Tag: Pinot Noir

South African Wine Party

We are planning a trip to Africa in July 2014. We will be visiting Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We will fly into Johannesburg then travel on to Chobe National Park via Victoria Falls. From Chobe we visit the Okavango Delta, then fly on to Kafue National Park in Zambia. Next, we fly to Zimbabwe and visit Hwange National Park before returning to Victoria Falls and then Johannesburg. Whew! This part of the trip is planned for us. We need only show up with our very minimal luggage.

2009 Misty Oaks Red Wine

Southern Oregon Wines

Dave, one of the other regular tasters on Thursday nights at Fine Wines of Stockton, presented this wine tasting. Dave frequently visits friends in Oregon and on a recent trip collected wines from three wineries in the Southern Oregon AVA (American Viticultural Area).

Trione Vineyards and Winery

Recently we received some sample wines to try from Trione Winery in Geyserville California. We had not heard of Trione before and were intrigued by their story. For more than thirty years they have been providing grapes for some of the top wineries in the area such as Duckhorn, Kendall-Jackson and Sonoma-Cutrer among others. They farm almost 700 acres in the Russian River Valley, Alexander Valley and the Sonoma Coast. Only since 2005 have they decided to make their own wines, they opened their tasting room in 2008, and so far they have garnered several awards with subsequent vintages.

Name That Grape

Our Thursday night tasting at Fine Wines of Stockton was a polite version of “Stump the Chump”. Alan organized the tasting this week and gave us a list of six wines at the beginning of the tasting, each a different varietal. He opened five of them and did not tell us which one he did not open. Our job for the evening was to identify the varietals.

Bits and Pieces

Here is what we have been tasting in the last week or so. It is a bit of this and that. Three of these wines we have tasted before and have updated our previous posts. As always, it is interesting to taste how wines change over time.

Fall Napa Valley Wine Tasting

On a recent weekday I spent a day wine tasting in Napa Valley with a group of friends. The weather was warm for December, in the mid 60s, and mostly overcast. The drive from Stockton to Napa takes us through the San Francisco Bay Delta.