It’s been far too long since I did an always popular wines I drank post, so why not a holiday edition? Continue reading
Category: wine
Wines I drank: Summer Camp Edition
On our way to drop Edie off at camp yesterday, we discovered a new winery literally next door. Of course we stopped in, because after dropping one’s only child off for the next three weeks, a drink is in order. Continue reading
Wines (and beer) I drank – Birthday Edition.
When I invited a few girlfriends over to help me celebrate my birthday recently, I requested no gifts, but told them to feel free to bring wine. Which they did, because I have some pretty rad girlfriends. As a result, here is the birthday edition of Wines I drank. Continue reading
Round tuit.
I finally got around to trying some things that had long been on my want-to-do list – wine herb jelly and canning my fermented mini-gerkins. I read in Joy of Pickling about hot water bath canning your fermented pickles and realized in the name of fridge space, I needed to do that before my fridge was overrun with jars of cute, mini-watermelon-like cukes. Continue reading
Wines I drank – The Sharing Edition.
One fine Saturday, I came home from dropping Edie off at a slumber party to discover our across the street neighbor Charles had wandered over with a lovely bottle of merlot in hand, to share with us. It seems he had been given this bottle, and knowing it was a quality wine, immediately thought he had to skip across the street to share with me. Continue reading
Wine I drank, Random Summer Mix.
Here’s a few recent wines I’ve had the pleasure of drinking.
On Tasting Notes (In The Kitchen Series)
From April 2011 through February 2012, I had a wine column in a local publication, In the Kitchen Magazine entitled “Beneath the Cork“. It was a fun project and my first published work. I have often said I’m going to repost all those articles here on my blog and thus far, have only done so with one, in June of last year. I’m fixing that with this article, originally published in April of 2011.
The idea behind the column was that I write about wine simply, making it accessible to people who might like wine, but didn’t necessarily know all the wine speak. It was the roots of my semi-infrequent wine posts that I do in this space. For more of my wine writing, you can always take a glance at my Wine tab across the top of the page.
I once tried a wine simply because on the back label, it told me that it had “classic notes of apple, pear and pineapple and a delightful hint of crème brûlée”. That hint of crème brûlée captured my interest to the point that I had to try it, even if it was a varietal that I’m generally not a fan of. It did indeed have that hint, so much so that I think we may have noticed it without the tasting notes, but it may have taken us longer to pin down exactly what it was we tasted.
The Calvert Party Encyclopedia
My friend Allison, who happens to be the same Allison that did an entire weekend camping trip wearing a trash bag as a poncho in 3 inches of rain because I assured her there was no rain in the forecast and therefore, it was not worth running home for – which I would also like to point out she was an absolute trooper about, but then, that’s Allison. She’s one of those rock solid people who takes everything in stride. She’s the kind of friend you can call on a cold, snowy Saturday in January and ask to please bring you a chocolate banana milkshake because you just had a baby and your husband has told you his days of running out to please your every whim are over, thankyouverymuch and she then walks all over downtown in the snow looking for anything that’s open that will make you a chocolate banana milkshake and while she’s at it, she brings along a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, which you’ve been craving for the last 9 months just in case the six pack you had sitting in the cooler on the back porch for such an event accidentally got left on the back porch in the excitement of leaving to have a baby, because it did.
She’s that kind of friend. Kinda the bomb.
Allison came down to visit recently and brought me a most delightful gift that as soon as I opened it, knew I had to share it here. Continue reading
Wines I drank – Local Edition.
Have you heard of “3”? It’s the collaboration between the winemakers at Veritas Vineyards (Emily Pelton), Grace Estates (Jake Busching) and King Family Vineyards (Matthieu Finot). The 2012 release is a white, a blend of Viognier, Chardonnay and Petit Manseng.
Viognier is the primary grape in this wine, giving it tropical fruit & flowery notes, a hint of a buttery smoothness from the Chardonnay and the Petit Manseng balancing the wine out. This wine is produced in limited quantities (45 cases), so it was a lovely treat my friend Megan shared with me.
I’m not at all sure where this wine is available outside of the wineries involved. At $33.33, this wine is priced outside of my usual price point, but a splurge every now & again is nice. This would be one of those bottles worth the splurge.
I had brought my own bottle of local wine to sample as well – a bottle of Knight’s Gambit Rosé. Full disclosure – while this wine is relatively new to the shelves around town, I have been drinking this wine for a few years now thanks to knowing the owner of the winery, Paul Summers. I interviewed Paul for a piece I wrote about Virginia Wineworks for my former “In the Kitchen” column (I think maybe the September or October 2011 “Beneath the Cork”). I’ve known Philip Stafford & Michael Shaps of Virginia Wineworks for a few years through various connections that are the way of life here in Charlottesville. I have the utmost respect for Michael as a wine maker and while I like Virginia Winework’s wines, I never miss an opportunity to applaud their custom crush work and the helping hand it is giving so many small Virginia wineries, like Knight’s Gambit.
Needless to say, I was excited to see Knight’s Gambit on the shelves at the Hydraulic Road Kroger and as it was on special for $12.99, I snapped up a bottle. It’s a dry rose, with some creaminess to it. It was likened to strawberry shortcake as we sipped on it. Then again, that might have been the spread of strawberry jam, strawberry pickles, bread & cheeses we nibbled on influencing our palates. It is, after all, strawberry season.
Wines I Drank – The Front Yard Edition.
With spring and warmer weather comes our family doing more outside. Including happy hour every day we can. Is there really anything nicer than sitting outside on a beautiful day and just soaking it in? We think not.
It seems we have plenty of friends and neighbors who agree. From the first official outdoor happy hour of the season until we close it up for the fall, we have a steady stream of drop-ins. Why yes, it has been much commented that in some ways, we live similarly to how we did in college, only we now have a mortgage, a child and are a bit more responsible.
She just thinks that this is how people live. Jam session in the front yard and all. Continue reading
Chicken Wire & Paper Flowers 