The History Last spring, I had the pleasure of visiting Bodegas Aguirre Winery for the first time. Obligatory disclaimer: This was an invitation extended to media, and thus, free to me. Located in the Livermore Valley, which is a historic Californian wine region, Bodegas Aguirre is the passion project of cardiac surgeon Ricardo Aguirre. Dr.
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McCay Trulux Zinfandel 2014 Lodi, CA If Anne Shirley’s cherry cordial was blackberry instead, this is exactly how I imagine it. Medium-bodied with a nose full of very dark, extra ripe berries. I want to make a syrup with it and pour it over pancakes or maybe reduce it with vinegar for a tasty drizzle.
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KickAss Britchen Red Paso Robles, CA Non-vintage $29 The KickAss label invokes the lighter side of winemaking for AronHill Vineyard’s owner, Judy Aron. The back label declares its inspirations proudly: “Life is all about ASS. You are either covering your ASS, laughing your ASS off, kicking ASS, kissing ASS, busting ASS, trying to get a
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Zinfandel is the best grape out there, as far as Duane David Dappen, owner and winemaker of D-Cubed Cellars, is concerned. As he’s been making wine since 4-H club, he’s had plenty of time to make up his mind! Duane worked at other esteemed wineries early on in his career, but making zinfandel under the
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Early this year, I attended the San Francisco leg of the Association for the Promotion of Wines and Spirits in North America (APVSA) tour of the USA. The Once Upon a Wine tour was this year’s chance for the European labels represented by the APVSA to introduce their wares to potential distributors and importers. Attending
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Stellina 2012 Reserve Old Vine Zinfandel Lodi, CA Stellina 2012 Reserve Old Vine Zinfandel comes from Estate Crush, a custom crush facility producing a great many small lot wines from grapes in the Lodi area of California. They sell wine from the Stellina Estate Vineyard under their own Estate Crush label. Its nose offers a
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The Zinfandel Advocates & Producers (ZAP) association, website here, is one of the most active wine organizations I’ve come across in my decade’s worth of food and drink blogging. If you’re a zinfandel lover like myself, you’ll be interested in all the great events they put on during the year. The next one coming up
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For my last post on the 2017 Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC), I want to highlight the caviar tasting experience Jordan Winery has developed with Tsar Nicoulai Farms. I tried both during a WBC Friday night excursion dinner, which means the food and drink enjoyed was offered at a very steep discount to me <—  Yes,
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Obligatory disclaimer: This tasting of Turiya Wines was free to me. I spent my formative years on the Central Coast, in Santa Maria, California. While I lived there, I had no idea it was a wine-growing region. My family is conservative, religious stock – having a drink is as likely to bring forth admonitions about
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Chateau Montelena Calistoga Zinfandel 2014 Calistoga, CA Obligatory disclaimer: I received this bottle of Chateau Montelena Calistoga Zinfandel 2014 as a free sample for review. The Wine This Napa Valley zinfandel was aged in Irish oak barrels, which is a highly unusual choice for Californian winemaking. It smells like a candy that doesn’t exist but
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