A dinner with good friends this past Saturday brought together some delicious wines. Sea Smoke from Santa Barbara, a Sonoma spectacular, Kistler and an especially fun, but seriously crafted Walla Walla Washington wine – Sleight of Hand. They all paired well with the cheeses and the entree of Shrimp Étouffée. Thank you to our hosts. Great night! Salud! Debbe Continue reading Saturday Night Dinner…..
Amazing prices!!!!! If you like this, don’t miss an opportunity to grab some! Bella One of our very favorite wine stores is The Wine to Buy in Sarasota at 2140 Gulf Gate Drive. Bella often greets you at the door and the owner, Mitch is always on hand. Its a small shop but it is brimming with domestics and imports at sensational prices. And if … Continue reading The Wine to Buy………..
Sunday January 25th, 12 noon at the John and Mable Ringling Art Museum in Sarasota……. The 2015 Forks and Corks was a sellout, an incredible one. In exactly 8 minutes, last November, all 1500 tickets for the event sold. We took an Uber taxi ride to and from the event Sunday which allowed us to be more liberal with tastings for the afternoon and have … Continue reading 2015 Forks and Corks……….
We took a spur of the moment overnight to neighboring St. Petersburg last weekend. Its a city that has been working to transform itself over the last twenty plus years experiencing some starts and stops in the process. It appears to have yet another positive start going on……….. I have long thought of Downtown St. Pete as one giant retirement home catering to a very elderly population. While some of that … Continue reading Old and New in St. Pete, Florida
November in Florida is special. The weather turns almost fall-like and it is finally cool enough across the country to safely ship wine to the gulf coast. This year November was an early Christmas for us with the arrival not only of our regular orders but also of the wines we selected in August in Walla Walla, WA and from the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Arterberry Maresh Willamette Valley, Or (photo- … Continue reading Holidays brimming with wine……….
One of our favorite relaxing dinners at home is fondue. I admit to using a packaged (prepared) cheese fondue which I magically doctor with an addition of white wine and spices. With a good, crusty baguette, an apple, pear and some smoked sausage, this is a heavenly simple dinner. Ahhh……a good bottle of wine to accompany the meal is a must. Friday night’s was Linne Calodo’s 2009 Booker Red … Continue reading A favorite Friday night dinner……….
A Total Wine store opened this weekend in Sarasota. Curious to see just how many wines from the Willamette Valley region of Oregon and from Washington State’s Walla Walla wine region might be sold there, John and I went shopping. I don’t ordinarily shop Total Wines. For those who do not know me well, I am not a fan of big box stores or malls. … Continue reading What the Big Box Store has……
Artisan Cheese Company in Sarasota offers a fun, very interesting, enjoyable cheese course: Cheese 101. For Christmas our daughters gave us gift certificates for the course. We finally made a point of signing up for a class before Christmas arrived again! The course consisted of 10 cheeses, 3 wines and 13 pairings. Louise Converse, owner of Artisan Cheese Company hosted the class with her talented cheesemongers. They guided us … Continue reading Not too Cheesy: Cheese 101
There is a unique wine shop in Sarasota that I am embarrassed to say we had never been to until last week. It is Sarasota Fine Wine & Tastings. It offers tastings on Thursday and Friday evenings so, at the urging of a good friend, we accepted an invitation to go with him on a Friday evening. The shop is small and well stocked with … Continue reading Friday night in Sarasota…………
Our favorite visits are to family wineries. There appears to be an involvement by all family members, young and old, in these places that is visible and comfortable, making the visit so enjoyable. There almost always is a dog, often a winery cat, and sometimes an array of other animals meandering about. Photo courtesy of Isenhower cellars The conversations we have with our host or … Continue reading A family winery called Isenhower…….
