The Charleston Wine and Food Festival (CWFF) has been a mainstay event in town for the past 13 years, but I had yet to attend. The event tickets are pricey and can add up quickly if you want to dig into the festivities. I decided this year I would stick my toe in the water and go to a couple of events and I am sure glad I did. Much of my experience this year was through connections with passes, but that will change next year because this was an absolute blast. This year’s festival started on Feb. 28th and ran through to March…
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Wines weekly are the wine selections that we have tried and enjoyed so much we needed to share them with you.
It’s Alive Yep, wine is as “alive” as any other agricultural product and can be affected by temperature fluctuations, movement, oxygen and many other factors. Think about it, wine changes as it ages so why not because it got jostled around on a ship as it crossed the pond from France or even after a week in a UPS truck from California to Charleston. There have been several times when we have purchased a new vintage of a wine that we have traditionally really liked. We pop the cork on that first bottle and think, “WHOA! what happened to this vintage?”…
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The other night at a dinner party a dear friend thanked me for turning him onto dry rosé wines. He said, At first, he only bought the brand that I shared with him but has since branched out and is trying and finding a slew of new rosé wines he loves. Additionally, the other day in a conversation with another friend she told me a similar story but then added that since she has started to go to the Strong Coffee to Red Wine wine tastings, she has learned that her wine palate is much broader than she ever imagined. As…
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In my last post, I introduced you to the affordable wines of Cariñena D.O.P in northwest Spain. If you missed it, you might want to go back and glance at it now. I was so impressed by these wines that I have been scouring the area wine shops for these super-value wines. Having found five wines at Trader Joe’s, I hosted an impromptu wine tasting with some friends and neighbors to help me evaluate these finds. Part Two: Finding Cariñena All of the wines are red. Four were blends, and one was a Tempranillo. Unfortunately, none were strictly Garnacha, but…
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Finding Cariñena: Part One At the Wine Blogger’s Conference back in November, I had the pleasure of attending a seminar presented by Lyn Farmer, a James Beard Award-winning wine and food writer about the Cariñena D.O.P. wine region in Spain. Never heard of it? Don’t feel bad; I am not sure many at the conference had either. Winemakers in the region have been producing wine for thousands of years, but doing so flying under the radar. Some of the larger producers in the area want to change that and have begun a big push for recognition. This seminar was one of the…
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Birthday Brunch We had a birthday brunch for my sister this past weekend and it was super fun. While all of the items were homemade, I am highlighting the Potato Stackers because I was shocked at how simple it was to make and how this makes such a great side dish that can really elevate your plate. It was a small family affair with great food, conversation, and wine. After brunch, we headed to the movie theater to see The Post. It is based on the actual events and government deceit at the time of the Vietnam War and how the…
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Whew! Thanksgiving, Hannukah, Christmas, New Years, and then Snow-mageddon. I need a drink! Good thing the January SC2RW wine tasting and social is set for January 18, 2018, at Monarch Wine Merchants. Justin, owner and wine man extraordinaire has put together a great line up of five fabulous pinot noir wines to taste and share. This tasting is that is not to be missed. Did you see the article in the Post & Courier last week about the “‘new’ wine school train of thought” and how Charleston has jumped on board? Monarch Wine Merchants is central to this story, so there is no better…
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I had lots of great responses to the pickled shrimp recipe that I posted last week. And just so you know I ate it for several days and while it evolved, it remained delicious to the bitter end. So now let’s talk about the beverages that we enjoyed on New Year’s Eve. Pickled Without Trying To be clear there is very little forethought that goes into what we drink on NYE. Every one of us brings several wines that we want to share. We then line it up and decide the order that it should be consumed based on our…
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