March is Women’s History Month, and the French Winophiles group of wine and food writers are celebrating France’s Women in Wine! You can see the invitation post from our host Gwendolyn Alley of Wine Predator here. The history of Women in Champagne has mostly been well documented, or more accurately, the history of widows who…
A Taste of Castelão; 2017 Casal Figueira “Tinto” #WinePW
When pushed to suffer, like all good masochists do, this grape magically evolves into an intense and aromatic wine with red berry and floral aromas. Gabriel Opaz – Catavino This month the Wine Pairing Weekend group of food and wine writers are exploring new-to-us grape varieties. I recently wrote a book review of “Foot Trodden-Portugal…
Book Review and Wine Pairing; Foot Trodden-Portugal And The Wines That Time Forgot
Why does the wine-loving world have so little appreciation of Portuguese wines? Simon J. Woolf; Co-Author of Foot Trodden Book Review Over the course of the last few years, thanks to media samples and friends who import Portuguese wine, I’ve tasted scores of Portuguese wines. And you know what? The quote attributed above to Simon…
A Port Primer By The Glass
Every cloud has a silver lining….When life give you lemons, make lemonade. Well, a few positives to come out of the pandemic for me included on-line wine events, tastings and education. I capitalized on an online education opportunity offered by Symington’s School of Port and completed “The Essentials” course online. It’s a self-paced 16-episode video…
Exploring Wines of Chile Long-Standing Commitment to Sustainability By The Bottle
Chile has been a wine-producing country since the first European settlers arrived in the mid-16th Century. The original vines, to make sacramental wine, were brought by Catholic missionaries directly from Spain or via Peru or California. Its isolated location, hemmed in by the Pacific to the west, the Andes to the east, the world’s driest desert in the north, and…
A Taste Of The Unsung Wines of Oltrepò Pavese #ItalianFWT
This month, the Italian Food, Wine and Travel writers are exploring a new-to-me, and lesser known region of Italy – Oltrepò Pavese. Susannah Gold, founder of Vigneto Communications is hosting this month. She is a Brand Ambassador for the Oltrepò here in the U.S., and graciously arranged samples for our group. Oltrepò Pavese, which is sometime…
Book Review and Wine Pairing; On California-From Napa to Nebbiolo…Tales from the Golden State
“On California…” is a thought-provoking, informative, entertaining and inspiring read. Very highly recommended! Book Review On California-From Napa to Nebbiolo…Tales from the Golden State is a beautifully written and compelling anthology featuring short essays from journalists, renown wine experts and winemakers that tell the stories of the who, what, when, why, and how of California…
Sparkling Wine from Chablis? Oui! Val de Mer Brut Nature Rosé #WinePW
My pick for the theme is a fascinating and fabulous bottle of sparkling wine from the Chablis region of France. Who doesn’t enjoy sparkling wine?! The Wine Pairing Weekend group of writers is exploring “Bubbles From Around The World” this month. As our host Andrea of The Quirky Cork points out “…if a country makes…
Pairing Wine and a Movie: “From The Vine”and 2012 I Favati Cretarossa + Salsicce e Fagioli #ItalianFWT
Buon Anno! The writers of the Italian Food, Wine and Travel group are kicking off 2022 with a fun theme! Our host Camilla of Culinary Adventures With Camilla invited us to watch “From the Vine” and find an bottle of Aglianico. Done and done! I actually watched From The Vine” earlier this year. It’s a…
Commemorating Setbacks and Success with Bodegas Tradición Palo Cortado VORS #WorldWineTravel
This is a most remarkable bottle of wine. It’s complex, beautifully textured and balanced. It’s well suited to be a either a “meditative” wine, or remarkably versatile at the table! The intrepid World Wine Travel group of writer wraps of its virtual tour of Spain with a “Writer’s Choice theme this month. See the end…