Champagne Chronicles – Day 3

This is the third in what will be a series of five posts about my visit to Champagne Day 1 – Guided tour of Reims Cathedral and Champagne dinner Day 2 – C.I.V.C., Roger Coulon, and Veuve Clicquot ______________________________________________________________________ Last month, I had the privilege of traveling to the Champagne region in France as a guest of the U.S….

Champagne Chronicles-Day 2

I recently had the privilege of traveling to the Champagne region in France as a guest of the U.S. Champagne Bureau for the 2014 Champagne Harvest Media Trip.  Here’s what the Champagne Bureau said about the trip… The trip to Champagne will be an opportunity for you to learn more about the production of Champagne and…

Champagne Chronicles – Day 1

Dreams do come true. When I first got into the “wine thing”, as I call it, I dived head first into the pool of knowledge. One of my resources was Karen MacNeil’s The Wine Bible. And one of my favorite chapters in that tome is “Champagne“.  Ever since then, the Champagne region has been on my…

A Taste of Bodegas Contino

Last fall, my wife and I spent 17 glorious days in Spain.  It was the trip of a lifetime. Our itinerary included Barcelona, San Sebastian (amazing food), Madrid, Toledo, Sevilla, and Granada (The Alhambra is a must – simply awesome!).  Of course, being the winos, we also squeezed in some time in La Rioja.  Our…

Wine Tasting Along the Anderson Valley Wine Trail-Day 2

Last week I posted about our first day of wine tasting in Anderson Valley (“A.V”).  We stayed overnight at the Anderson Valley Inn, nice clean choice for budget minded travelers to Anderson Valley (heads up…no TV…but there is WiFi).  It’s centrally in Anderson Valley minutes away from Hendy Wood State Park with its majestic redwood trees.  It’s…

Wine Tasting Along the Anderson Valley Wine Trail – Day 1

My wife and I took and overnight to trip to Anderson Valley last month.  It’s been several years since we’d been, but our last trip there was a real pleasure and we’ve been looking forward to returning.   “The Anderson Valley is located in the rolling hills of the coastal region of Mendocino County…Known for our…

Castello di Amorosa Gewürztraminer – A Winning Trio

When I received media samples that included a trio of 2011 Castello di Amorosa Gewürztraminer, I was intrigued.  First, Gewürztraminer, it isn’t a well-known, or for that matter appreciated grape varietal ( I enjoy it ).  I like what Karen MacNeil says about Gewürztraminer in the Wine Bible… Like Lucille Ball or Goldie Hawn, Gewürztraminer is a…