Sera Fina Cellars, about whom I’ve written before, also makes this (spoiler alert!) lovely, sweet white. It is made from the malvasia grape, yet another grape variety that I was unfamiliar with until recently. The malvasia grape is grown in Italy, Croatia, Slovenia, and the Canary Islands among other locations. There are both white and […]
Matthew Latkiewicz over at Grub Street New York, recently posted a humorous and pointed article about judging wines by their labels. The illustration, by Jen Cotton, borrowed from their site, illustrates the basic classifications of labels he identified and some of the sub-classifications. I am not certain if he has yet identified all of the […]
Having lived for a while in London, I heard and started using the word “plonk”, which is generally considered a pejorative term meaning “cheap wine”, usually not very good. It is also true that it was often used in conversation to simply mean “table wine” or “vin ordinaire” which is the way I and my […]
I haven’t been writing posts ahead of my posting them. This would normally not be a problem. Until recently. You see, I occasionally suffer from gout. And the past week has been one of those occasions. Gout is an very painful inflammation of a joint, in this case where my big toe joins my foot. […]
Yesterday I tasted Holly’s Hill’s 2009 El Dorado Counoise. Counoise? you wonder. Indeed. As did I. It seems that the Counoise is an obscure Rhone varietal, one of 13 which is allowed in the Chateauneuf-du-Pape blend. It is use almost exclusively in blends, and not in very large quantities. Holly’s Hill grows and uses Counoise […]
I’m thinking about the cover image for Pour Me Another. Two pictures I took this past weekend are, I think, contenders. Both were taken at Gold Hill Winery. With some judicious cropping, I think this is a good one. Although lacking a foreground, I think that this second option would be good. I’m trying to […]
I ordered postcards to help promote the upcoming release of Pour Me Another. Silly to be excited, but I am. Share this:Share
The Washington Post recently postulated that there are three kinds of wine drinkers: Casual drinkers, Explorers and Aficionados. The Casual drinker likes wine, but for them it is just a beverage. Explorers are looking for obscure and undervalued wines. Aficionados demand the best. Personally, I think they left out a type: the Enthusiast…who is kind […]
The Pleasant Valley wineries in El Dorado County are putting on their annual Rocks and Rhones wine event this May 28 and 29. For a small fee, you are treated to wine and food pairings at each of the participating wineris. The wineries are Holly’s Hill, Sierra Vista, Mira Flores and Narrow Gate. They all […]
Friday evening my partner and I joined a friend for wine and conversation. We sat on her deck with a sunset view over the San Francisco Bay and over the course of a couple of hours had two different wines. The first was a 2006 Mt. Aukum Syrah. I believe that all of this wine […]
