I love a good truck ride through a vineyard. Today: Viña Ventisquero in the Apalta Valley. Our rickety truck provided us with insane views and dust in every crevice of our bodies. (I kept singing that Kings of Leon song “dusty, oh dustyyyy” in my head the whole time.) Sergio the winemaker showed us how … Continue reading
Despite the fact that I’m grapefriend and just landed in Chile for an amazing wine trip, my first meal was at the Mercado Central which is a humongous fish market in Santiago that provided us with a non-wine highlight. The building was built around 150 years ago and has amazing iron work. We walked around … Continue reading
I had dinner at Seersucker the other night, and before we got to wine drinking I grabbed a cocktail at the bar. And thank god. This Levon Gimlet was so yummy and refreshing. Ingredients: Dorothy Parker gin fresh lemon-lime juice basil (this was from the garden at their other restaurant, Nightingale 9) Easy, right? I’m not … Continue reading
grape: Pinot Noir producer: Talley Vineyards. They started out planted vegetables in 1948 in Arroyo Grande (near Edna Valley), and then (luckily for us) planted vines in 1982. They make great restrained wines, unlike lots of big. fruity California ones. country: USA region: Arroyo Grande Valley, CA year: 2011 yum factors: Had a bunch of their Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs last weekend and … Continue reading
Beer is soooo out. We’ve been detailing wine all Football Week, and now even cocktails are encroaching! Check out this one from SKYY vodka. I don’t know what it has to do with football other than the name, but I love cocktails with herbs in them – basil, thyme, tarragon. They provide such a good … Continue reading
I’ve had many wines made by former football players and coaches, but none of these wines that are licensed by teams. Obviously, I LOVE the idea of a team backing grapes over hops for their fans but I always want the wines to actually be good too. I’d heard about the Jets Uncorked for a … Continue reading
It’s Fashion Week! Instead of detailing any clothes or anything (why would we do that on grapefriend?), let’s just detail the favorite liqueur of one of my favorite stylists, Pat Field. As the costume designer for Sex and the City, Pat is basically half the reason the show was so popular. And one of her drinks of … Continue reading
I’m all teary because this is our last post in the Friday Fizz series. We’ve had lots of refreshing cocktails each Friday in August that hopefully have helped cooled down your weekends. I was in Napa last month and went to Goose and Gander restaurant one Sunday afternoon. Well it was hot out and I … Continue reading
We’re nearing the end of summer,but it’s not going out without a fight. It’s been muggy and humid, and that’s why we need wine. As per yesterday’s suggestion, Riesling is great for humid days. But I wanted to also recommend one of my other summer faves: Pinot Blanc. I bust this out when it’s sweltering … Continue reading
It’s been a bit muggy in NYC these past few days, and really that’s just sort of perfect weather for acidic whites. It’s like all that acid cuts through the humidity and refreshes you. So last night’s Riesling Extravaganza was pretty great, since we had 6 German Rieslings from David Rosengarten’s wine import collection. David’s … Continue reading
