*Maryland Wine Month ended last night. Even though I had a few technical difficulties, I still wanted to include this post.* Maryland Wine Month means celebrating with a glass of 2015 South Slope Red Blend from The Vineyards at Dodon. Located in Anne Arundel County, Dodon is a ninth generation family owned farm. It’s definitely …
Pinot Noir can be a difficult grape to grow and work with but Shalini Sekhar does it with finesse. She has crafted a few for Waits-Mast Family Cellars. Waits-Mast, owned by Jennifer Waits and Brian Mast, is a small-lot boutique winery in California that produces 50 to 100 case lots each year and others are …
On a whim, I decided to stop by the incredibly busy, Black-owned, Spice Suite in Washington, DC. To my surprise there wasn’t the usual line outside the door and down the block. I was able to go in and browse with only a few people in line (lucky me!). The owner, Angel, is normally in …
I have to be honest and say the label caught my eye. But after a little research, I realized there was more to this wine than the label. Longavi Wines is a collaboration between Chilean producer Julio Bouchon and South African winemaker David Nieuwoudt. So it’s more than just a cute label. Made using native …
Last night was another educational and fun tasting with Erik Segelbaum, Smithsonian Associates and SommStock. This tasting took us on a journey of Burgundy. I realized I am officially on the white wine train. I enjoyed the Chablis and Mersault (bottles 1 & 2 respectively). I also loved that Erik gave us an easy way …
Tonight I’m joining Janet Cam and Ben Jordan (Early Mountain & Lightwell Survey) for some Zoom wine education. They will be discussing Early Mountain’s 2019 Rosé and the 2017 Eluvium. Since I am already familiar with EM’s delicious Rosé, I decided to try their 2019 PUR — 60% Chardonnay, 35% Viognier and 5% Pinot Gris. …
This will be my first time trying Bodkin Wines. Bodkin was founded in 2011 by Winemaker Chris Christensen (with that name you must do something cool, right?). This winery may be small but it’s mighty! Chris is the creator of the FIRST American Sparkling Sauvignon Blanc. Now ain’t that America! I am super excited to …
To be honest, prior to planning a trip to Morocco, I figured it was going to be mostly a “dry” trip. I prepared myself to be sober for a few weeks. Yikes! I naively thought that the North African country seriously frowned upon all drinking. Well, all things except Moroccan Whiskey aka Mint Tea. Ya’ll …
My final session of SommCon was Viewing Wines Through The Lens of Diversity. The session not only included a dynamic discussion but we also followed along as the panelists did a blind tasting of wines from around the world. The wines were from China, Mexico, US, Israel and South Africa. The first picture shows wine …
As a lover of VA wine, it was pretty cool to assist and sit in on the SommCon session Stranger Things: New + Experimental Wines of Virginia session. This session shows that there are a wide variety of delicious and fun wines for folks to try that are unfamiliar with VA wines. King Family Vineyards …
My first SommCon session of day two was Time Traveling in Napa – How to Access Library Wines, and How Top Producers Release Them. This session is merely just one of the reasons to come to SommCon! Where can you try a 1985 Chateau Montelena Chardonnay, 1966 Charles Krug Cabernet or 1997 & 2010 Schramsberg …
I went to a wonderful tasting at Chat’s Liquors on Saturday with Ntsiki Biyela! She is the Owner and Winemaker of Aslina wines from South Africa (South Africa’s first Black Female Winemaker!). Ms Biyela showcased her 2018 Sauvignon Blanc, 2017 & 2018 Chardonnay, 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon and 2015 & 2016 Red Blend. Made using grapes …
I don’t even know where to start about my “quick” weekend experience. So I’ll start at the beginning. I found out about the Batonnage Forum from Julia Coney on Instagram and thought I NEED to be at this conference! Now if you know me personally, follow me on IG or Twitter or even read my …
The beautiful property of Reeve Wines, owned by a dynamic husband and wife team (Noah and Kelly Dorrance), is a small production winery/farm. (I love that they have goats and chickens roaming around together!) Even though Noah is in charge of winemaking and production, they have a lot of support from all-star winemakers (check out …
My second visit to Jordan Winery felt like my first visit to Jordan Winery (super exciting!). I was ready to taste Jordan’s collaboration bubbles with AR Lenoble and eat some delicious caviar. We arrived early for our tasting, so Maria (you are lucky if you get to meet her) showed us around the property. This …
