Several days of sunshine after a mostly soggy January and February have me thinking of springtime and that inevitably leads to what to drink for the warmer weather ahead. White wines come to mind and the usual assumption is probably dry white wines. This cellar note mixes things up a bit with our consideration of sweet wines for springtime. We […]
Today’s cellar note takes us to the Loire Valley, France for a sip of the most remarkable wine. This wine tells the tale of Saint-Pourçain AOC located south of Moulins, family farming and a grape variety at risk of being lost. We purchased this wine from one of our favorite wine merchants, Les Marchands Restaurant & Wine Shop in Santa […]
Tomorrow is the big day. Roses will be sent, boxes of chocolates received and meals enjoyed together. Whether you’re celebrating with a partner, your spouse, friends or on your own, your Valentine’s Day needs wine and we’re here to help with that. We have five wines to suggest for just about every Valentine’s Day meal and every palate. We received […]
Let’s begin at the end…the end of a meal. Dessert is a special occasion in our house reserved for when we entertain, or celebrate a birthday or other special occasion. We recently received a bottle of Graham’s Six Grapes Reserve Port as a tasting sample, which set me to thinking about sipping it after a meal. But my thoughts quickly […]
This month’s Wine Pairing Weekend theme takes us to Uruguay, a wine destination that we’ve only briefly explored. Beyond Tannat we have little experience with wines from Uruguay, so this was a welcome opportunity to learn by doing. The theme this month comes to us courtesy of Jill from L’Occasion who is hosting this month’s gathering. The first thing that […]
Wine and Chocolate. It can be a polarizing topic, but also a delicious one. In my experience people feel strongly either in favor of the paring or against it. I’m generally against the pairing, not because I don’t like it but, because it can be addictively delicious. Today I am risking addiction by sipping Macchia Mischievous Old Vine Zinfandel and […]
As it turns out, one visit to Namibia was not enough. Namibia has everything we enjoy when traveling in Africa: wide-open space, spectacular scenery and wild animal sightings. But it was a discovery we made as we were leaving Namibia on our first visit that made a return trip feel urgent: the Fish River Lodge. This is the brochure that […]
The seed for Department 66 wines was planted in 2008 when winemaker Dave Phinney visited Maury, France near the border with Spain. He was taken in by a very old vineyard planted on steep terrain. The more he saw of the region, the more he fell in love with it. Before he returned home from that visit he purchased a […]
Today’s cellar note has us savoring Cabernet Franc from the Loire Valley. This bright, balanced Cabernet Franc has just about everything I enjoy in cool-climate Cab Franc. This wine is not a tasting sample, we purchased this wine through a wine club. 2014 Beatrice & Pascal Lambert ‘Les Perruches’, Chinon — pale ruby in the glass with translucence at the […]
Yangarra Estate Vineyard is situated on more than 400 acres of creeks and native vegetation in the northeast portion of McLaren Vale, South Australia. The climate in this coastal region 45 minutes south of Adelaide is mediterranean, making it the perfect location for southern Rhône varieties. Today we are sipping two wines from Yangarra, both were provided to us as […]
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.