La Morra to Barolo Vineyard Walk

Barolo, Barolo, or Barolo which one do you mean? Barolo DOCG – Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (controlled designation of origin guaranteed) the official Italian government sanctioned area which can produce wines with the “Barolo” designation. Barolo – the name of one of the communes (or towns) within the area prescribed as the Barolo … Continue reading

5 Tips for Your First Visit to Barolo (Italy!)

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to spend the weekend in the Langhe, the sub-region of Piedmont which includes both Barolo and Barbaresco – two of Italy’s finest wines.  What a treat!  I’ll have several posts over the next few weeks highlighting different aspects of my first wine experience in Italy.  I had … Continue reading

Eat Local – CSA Veggies, Lamb & a Summer Syrah

Bossy Acres CSAWe received our first Bossy Acres CSA box this week!  It’s a little like opening the mystery box in those cooking shows on TV, but that’s part of the fun. Radishes – Summer Salad Stars 1st challenge: We would be getting radishes in this delivery.  Radishes aren’t one of our everyday vegetable choices, … Continue reading

Kermit Lynch Wine Dinner at Pairings

Wine dinners at Pairings Food & Wine in Minnetonka are always a treat.  Tonight, we had the pleasure of an all Kermit Lynch wine selection paired with special dishes by Chef Mike.  Anissa, the manager at Pairings and Eric from New France Wine Company were our hosts to this special evening. (click on any photo … Continue reading

Rosé Season!

Summer = Rosé Have you stocked up on Rosé for the summer?  Have you had a traditional (dry) Rosé?  If you thought Rosé was a sweet wine for beginners, please go find a bottle of real Rosé to sample.  You’ll be hooked! What is Rosé? With white wines the juice is pressed off the grapes … Continue reading

Port 101 in Porto, Portugal

The moral of this story: Don’t taste 40 year Tawny Port!  All lesser ports will be nice, but you’ll forever be thinking about the 40.  You have been warned! I just finished a two week European trip for my real job: 14 days, 8 flights, 7 cities – whew!  Luckily, I did get a couple … Continue reading

Rosé, Kitchen in the Market, Solo Vino: What’s not to Love?

Julie and I are big Rosé fans, so we don’t really need to be convinced.  However, when Kitchen in the Market teamed up with Chuck Kanski (of Solo Vino) the Twin Cities evangelist for Rosé, we couldn’t resist!  What followed was a night full of laughter, fun, Rosé and tasty food pairings.  Here’s a sample … Continue reading

A Nice Budget Mourvèdre

You might like to try a Mourvèdre, but you say you don’t have $50 burning a hole in your pocket?  How about $15?   I wanted to see if I could find a Mourvèdre (French or American) that is widely available and less than $20.  I haven’t found a French one yet, but the Cline Cellars … Continue reading

More Mourvèdre Please

Say that three times fast! We usually try to match the wine with the food pretty carefully, but sometimes “Eat what you like with what you like to drink” is what happens.  On this particular Sunday afternoon, I was knee-deep in my Mourvèdre investigation, and we decided we wanted to try a couple of recipes … Continue reading

Idiot’s Grace Vineyard Walk

Last week (May 15), I had the opportunity to take a walk in the Idiot’s Grace Vineyard in Mosier, OR.  Memaloose Wines has two properties: Mistral Ranch and Idiot’s Grace.  All their wines come from one of these two estate vineyards,  both located in the tiny Columbia Gorge AVA.  I love the opportunity to see … Continue reading