Driving along the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon to Walla Walla, Washington is an experience. The diversity of landscape is amazing. It’s a four hour trip with Mt. Hood looming to the south, forested mountains, desolate desert, gorges and rolling grasslands dotted with amazing green oases. Walla Walla appears as a big oasis in the southeastern corner of the state of Washington. The wine region … Continue reading Grasslands, desert and giant reds!
Oregon’s Willamette Valley is a huge region of rolling hills covered with majestic landscapes of farms and vineyards. The first pinot noir grapes were planted there in 1965 by David Lett, the Eyrie Vineyards. According to the Willamette AVA, today there are 316 wineries in the region stretching from Portland to Eugene. Our recent trip focused on the north region of the valley an hour … Continue reading The land of pinot’s………..
Dinner last weekend with friends offered a perfect opportunity to serve a fine bottle……. Quilceda Creek’s 2005 Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon came to the table to serve with a pork tenderloin with a Gorgonzola Sauce. It is definitely a wine you want to take care to plan the right entree with to get the most enjoyment. The wine scored high marks in all professional ratings. … Continue reading Bring out a lovely bottle……..
We shared a bottle of Abstract last night. It’s a full-rounded luscious blend that is easy to drink and enjoy. I would have selected it for the excellent labeling! Our friend Richard chose it for more appropriate reasons. Abstract is one of Orin Swift’s very imaginative creations. You are probably familiar with his former, very popular wine, The Prisoner. We paired the wine with delicious … Continue reading Concrete abstract………
This was a fantastic wine dinner held a few weeks ago for a crowd of friends at the Field Club. The selected wines were all highly rated choices by Robert Parker, our favorite wine guru, along with the Wine Enthusiast and Wine Spectator. Charles Smith “Kung Fu Girl” a Washington State Riesling started us off followed by a 2012 Jean Marc Lafage Cote’ … Continue reading A delicious evening……
There are special, very special wines out there. The 2007 Abreu Vineyard Madrona Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley is one of them. The Madrona Ranch Vineyard is in St. Helena, California and they produce wines with a magical blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot and Petit Verdot. A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of sharing not only the Madrona Ranch but … Continue reading Not your everyday wine……..
One of our favorite Sarasota restaurants is the State Street Eating House. They have a great bar, a casual atmosphere and homemade potato chips that are, the best! We dined there this week with our daughter and one of her friends. Drinks were amazing. The mojito and the mint julep looked like adult snow cones! We shared a very nice bottle of wine with our … Continue reading Dinner at State Street……
The day after Thanksgiving we took off driving north along Florida’s gulf coast to spend some time in the panhandle. We planned to stay in Carabelle the first night but the old hotel there was booked so we made our reservation to stay in Apalachicola. I will definitely plan a future road trip to Carabelle to experience what we missed – the Carabelle Hotel … Continue reading Road trip…………
I’m not fantastic at posting individual wines very often. The 2002 Roar Gary’s Vineyard Pinot Noir was so good, delicious in fact, I did not want to miss adding it to the blog. Visit Roar’s website to learn more about some great Santa Lucia Highland’s wines. Continue reading A delicious wine!
August is a good time to depart Sarasota. The thought of experiencing a cooler climate becomes ever more enticing after two long months of hot and humid days and nights. John and I flew north to spend two weeks in some fantastic weather. Our first stop – Maine. On the drive from Portland to Blue Hill we stopped at Day’s for a lunch of lobster and … Continue reading Blue Hill to Sturgeon Bay…..
John's Wine Cellar 