Tag Archives: travel

Nîmes, France (P1): Romarin Cheese, Wine, and Roman Temples and Amphitheaters: EU Austerity Drinking Tour Day 120

Posted on June 16, 2014 by waywardwine

DAY 120. Our EU Austerity Drinking Tour returns to France, its wine, and fabulous cheese. Why?

Spain wore us out. It was beautiful yet challenging. So our combination of illness, poor Spanish, and budget tightwad-ery pushes us back into France. Now with a return flight, a handful of months remain to tap the rest of Europe’s drink. We leave Valencia for Nîmes:

But not before Barcelona. Worst of all Shakespearean tragedies, Spain had killed my iPod: home to wine notes and fuzzy photos. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Château Virgile, France, French cheese, iPod, Maison Carrée, Nimes, Romarin, travel, wine | 3 Comments

Horchata, Paella, Wine, and Architecture in Valencia, Spain

Posted on June 9, 2014 by waywardwine

After a hiatus, this Monday visits Day 115 of our EU Austerity Drinking Tour. A dull bus ride from Madrid deposits us near the coast in Valencia.

Our first hostel in weeks sits in Valencia’s ancient heart. Better still, it has a kitchen, which sends us shopping for groceries.

Along a narrow medieval street we find a garage door. Inside is Bodegas Baviera: a sliver of a wine shop wall-papered in bottles.

The thinning but hardly thin, grumpy Vicente, speaks no English but understands we want something native and cheap.

We grab a bottle of Valencia DO red, head back, and make our typical pasta. The bottle disappears immediately. It is such a grippy yet ripe, black-fruited, peppery blend that I run out again. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Baviera, Bodegas Baviera, Europe, Gulliver's travels, Holy Grail, hostel, Lonja de la seda, Silk Market, Spain, Spanish, travel, Valencia, Valencia Spain, wine, wine shop | 4 Comments

Thirsty Thursday: Il Poggione, Brunello di Montalcino, Riserva, Italy 2006

Posted on May 29, 2014 by waywardwine

This Thirsty Thursday, Wayward Wine splurges and satisfies its Europhilia with a bottle from Italy. Box Chianti this ain’t. No, within Tuscany, within Chianti, within Brunello di Montalcino, within Il Poggione’s 309 acres, sits a single vineyard called Vigna Paganelli. These … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Archaeology, Brunello, Brunello di Montalcino, il poggione, italy, Sangiovese, travel, wine | 3 Comments

Mellowing Madrid: EU Austerity Drinking Tour Day 111

Posted on May 5, 2014 by waywardwine

This Monday’s installment of our EU Austerity Drinking Tour finds Tracy and I 111 days deep into Europe. Bedazzling Barcelona broke us. Constant sight-seeing, drinking, and planning had turned into a chore. Shoes, ipods, clothes, health, sanity were all tattered. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Freixenet, grapes, Penedes, Serra Del Garraf, Spain, travel, wine | 1 Comment

HALIFAX.BEER.BEGINNINGS.: EU Austerity Drinking Tour #6

Posted on September 15, 2012 by waywardwine

In my last post, Nova Scotia’s burgeoning wines got a respectful nod. But we cannot ignore beer. Halifax hosts more pubs per capita than anywhere else in Canada. High time we pay homage to its most hallowed ground: Alexander Keith’s … Continue reading →