What a sad but happy time Friday night. Sad because someone in the DMVTravelCrew is moving away. Happy because we were able to spend time together before she leaves. What better way to celebrate her than with New York Champagne Week, Fried Chicken from Marcus Samuelsson and Rita Jammet’s La Caravelle Champagne! As I said …
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 …
Pictures from Sunday’s Txakoli fest at Maxwell DC! There was unlimited Txakoli, Ciders, Porrons and delicious bites. The great thing about Txakoli is it’s high acid but low alcohol (9.5-11% ABV). So it’s an easy, all day sipping wine and goes great with food. The crowd favorite of the night was Ameztoi’s Rubentis Rosé. The …
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 …
Beautiful wines during the SommCon session: White Burgundy Without Wood – Displaying Chardonnay’s True Character. The panelists — Geoff Labitzke – Director of Sales, Kistler Vineyards Robert Jones, MS – Advanced Sake Professional, Kysela Pere et Fils, LTD.
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 …
When in Sonoma, why not start the day with Bubbles! The perfect picturesque place for this is Iron Horse Vineyards, a family-owned winery known for their Sparking Wine. You can taste wine outdoors in the sunshine with breathtaking views. Some of their Sparkling wine has been served multiple times at the White House. They also …
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 …
Visiting Restoration Hardware (RH) Yountville during the day is pretty but this place comes alive at night. I wish I had a place like this where I lived. I would make it my “Cheers!” There is the Wine Vault for drinks, a Restaurant with olive trees as the centerpiece and of course a beautiful store …
To me, a dream combination of wine tasting is a female winemaker and beautiful wine. I achieved both at Corison Winery. The owner and winemaker is Napa superstar Cathy Corison. Even though it was a rainy day in Napa, walking in the doors of Corison made me smile. I mean how can you frown when …
On Monday, a ride over the bridge led me to Palette 22 in Shirlington for the Maker’s Mark event “I am Woman Hear Me Pour.” This event was held to celebrate Margie Samuels, co-founder of Maker’s Mark. Throughout the evening, Rachel Ford, a Maker’s Mark Diplomat, told us not only did Margie come up with …
