The vast majority of wine purchased in the United States is consumed within a few days of purchase. A tiny minority of wine drinkers actually manage to “put down” wine for enjoyment later. But why buy wine if you’re not going to drink it right away? It turns out that good things that come to those who wait.
We are very excited about the Taste of Calaveras wine event that is now just around the corner! On Saturday, April 16, more than 40 Calaveras County wineries come together to celebrate fine wine, great food and the arts.
It was pouring rain in Santa Rosa! That may have kept the amateur wine tasters away, but our tasting tour was in full swing. Our next stop? The picturesque tasting room for the Hanna Winery.
The Hook & Ladder Winery has been on our “must taste” list for several years, but a series of events have conspired to keep us away. We recently braved the savage (for California) rains to visit their tasting room. Not even pouring rain could dampen our enthusiasm!
We love visiting small wineries! Sometimes these small wineries come with big reputations. That was certainly the case when we visited Carol Shelton’s winery. She is widely regarded as the most awarded winemaker in the United States. A few tastes later we understood.
After building their reputation with a tasting room in Alameda, R&B Cellars made a big move, trading one view of the bay for another. We were privileged to attend their recent grand opening event, celebrating their new facility at the very tip of Port Richmond.
Some of our most cherished gifts are experiences, rather than things. Especially as our home runs short of storage, having the memory of a shared experience becomes all the more dear. Recently we enjoyed a gift that we received last Christmas: an evening of Italian food, wine and cheese in San Francisco. What a fantastic time!
We love (LOVE!) visiting wineries and tasting their wine. Meeting the winemaker and staff, learning about their point of view, understanding the journey that the wine took on its way to our glass, it all adds to our enjoyment. Only rarely do we have a wine in our home that was not purchased in a tasting room. A holiday gift of wine was an unexpected chance to break out from our pattern. It gave us a chance to taste and learn about a new winery: Joel Gott Wines.
Port, the beverage rather than the nautical direction, has long been the subject of admiration and desire. Believed by some to cure the common cold (or maybe just me?), this wonderful variant on a wine theme combines the delightfulness of the grape with the ruggedness of a distilled spirit. Do you know port’s back story?
Rosenblum Cellars is the Grand Dame of the Oakland Urban Wine Trail. With an amazing position on the bay at Jack London Square, it provided an amazing setting for our sunset wine tasting.
It is Academy Awards time again. There’s a lot to like: the red carpet, the bizarre interviews on the way into the venue, the “interesting” clothing choices of the attendees. Oh, and there’s an award show, too, with skits, songs, awkward crowd takes, bumbled teleprompter moments, and award winners who won’t leave the stage. How can an evening of entertainment like this be improved? Watching the entire spectacle Wine Tasting Bliss style!