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
Category Archives: EMPTIED BOTTLES
PIG’S NOSE, BLENDED SCOTCH WHISKY, AGED 5 YEARS, SCOTLAND
We hit Scotland last August. It nearly halted our seven month, thirteen country, EU Austerity Drinking Tour. We so fell in love with its people, countryside, and Whisky that we nearly stayed. We imagined ourselves William Wallace, Robbie Burns, Mary Queen of Scots, or that princess from Brave, with every castle tour, every distillery visit, and every haggis eaten.
But back in the United States, nostalgia ate us. Local distilleries proffered harsh, young spirit: too hot and tight to be enjoyed alone.
But then we found a bottle of Pig’s Nose, Blended Scotch Whisky, Aged 5 Years, from Scotland for under $30. Continue reading
VELO VOUVRAY 2: CHATEAU MONCONTOUR AND CHENIN BLANC: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #47
Last Monday’s EU AUSTERITY DRINKING TOUR post began our cycle of the Loire with Marc Brédif’s chic winery. Well inebriated, we continue upriver into Vouvray, hunting wine.
As mentioned prior, the green grape Chenin Blanc reigns supreme in Vouvray. Crafty Dutch merchants launched it here four centuries ago. It fits decently in this cold, marginal climate because it ripens earlier than red grapes. Although other whites would work better, the obstinate French stick to tradition. Continue reading
Posted in Chenin Blanc, EMPTIED BOTTLES, Sparkling
Tagged Balzac, Château Moncontour, chenin blanc, France, Les Chapelles, Loire, London, Marc Bredif, Methode Traditionelle, Moncontour, Montfort, Paris, Touraine, tuffeau, Vaugondy, Vouvray
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TOURING TOURS DAY 1: OLGA RAFFAULT CHINON 2006 and 2009: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #45
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
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QUADY NORTH, SYRAH, 4-2, A, ROGUE VALLEY, OREGON 2008 $25
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
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Trapiche, Broquel, Bonarda, Mendoza, Argentina, 2006
It is my wife’s birthday, so I should keep this short.
Welcome to October. Fall has descended upon us. Cold snaps at night. Daylight whimpers away. Leaves turn.
Gone are the whites and rosés of summer. Time for something darker, deeper, and dangerous. Continue reading
Posted in Bonarda, EMPTIED BOTTLES, Red
Tagged Argentina, Bodegas Trapiche, Bonarda, Brandon Lee, Broquel, Bruce Lee, Chianti, Corbeau, Douce Noir, Lionel Messi, Mendoza, Mendoza Argentina, The Crow, Trapiche, wine
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