Category Archives: Uncategorized

Etude Winery Visit Napa Valley Carneros

After an unnecessarily ostentatious day-long tour from Mt Veeder to Howell Mountain with Cardinal (read P1 here read P2 here), we somehow wake up early. Our mouths blackened and livers tested by endless Cabernet, Merlot, and Malbec, we rejoice knowing that today, after four days of monster reds, we try Napa Valley Pinot Noir.

We bomb down to Carneros, Napa’s most southerly AVA.

Carneros Napa Valley Map Continue reading

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P2 Day Tour Howell Mountain Napa Valley Spire Wine Collection

Let us continue our completely undeserved tour of Napa Valley’s Spire Collection: Kendall Jackson’s cream of the buttercream of the creme fraiche of the crop. A Monday or so ago, Wayward Wine posted our morning visit and ridiculous picnic at Mt Veeder in Napa’s Southwest (read here).

Plump on mountain Malbec, local cheeses and charcuterie, we pop back into the company Mercedes and roll North across the valley. Continue reading

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Thirsty Thursday: Fattoria dei Barbi Rosso di Montalcino 2012

If the heat keeps building where you live (and I am still sweating after yard work), the time has come to lighten up your red wine game.

I love Brunello di Montalcino. But the wines can be beastly. Luckily, Italy created Rosso di Montalcino DOC in 1984. With only a year of aging, six months minimum in barrel, winemakers could keep the lights on while their Brunello waits for four years, FOUR YEARS! Just imagine not getting paid for 2016 until 2020. Continue reading

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Put a Cork in it!

Until I get my act (and Monday’s post) together, ponder upon this internet:Yes, this Balsamic Vinegar has a cork, which has its own cork, which has a cork for its cork’s cork.  I sound like the Swedish chef:

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P1 Day Tour of Cardinale: Mt Brave Mt Veeder Spire Collection Napa Valley

Buckle your seat belts. We continue our tour of Napa Valley. After a palette-staining day at Pine Ridge, Lewis Cellars, and Black Stallion, a single day visit to Cardinal sounds lenient. Yet Cardinal is the tip of an ice berg. It provides locus for hospitality services of the Spire Collection: the creme on top of the cream of the crop of Kendall Jackson’s holdings. Wines and wineries that rarely make it to your local shelf huddle under this empire’s gilt umbrella. Continue reading

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