#TempranilloDay
#TempranilloDay Oh No! Another wine day. I don’t know why, but I just can’t resist. November 14 is Tempranillo Day, and we’re encouraged to open a bottle of wine made from the Tempranillo grape, then share the experience on social media. If you’re curious, just enter #TempranilloDay on Twitter. We don’t drink Tempranillo all that … Continue reading
Viognier & Spicy Food? – Shrimp Tacos
Viognier pairs with a number of interesting foods: Indian cuisine, curries, pork, chicken, anything in a cream sauce, moderately spicy foods. Today we’re testing Viognier with spicy foods. We’re also trying inexpensive examples from California and France. Let’s go! Our spicy food test dish is shrimp tacos. Our basic tacos are barbecue-rub spicy, which is … Continue reading
Viognier Exploration: Curry Chicken, Sweet Potato & Cauliflower
Getting to Know Viognier It’s time to explore a varietal that is surprisingly easy to find, but a little less known: Viognier. Wines made from the Viognier grape tend to have a bigger body: perfect for colder weather. I purchased wines from a variety of different places: California, Washington, Oregon, Australia and France. The samples I … Continue reading
Movie: A Year in Burgundy
A Year in Burgundy is a new documentary movie, available right now for pre-order on Amazon, iTunes, and several other VOD sources. If you’re reading this blog, you will enjoy this film! The movie chronicles a year in the life of several winegrowers in Burgundy through the lens of Martine Saunier, a long time Burgundy … Continue reading
#ChampagneDay 2013
We have fun celebrating these internet based theme days for various wines. One of our favorites is #ChampagneDay because it’s a great excuse to make the day an occasion. It appears that #ChampagneDay is the last Friday in October, because it was also on a Friday last year. Wow, just like Thanksgiving and Easter! Anyway, … Continue reading
Oops!
Make Sure You Have Plenty of OOPS! OK, you spill an expensive bottle of wine, you break glasses. Those “oops” moments are no fun at all. The OOPS moments I’m talking about are failures, but they show you are still trying new things, experimenting, learning. FoodBeerClick Chili (original post here) I wanted to modify a … Continue reading
Quick Visit & Lunch in Tain L’Hermitage
If you’re a Northern Rhone fan, a visit to Tain L’Hermitage is well worth your time. Seeing the land for yourself will show you things you will never learn from a book or an article. After our morning visit at Jean-Louis Chave, we had a little time to explore before we caught the train back … Continue reading
Minnesota Visits Domaine Jean-Louis Chave – St. Joseph & Cellars
On a visit with Erin Cannon Chave, we crossed the Rhone from Tain L’Hermitage to Mauves, in the St. Joseph appellation. The difficulty of farming on the hillside (cliffside?) of St. Joseph is clear as as soon as you see the steep slopes and terraces. Cultivated for centuries, many of these hillsides were abandoned after … Continue reading
Minnesota Visits Domaine Jean-Louis Chave – Hermitage
A question came up at our Chave tasting in Minnesota: “If we’re in France, can we visit?” Erin answered that they aren’t really set up for visitors, but if we would be in France to send her an email. If she would be available, she would be happy to have us visit. Lucky us, we … Continue reading















