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Jordan Throws the Best Parties

Jordan Throws the Best Parties

I used to think that I didn't like caviar, but at Jordan Winery I learned I was wrong. For the Wine Bloggers Conference last year about 30 of us had the incredible opportunity to do a paired caviar and wine tasting, along with a full winemaker's dinner at Jordan Winery. The wine and caviar pairing was a modified version of their Champagne and Caviar Tasting. My favorite was the Truffled Whitefish, followed closely by the Beet and Saffron Whitefish. The caviar was by Tsar Nico

FEAST on this

FEAST on this

Normally when I'm writing about wines from states outside of California I don't have the benefit of actually being in those states to taste the wines, but earlier this month I got to visit Oregon. I've been enjoying Oregon wines for a number of years but somehow have never actually been to Oregon (in adulthood). This trip was inspired by a desire to see friends and a desire to go to FEAST Portland an annual food and wine event sponsored by Bon Appétit. I had wanted to attend

Happy Pinot Noir Day

Happy Pinot Noir Day

Today marks Pinot Noir day, possibly my favorite made up holiday. Last week, in anticipation of today I did a vertical tasting of the 2007, 2010 and 2013 Kendric Vineyards Pinot Noir with my dad. Kendric Vineyards is run by Stewart Johnson and named after his father. Most of his grapes (and all of his Pinot Noir) comes from Marin County, just south of the more infamous Sonoma county. The 2007 was perfectly smooth and well balanced, it reminded me of crushed velvet as I sipped

Picnic Wines

Picnic Wines

The weather is getting hotter so this July 4th I'm focusing on two white wines from South America. Today I tasted a Montes Sauvignon Blanc and a Kaiken Torrontés with my good friend Kathleen in Santa Cruz. Aurelio Montes Sr, helped found Viña Montes wines with Douglas Murray, Alfredo Vidaurre and Pedro Grand in 1988 and in 2001 he formed Kaiken with his son Aurelio Montes Jr. Across both labels are several vineyards located in both Chile and Argentina. Montes focuses on Cab

Golden Grape Warriors

Golden Grape Warriors

People who follow my blog may notice I'm on Instagram much more than I am here. As a working mom it can be really challenging to find the time to sit down and write out detailed reviews. You know what else is challenging? Keeping track of those notes. A few months ago I had the honor of joining Raquel on the Oakland Urban Wine Trail with See.Eat.Love. I was excited about writing a post after sharing images all day on Instagram and when I sat down to write about it, I couldn't

Choo Choo...All aboard the (Monterey) Wine Trolley

Choo Choo...All aboard the (Monterey) Wine Trolley

My birthday is this week. My two best friends and I had planned to spend the weekend before in Big Sur, but the destruction of the Pfeiffer Canyon bridge put some dampers on that plan. So instead we decided to go to Monterey and devote a whole day to wine tasting. Nobody wanted to be the designated driver so we opted to take the Monterey Wine Trolley. The tour runs daily with pickup at 11 a.m. and return at 4 p.m. Prices range from $109 to $175 per person but all tiers includ

Howdy Texas!

Howdy Texas!

One of my favorite parts of the Wine Bloggers Conference a couple weeks ago was meeting people from different parts of the United States and the World. One of those people was the Dallas Wine Chick and I regret not having more time to talk with her about just how exciting Texas wine is becoming. The Wine Bloggers Conference was the same weekend as TEXSOM, which is probably where most Texas wine lovers were. McPherson Cellars is located in Lubbock and their 2015 Piquepoul Blan

Wine Journaling

Wine Journaling

Last month I spent a week in the woods outside of Yosemite with (almost) no wi-fi. It's an annual tradition in my family to visit Camp Mather. Camp Mather is a family camp where you can choose from an array of activities while you attempt to relax. As a working mom the biggest perk for me is that someone else cooks all the meals for the week. My dad was able to get a sneak peek of the menu and we set out together pairing our wine choices for lunch and dinner. Originally I was

First Up Indiana

First Up Indiana

When people think of the wine regions of America they probably think of the Napa Valley first and then several other regions of California. They may also think of regions in Washington like Columbia Valley and regions in Oregon like Willamette Valley but they probably don’t think of Indiana. People in Indiana probably don’t think of it as a wine growing region but it is. You can actually find wine produced in all fifty states. So for 2016 I hope you will join me on a virtual

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Another Trip to Livermore

Another Trip to Livermore

Howdy Missouri - Part 2

Howdy Missouri - Part 2

Picnic Wines

Picnic Wines

Red, White and Blue?

Red, White and Blue?

Back from Hiatus

Back from Hiatus

Howdy Texas!

Howdy Texas!

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