Like a good many people, Peter and I have much to be thankful for. And like most, we feel grateful for our good fortune on a regular basis. As I age I find myself feeling thankful for all kinds of things I didn’t think twice about when I was younger. I no longer take for granted the importance of family, […]
Hardly a month goes by that I do not enjoy a glass of rosé. I am also very partial to sparkling wine but enjoy it a little less often only because there is so much wine and so little time! This time of year, though, with the holidays upon us, I sip sparkling wine a bit more often and I […]
Sbragia Family Vineyards has all the elements necessary for an interesting wine story: family-owned vineyards, multi-generational history of winemaking and well-crafted wine. We recently became acquainted with Sbragia Family Vineyards (pronounced SPRA-juh) through a trio of wines sent to us as tasting samples. We are happy to have met and to share these wines with you. The Sbragia family has […]
Few wines really speak of a region or variety to me (no fault of the wines, but rather a lack of skill on my part), but this wine did. As I sipped it initially I felt certain it was Nerello Mascalese. Something about the combination of fruit and earth just made me think of the wines we tasted around Mt. […]
We never pass up the opportunity to taste skin-contact white wines. We enjoy everything from Pinot Gris with only a few hours of skin contact to other varieties that might have months of skin contact resulting in an orange wine. The flavors of these wines can vary significantly depending on the grape variety, length of skin contact, fermentation vessels and […]
Nino Franco is celebrating 100 years of winemaking in Valdobbiadene, located in a hilly portion of Veneto, a little over 30 miles from Venice. Nino Franco remains family owned and is now in the capable hands of the fourth generation of the Franco family. We’re celebrating 100 years of Nino Franco with a glass of Nino Franco Rustico and a […]
The second Saturday in October has been designated Pinotage Day. Surely no wine grape is in greater need of its own day than Pinotage. The variety is either largely unfamiliar to wine drinkers or suffering from the misimpression that it only makes wine that smells like nail polish remover. We have four examples of Pinotage that will introduce you to […]
James Downes met us in the tasting cottage at Shannon Vineyards on a crisp spring morning. The cottage was James’ home in his bachelor days and looks out over a beautiful garden, vineyards and waterway. All of it had been washed clean by early-morning rains. Click on individual photographs in galleries to view. Close to return to the post. Shannon […]
I usually spend September in denial about the end of summertime. By the time October rolls around I’ve come to terms with fall and actually look forward to a change of seasons. Thanks to Kenwood Vineyards that transition has been especially easy, and delicious, this year. We received a group of wines as tasting samples that perfectly bridged the change […]
Flora Springs in Napa Valley’s St. Helena goes all out for Halloween and with good reason. Their beautiful stone winery is considered one of Napa’s ghost wineries, which means it was built between 1860 and 1900, was abandoned for a time and then rescued and renovated to become part of the modern winery at Flora Springs. Today we’re getting in […]
We enjoy wine, food and travel. Pull That Cork is a chronicle of our wine adventures, the food and wine pairings we create and our travels which are increasingly organized around wine.