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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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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… Especially Riesling About one month ago in the post In These Times of Covid, I highlighted several of the wines we had been drinking so far during the lockdown. I also asked if there were any that you’d be interested in learning more. A reader commented and asked about the Brooks Winery 2018 Rosé of Pinot Noir. Brooks Winery has such a compelling history. So, in addition to sharing my notes of their rosé, I thought there might also be interest in the winery. So without further adieu, this is Brooks Winery… “I’m not afraid to die, but I’m…
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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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… in the Time of COVID-19 Since Gary and I typically buy wine 12 bottles at a time (for the case discount), we are never out of wine. The current inventory stands at 60 bottles of white and rosé and 70 bottles of red. But where we do our local wine shopping is super important to us. As we manage our way through the quarantines in this time of COVID-19, it is essential to support our friends locally. Each of these stores is doing curbside pickup and phone orders. Supporting Your Local Wine Shop Locally, we are big fans of…
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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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Let’s Talk Varietals I have told this story hundreds of times. Years ago, while at a winery in France the host poured white wine for all, but I stopped her and said: “I don’t like white wine.” She was gobsmacked and responded with “No, that is not true. You have just not found the white wines that match your palate.” I was taken aback. How could that be? I frequently tried the white wines other folks were drinking and I was not a fan. Then she handed me a glass of Family Quiot Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. It was a blend of…
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Our favorite wines of 2019 offered a few surprises. For me, the biggest surprise was that two of the top four are California Chardonnays. Let me be clear; Gary loves Chardonnay but prefers French. But for me, of all the white wine varietals that I have tasted, Chardonnay is (was) one of my least favorite. Now that does not mean I am an ABC (Anything But Chardonnay) drinker. It’s just that my history with Chardonnay has been fraught with too much oak and, or too much butter. Both Gary and I are thrilled that the trend is moving away from…
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