What I’ve learned tasting 30 Sparkling Wines In 30 Weeks..

I’ve been drinking sparkling wine on a weekly basis since February, and blogging about it in my “T.G.I.F. Champagne and the like…” series.  During that time, I’ve tasted sparkling wines from not only the usual suspects, France, California, Spain, and Italy, but also countries that aren’t “top of mind” when it comes to bubbly like…

Dessert Wine Primer; Part I – Fortified Dessert Wines

Dessert wines are sweet wines served with, or instead of dessert.  Dessert wines are also known as “stickies” because picking the grapes makes the workers hands sticky.  The term originated in Australia, but has become ubiquitously synonymous with dessert wines around the world. There are essentially two types of dessert wines, fortified and late harvest.  In…

T.G.I.F. Champagne and the like – 2007 Raventós i Blanc Cava L’Hereu Reserva Brut

After my faith in Spanish Cava was restored by the “2007 Raventós i Blanc L’Hereu Nit” Brut Reserva Cava, I decided to try the non-Rosé version of the same wine this week. The wines are from the same vintage, so the difference between the two is the absence of  red grape, Monastrell (a.k.a. Mourvèdre) from this wine….

Is La Mancha ready for Primetime?

Last week, I attended my first wine event as a member of the “trade”.  The event was hosted by “Wines of La Mancha“.  Since it was my first such event as a member of the trade,  I wasn’t sure what to expect, other than Spanish Wine – which I enjoy, having had wines mostly from the…