Donna Beery

Feb 292012
 

Cindy Cosco

Mr. B&B and I had breakfast with Cynthia Cosco of Passaggio Wines recently as we left Sonoma County for the Oakland airport.  Passaggio translates to passageway and is a tribute to her Italian ancestors who four generations ago, came to America.  Cindy shares her passion for winemaking with her grandfather who took great joy in sharing his wine with neighbors, friends and family. She spoke of growing up in an Italian home where there always wine and food; thus, she makes her wines to be enjoyed with food (a crisp style with zippy yet balanced acidity) and to bring wine, food and friends together.  The true testament to her winemaking passion is the fact she left a 14-year career in Virginia law enforcement  to pursue her winemaking dream, starting at the bottom.

I grew up with a Chinese mother who came to America when she was fourteen-years-old.  Wine in our home was rarely served, mainly at holidays, so when I did begin to drink wine it was as a stand-alone beverage.  While I enjoy a glass of wine with dinner, I still choose my wines for their ability to stand-alone (usually robust with lower acidity) and those are not always the best food pairing wines. I like to have my glass(es) of wine before, during and after the preparation of the food.  To give Cindy’s Passaggio white wines their due, we decided to design our own food pairing meal. Continue reading »

Feb 202012
 

Wine BlogOn our recent trip to northern Sonoma we were graciously hosted by VML Winery . We arrived on a sunny 65 degree Saturday to a winery boasting beautiful gardens, decks that begged you to take a seat and enjoy a glass of wine, live music in the tasting room and barbeque. This Texas girl was already happy.  I understand that there is barbeque and live music every Saturday creating a relaxed almost party atmosphere. Continue reading »

Oct 062010
 

Maybe you read Roger’s piece First Love…What Wine did you share? Some of you have asked, when did I fall in love with red wine?  Roger wrote that our first trip to Napa was in 1987, but after some additional reminiscing, Roger and I have realized that we first visited Jordan Winery (where I fell in love with California Cabernet) in 1983 not 1987.  Continue reading »

Aug 302010
 

I love neighborhood wine bars!  Of course, the other half of B & B would say that I just love wine anywhere.  That being said,, a wine bar becomes a neighborhood wine bar and one of my favorites because the staff treats you like family each time you visit.  Of course, they need to have good food, wine and atmosphere.  Since I split my time between the south suburbs of Denver, Colorado and Austin Texas, I have favorites in both cities.

Continue reading »

May 062010
 

Let’s Go To Cooking School!

We’d been threatening to take a cooking class as couple for a long time and while I’d agreed in principle, I was apprehensive. I do three things around the kitchen pretty well, salsa, green chili and grilling/smoking. I can say that grilling is around the kitchen because the grill is literally right outside the kitchen. Continue reading »