We kicked off this year's 12 Days of Wine with a story of endings and beginnings and we end in the same way.  It has been a tough year, filled with changes, so we end again with joyful bubbles. These bubbles are made in the Method Champenoise style but made of Riesling.  They come to [...]

It’s time to do a virtual visit to Spain. This next year, I’m looking forward to being a part of the new #WorldWineTravel group of writers. This first year we will be focusing on Spain.  I thought I would get a little head start and make sure we included a Spanish wine in our 12 [...]

Earlier this fall I wrote a piece about Youngberg Hill.  In 2019 they created Bailey Family Wines.  It was a place we had visited years ago with a friend and tasting through the Pinot Noirs they had sent, I got a bit nostalgic.  You can read that piece here Youngberg Hill – Reminiscing and Making [...]

Adam and Angie LaZarre have a bit of a “Rockstar” vibe.  We met them during Merlot Month when we sampled their 2017 Paso Robles Merlot. We wrote about that in our piece Merlot from Elegant to Badass. When they sent us that sample, they included a bottle of their 2017 Central Coast Pinot Noir. *We [...]

Hungarian Nut Cake was my mother's favorite cake, as her hand-typed recipe below attests. I remember having it often at home growing up and it was her favorite to make for friends birthdays, potlucks, or other gatherings.  I have a vision of her carrying this cake out to the picnic table in the yard for [...]

Today we dive into Meinklang a wine from Hungary.  I went to pick up a wine a while back at GaragisteLV and decided to add a bottle while I was there. “What do you have that is interesting,” I asked Eric.  He immediately suggested this wine.  It wasn’t until I got home that I realized [...]

We visited Rowlee a little over a year ago with a group from the Wine Media Conference  This was a post-conference excursion to Orange Australia sponsored by Orange 360.  We joined Nicole and James at their cellar door on the vineyard. We gathered on the porch to look out on the vineyard as the sun [...]

Bourboulenc.  You may not have heard of this grape.  It quite honestly doesn’t get out much.  This is an ancient white grape found in Southern France in Provençe and the Southern Rhône. We find the first mention of this grape in literature from the early 16th century. It is perhaps most well known in Languedoc [...]

We got lost on the way to the Roskamp Vineyard to meet Co Dinn.  In Washington’s Yakima Valley, GPS service here can be sketchy, and even when you look it up ahead of time, sometimes roads have gates and you find the maps program tried to take you in a locked back door.  So after [...]

Early one spring morning we headed into the Southern Highlands region in New South Wales Australia to visit Tertini Cellars.  It was October and we were staying on the coast in Shoalhaven.  We arose early and headed inland up through the Kangaroo Valley, past Fitzroy Falls.  It was a rainy morning and the driving felt [...]

It was a cool summer morning when we visited Syncline.  Located on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge just where the lush green western part of the gorge begins to turn into the flatter browner drier landscape.  Here though, the trees still grow lush and we entered the quiet property and set up [...]

A couple of years ago we made our way to the Beckham Estate Vineyard.  It sits at the east end of the Chehalem Mountains AVA on what is known as Parrett Mountain.  We spent the morning with Annedria Beckham tasting through their wines and hearing the story of the winery first hand on their patio, [...]

Beginnings and Endings The year 2020. Unexpected, unpredictable, a year of endings and beginnings. This Terre di Bacco Prosecco brings up a story of endings and beginnings – a chapter in my life. In 2008 after having a successful business for 10 years, the economy crashed and my business was no longer viable.  A Warm [...]

Hungarian Nut Cake was my mother's favorite cake, as her hand-typed recipe below attests. I remember having it often at home growing up and it was her favorite to make for friends birthdays, potlucks, or other gatherings.  I have a vision of her carrying this cake out to the picnic table in the yard for [...]

Tablas Creek 2019 Bourboulenc The bourboulenc we tasted was from the first vintage of this variety at Tablas Creek Vineyard in the Adelaida District AVA of Paso Robles California. It is full of pineapple notes, so we ran with that on our pairing. Honey Roasted Pineapple, pineapple curd filled meringue cups with toasted coconut, pistachios, [...]

Peach crisp This is such a simple recipe, it almost doesn’t need measurements.  I whipped this up after lunch for Michael and me to enjoy as a dessert with a wine that really wanted peaches. What to Pair? Tertini 2018 Private Cellar Collection Arneis This wine comes from Tertini Wines in the Southern Highlands region [...]

Grilled peach, roasted chicken, and tarragon salad paired with the Tertini Arneis You can never go wrong with grilled peaches and this salad looks so lush and elegant.  Grilled peach has those lucious fruit notes, with the texture made soft and the umami from those grill marks. Find some good greens, I used frisee, red [...]

Bacon Brie Raspberry Bites Yep, more raspberry and bacon!  We munched these for dessert but they would be great for an appetizer too. What to Pair? Syncline 2017 Subduction Red – Columbia Valley A blend of 49% Syrah, 26% Grenache, 12% Carignan, 7% Cinsault, 6% Mourvedre, this is their version of a Côtes du Rhône [...]

Bacon-Wrapped Stuffed Pork tenderloin with Raspberry Sauce I cannot even believe I waited this long to discover pork loins!  They are relatively inexpensive and make for a simple and fancy meal.  We did a stuffed pork tenderloin with chimichurri a while back and it was delicious.  When I went to pick it up at the [...]

Syncline Let's start with the name. Syncline...where does that come from? It was a new word to me. This winery & vineyard in located in the Columbia Gorge AVA. Vineyards are typically in scenic areas. Grapes like a view. But the Columbia Gorge? Come on...this is a pretty stellar backdrop.   View of Mt. Hood [...]

What wine list of ours would be complete without a bottle from Johan.     The Van Duzer Corridor   View of the Johan Vineyard in the Van Duzer Corridor of Oregon's Willamette Valley The Van Duzer Corridor is one of the newer AVA's in Oregon's Willamette Valley. The TTB approval of the AVA happened [...]

If you have tried today's variety I want to hear about it! This is Baco Noir, a French American hybrid created by Francois Baco from folle blanche (which is a wine grape from France) and a red grape of the vitis riparia species (comes from America, but the exact grape is unknown). This variety is [...]

We are sticking to Southern Oregon today, but...we are into a white wine. Viognier is a white Rhône variety that has found a home in the new world. It is thought to be the leading white variety in Virginia, where it does very well. You will find it in California where it can vary in [...]

We are sticking with Southern Oregon today, but we are heading into the Rhônes. No...I'm not giving you another Syrah. Today we focus on Grenache from Cowhorn in Southern Oregon's Applegate Valley AVA (which is nested in the Rogue Valley AVA).   Cowhorn Entrance Gate We've done a bit on Bill Steele and his wife [...]