Bordeaux Under One Roof, an event sponsored by http://www.bordeaux.com, is a public walk around tasting of white and red wines only from the Bordeaux region of France. This year I was able to attend a short lecture and tasting that I thought wine 101ers could learn from as well. Our speaker, Shelby Ledgerwood, “teaches about…
Accompanying the two wines recently sent to me for review was this message, “As you may know, Planet Bordeaux wines include 7 AOC’s – Bordeaux Blanc, Bordeaux Supérieur, Bordeaux Supérieur Blanc, Bordeaux Rosé, Bordeaux Clairet, Bordeaux Rouge and Crémant (sparkling) – and represent 52% of the Bordeaux wine region (270 million bottles in 2013). Overall, 13 bottles…
The first stop of the day isn’t always the best, but at Rocca Family Vineyards it proved to be. Though we (traveling with pal Claudia Sheridan) thought we may have taken a wrong turn as the quaint home didn’t have a tasting room sign, it was the right address and once through the front doors…
To provide a little change during this trip to Paso we decided to visit new wineries that we had not tried. One winery that we visited just outside of Creston was Chateau Margene. I have had many Paso residents that know the types of wines that I enjoy recommend this winery; lucky for me we…
Oh, that elusive reference wine drinkers make to “terroir” sets my wine 101 readers to wonder…what the heck is this person trying to say with that one word? Short answer: Everything that went into getting that grape to become that wine. According to the Oxford Dictionary, terroir is “The complete natural environment in which a…
Every few months the patio of our very own Salt Creek Grille is transformed for a wine dinner. Well-executed menus are placed in neat leather frames, misters may be soundlessly cooling a still night, seating charts are laid out, a winery representative will have been arranged to address the party and wine glasses are handed…
Clos Solene I was now ready for my final tasting at Paso Underground: the wines of Clos Solene http://www.clossolene.com/. Winemaker Guillaume Fabre came from France to Paso Robles. While building Clos Solene, which he has named after his wife, he worked as assistant winemaker at L’Aventure. He has recently left L’Aventure and is devoting himself…
The tasting room at Hammersky Vineyards and Inn is currently sharing samples from their all Estate 2010 vintage: four reds, and then a second line called Naughty Princess. Right away I was wondering about that second label, and owner/wine blender Doug Hauck said that he designed the line for his dental office staff that wanted…
It’s been hit or miss for me to meet with L’Aventure winemaker/owner Stephan Asseo. Met him at a tasting event once and then missed him at his winery the next time. So when day #3 of the Paso Cab Collective ended and I got a text from writer Michael Cervin inviting me to come along…
After reading Paso Robles Cab Collective: Wine Dining in the Beacon on 5/9, Paso Robles Cab Collective: En Primeur, Current and Reserve Tasting (also on May 9) on this website, today I have the final installment on the Cab Collective (though you can also look forward to an entire article just on HammerSky alone very…