Every Monday, discover new wines, regions, and ways to understand this fermenting sea.
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Munching Vidal Blanc on Keuka Lake, New York
Author Archives: waywardwine
Across Time and Space: Olga Raffault Les Picasses Chinon Cabernet Franc 2010
Four years ago, my wife and I landed in Tours on the Loire River in France. The city jumbled modern and medieval comfortably. Our ’70’s dorm sat a few blocks from “an indoor market, rioting with vendors, that provides … Continue reading
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An Amarone for October: Le Ragose 2007
Cold fixes in this side of the hemisphere. Leaves catch fire. Grey and rain dampen the ether. It is not Port season yet. But it is Fall. And I have the perfect wine.
Fly to Valpolicella, valley of many cellars. In the hills overlooking fair Verona grow swaths of vines. The Galli family tend 70 terraced acres near 1,200 feet above sea level: the highest in the region. They bought the abandoned vineyard in 1969. Here, it is dry, above the fog line, cool yet sunny: perfect for appassimento, aka grape-drying. Continue reading
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Tagged Amarone, Corvina, drink, Galli, grapes, italy, Oak, travel, Valpollicella, verona, wine
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Fall Calls For Dessert Wine: Kracher Beerenauslese 2011 Austria
Finally, Fall comes to the Northwest. With it, like leaves on a tree, I shed my need for crisp, light, whites and reds. It is not cold yet for Port mind you. But a small glass of something sweet and complex to slowly sip away the cool evenings is in order. Continue reading
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Tagged Austria, Beerenauslese, chardonnay, drink, Fall, Kracher, pinot girs, Welschriesling, wine
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A Wild Fall White Wine: Nino Negri, Ca’Brione, Valtellina, Italy 2015
For all intents and purposes, it is basically Fall. Actually Halloween as my wife started decorating in August. But with temperatures dropping and rain falling, I want a white wine with some meat on its bones. Tired of the same old Chardonnay? Then you have come to the right post.
Let us fly to the crown of Italy, 30 minutes from Switzerland, where the valley of Valtellina slices open a couple Alps. Continue reading
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Tagged Ca'Brione, chardonnay, drink, Food, Incrocio Mazione, italy, Sauvignon blanc, travel, valtellina, White wine
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Virginian Wine is for Lovers? Drinking Local -VS- Trendsetting
My wife’s conference brings baby and I to Virginia. We stay in Alexandria: namesake of our ten month old and posh tourist excursion from Washington DC.
“Really Dad?”
Now, with a week to kill, between eponymous photo-ops, I explore Alexandria’s wine shops and bottle bars. Years have passed since I last sold or tried wine from Virginia. I remember liking it. Lean and structured, like Bordeaux, Baboursville Octagon Red seemed solid.
But a concern slowly creeps in. Alexandria’s shelves and lists feature fab Sancerre, German bubblies, Rhône growers, interesting South African Chenin Blanc, Langhe Nebbiolo, and Californian classics. Heck, every shop has at least three Oregon Pinot Noir, even unseen single vineyards, and I come from Oregon. Continue reading
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Tagged Alexandria, Beer, Cabernet Franc, drinks, Norton, Rkatsiteli, travel, Viognier, virginia, Virginia Wine, wine, Winery
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WAYWARD WINE 