Wine Review / Articles

Mar 242012
 

Wine Blog, Wine BlogsHere are some of our favorite wines from March 2012 reviews on Bacchus and Beery Wine Blog. Many of these wines from small producers, so they may not be available in your local wine shop. We encourage you to support small, family and artisanal wineries by ordering directly from their websites, if you live one of the 38 states that believe in wine freedom. If you don’t know if your state allows direct shipping of wine, check this map.

Again, these are just a few of the superb wines we reviewed this month. Please check out Bacchus and Beery Wine Blog – Wine Reviews for all the reviews and ratings. Full disclosure – These wines were samples provided by the winery. Continue reading »

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 »

Sep 212011
 

Wine BlogTo the uninitiated, a Winemaker dinner can sound like a stuffy affair of wine snobs, rich food and some guy walking around telling you how great his wine is. Well, sometimes they are like that, but not usually. Bacchus and Beery Wine Blog, as you might imagine, has attended many winemaker dinners but never one so fun, entertaining and interactive as the wine dinner and blending contest recently put on by Australia’s Mollydooker Wines at Morton’s Steakhouse in the Denver Tech Center. Let’s not call this a winemaker dinner, not even an event. It was more like a carnival of wine, in the best of ways. Continue reading »

Jul 012011
 

Rosé wine for summertime. OK, I’ll admit it’s not a perfect rhyme but this summer is the perfect time to break out the Rosé wines. No white Zins, here. These beauties are dry and rich with flavor. Do real men drink Rosé, you ask? Hell yes! This big Texas wine dude loves a chilled glass of pink, especially when I’m at the grill with my friends and the sun begins to slide behind the oak trees. These wines are a party on your palate.

Wine Blog

Grilled Salad

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Jun 292011
 

Wine BlogThe drive from Calistoga to Volker Eisele Family Estate in Chiles Valley (a sub-ava of Napa Valley ava) is a 30 minute climb along a scenic winding two-lane road. As I drove I wondered why anyone would choose to grow grapes in this upper valley. I later learned that Francis Sievers founded Lomita Vineyards in 1870 on the same plot where Volker Eisele planted his predominately Cabernet vineyards a hundred years later. I was greeted at the old Lomita winery building, which now serves as the offices and a museum of sorts, by Volker Eisele himself. His German accent is still pronounced, giving the whole experience an old world feel. Being something of a Napa history buff, I was excited to meet this iconic pioneer vintner. Volker Eisele is featured prominently in the historical book, Napa: The Story of an American Eden by James Conaway. Continue reading »