The theme for the December Italian Food, Wine and Travel (#ItalianFWT) group of food and wine bloggers is Italian Sparkling Wines. While many are familiar with the charms of seemingly ubiquitous Prosecco, if you dig a bit deeper you’ll find the world of Italian sparkling wines is just as diverse at Italian cuisine! Here’s a quick overview…
Category: Wine
Wine of the Day: 2014 Ridge Vineyards Jimsomare Zinfandel #Zinday
This is a delicious, harmonious wine with an exotic character from an area not well-known for Zinfandel – the Santa Cruz Mountains! Since the late 1960s, Ridge has made small quantities – ranging from five to seventeen barrels of wine from this 19th century vineyard that is part of their Monte Bello estate. The vines,…
Lodi Chronicles: Five Lodi Wines for Your Thanksgiving Table
As you may know if you follow this blog, I’ve been contributing to Visit Lodi! Conference & Visitors Bureau blog. Visit Lodi is the official travel website for Lodi, California. From time to time I share the blog posts I’ve written for Visit Lodi here. My latest piece written for Visit Lodi is entitled Five Lodi Wines…
Elevating Weeknight Fare with Crémant d’Alsace #Winophiles
With the holiday celebrations and gift giving right around the corner, this month the French #Winophiles are diving into Crémant. Our host this month is Kat Wisnosky of Bacchus Travel & Tours. What, exactly is Crémant? “Crémant” is the French term for traditional-method sparkling wines made outside of the Champagne region. This means that the second fermentation,…
Wine of the Day: 2014 Bedrock Wine Co. Heritage Wine Evangelho Vineyard
…this wine is a great exemplar of an ancient-vine field blend wine! A field blend of Zinfandel, Carignan, Mourvèdre, Palomino, Alicante Bouschet and Mission from the Evangelho vineyard planted in the 1890s that features own rooted, head-trained, vines planted in Delhi sands and dry farmed. The vineyard is a viticultural survivor, it you can believe…
Wine of the Day: 2015 Lua Cheia em Vinhas Velhas Insurgente
If you haven’t been drinking Portuguese wines, I dare you to try this wine, and not want to buy more! This wine is a 50/50 blend of two indigenous Portuguese grapes – Touriga Nacional and Alfrocheiro. The grapes are from one of Portugal’s most prominent wine regions, the Dão, located just south of the famous Douro Valley (home of…
A Taste of Lirac – Rhone’s Undiscovered Cru
If you like Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but are looking for great value, look no further than Lirac! They are most certainly wines worth seeking out! Disclosure: The wines in this post were provided as a samples. No other payments were involved and all opinions expressed are my own. About Lirac It’s located just across the Rhône river from the…
Exclusive Pre-Release of “Somm 3”; Napa Valley Style!
If you’re a fan of the “Somm” documentary series, here’s your opportunity to see the latest release – “Somm 3” Napa Valley style! The Cameo Cinema in St. Helena has the exclusive theatrical pre-release of SOMM 3 beginning Friday October 19 through Thursday, October 25, with three shows daily, at 2:00, 5:00 and 7:45 p.m. Producer &…
Penne Boscaiola Paired with 2015 Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Merlot #WinePW #MerlotMe
This Penne Boscaiolo recipe tastes like a weekend meal, but could be put together on a weeknight. I paired it with Merlot with excellent results! Disclosure: Wine provided as a complimentary sample by Duckhorn Vineyards. No other payments were involved and all opinions expressed in my blog posts are my own. Do you know that October is Merlot Month? You’ll…
Wine of the Day: 2015 Markus Wine Co. Zietlos Red Blend
This is an alluring, suave, and harmonious wine that is emblematic of outstanding wines being crafted in the Lodi AVA This wine is a predominately a blend of Syrah and Viognier from the Borra Vineyards Gill Creek Ranch that were picked on the same day and co-fermented in the Northern Rhône tradition. Old vine Carignan and Petite Sirah from the…