After we returned from our trip to South Africa I have been on the hunt to try as many Chin Blanc I can find. The styles vary by the different parts of the world. For example, the style of Chenin in Franc is more of a crispy non-barrel aged style. South Africa tends to be…
We were fortunate enough to be able to bring 24 bottles of wine from South Africa this year. Some of our friends asked how did you do that? I thought you could only bring back a few bottles through customs? Well, that is mostly true. You have two options, do not declare the wine or declare…
Pinot gris or sometimes called Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name (gris meaning “gray” in French) but the grapes can have a brownish pink to black and even white…
It’s not every day you find a great value. This one is priced great and is a truly lovely wine. My friend Roy from Z Wines gifted me the bottle to try. When Roy gifted me the bottle he did not tell me the price. He did mention is was an exclusive wine for a…
Summer time is a time I tend to drink White and Rosé wines. When it is warm outside I like the cool crisp wines. The big bold reds are more filling like a heavy beer. When we spent a month in South Africa I fell in love with a barrel fermented Chenin Blanc. We had…
Chardonnay is a versatile grape. There are so many things I winemaker can do with Chardonnay. The winemaker can ferment is stainless steel or in a neutral wine barrel. He can allow Malo-Lactic Fermentation MLF (many times called secondary fermentation). When a winemaker chooses MLF, the malic acid in the juice is converted to lactic…
I had the opportunity to visit some wineries during our stay in South Africa. David and Nicole had a free Saturday and wanted to join Chris and me. David had some wineries he wanted to visit so he took the lead. TOKARA was one of three wineries we visited that day. Entering the estate you…
Chenin Blanc is a variety I have become very fond of. During our trip to South Africa, I fell in love with it. I prefer barrel fermented Chenin over a stainless. There are few makers of Chenin in the United States. Of the ones I have tried they do not stand out in my opinion.…
Our first visit to Willamette Valley (Will-am-et) was over our Christmas break. Between December 27th and January 3rd we spent time with friends in Seattle. Martinique had to work Monday through Wednesday so Chris and I decided to break the trip up and drive south to Portland for a few days. Included in our Portland trip…
We held Chris’ company Christmas party early December so we could have many employees attend. The party was held at The Pour Wine Bistro in Otsego. We arrived early so we could choose some of the wines for dinner. We wanted two reds and two whites. The first white was a Chardonnay. It was crisp…
Every time we travel to Napa we make a point to drive to the Alexander Valley AVA in Sonoma. There are many great wineries and the quality of the wines are very good. The history of Alexander Valley dates back to 1841 when Cyrus Alexander arrived in an untamed valley to manage the Sotoyome Rancho, a Mexican…
When I started drinking wine, I was not a fan of white varietals. As time moves forward and I keep trying, I am really liking white wines. There are times I even prefer a good dry white wine over a red. If you have never tried older white wine seek out and find them. The…
