Recently, I had a neighbor tell me she was in a wine rut. She drinks the same two New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc wines all the time. They are available everywhere, very affordable, and consistently deliver what she likes in wine. Thus a wine that is light-bodied, low alcohol, bone dry, and high acidity. Aromas and flavors should be herbaceous and preferably grapefruity, but other citrus flavors are fine. She is looking to expand beyond New Zealand and beyond just Sauv. Blanc. So I chose a bunch of wine that could blast her out of her comfort zone. Oh, and she…
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I am always up for trying a “new to me” wine or, better yet, a new wine variety. The more unique, the better. Just yesterday, I picked up a bottle of Monte Rio 2019 Mission, Lodi, CA. I am super excited to try it as it is the first wine grape to be brought to the New World in the 16th century. More on that wine once we drink it. In our last post, you read that we drank our first Uruguayan wine. This week I have two more fun wines that were firsts for both of us. So without…
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A fellow beverage writer and consultant, Justin Koury of Bevfluence, put out the challenge of finding and tasting at least 5-6 wines that sell for under $13.00. This sounded like fun. So, we were definitely up for this challenge. Several other blogger friends also accepted the challenge. I was looking forward to what we each found. Each of us was assigned a different retailer that are regional or national chains. Additionally, I added a requirement to not buy national grocery store brands like Barefoot, Cupcake, Apothic, and others. Bottles, Mount Pleasant, is a 15,000 square foot “beverage superstore.” There are…
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This post continues to list some of my most memorable wines from 2020. As I said in my first post (which you can read here), if a wine is mentioned on my blog, it is worth seeking it out. That said, some stood out more than others, and that is what my two top 2020 wine posts are all about. So let’s continue, shall we? Memorable White Rhône Wines They Led Me Out of the Darkness! If you recall my journey into white wine, you may recall the memorable exchange I had in a tasting room in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. If you…
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As I look back on 2020 and the wine we consumed, we sampled some amazing juice. To be clear, if a specific wine was featured on our blog, it is one of the best we drank as many don’t make the cut. But the wine on this list is our favorite and most memorable for 2020. These wines are ones about which I can not stop thinking. These are wines that tick every box for what I love in a wine. These are also wines that shocked me. Shocked, insofar as I am usually not a big fan of that…
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I wanted this post’s title to be positive, so I chose the word “Pivot.” The only other words that represent 2020 I could think of was “sucked and shitshow.” And that it did and was. But because of that, I, we, many of us, if not all of us, had to pivot. You may have had to homeschool your kids, work from home, or both. I can not imagine how hard that must have been or still is. While we all had our own personal obstacles to overcome in 2020, there were also some valuable lessons. This post is a…
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Sip: Those special wines that fall into your lap or forgot that you even had. Taste: New wines to share with others. Chug: Doing what I did to get through the election and COVID-19. You may not have heard much from me lately, but I have been busy sipping, drinking, and tasting a lot of wine. Ok, not really chugging, but you know what I mean… I so wanted to chug sometimes. So let’s get to it. Sip This: 2016 “1886” Cabernet Sauvignon, Ehler Estate, St. Helena, Napa Valley Suffice it to say, when friends presented this wine to share…
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I used to drink a lot of Oregon Pinot Noir back in the day. And then I lost interest. Either my palate changed, the wines that I was drinking changed, or perhaps both. But I completely stopped drinking Oregon until my WWET Willamette Valley experience. And now, I thank my lucky stars that I had this opportunity. That trip re-introduced me to the region with a fresh set of eyes and ears- not to mention a more educated palate. After the trip, I have continued my wine tasting journey of Oregon wine. As such, you will hear a lot more…
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