Texas Riesling and Sushi! Say what?! Yes, 100% Texas wine. This is a 2019 off-dry Riesling made by Cheramie Laws (her first wine!). Cheramie Wines motto is “We believe that you can be and do anything you want. We all have inside of us what we need to live as our highest selves.” Amen to …
I am loving the Zoom life! It has afforded me the option of listening to some awesome educators and winemakers. Last week I had the pleasure to attend an online tasting with Winemaker Theresa Heredia of Gary Farrell Vineyards & Winery. Theresa has worked as winemaker at Gary Farrell since 2012. She brings her experience …
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 …
I’m so excited! My first story is up on @thevintnerproject! I featured Ottavino Wines Rockstar Winemaker, Shalini Sekhar. Please read and share her amazing story! Cheers!
SCFTW (Screw Cap For The Win)! This Chardonnay by House of Brown is part of the Brown Estate family – Napa’s first Black owned estate winery (their Zinfandel is fire!). It’s a little hard to find but keep searching. It’s totally worth it! HOB’s motto is “Come one, come all.” That’s definitely the vibe we …
A Champagne tasting with St Anselm Beverage Director, Vanessa Cominsky & Wine Writer, Educator and founder of Black Wine Professionals, Julia Coney. I picked up my bubbles and some snacks from St Anselm the day of the tasting. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how the bubbles were going to transfer from the restaurant to …
Sipping something tasty on a Sunday. This amber colored Georgian wine is 100% Tsolikouri grape (a well known grape variety in Georgia). It is fermented in a Qvevri, an “earthenware vessels used for fermentation, storage and aging.” This unfiltered wine smells like citrus with a little honey and a dash of salt. Sounds weird? But …
I had the pleasure to sit and chat with Rachel Martin, Owner/Vintner of Oceano Wines (Marbue Marke is the Winemaker). If her name sounds familiar it’s because she used to work with her family at Boxwood Estate Winery (Middleburg, VA) before starting Oceano. We sampled two Chardonnays – 2016 & 2017. This beautiful expression of …
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 …
Fresh off my trip, I was able to get it together to volunteer for this year’s SommCon DC (read last year’s post). The first session I assisted with was New Horizon of Asian Wines, World Class Chinese and Japanese Wines. The session was moderated by Toshio Ueno – VP & Executive Instructor, Sake School of …
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 …
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 …
Last week, I went to another Zachys DC tasting. Upon entering, we were greeted with a generous pour of Laurent-Perrier Rosé. Cathleen Burke-Visscher, Founder, of Wine Works & Co., guided us through a fabulous tasting from Chateau Ducru-Beaucaillou, Chateau Fourcas-Borie and Chateau Lalande-Borie. It was so cool that we got to do a vertical tasting …
Last week I went to a fabulous tasting at Zachy’s DC with Sophia Bergqvist from Quinta De La Rosa — with food from Perfect Little Bites! Since 1906, Quinta De La Rosa has been a family owned business located on the banks of the River Douro (Portugal). The property was a christening present given to …
