Life has been busy with the holidays and all.  I think we have all been a little out of sync with Thanksgiving being so late.  The annual Grower Producer Champagne seminar was held in November, hosted by Harry Root of Grassroots Wines and facilitated by Marie Sauer of Sauer Grapes.  The wines presented were another “killer” line up.  It is…

For the first couple of weeks after the trip to Italy, I tried to behave myself, conserving calories and dollars.  However, that can last just so long!  My daughter, Hilary, visited me in Charleston the last weekend of October and we had great fun, as always, eating and drinking our way around town.  Among the highlights were lunch at 39…

Hello and  Happy 2013. I hope the new year is off to an excellent start. The holidays were fun and wine-filled and several deserve special mention.  Some of our family gathered in Charlotte, NC, to celebrate Christmas and we consumed many bottles of Champagne and Pinot Noir.  Our Christmas Eve selection was Gaston Chiquet Rosé pictured here – gorgeous salmon…

Last week was the 2012 Grower Producer Champagne Seminar.  I enjoyed it even more than last year’s because my knowledge has increased over the past 12 months.  Also, it was held at an ideal venue, the amphitheater at the Culinary Institute of Charleston.  Harry Root was our Master of Ceremonies, assisted by Marie Sauer.  We tasted 12 Champagnes and enjoyed…

The autumn season is upon us, even though it doesn’t feel like it here in Charleston.  We did have a “taste” of fall, but then the humidity set back in.  There have been a number of interesting events over the past few weeks.  One of our new local eateries is called Butcher and Bee and it has a unique format,…

I just celebrated another birthday and made sure there were multiple opportunities to share some bubbly with friends and family.  The first bottle was 2007 Rouge de Noirs, a sparkling Pinot Noir by Schug, a well known Sonoma winery.  The wine is a beautiful deep rose color and raspberries are the dominant flavor.  It is wonderfully crisp and dry on the palate…

Happy 2012, friends and followers.  I hope your holidays were joyful.  For me, the month of December was filled with parties, great friends, family, and loads of good food and wine.  I am going to have to clean up my act for at least a month!  On Christmas Eve, my brother, sister-in-law, and I started the evening with a bottle…

‘Tis the season – two Champagne tastings last week!  Harry Root, owner of Grass Roots Wine, presented the consumer version of the grower/producer seminar I attended last month.  He provided loads of valuable information and poured 8 grogeous wines.  I began learning about the importance of soil or “terroir” in Oregon, understanding the differences in the wines made from grapes…

Hello to my friends and followers.  Yup, I dropped the ball last week.  Traveled to Cincinnati for the Thanksgiving holiday (hope yours was yummy and that you drank some good wine), had some unexpected issues and just didn’t get a post done.  This is my new logo which will be incorporated, soon! I am back to my grower producer Champagne…

Being in the right place at the right time enabled me to attend a Champagne seminar this week featuring wines from French grower producers. Grower producers are just what it sounds like – people who grow their own grapes and make their own wines. As we head into the holiday season, I will spend several weeks on this topic. Today, 80% of…