Best wine today? It was out of a barrel. Phillipe Melka, sick sick sick winemaker and my new favorite person, gave me a taste of his still-aging Sauvignon Blanc. I didn’t even have to taste it though – the insane tangerine honeysuckle scent could’ve been more than enough. I told him he should make perfume … Continue reading
A day late but… Le Reve: learn and love. Domaine Carneros makes some amazing sparkling wine, and this one’s the best. It’s a Blanc de Blancs (all Chardonnay) and so elegant and delicious!!! We tasted a bunch of their others – all good as usual, though my new fave is the Blanc de Noirs which … Continue reading
Just had fantastic tour and tasting with Jessica Palmaz. Cool to see the family operations with our family. Amazing gravity-driven facilities in the mountain, cross between Austin Powers and Willy Wonka. Annnnd the wine did not suck…. At all. Also love that they made a non-alcoholic Muscat for the four-year-old nephew! Totally what we would … Continue reading
This is how we kicked off the morning. My dad with his eyes closed, me with a shadow on my teeth, and the awesomest huge bottle of bub at Domaine Carneros. Welcome to grapefriend land… The guys go, “Oh, this is your Michael Strahan picture.” I’ll sacrifice my beauty shot to be compared to a … Continue reading
Poetry. Normally you’d hear a wine name like this and either groan or think it’s cheesy. Not once you drink this one. Cliff Lede’s Poetry is made from the best grapes they have, and we were lucky enough to taste some today. As everyone tasted it around the table, you could see each set of … Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
