Author: Nancy (CSW)

Montes: Dry Farming in the Colchagua Valley, Chile

Montes Winery was founded with the goal of producing truly premium quality Chilean wine for export. At a time when Chilean producers were producing wines mostly for local consumption, the two original founders Aurelio Montes, Sr. and Douglas Murray, had bigger plans. The year was 1987 and by the following year Montes and Murray were joined by Alfredo Vidaurre and Pedro Grand and the winery was founded.

Lodi Wines for Earth Day and Everyday

We celebrated Earth Day this year by participating in a online tasting of wine and cheese— naturally. The Earth Day tasting included four wines produced in accordance with Lodi Rules for Sustainable Winegrowing and provided a great opportunity to learn about Lodi Rules .

Crozes Hermitage and Braised Lamb with Puréed Root Vegetables for #winePW 10

I can’t believe another month has flown by and that it is time once again for Wine Pairing Weekend. Our March pairing is co-joined with Open That Bottle Night, which happens every year on the last Saturday in February. Basically OTBN is an “excuse” to open that special bottle of wine you’ve been holding, or to try a wine you’ve been curious about. It’s up to you to make your own fun.

Domaine de Bila-Haut Occultum Lapidem: no longer a hidden gem to us

In 1999 Michel Chapoutier turned his interest to Roussillon with the purchase of Domaine de Bila-Haut in Latour de France. The Roussillon portion of the enormous south of France Languedoc-Roussillon region is the portion closest to Spain. The climate here is truly Mediterranean with cold winters and very warm summers that provide a long, sunny growing season.

Six Wines from the Snake River Valley, Idaho: an introduction to the wines of Idaho

We recently had the opportunity to taste six wines from four wineries located in the Boise area. One of the regular tasters at the Thursday night wine tastings we attend at a local wineshop regularly visits the Boise area; her brother and sister-in-law live there. During a recent trip they did a bit of wine tasting and brought back the selection of wines we tasted. It was a great introduction to the wines of the area.

HALL Wines: Two Artistic Napa Valley Cabernets

We continued talking wine education with PROTOCOL wine studio, and several of their guests, while sipping two delicious HALL Wines on a recent Tuesday evening. PROTOCOL wine studio provides wine education via Twitter on Tuesday evenings (search #WineStudio on Twitter) and in their classroom in San Diego. It was fun and instructive.