Author Archives: waywardwine

Unknown's avatar

About waywardwine

Follow Wayward Wine (WSET3) to tour the world's exciting vineyards, breweries, and distilleries, while discovering new drinks.

Thirsty Thursday: Arneis, Seghesio, Russian River Valley, CA 2012

Posted on March 13, 2014 by waywardwine

Spring has sprung, at least where I live. Time for an odd, snappy white.

The grape in question is Arneis: roughly translated, it means “little ass”. Either the vine is a pain to manage, or the resultant wines tastes just as prickly. Etymology aside, the grape comes from NW Italy’s Piedmont.

Folklore claims Arneis drew birds away from the prestigious Nebbiolo vines of Barolo and Barbaresco. It made for a decent white. But once wines became 100% Nebbiolo, Arneis disappeared.

While Arneis declined in Italy, the Seghesio family left the Piedmont and started making Californian wine in 1895. By 1992, Pete decided to plant Arneis. He had already upped their game with hand-harvesting and small lot batches. Seghesio’s Zin and Sangiovese were garnering respect. But Arneis was a risky throwback. 26 vines remained more than any in the US for years.

Today, 8 acres of Russian River Valley, Sonoma County real estate fill our glasses. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized, White | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

St-Émilion Part 3: Macaron Sweets and Panoramic Treats

Posted on March 10, 2014 by waywardwine

Extracted from St-Émilion’s underworld (last post), our EU Austerity Drinking Tour continues above ground. Too sick to drink, we wander. Gates and walls gird every corner of this hill-town.

You almost expect a bouncer with sunglasses to stand there. But when each bottle costs a thousand bucks, these vines become too valuable for tourists to traipse through and take selfies (#vineyardselfies).

Almost bored by all the brilliance, we walk around another Romanesque ruin abutting another Grand Cru vineyard.

But then, on the city’s edge, we also discover the birthplace of macarons. In 1620, while Pilgrims were landing in Plymouth, this bakery started selling macarons. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

St-Émilion Part 2: Above and Below

Posted on March 6, 2014 by waywardwine

Today continues Monday’s EU Austerity Drinking Tour of St-Émilion: Bordeaux’s citadel to Merlot. Flu still numbs our adventurers’ palates, so we opt for a city tour instead of wine. The whole city is a UNESCO site, so why not?

We pass more wine-shops than people. The Roman “Cadene” Gate begins our slippery descent into the ancient core. It is a hodgepodge of eras with a home from 1291. *meh!*

We stumble past our less adventurous tourers, nearly falling in our rush. Then we mass into a small pocket: i.e. town square. An ancient market gapes to our left. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

St-Émilion Part 1: Bordeaux and Merlot’s Vinous Sea

Posted on March 3, 2014 by waywardwine

This Monday’s EU Austerity Drinking Tour sends us to St-Émilion: right bank home to Bordeaux’s greatest, Merlot-based reds.

After some credit card, train-related malarkey, we leave the city of Bordeaux and cross into Entre-Deux-Mers.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWoq7cUdgAA&w=560&h=315%5D

That flatland is Entre-Deux-Mers (not Pomerol…dummy). As its name implies, it is the land “between two seas”: the Garonne and Dordogne Rivers. It’s a great region for value Bordeaux. But our aim is Saint-Émilion, hanging over the Dordogne’s right bank.

Soon, châteaux actually start looking like Châteaux and not somewhat homely barns.

Landed, we leave the train with a few other tourists. One road points to town. Our march uphill begins. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Thirsty Thursday: Château La Roque, Pic Saint Loup, Languedoc, France 2010

Posted on February 27, 2014 by waywardwine

Thursday: it is neither Wednesday nor Friday.

For the employed, work still binds your thoughts. A distant weekend glows but faintly. Internet cat porn provides a fleeting, albeit empty distraction

Such a lost weekday deserves a decent drink: something real but not demanding.

Enter Château La Roque. Winter still grips us, so my palate races to the Mediterranean: specifically Pic Saint Loup in the Languedoc:

Vines surround its eponymous mowhawk-mountain, Pic Sanit-Loup. The warm sea and cool plateau inland traps this region in a sort of goldilockian limbo. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments