Happy first night in Napa with one of my favorite Pinot Noir producers, even if they’re in Sonoma… My absolute fave is the Manchester Ridge Vineyard one, but this was very tangy and cranberry, and had great acid for food pairing. Plus, it was my parents’ 50th anniversary! Was great to celebrate with some good … Continue reading
Category Archives: free run juice
great chefs make great food – and wine
Maybe you know this guy – he’s a chef and has a bunch of shows on Food Network, like Tyler’s Ultimate and The Great Food Truck Race. But like any good chef, he knows what’s most important – wine! Went to a tasting of his 5 wines last night. He makes three limited-production ones: TF … Continue reading
baseball grapefriends, kind of
Love this: Wine Spectator is doing a running count of what kind of bubbly baseball teams are spraying in the locker room when they win. I don’t watch baseball unless the Yankees are in the playoffs, mostly because I devote enough of my time and gray hair to football. But I love a good grapefriend … Continue reading
i might be moving to tokyo
So now that I’ve stayed at a wine hotel, I might need to move into a wine apartment building. They’re doing one in Tokyo, something called the Shibuya Shinsen Wine Apartment Project that’s slated to be done next September. Only 18 rentals apartments in the building, and grapefriendy features include: wine cellar with capacity for 10,000 bottles for … Continue reading
Girls who drink: read this. So…all girls, read this.
There’s incredibly conflicting research about wine and health, in all categories. I read a lot of it and usually wind up confused and/or annoyed. But last week my doctor asked me the routine “How much do you drink a week?” – being grapefriend, I have a bit more of an explanation about why I have … Continue reading
drink pink
To be honest, there are better “pink” wines I could recommend you drink (namely, any rosé). But every year for National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Sutter Home does Capsules for Hope. When you send in your capsule or twist-off cap receipt, they’ll donate a dollar to City of Hope to help find a cure. This year, … Continue reading
charity, cipriani, and chugging
Last night I went to a benefit for Look Good Feel Better, an organization dedicated to teaching beauty techniques to cancer patients to help offset the side effects of treatment. Like many NYC benefits, this one was held at Cipriani. I’d already had a pre-party Crémant de Loire so wanted to continue the bubbles theme … Continue reading
grape stomping, an accordion, and the chicken dance
Wine has been made for 1000’s of years, and the grapes all used to be crushed by foot. Very few port houses still do this though since it’s so expensive and time consuming. But to get the best quality out of the grapes, foot treading is the way to roll: it’s gentle, random, and can drag … Continue reading
port primer
OK, so I’ve been posting a lot about port but figured I should do one that just walks you through the some basics. First, to make port you add brandy to stop the fermentation process and “fortify” it (this makes it higher in alcohol and keeps it sweet). There are a bunch of different styles … Continue reading
morning in the vineyard
I could spend every morning learning about port grapes from Croft’s insanely knowledgeable and sweet winemaker! We taste each berry – all different but very ripe. I loved the Tinta Roriz. They’re getting picked next week! Continue reading
