Brave & Maiden Estate is one of the newest wineries to emerge in the Santa Ynez Valley.  Vines were planted on the property in the 1990’s, but the grapes had never been used to make single vineyard wines.  The current owners acquired the property in 2010, named their winery Brave & Maiden, and released their first wines in 2011.  Their…

Having attended a wine blending class in Charleston in January 2016, I was eager to try my hand, again. On the first official day of the Wine Bloggers Conference, Hilary and I joined the Rodney Strong team for a Meritage blending class. Meritage can be a red or white wine, crafted solely from two or more specific Bordeaux grape varietals….

A visit with my daughter in May provided the opportunity for another wine tasting excursion to Loudoun County, just south of Leesburg, VA.  She had visited Stone Tower Winery in the past and highly recommended it for both its gorgeous setting and excellent wines.  The drive was beautiful, through rolling hills, farmland, and eventually, vineyards.  Stone Tower is located on…

Saturday was the last full day of the conference, another busy day of breakout sessions and tastings.  In addition to immersion in the local region’s wines, there are opportunities to attend seminars and receptions hosted by international producers.  A session entitled “The Spectrum of Dry Riesling” was presented by Wines of Alsace.  After three days of learning about and enjoying…

This is a complex subject to condense down to a blog post.  Nevertheless, let’s give it a try. Regardless of the growing region, there are hybrid grapes and Vitis vinifera. Hybrids are crosses between two grape, or vitis, species and Vitis vinifera are crosses between the same grape species. The Concord and Niagara are examples of well known hybrid grapes…

The 2015 Wine Blogger’s Conference began on Wednesday, August 12, with a pre-conference excursion. But first, a little geography lesson: About two million years ago, the first of a series of glacial flows began advancing and retreating across what is now New York State. The ice gouged out the land, creating deep trenches and steep inclines. Because of the changes…

Yes, indeed!  On a recent trip to Cincinnati, I had the pleasure of dining at Abigail Street, a wonderful tapas-style restaurant.  Perusing the menu, there was a section titled “Wines on Tap” (more about that below). We asked our server about the wine of the day and learned that it was a Cabernet Franc made at a local vineyard called…