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Category: White wine

Balverne Wines – Summer Wines

But before I talk about these two Balverne wines, I want to talk about tasting notes and their value or lack of value to a wine consumer. Within the wine writing community, you will find tasting notes widely used to talk about wine. Many wineries also put their tasting notes on the technical sheet used for “trade and media.” These notes can allow for writing about the wine without ever tasting it. They may also provide insight into the wine for a wine buyer. Although I do not know any buyers that buy wine without tasting it first. So what…

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Smith Madrone Vineyards and Winery

Legendary Boutique Napa Valley Winery I first met Stuart Smith, Founder and Managing Partner of Smith-Madrone Winery at WWET 2018 in Napa Valley. He was a presenting winemaker at a couple of seminars sharing his POV, his wines, and his history in the Valley. If you are from Napa, I will venture that you know Stu, as he is known. After the conference, Gary and I stuck around for a couple more days. We intended to make our way up Spring Mountain, where the winery resides. But the road can be treacherous during inclement weather, and the clouds were not…

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Boutique Wine Must Buys – Part One

With the shutting down of tasting rooms throughout US wine regions, small family wineries are taking a hit. Yes, they have their club members and some other loyal fans, but the tasting rooms bring in new customers. So allow me to introduce you to some of my favorite family-operated wineries and the incredible boutique wine that they make.  There is something for every palate in this list. Please give them a try. And tell them that Strong Coffee to Red Wine sent you. Methven Family Vineyards Does Gamay and So Much More I had the pleasure of visiting Methven Family…

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Acquiesce Winery and Vineyard

A Virtual Tasting Opportunity Over the past couple of years, Acquiesce Winery kept popping up on my social media feeds. I am a big fan of white Rhône varietals so I was always intrigued by the glowing recommendations. One day in the midst of “sheltering-in-place”, I needed a mood booster, so I took the plunge and became a club member. This club is a six (6) bottle shipment, but if you bump it up to a case (12 bottles) you get free shipping.  As a result, I got at least one bottle of each of the nine single varietals and…

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In These Times of Covid

In these times of Covid-19, we are day drinking, evening drinking, night drinking, binge-watching, and binge eating. We are supporting our favorite, now empty restaurants with takeout, curbside, and deliveries while we stress eat in between those deliveries. We are stressed about running out of toilet paper even though this is not a gastrointestinal disorder. As we fret, we wonder what people used before the advent of TP, only to be disgusted by the custom of “eat with your right hand, wipe with your left.” We are standing in line to get into Costco and Trader Joe’s. Kudos to both…

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DTC Winery Tasting Rooms Are Empty…

Gary and I purchase a significant amount of wine from direct to consumer (DTC) wineries that we have visited, been referred to, or worked with doing local tasting parties.  Wine region economies are built on the backs of the DTC winery, and this pandemic is suffocating entire swaths of California, Oregon, etc.. Some of these wineries make less than 2,000 cases a year. For those, 100% of their business usually comes from sales in their tasting room and from consumers who join their wine club. (Winery wine clubs are super cool. But that is another post for another time.) Tasting…

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Wine Dinner – Innate Wines & Edmund’s Oast

Innate Wine Dinner at Edmund’s Oast If you are a wine enthusiast, one of the best value’s in Charleston is a Wine Dinner at Edmund’s Oast. I have attended at least five or six of these dinners. Each time they blow me out of the water, and I think that this is the best they have ever done. The reality is that they do the pairings so perfectly that your senses are in high gear. While last night was amazing, fun, delicious, perfectly paired, quenching, unique, and fantabulous. They all have been. You should make a point of getting on…

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Tastings, Wine Dinner, More Tastings: Pt. 1

Tuesday Wine Tastings Last week, we had my sister’s two dogs for eight days while they went skiing. If there were ever a time that we “needed” wine as much as we wanted wine, this would have been it. Don’t get me wrong; we loooovvvvve these puppies, but a 14-week-old can be a holy terror, and Aspen is no exception. Thankfully, Breezy is very patient with her, as are we.  The scheduling of the puppies and the wine events was a coincidence because we could not have planned this if we tried. But having several wine events, including two tastings…

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