This time of year more emphasis is placed on gathering with friends, and certainly for many the pace of gatherings increases substantially. But most of us gather with friends regardless of the season and when we do it’s likely that the folks we gather with will have different wine preferences. Some will prefer white wines or bubbles (that would be […]
Soliloquy is one of Flora Springs’ two flagship wines; the other, Trilogy, is a red blend. You would expect a Napa Valley winery to have a flagship red wine, but maybe not a flagship white wine. The folks at Flora Springs, however, are particularly proud of Soliloquy, also the name of the Sauvignon Blanc clone that is the basis for […]
Sicily lies just off the toe of Italy’s boot. Having just enjoyed watching more than two weeks of Olympic sports, I can’t help but think of Sicily as the rugby ball (or misshapen soccer ball) at Italy’s toe. Sicily is more correctly described as the largest island in the Mediterranean and is home to a variety of indigenous white and […]
One thing you may have gathered about the folks at Domaine Bousquet, from reading about them here and elsewhere, is that they never stand still. Jean Bousquet’s goal from the very beginning was to farm organically and make the best quality wines possible in Mendoza’s Uco Valley. Jean’s daughter Anne Bousquet and her husband Labid Al Ameri have for some […]
California’s Livermore Valley AVA is situated about 35 miles east of San Francisco Bay. The valley has an unusual east-west orientation within the Coast Range that allows cool, maritime breezes to be funneled inland through the valley from the bay. The region is still quite warm with ample sunshine and cool nights. Valley floor and mountainside vineyard locations boast well-drained […]
I have a thing for mountainside vineyards. Growing vines on the side of a mountain is definitely not the easiest place to grow them, but some of the most interesting and complex wines I’ve tasted are grown there. Smith-Madrone wines are both. They are also elegant, unexpected and affordable. Affordable and Napa Valley are sometimes mutually exclusive with regard to […]
Today we are sharing a pair of wines made in Napa by Sean and Juliana McBride. Neither wine is a Cabernet or even a Bordeaux blend. The first is sourced from one of Napa Valley’s nested AVAs, the other is not. Intrigued? We received both wines as tasting samples. Neither Sean or Juliana grew up in winemaking families, but both […]
Presqu’ile is a French Creole word meaning almost an island and is the name given to the Murphy family compound on Henderson Point along the Mississippi Gulf Coast that had been a gathering place for several generations. In 2005 that idyllic place was forever changed by hurricane Katrina, but the fond memories of family gatherings and hospitality remain. When the Murphy […]
This post brings you a second taste of Ettore organic wines grown and made in Hopland, California, the southernmost town in Mendocino County. All Ettore wines are estate grown in their Sanel Valley Vineyards, which are certified organic by CCOF. We received this wine as a tasting sample. 2019 Ettore Chardonnay Pure, Mendocino, California — light golden with aromas […]
Describing Domaine Bousquet as Argentina’s Leading Organic Winery is a big statement, but once you learn how much the Bousquet family has achieved in the past 25-plus years you will be impressed. After you taste the wines and realize how reasonably priced they are, I think you will agree they are leaders in Argentina, if not the world. Domaine Bousquet’s […]
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.