Should I ask most general public wine drinkers, their favorite white wine, one answer will undoubtedly be, I only drink red wine. Although I used to be that person, it puts a frown on my face because I now know what those red only drinkers are missing. The next four replies will be, in no particular order, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling. And the frown will still be hanging on my face because there are so many others that make beautiful, affordable white wines. Janice Robinson, one of the most widely known wine writers in the world, lists…
Leave a CommentCategory: White wine
Before we get to the Pinot Gouges (pronounced pea-no gooj-zz), allow me to share. As you can tell from the subject matter from my blog posts since March, we have been writing mostly about wine as I have not been cooking, baking, or otherwise doing more than boiling a hot dog or melting some cheese on Dorritos. Clearly, the latter two listed are not blog-worthy. In contrast, others are cooking up a storm and creating like never before. I am microwaving precooked bacon or precooked hamburgers. It seems that the stress of the pandemic has affected the creative, adventurous part…
Leave a Comment
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…
Leave a Comment
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…
1 Comment
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…
1 Comment
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…
Leave a Comment
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…
4 Comments
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…
Leave a Comment