Obligatory disclaimer: Everything consumed during this visit to Bella Grace Vineyards was free to me, including the companionship. The Havill Family In August, I accepted an invitation from the Dallas Wine Chick to join in on a day trip to Amador County’s Bella Grace Vineyards along with a handful of other wine bloggers. Our group
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This was my third year attending the Wines Bloggers Conference (WBC), and I feel like I’m getting the hang of the endless wine sampling challenge that it is — three to four days full of it, if you add an excursion! I’m still forgetting hair ties to assist with the spitting, though. Maybe I need
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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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It’s been two weeks since the 2015 Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC), my second WBC and my second time being truly impressed with the events that Zephyr Adventures organizes. The elite sponsors for this year’s WBC—the Finger Lakes Wine Country Tourism Marketing Association, Corning Enterprises, and the Elmira Corning Regional Airport—went above and beyond in introducing
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Virginia Wine Tasting at the Fox Liquor Bar Back in July, I attended a wine tasting event at the Angus Barn promoting wineries from Virginia. It was very informative and a great preparation for my trip to Charlottesville a few weeks later. Well, the VA Wine Board was back in town a week and a
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Torrontes Dolce 1591 La Rioja, Argentina Sparkling Torrontes! Hooray! Torrontes quickly fought its way to the top of my favorite white wine varietals, so trying a sparkling version is trés exciting. This bottle has a fun purple rubber cork that contrasts with the simple, elegant label design, but I think that just makes it all
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Vouvray Brut Le Bouchet Loire Valley, France This sparkling wine (someday, I’m going to buck tradition and just start calling them all champagne, but that day is not today) is made from 100% chenin blanc grapes. It’s light in texture and full of tight bubbles. Sweetness is rampant among the kiwi, grapefruit, and almond notes.
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Cava Brut Gran Sarao Spain This sparkling wine has a thin-body and lots and lots of bubbles. It’s very refreshing with light flavors of green apple and a dash of something floral for good measure. There might be some orange mingling in it also. It’s a simple wine but simply good, too.

Jujube, Chapel Hill $40 per plate Last Tuesday, I had the pleasure of attending another Jujube wine dinner—it had been a while! These dinners are kept affordable by profiling wines in the $10 to $20 range from the Hope Valley Bottle Shop crew, of which Drew did the sommelier honors this evening. Alas, I was
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Lambrusco Dell ‘Emilia Bianco Le Grotte Emilia-Romagne, Italy This sparkling white wine, with a very pretty label if I do so say myself, smells of kiwi, guava, and ume fruit. That nose promises more fruit than it delivers on. What it does have in plenty is sugar; I would call it a dessert wine though
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