. There are Crémant wines made all over France, such as Crémant de Bourgogne, Crémant d’Alsace, or Crémant de Loire. Our goal this month was to track down a Crémant … Continue reading
Road Trip:Portugal! With Ryan Opaz and Catavino Wine Tours
Tackling Northern Portugal With a Little Help When you travel to a new wine region, do you like to go on your own or do you use a guide? In Europe, we often choose a guide for our first trip as a minimum. Language barriers, crazy drivers, and local knowledge all add up to a … Continue reading
