In May, I was invited to take part in celebrating 30 years of the Lodi Winegrape Commission (website) with a virtual wine tasting of recent releases from some of the Commission’s participating wineries. Obligatory disclaimer: That means the wines I’m reviewing in this post were free to me. I was first introduced to the Lodi AVA
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This past April, I took my first deep dive into New Zealand wine. Yes, I’ve had plenty before, but I hadn’t had the chance to explore them at depth until New Zealand Winegrowers, the national organization representing all 1,500 NZ-based winegrowers and wineries, invited me to this tasting. Obligatory disclaimer: That means I paid nothing
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The Wine Road is a professional association of over 250 wineries and lodgings based in northern Sonoma County. At 40 years and counting, it’s rather long-lived for a California wine country organization! The Wine Road is also a Taste Award-winning, biweekly podcast from hosts Marcy Gordon and Beth Costa. Beth has been the executive director
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At summer’s onset, I took part in a press trip to Lodi, CA, a wine region I’ve become happily familiar with over the last year. Took part means I tried all the wines and enjoyed all the experiences mentioned in this post courtesy of the Visit Lodi tourism bureau – and I was not compensated
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Bon Affair is a new wine product from Jayla Siciliano, who funded the project through Shark Tank, ABC’s television show where entrepreneurs meet up with investors. In 2014, Mark Cuban agreed to invest $150,000 in the company for a 35% share. Now, Bon Affair offers sauvignon blanc and syrah versions of its unique wine spritzer.
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At the tail-end of my 2014 Wine Bloggers Conference experience, I stopped in at Cimarone Winery. I’d heard of them through Twitter, as the winery’s social media (@cimarone) did a great job letting us bloggers know they were in nearby Los Olivos and would be offering a special tasting for us if we ever had
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My favorite educational session at the Wine Bloggers Conference 2014 (WBC14) was assuredly our introduction to the Ballard Canyon AVA. This region of Santa Barbara County was just designated as an appellation in October 2013. If this panel and tasting were any indication, Ballard Canyon’s winemakers and their syrahs are ready to prowl. Patrick Comiskey
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This is the first of several posts covering my experience at the Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC14) held in Buellton, CA, last weekend. I’ll feature one per week, likely through August, and why not start with what’s most important to me? Naturally, that’s the wines themselves. Over the course of the conference, I tasted around 70
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Goats in Villages Shiraz Pinotage South Africa Note: No vintage I could see. The artwork on this bottle of wine and the playfulness of the distributor’s name — Goats Do Roam — charm me. For Trader Joe’s, this is a high-end bottle at $9.99. Smells like blackberry gumdrops with a hint of licorice. I haven’t
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Red Diamond Shiraz 2009 Washington State This Shiraz has the most interesting nose I’ve smelled in a while. It’s full of leather and juicy blackberry. The wine itself is much thinner than expected for a Shiraz, but it’s nicely matured. Blackberry swoops up then is replaced with whipped cream and spices. Pink peppercorn, a hint
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