Author Archives: waywardwine

About waywardwine

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

Pelican Brewery, Stormwatcher’s Winterfest, Barley Wine, Pacific City, Oregon 2010

Posted on October 24, 2013 by waywardwine

Last Sunday we smashed twenty pints of Pumpkin beers, as well as a few pumpkins.

But tonight is different. It’s my birthday, and we can think of nothing better than free beer and a t-shirt (it’s called commitment). So we return to The Green Dragon.

Aside from the occasional Killer Pumpkin Festival, The Green Dragon updates its 62 rotating tapped kegs daily. We start with their own Green Tea Mead (good, easy, light) and then move to a Pumpkin Porter, and then find beers from New Zealand to Germany and anywhere in between. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Aroma of wine, barley, Barley Wine, Beer, Beer in the United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, Pacific City, Pelican Brewery, Porter, Stormwatcher's Winterfest | 2 Comments

TOURING TOURS DAY 1: OLGA RAFFAULT CHINON 2006 and 2009: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #45

Posted on October 21, 2013 by waywardwine

Day 81 of our EU AUSTERITY DRINKING ADVENTURE, we leave Paris for Tours.

Finally, Wayward Wine can sink its teeth into one of France’s wildest wine regions and Paris’ secret source: the Loire Valley.

Our bags rattle, lost, over streams of cobbled streets. Tram lines, torn up decades ago, are returning (thanks environmentalists) but not yet functional (thanks unions).

With our hostel found, we unload our gypsy-train of luggage and jackets to explore the town. Continue reading →

Posted in Cabernet Franc, Red | Tagged Cabernet Franc, Chinon, France, les belles caves, Les Peuilles, Loire, Loire Valley, Olga Raffault, Paris, Renaissance, wine | 1 Comment

QUADY NORTH, SYRAH, 4-2, A, ROGUE VALLEY, OREGON 2008 $25

Posted on October 17, 2013 by waywardwine

I met Herb last week. He stood behind a table, in a black shirt and cap. His wines lined up in front of him. Nothing else. Flanking him towered suit and tie representatives from Oregon’s famed Pinot Noir producers. They had flyers, business cards, banners, and slideshows of vineyard porn on small screens.

I tried their wines, heard their soliloquies, but kept returning to Herb. His black, cracked hands poured each bottle. He said even less. I felt that he itched to return to his vines, tanks, and family in Southern, Oregon. Continue reading →

Posted in Red, Syrah | Tagged Australia, Bonny Doon Vineyard, California, Crozes-Hermitage, Herb Quady, Oregon, pinot noir, Quady North, Randall Graham, ROGUE VALLEY, San Francisco, Syrah, Valley Vineyards | 1 Comment

ENTRÉE PARIS 5: Maison Rouge’s CO HO LA and Jacky Blot’s Brut Tradition: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #44

Posted on October 14, 2013 by waywardwine

This Monday’s EU Austerity Drinking Adventure (day 80) finds us winding up our last days in Paris.

We revisit Montmarte and its Sacre Coeur to find both changed. Today, the sun’s glare brings out tourists and pick pockets. Inside, a moment of song and ritual seems lovely, but crowded.

Tumbling down Montmarte towards the city center we halt at Le Repaire de Bacchus: a wine-geek oasis in this urban desert. Continue reading →

Posted in Paris, WINERIES WANDERED | Tagged Brut Tradition, Carignan, CO HO LA, Cor Hominis Laetificat, European Union, France, Grenache, Jacky Blot, Jardin du Luxembourg, Le Repaire de Bacchus, Loire, Loire Valley, MAISON ROUGE, Mona Lisa, Montmartre, Mourvèdre, Musée du Louvre, Nicolas, Paris, Syrah, Tours, United States | 2 Comments

TRICK OR TREAT? HALLOWEEN CANDY AND WINE

Posted on October 11, 2013 by waywardwine

For this Monthly Wine Writing Challenge, Kat’s theme is “OOPS!”. No greater wine-fail exists than this:

You’re down the rabbit hole. You bought Halloween candy. You chose ones that kids want: Hersheys, Mars, Butterfinger, etc. You know they are little bags of chemical warfare. But serving carrot sticks will get your house egged. So you sit there: like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin. Between rushes of costumed underage beggars, you do it. You eat one. Continue reading →