French Poets, Philandering Kings and little sweetness from Jurançon #Winophiles
This month the French Winophiles are heading to the Sud Ouest of France. That south west corner that seems rather quiet. You don’t hear much about it. Within it you will find French Basque Country and Jurançon. On the coast is the Pays Basque with it’s wine region of Irouleguy. When you continue east […]
The Scenic Route – Flash Tour 2019 Part 2 – Southern Oregon Applegate and Umpqua Valleys
Day 3 Southern Oregon & the Applegate Valley Day 3 had us up early and traveling back the way we had been the afternoon before. The Applegate Valley AVA in Southern Oregon established in 2000, is actually a sub AVA of the Rogue Valley AVA. From California’s border runs north 50 miles to the Rogue […]
The Scenic Route – Flash Tour 2019 – Part 1 Vegas to Southern Oregon
We headed out early. Not pre-dawn, but early enough to beat the heat in Death Valley. It was the top of a 12 day road trip that would take us almost 3800 miles, through so much stunning scenery that we almost became numb to the beauty. Almost. This was the Flash Tour 2019, that we […]
Los Hernández – Great authentic food in the Yakima Valley
So when you are in Yakima (probably tasting wine and visiting vineyards) and you ask where to go for lunch, everyone will say the same thing…”Los Hernández“. No fewer than 5 people told us this was the place to go. (we did have a shout out for Los 3 Pancho in Toppenish, where we were […]
Amphorae, riesling, Jura varieties and more with Beckham Estate Vineyard
Located in the Chehalem Mountains, Beckham is actually on Parrett Mountain on the south east end of the range. We visited them in July of 2018 to hear their story. It was a beautiful morning and Annedria set us up on the patio next to the tasting room, (which has a beautiful view), for our […]
Beckham Estate Vineyard – The story
It was early morning of our last day in the Willamette Valley and we drove North from (where we were staying) heading toward the Chehalem Mountains. The road into Portland was moving fast and we came up a hill, with the side of the roads deeply forested. There was our turn. We had to make […]
Tasting blind – globetrotting at home
We gathered a bakers dozen of folks for a blind tasting of 3 white wines and 3 reds. There were aroma jars and tasting sheets and lots of glasses! After the reveal for each, we had small bites to pair with each of the wines. People discovered varieties and places they did not know they […]
A tale of two Malvasia Biancas
Malvasia Bianca…does it sound exotic? A little Italian right? This is not a wine you come across very often, but, it is gaining ground, at least with a couple of my favorite winemakers. I first had Malvasia Bianca at a winemaker dinner. Actually the very first Larner winemaker dinner, held at Ballard Inn with Larner […]
A Loire rosé, a Bordeaux from Pommerol and…..cheese #winophiles
A while back the French #Winophiles decided that June would be about French wine and cheese. This is a traditional pairing made in heaven that can go in so many different directions! You can join us to see the wide range and variety of wines and cheeses explored on Saturday June 15th at 8 am […]
Sparkling Vermentino – “tears of laughter and joy”
As I went looking for a bottle to open for a simple evening dinner, a small celebration of the end of a work week, I came across a bottle of sparkling vermentino in the wine fridge.
Faults in wine
We’ve all had wines that we didn’t like. Perhaps it smelled a little funny, or was just bland. Sometimes, that’s a wine that is just not for us, or is poorly made, but sometimes it is the result of a wine fault. Now wine faults can arise from poor wine making, but they can also […]
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 […]