Blog Archives
Choose Your Own Wine Adventure at The Winemakers Studio
Are you interested in being a winemaker for a day? Does the thought of playing with beakers and graduated cylinders make you want to get your wine nerd on? I know, me too! Now you can indulge that passion at The Winemakers Studio, located at the HQ of my podcast sponsor, Wente Vineyards, in California’s Livermore [More]
Washington Meets California With Elaine Chukan Brown
Hey there. It’s once in a blue moon that I have a guest post. Like, once in 695 posts. (See Jennifer Schneider’s review of FOOD: Transforming the American Table 1950-2000.) But as I close in on number 700, it’s time again. I am so pleased to be collaborating with Elaine of Hawk Wakawaka Wine Reviews. [More]
Dry Creek Valley Wines and Vineyards Provide 9 Noteworthy Finds
I just returned from visiting wineries and vineyards in Dry Creek Valley, California. It’s a region within Sonoma County that will surprise you like it did me. Here are a few things I found remarkable about the region during a trip sponsored by the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley. 1) Dry Creek? Not dry. Visual [More]
Tater Tots and Gundlach Bundschu Chardonnay: A Mouthful
Look at the way the light hits these tater tots! As I poured myself a glass of Gundlach Bundschu Chardonnay (the 2011 hailing from California’s Sonoma Coast), graciously sent to me as a sample by the winery, I could not help but think of Caravaggio‘s famous work, “The Calling of Saint Matthew“. Though this image [More]
California’s Santa Cruz Mountains and the Poetry of Ridge Vineyards
Let’s talk about California wine. Napa? Nope. Instead, let’s visit the Santa Cruz Mountains, home to one of the most famous and historic American wineries and one of the country’s (if not the world’s) most iconic wines: Ridge Vineyards and Monte Bello. To get to know what make this place so special, I speak with [More]
Two Shepherds Grenache Blanc Reminds Me of The Three Bears
I can be very fussy when it comes to white wine. I’m worse than Goldilocks. Yes, I just compared myself to Goldilocks. Though I love light, refreshing, delicate whites, sometimes they leave me a little cold if they have nothing but a shrill, acidic personality. And a heavy, hot, blowzy white wine, clubbed with oak, [More]
Loving the Clos du Val Napa Valley Merlot
Seeing “Napa Valley Merlot” on a wine label may cause some snap judgements, but Clos du Val is making (and has been making) one of my favorite expressions of this grape. And not just a favorite Napa Valley Merlot, but a favorite Merlot, period. What are the myths about Merlot? Bland and boring. And what [More]
