We began our Cuban adventure in Camagüey, smack in the middle of the island. Remedios was our second stop and, in spite of its location less than 6 miles from the north coast of Cuba, we didn’t dip our toes in the ocean until the next leg of our exchange, which took us to Matanzas and Varadero.
Oak Farm Vineyards sits on a historic piece of land at the end of DeVries Road north of Peltier Road in Lodi. The Mokelumne River flows nearby. Oak is in the name of the winery for a very good reason unrelated to winemaking. The property is dotted with beautiful, old oak trees that were the passion of William DeVries who […]
As we become more serious about wine we find that it has become closely attached to the places we visit, the people we meet and meals we enjoy. Malbec is one of those wines for which we have particularly enjoyable memories. We were reminded of that close connection this weekend when we prepared a meal to enjoy with two bottles […]
If it’s April it must be Navarra. Yes, our Wine Pairing Weekend group of bloggers is traveling to Navarra this month to explore the region, its wine and, of course, the food. The inspiration for this trip came from Gwendolyn Alley who blogs with great enthusiasm (and skill) at Wine Predator. Gwendolyn also managed to wrangle tasting samples for us […]
It wasn’t until I began to take wine seriously that I became interested in the story behind a bottle of wine. My first interest was the variety and then, with a bit of experience, I began to consider style. The story of the winery came much later, after I began to grapple with wine regions. I think it was simply […]
Today, Chilean wine, and quality wine at that, is everywhere. It’s easy to forget that wasn’t always the case. Back in the late 1980s when Aurelio Montes and Douglas Murray founded their winery, Chile was suffering through the final years of the Pinochet dictatorship and demand for wine in Chile was flagging. Chilean wines were sold mostly in Chile at […]
On February 14 many boxes of chocolates will be given, jewelry will be exchanged, flowers will be received. Restaurants will be crowded with couples and groups celebrating love and friendship. Certainly, couples do not have the corner on Valentine’s Day celebrations. Singles will be celebrating the day as well, on their own or with friends. We will wear pink or […]
The second leg of our people-to-people exchange in Cuba took us to the charming city of Remedios, just a couple of miles from the north coast of the island. But, before we reached Remedios, there was there was much to see in the rural parts of Cuba between Camagüey and Remedios. I discovered the small cities are just as interesting […]
The Wine Pairing Weekend group of bloggers is beginning the year with a show of support for Sonoma wineries and an acknowledgement of the fire relief efforts since the devastating fires that scarred the wine country in early October. Jill Barth, this month’s #winePW host, set the tone perfectly in her post announcing the event: We’re calling it #SonomaStrong to […]
Looking at a street map of the city of Camagüey is not at all helpful in navigating this historic Cuban city. The maze-like layout of the city was completely confusing to me, not that I minded being lost in historic Camagüey, it provided a delightful opportunity to interact with local Cubans. Pete and I had only a couple of opportunities […]
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.