Our wine education continued recently at the San Francisco Weekend Celebration of American Rhone Wines. This two-day event was sponsored by The Rhone Rangers (1), “a non-profit educational organization, dedicated to promoting the enjoyment of Rhone varietal wines produced in the United States”.
Howell Mountain American Viticultural Area (AVA), located within the Napa AVA, was the first sub-appellation to be designated in 1983. Howell Mountain is located on the northeast side of Napa Valley. The AVA ranges from 1400 to 2200 feet, putting it above the fog line.
We recently participated in a tasting of red wines produced in the Finger Lakes AVA (American Viticultural Area). The Finger Lakes AVA is located in central New York State.
We had the good fortune to spend some time recently visiting with Antonio Pasos of Pasos Vineyards. His tasting room is located in Vino Piazza, The Winery Plaza in Lockeford, California.
A couple of weeks ago Nancy and I went up Highway 4 to Bear Valley, Ca. to do some cross country skiing. We go several times each year and usually go straight up and back. This time, though, our trip took a twisted turn.
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.
It all began with an e-mail in the mid-November from one of Pete’s sisters. She had drawn Pete’s name in our family Christmas gift exchange and wanted to run an idea by me. “Would he enjoy a copy of Randall Grahm’s book Been Doon So Long? I can get an autographed copy.”
Pete and I had a great introduction to the wines the Languedoc region of France during the Wine Bloggers Conference in August. This made us curious about the region, its climate and food as well. We decided to build a wine and food tasting from this experience.
So, in our quest for the next Bordeaux to place in the cellar, we tasted a 2009 Chateau Bernadotte, a Cru Bourgeois from Haut-Medoc, over this past weekend.
Well, it was finally Sunday and the last day of WBC 2012. While it was much fun we were happy to know we would have the afternoon free.
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.
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