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
#ChardonnayDay
We interrupt our Mourvedre investigation for Chardonnay Day. Who decides these things? May 23 is officially “ChardonnayDay”. We’re encouraged to open a Chardonnay and share our experience. These twitter celebrations are kind of goofy, but they are kind of fun, too! We got a late start this evening, this is our Chardonnay Day choice. A … Continue reading
What’s Mourvèdre?
The Mourvèdre grape is widely used as one of the blending grapes in Southern Rhone wines such as Côtes du Rhone and Châteauneuf du Pape; wines we enjoy. To get a sense of Mourvèdre at center stage however, we need to look beyond the Rhone. Bandol is a town in Provence and its red wines must … Continue reading
Meatless Monday Chili & FoodBeerClick?
True Confession Honesty is the best policy: drink beer with your chili. When I set out on this Meatless Monday, I knew I wanted to try a chili. I modified the recipe to use wine for the liquid instead of beer. I kept the spices on the tame side. I tried a lean red low … Continue reading
Whatever’s in the ‘Fridge Flatbread
We love flatbreads and pizza for weekend lunches. Sometimes we have a plan and sometimes we just root around in the refrigerator and see what we have. You might like trying your own version with whatever you have in your ‘fridge. Flatbreads seem to taste great with a wide variety of wines, we usually just … Continue reading















