Most of us are very satisfied to visit Napa Valley to taste wine and enjoy good food, but for a subset of wine enthusiasts a visit to Napa Valley leads them to make wine in Napa Valley. Husband and wife, Brian and Miki Cunat, found themselves at just such a crossroads after visiting Napa Valley and wine regions around the […]
Notre Vue Estate & Winery sits on a 710-acre property south of Healdsburg straddling Sonoma’s Russian River Valley and Chalk Hill AVAs. 250 acres of vineyards cover the rolling hills, but 350 acres are protected as “Forever Wild” open space. Balverne is a sister label to Notre Vue and both are sourced exclusively from Notre Vue vineyards. We received these […]
A Chardonnay blend or Nerello Mascalese are perfect springtime sips as the weather is warming, but still unsettled. Can’t decide between a spring salad and a roasted vegetable and farro salad? Still enjoying roasted chicken and not quite ready to fire up the grill? Let us introduce you to Castello Pomino and Duca di Salaparuta, a taste of Tuscany and […]
BARRA of Mendocino continues their commitment to family farming and crafting delicious certified-organic wines with the recent release of their reserve wines. These new wines remain very reasonably priced and come with some exciting packaging changes. We received these wines as tasting samples. Charlie Barra began farming organically because that’s how he learned to farm from his parents, who emigrated […]
Sebastián Zuccardi told us his grandfather had an obsession with the desert when he first planted grape vines near the city of Mendoza. The year was 1963 and at the time he had no expertise growing grapes and no interest in making wine. He was the owner of a building company who was keen to demonstrate an efficient irrigation system. […]
Unoaked Chardonnay is fairly common, but the same cannot be said for unoaked Cabernet Sauvignon. Cabernet is almost always made by fermenting and aging the wine in oak barrels of various types and ages. Winery owner and beverage specialist Ron Rubin is clearly not following the crowd with his line of UN-Oaked wines; Pam’s UN-Oaked Cabernet Sauvignon recently joined Pam’s […]
One of the many lessons I learned during weekly wine tastings at a local wine shop is that there are many very expensive bottles of wine that taste really good, especially from Napa Valley. It isn’t particularly difficult to find those wines, but what takes a bit more effort is to find those really good wines for less money. What […]
ETTORE is an organic winery located in the Sanel Valley near Hopland in California’s Mendocino AVA. The 64-acre estate, with 35 acres of vines, has been certified organic since 2005. Today we are tasting two wines from the 2018 vintage, which we received as tasting samples. The Sanel Valley lies along the Russian River in the southern part of the […]
Since 2007 Davis Bynum Winery has been a member of the family of wines owned by Rodney Strong Wine Estates. By the time Davis Bynum sold his winery to Rodney Strong it had a well-established reputation for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay from the Russian River Valley. Today Rodney Strong winemaker Greg Morthole has the responsibility of carrying on Davis Bynum’s […]
If you are familiar with the wines made by Jordan Vineyard & Winery in Healdsburg, California then you need no excuse to enjoy their wines. You already know Jordan’s focus is on two wines: Russian River Chardonnay and Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon. You know Jordan doesn’t follow trends; their focus has always been on elegance and balance. In case you […]
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.