An Anniversary to Remember (with Wine!)

 Dear Readers, 

I am ashamed that it's been so very long since I last updated this blog. Life circumstances found us drinking less wine (alas), and having little to no time to do much else. Still, better late than never. And this time, I bring out a bottle that has been sitting in our wine fridge for over a decade. 

As readers may recall, my enjoyment of wine really began during my honeymoon in Napa and Sonoma. We visited during a very calm part of the year (after Harvest, but before the holiday rush), and had the wonderful opportunity to talk with owners or vintners at each of the wineries we visited (which were largely quiet). First among those wineries that we visited was Spring Mountain. A private estate in Napa, it is best known for housing the Victorian Era home in which Falcon's Crest was filmed. 

We didn't know about this gem - but had it arranged by us by the place we were staying. Years later, we haven't met many people who've ever been. We drove in to the private drive and up to the beautiful house, where we were then given a walking tour of the Estate with delicious sips of wine in hand. As we left, they gave us a few parting gifts in honor our wedding, and we bought two bottles of their Elivette. 

Ten years later, amid a global pandemic and wondering how we could celebrate our 10th anniversary, when we couldn't even so much as get a babysitter, we decided what better way to celebrate. We ordered from a local, Italian restaurant, and decanted this lovely bottle of red. 

And it was worth the wait. The wine was so smooth, and it just got better with every sip. Juicy, with currant and blackberry notes, and a deep almost purple hue, it delighted us both. It was also one of those wines that tasted amazing the next day - with an even smoother aftertaste and well-rounded bouquet and finish that was neither too earthy nor too sweet. 

If you are ever in Napa and looking for a smaller, but wonderful vineyard to visit I highly recommend Spring Mountain. While maybe not the cheapest bottle of wine, it is worth the splurge. As we sat and reflected on ten years together, our memories heightened with the wine. In a year such as this, the words of the people we met on our honeymoon ring so true, "Good wine is meant to be enjoyed with those you love." And while we didn't necessarily follow their add-on advice to not wait for a special occasion to enjoy a good bottle of wine, the wait was definitely worth it. 

A tasty Petit Verdot and a Zin just because...

In the midst of the dog days of summer, it seems almost sacrilegious to write about anything but a chilled glass of bubbly or a tasty, dry white to cool ones body and spirit. And yet, my newest post is to rave about some awesome rich, red wines.

The first is a 2012 Petit Verdot from Cooper Vineyards. I visited Cooper nearly a year and a half ago during the New Years holidays. Some friends had rented a house in Lake Annah and we spent our days hiking and then looking for a place to warm our taste-buds. Enter Cooper Vineyards. Located near the small town of Louisa, Cooper sits off a country road - the entrance to which gives the wine seeker a beautiful scene of the entirety of the winemaking grounds. He tatting room is decidedly and surprisingly modern - and I believe boasts a LEED designation - or at the very least it looks like it ought to. When I visited the Christmas decorations and lights still abounded, and it was a quiet but warm atmosphere.

The wines were really excellent - so much so that I was surprised I hadn't heard of them before my visit. Anyway fast forwards to two weeks ago when I was making some BBQ chicken. I was looking for something to go with the grill sand picked the Petit Verdot. To be honest I had forgotten the flavor of the wine but we were not disappointed. It was a rich, luscious flavor and very jammy; almost with hints of blackberry. It paired well with the BBQ, though it overpowered the chicken ever so slightly. But it had to have been one of the best VA reds I've had in recent history. We had it a day or two later and it held the flavor very well.

The second bold wine I had was 90+ Zinfandel. I was out running some errands when I stopped by a local wine bar, Screwtop. The sister store to my favorite place, Grateful Red (which, alas, shut down a few months back), I told the bartender I was looking for something different. Everything in me on this 90+ degree day wanted a white, bubby or rose wine. But I decided to go with this Zin. It was just a darn good glass of wine. I brought it home to have with some bison/beef hamburgers I was making that night and it was very tasty. I forgot to take a picture so I don't have what year it was - or the exact name. But look for a bottle with 90+ on the label in red. Totally worth it, and affordable too! It was about $13 or so if memory serves me correctly.

Enjoy these w/ your BBQ dishes and happy last dog days of summer.

Celebrations and Champagne!

So to be a bit cliche, I love a good champagne with a celebration. But not any champagne - for a while I've been nearly obsessed with finding various Rose Champagnes. One of my favorite that I've had is Chandon's Rose. And its not just because of its light taste and refreshing feeling but also the memories.

The first trip to Napa (while on Honeymoon) was at Chandon's restaurant. While I believe this picture is a Pinot Noir - our first clink of the glasses on our honeymoon was a Rose. It was one of those moments where I had the epiphany of what great wine tastes like. I was also pleasantly surprised at how good a Rose champagne was - I had grown up on the Zinfandel wines in a box. I know it sounds silly but it is the truth!

I just recently had another bottle, this time from a friend as a gift celebrating the birth of our baby. I'll admit that I had been hankering for a rose champagne nearly the entire time I was pregnant, even stating I would have a glass at the hospital right after the baby's delivery. While that wasn't quite the case, I truly enjoyed the bottle as it both recalled my first trip to Napa on Honeymoon and was a promise of things to come. And as an added bonus, the Chandon also sells for about $20 - $25 depending on the retailer, so while it is a bit on the more expensive side, it won't break the bank for those special, romantic occasions.

Also a favorite of ours is Schramsburg sparkling wines. Now while they are more difficult to find outside of California, you can usually find them on the East Coast in a Safeway Market. We often pick up a bottle (they retail for $25-$35 for their Blanc de Blanc) for special occasions for friends. They make a wonderful present for an engagement, a new baby or some other special occasion.  Just look for the little frog guy holding glasses on the label.  :)  

So yes while I would recommend any old brut for a mimosa or other cocktail, these are two wines that really stand on their own!

Cool newsletter to check out: VinePair

Hi all,

Just a quick post. I recently discovered this website called Vine Pair. It has a lot of neat articles it sends out to subscribers. From what I've seen the type of articles it includes varies.

My spouse sent me a link to this interesting article about a man who has been successful being a venture capitalist in various vineyards in California. Now while this blog is definitely not aimed at those who can make or come anywhere close to buying a $750 bottle of wine, some of his thoughts on what makes for a successful wine business are quite interesting. You can find the link here.

The other item I saw that just made me laugh was this map of the US according to what we drink. It just was fun. Enjoy!

Credit to VinePair: http://vinepair.com/wine-blog/united-states-of-alcohol-map/?utm_source=The+Drop+by+VinePair&utm_campaign=c2f80a35a9-Welcome_To_VinePair_09_2015&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b653fb8c99-c2f80a35a9-45378145

Thanks to Vine Pair for such interesting tidbits! I look forward to following your news and information.

Not that kind of sixpack!

Around the holidays, our local wine store (Grateful Red) offered a "six-

pack" of a most wonderful variety: wine. Within that six-pack they offered six different wines from Riebeek Cellars out of South Africa.

I had had one or two Riebeek Cellars wines here and there at a dinner party and very much enjoyed them. This time we've only had the chance to open up one bottle and that was the 2013 Pinotage. We had it with a friend the day after Thanksgiving, while eating - you guessed it - leftover Thanksgiving dinner.

It was very fruity - especially the next day, with a big hint of berry on it. And it was quite enjoyable. The best part for us however, was the discussion centering around what really was a Pinotage? As the bottle was slowly emptied our theories became a bit silly. Though the most popular vote was a blend of  Pinot Noir and Meritage grapes, we were rather surprised by the actual answer.

Turns out the Pinotage grape is a variety native to South Africa, and results from a blend of the Pinot Noir grape (not that surprising) with the Hermitage (or Cinsaut) grape. The Cinsaut grape started in France and slowly worked its way into the French Colonies in Africa and down to South Africa. Which makes sense. The wine itself had some blend-like qualities, somewhat similar to a Bordeaux but I thought had a bolder flavor. It also got a lot jammier the longer it was left open - and was almost purple in its color.

Who would have thought? So yes it was a very good wine, and I think retails for just over $10.00. Very worthwhile. At any rate, I will let folks know how the other Riebeek Cellars bottles were once we try them. Also stay tuned for an article on our lovely local Wine Store sometime soon.

ps- thanks to the http://www.pinotage.co.za/index.php/about-pinotage for the helpful information!

A wonderful surprise in Pittsburgh - wine!

A few months ago I had the pleasure to attend a conference in Pittsburgh. It was my first time going to the city, and between the sessions for the conference, pretzels, pirogi and Primanti Brothers, I also took some time to explore the city.

An advertisement in the airport directed my attention to the Pittsburgh Winery, located in the Strip District. One afternoon, overwhelmed by the conference, I decided I would venture down there to explore.

The owners, having studied wine making at UC Davis, wanted to bring their love of California wine to the Midwest... They ship the grapes whole to Pittsburgh, where they proceed through the entire wine-making process in their facilities. Their experiment in my mind was a success.

Now I will go ahead out there and say when I walked into the winery, I didn't expect much. I mean this is PA - not really known for their wines. I was the only person there on a very cold early spring afternoon, but that gave me the time to really try the wines, and get to know some of the staff and it was the best winery experience I had in a long while. Housed in an old building, the ground floor is the main tasting room where for $10 you could try a number of their wines.  On the day I visited I had the following:

2014 Sauvignon Blanc from Suisun Valley, CA
Red Blend, CA
2011 Petite Sirah, from Suisun Valley, CA
2011 Zinfandel, from Lodi, CA
2011 Malbec, from Curico Chile
2012 Cabernet Sauvignon "Reserve" from Napa Valley.

I was surprised as the two varieties from the Suisun Valley were newer blends to me and quite delicious. I ended up shipping home a bottle of the Sauvignon Blanc and the Zinfandel  - which we just opened recently. It had a beautiful smoky nose, and a mild finish. It was a little "new" tasting, but the day or two after we opened the bottle had a deep jam sweetness that was just incredible.

Another great thing about the Pittsburgh Winery? It's downstairs space! It was so neat that I would love to head there some Friday evening the next time I'm in town. And from what I recall they have weekly live events that keep the place jamming until the wee hours of the morning.

The Pittsburgh Winery

2815 Penn Ave

Pittsburgh, PA  15222

https://www.pittsburghwinery.com/

Kudos to Kaz!

The blogger and Kaz, as he crushes his grapes

I have been meaning to write this post for quite a while... I have to admit that I am krazy about Kaz Winery! I was first introduced to Kaz while out in Sonoma in 2012. A favorite trick of ours when travelling out and about to wineries is to ask the person doing our tasting who we should check out. You almost always get suggestions of wineries that aren't as well known, but have amazing wines.

At any rate, we were out tasting and someone mentioned that we should check out Kaz Wineries, saying that he takes organic to a whole new level - and that he truly makes wine according to his own way. And that is saying something coming from another Sonoma vintner. Located not far from Naked Wines and Chateau St. Jean, Kaz Winery is unlike anything else.

Upon driving up a sunny November afternoon, we found Kaz prepping his latest harvest for bottling. The old fashioned way, that is... using a hand-crusher to take grapes that had been fermenting for two weeks and prepping them for bottling.

He greeted us warmly and said, "Oh I hope you folks don't mind if we do our tasting while I get some of this work done before the day goes by." So we proceeded to do our tasting combined with moving in and out of the tasting room while he proceeded to crush the grapes. I forget what he was crushing that day, but they had been fermenting for about two weeks. He let us even put our tasting glasses under the barrel to try, quite literally, the freshest pressed wine I had ever had.

We spent a good part of our afternoon there, staying to take in some lunch too. But the fun was not over. Before we left, we even were able to bottle some of his wine for our own personal collection - getting to pick the label from his collection. The artist who makes his labels is amazing, by the way. Each one has a very tongue-in-cheek joke and hilarious illustrations.

 All in all I would go back again (we just drank the last bottle, alas!). Again, I say Kudos to Kaz!!

Our last bottle of Kaz's Wine - one that we got to bottle ourselves!

**Blogger's note: Since I last checked, Kaz has actually 'gone underground' according to his website. He is helping a friend start a production in Lake County, from the looks of things. The location of his winery (where we visited and met Kaz) is now the home of La Rochelle. But you can still taste his wines and buy them online! I highly encourage it!!