After last week’s post – Dear New Wine Drinker – I realized that I should give my Charleston reader’s information about the independent wine retailers where I shop. These are the places where I buy wine for Gary and me and my concierge clients and some wine tastings. There are times I visit two or three of them on a single wine buying trip because they all offer something that the other does not. To categorize, I would say that my primary stores are The Wine Shop of Charleston and Edmund’s Oast Exchange. These two stores work hard at relationship…
1 CommentStrong Coffee to Red Wine Posts
Dear New Wine Drinker is a six-minute read. A FB group that I belong to is called WINE. There are 26,100+ members. Many are newbies to wine that know very little about it but obviously want to learn more (or why would they be a member in the first place). A group member recently made his very first post on the page. As you can see, his thread merely said, “Just bought this, and it turned out to be very good.” And the flood gates opened. He was ridiculed shamelessly by a bunch of wine snobs. Others made suggestions about…
Leave a Comment
Suisun Valley Part One – A seven-minute read. This is part one of a four-part series. If you are like most folks, you have probably never heard of Suisun Valley. But, just for fun, let’s assume you did not see the title of this blog post. Ok, quickly, name every wine region, AVA, or nested AVA you can think of in California. On your mark. Get set. GO! The first name out of most folks’ mouths would probably be Napa Valley and then Sonoma. After that, it starts to get dicey depending on your wine enthusiasm for details. Depending on what…
Leave a Comment
#WIMG is a seven-minute read. Ok, folks, We have drunk some unique and delicious wine this month, so it is time to share what we have posted on Instagram for all of you social-media-free folks. And for those who are not hashtag-aware, #wimg means “what’s in my glass.” #WIMG Aridus Sauvignon Blanc 2019, Cochise County, Arizona I am very, very selective when it comes to Sauvignon Blanc. The flavor grapefruit and grassy profiles are typically not a match for me. I received this bottle from Aridus Wine Co in Willcox, AZ, as a sample, and I was prepared not to enjoy…
Leave a Comment
Vintage to Vintage is a 3½-minute read. First, let’s make it clear what vintage is. It is the year that the grapes were grown and crushed to make wine. If there is not a vintage date on your bottle, that means that the winemaker blended grape juice from multiple years together to make that bottling of wine. This is common practice with Champagne to create a consistent flavor profile from year to year. These wines are called Non-Vintage. This practice is less common with still wine unless you drink some of the low-end, industrially made mass-produced wines. For most folks,…
Leave a Comment
Bokisch Vineyards has been on my radar for a few years now. So when my friend Allison told me that they were on the agenda to visit last May, I was thrilled. Unfortunately, then it looked like they could not fit us into their schedule (it was Mother’s Day weekend!) before we headed to the second leg of this trip, Sonoma. At which point Markus and Liz Bokisch (co-owners) invited us to their home Monday morning for a breakfast wine tasting before we head to Sonoma. A “breakfast wine tasting?” Why not! So sure enough, at 8:30 am, we arrived…
Leave a Comment
As a wine enthusiast, I can go a tad overboard on my gadgets and specialty items. However, I am always game to try something that claims to enhance my wine-drinking experience. I have tried many items you will never find on the blog, but these… These are essential. You might use the items in this post as future gift ideas for you or your wine enthusiast but trust that I have used every one of these items. In the post, I will also explain why they are deemed essential to me. Red Wine Enthusiast WHY -> Saves You TIME Wine…
2 Comments
Zhuzhing up Basic Costco Buys Costco is my favorite store. Yes, we are a household of two, but I can not imagine not shopping there. I especially like shopping at Costco because they have some products that can easily turn into something even better than what they intended. And these products save me lots of time. For example, I often make the food pairings for our wine tastings from Costco buys. Below are several creations that I have made that are now fan-favorites. I created the first two appetizers for the recent Pedroncelli Wine Tasting I hosted last Thursday. These…
2 Comments
This is a five (5) minute read I have never turned around a post as quickly as this one. EVER. Last evening, (Tues., July 20th), we went to Savi Cucina and Wine Bar for their Antinori Wine Dinner. We were both overwhelmed on so many levels. First, this was our first wine dinner here in Charleston since March of 2020, thanks to Covid. Second, it was our first wine dinner at Savi since we joined their Wine Society last July. And lastly, the six courses were absolutely delicious, and the wines paired exquisitely. I do not know what more we…
Leave a Comment