The chemistry of wine
Wine. It’s simply crushed and fermented grapes. Yep, that was me. That’s the first line in our Crushed Grape Chronicles trailer that we put together….years ago. And it’s true…mostly. (whole berry ferments do happen, but eventually the weight of the grapes on the grapes causes them to be crushed.) So wine is made of 5 […]
Exploring the Grand Terroir of Gérard Bertrand with Tautavel and La Clape
A tasting and pairing of Gérard Bertrand wines including a Crémant from Limoux, and red blends from Tautavel & La Clape in France's Languedoc-Roussillon region.
It’s Oregon Wine Month
It's Oregon Wine Month! Here are a few of the great Oregon wineries we have visited. Take a road trip, visit for yourself, or at least grab a great bottle of Oregon wine and celebrate.
Elephant Mountain Vineyard in Yakima Valley’s Rattlesnake Hills
Visiting Elephant Mountain Vineyards in the Rattlesnake Hills AVA of Washington's Yakima Valley
Yakima Valley Seminar
We spent a glorious evening at Owen Roe Winery, tasting wines and meeting winemakers from all over the Yakima Valley. Now it was time to get into the nitty gritty geeky stuff. Wine Yakima Valley, set us up with a morning seminar for a video flyover of the Yakima Valley with Co Dinn and Kerry […]
Mont de Milieu Premier Cru Chablis from Simonnet-Febvre and Pôchouse #Winophiles
A dip into Chablis with the French #Winophiles. We enjoyed a Mont de Milieu Premier Cru Chablis from Simonnet-Febvre and paired it with an elegant pôchouse.
Yakima Valley Hops with Nicholi Pitra
While in the Yakima Valley for WBC18, we were treated to “Flavor Camp” by Wine Yakima Valley. This allowed us to explore 3 of the tasty libations that have roots here. We of course discussed wine, but then also moved on to learn about two other major crops in the area, cider apples (check out […]
Guilty pleasure – wine reading on the beach – Root Cause
You don't need to be a wine expert to enjoy this book, but if you pour a glass and read this adventurous romp, you will come out knowing wine trivia to impress your friends.
Tieton Cider Works, in Yakima Valley Washington
While in the Yakima Valley on a Pre-conference Tour for WBC18, Wine Yakima Valley set up Flavor Camp, so we could experience the variety of flavors that come out of the Yakima Valley. Marcus Robert – On Cider We started with apples with Marcus Robert of Tieton Cider Works, who spoke with us about the […]
Owen Roe’s Union Gap Vineyard – A tour with David O’Reilly
Glasses were clinking, wines were being poured, great conversations were happening, the weather was perfect and Flavor Camp was about to begin. Wine Yakima Valley treated those of us who attended the WBC Pre Conference tour to 2 incredible days exploring the Yakima Valley. (You can catch our overview here). This first evening was spent […]
Full fermentation bins! A walk inside Owen Roe Winery at Harvest.
While we were in the Yakima Valley for #WBC18, we had the opportunity to go to Owen Roe Winery with the Pre-Conference Tour with Wine Yakima Valley. You can read all about Day 1 of our adventure in the Yakima Valley here at Yakima Valley Wine and Beyond with Wine Yakima Valley’s Flavor Camp. While […]
Illahe into the Cellar, out to the vineyard and back in time
We continue our visit with Lowell Ford of Illahe Vineyard in the proposed Mt. Pisgah/Polk County AVA in the Willamette Valley, by leaving the upper level of their gravity flow winery and heading into their new wine cave completed in 2015. Both the winery with it’s barrel shaped ceiling and the wine cave, set into […]
Where are the Women in Champagne? #Winophiles
Women in Champagne. It’s a simple title. I looked forward to learning and researching about Women in Champagne as we put together our piece for the Winophiles this month. As I set forth to do some research, I found two stumbling blocks, Champagne and Women. Do a search, try it now…I’ll wait. Probably the first […]
Yakima Valley – Wine and beyond with Wine Yakima Valley’s Flavor Camp
We had an opportunity this past fall to travel to Washington to explore their wine scene as we attending the Wine Bloggers Conference (which has since been renamed the Wine Media Conference) held in Walla Walla Washington. One of the great things about the conference is that they offer Pre and Post Conference Excursions. These […]
Illahe Vineyards – Into the Winery
Last July we made the drive out to Illahe Vineyards in the southern part of the Willamette Valley. The vineyard is south west of Salem, Oregon, in the proposed Mt. Pisgah/Polk County AVA. Kathy Greysmith, the tasting room manager, took us through a tasting of the white wines and then Lowell the owner and grape […]
Illahe – flowers, deep roots, happy cows and birds…oh and wine grapes.
We made the drive toward the southern part of the Willamette Valley to visit Illahe. (ILL-a-he) We were staying in Newburg and took the opportunity to get up early and drive south through the Eola-Amity Hills and then down to Salem. In Salem we made a stop along the Willamette River at Minto-Brown Island Park […]
Curled up with a Bandol and a book – #Winophiles
Life gets busy. These days I find myself reading quite a bit, but the reading I am doing is often short articles or posts on my phone. I long for a cold, perhaps rainy day where I can curl up on the couch with a blanket and a book. Oh and perhaps a good glass of wine.
Crushed Grape Chronicles & a visit to Illahe Vineyards
We made the drive toward the southern part of the Willamette Valley to visit Illahe. (ILL-a-he) We were staying in Newburg and took the opportunity to get up early and drive south through the Eola-Amity Hills and then down to Salem. In Salem we made a stop along the Willamette River at Minto-Brown Island Park […]
Barrel Tasting with Rudy Marchesi at Montinore Estate
After a wonderful interview with Rudy Marchesi of Montinore Estate discussing the Missoula Floods, the history of Montinore estate and their wines as well as Biodynamics in the vineyard and garden, Rudy invited us to the cellar for a barrel tasting. Winemaker Stephen Webber On the way, we went through the lab, where we met […]
Fabulous French Biodynamic Wines and some Exquisite Pairings #Winophiles
biodynamic adjective bio·dy·nam·ic | \ˌbī-(ˌ)ō-di-ˈna-mik, Definition of biodynamic 1 : of or relating to a system of farming that follows a sustainable, holistic approach which uses only organic, usually locally-sourced materials for fertilizing and soil conditioning, views the farm as a closed, diversified ecosystem, and often bases farming activities on lunar cycles Followers of biodynamic […]
Biodynamics at Montinore Estate
In our conversation with Rudy Marchesi of Montinore Estates, we asked him about biodynamics. The winery was Certified biodynamic in 2008. Rudy had set this process up while he was still working for the Montinore Estate as an employee. The Motivation & learning Pheloxera was what originally motivated him to look at biodynamics. They had […]
Pairing with Bubbles – Gloria Ferrer and the amazing Sarah Tracey
It’s the season for bubbles and this past October I was able to do an amazing tasting and pairing event with sparkling wines from Gloria Ferrer at the Wine Bloggers Conference in Walla Walla Washington. I met Sarah Tracey of The Lush Life the evening before her Bubbles and Bites Seminar at WBC18. At the […]
The 12th Day arrives…2009 Esprit de Beaucastel Panoplie & Duck
The 12th Day of Wine demanded digging in the cellar for something special and Michael perused the Tablas Creek Wines that we patiently wait to open, allowing them to age as we gaze longingly at the Vintage chart waiting for them to be in their prime. It’s worth noting that as we gazed at the […]
On the 11th Day – A Ballard Canyon Syrah from Larner & Beef Stew
We’ve come to the 11th Day in our 12 Days of Wine and we pulled a beautiful bottle of Ballard Canyon Syrah out from Larner Vineyard & Winery. 2013 Larner Estate Syrah – Reserve Our finest Syrah from the 2013 vintage has a vivid bouquet of violets, cassis, blueberries, pepper, vanilla and espresso. The intense, […]
On the 10th Doon of Wine…short ribs and Syrah from Bonny Doon
Randall Grahm is one of the hardest working guys in wine and he has always been an “of the people for the people” kinda guy. I remember meeting him for the first time at a conference dinner 5 or so years ago. A fan of his blog, I was a little star struck, but he […]