Did you know that October is Merlot Month? Yep, an entire month dedicated to the variety and it all wraps up with Merlot Day on November 7th. The first mention of Merlot came in 1784 in Bordeaux. The officials referred to the grape as “little blackbird” or “young blackbird.” It is thought that the name …
What is Winephabet Street, you ask? Think of it as Sesame Street for Winelovers! It is a livestream/podcast/blogpost interactive discussion all about wine. Winephabet Street is a collaboration between Debbie Gioquindo, aka HVWineGoddess, and myself. We will be working our way through the alphabet discussing wine varieties and regions. So grab a glass and join…
Welcome to our latest installment of #WinephabetStreet brought to you by Dracaena Wines and Trio North Wildwood. In this series, Debbie Gioquindo and I work our way through the wine world one letter each month. We discuss the characteristics and history of the grape, as well as suggested wine pairings. So uncork, unscrew or saber…
I had the privilege of being invited to a press trip to Jumilla, Spain. I happily accepted and once in Spain, it was love at first sight. (and taste) Jumilla, located southeastern portion of Spain has approximately 22,000 hectares of land under vines. The region is small; with only 39 registered wineries. Thanks to their…
We paired the salad with a beautiful bottle of Le Colture Rive di Santo Stefano Gerardo Valdobbiadene DOCG Extra Brut. The fruit is harvested from 35 – 40 year old vines on the steepest slopes of the vineyard. The wine is dedicated to Gerardo Ruggeri, who loved tended the vines. Le Colture had its beginnings…
During the summer I took the Wine Scholar Guild’s Spanish Wine Scholar class. For ten weeks, once I week I sat down for a class that was led by Rick Fisher. Throughout the program, we traversed through the seventeen autonomous regions of Spain. In the end, we were responsible to know 49 DOCs and 20…
Pinot Noir is related to Pinot Grigio. The DNA is the same, it just has a color mutation. A research study led by Silvia Vezzulli in 2012 in the Journal of Experimental Botany showed that structural dynamics along chromosome 2, a very large deletion present in a single Pinot Gris cell layer was identified and…
Drive Through Paso Robles is written by Paul Hodgins, designed by Kathy Lajvardi and created by Naushad Huda. Love Paso? Be sure to read Paul’s other Paso Robles book; Winemakers of Paso Robles. Disclosure: I received this book as media sample. I received no compensation for this review. All opinions are my own. Drive through Paso…
I recently attended a webinar presented by Gregory and Vine on zero percent wine produced by Giesen Wines in New Zealand. These wines are also known as de-alcoholized wines for an extremely important reason. The wine making process is done exactly the same for the non-alcoholic wines as for their premium wine line. Giesen Winery was…
What comes to mind when you hear Pinot Grigio? There is a misconception that it is a bland, watered down wine. Granted, there are some that fall under that category, but as with everything in this world, knowledge is power. Pinot Grigio knowledge is knowing where to look for quality Pinot Grigio. Those in the…
