Good Morning!

I received my Wine Spectator in the mail and I always look forward to reading whatever the subjects covered might be. Today, When I saw that they had a list of the top wines coming out of Chile and the article and research was done by James Molesworth I was more excited. He reviewed 450 wines and his top picks amount to about 33 wines in total.

I had been making my own list of wineries I wanted to try when I am traveling trough Chile in April, so I was really excited to see many of the wineries I wanted to try are also on his list. I was most excited to see that his top pick is Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta Colchagua Valley 2007…I get to work the harvest at Casa Lapostolle! So I plan on working hard during the day and trying every wine possible every night. I will take notes, video and pictures to share with you. We will call it a virtual tasting!

Another friend of mine who likes wine a lot but is not in the wine business has been traveling Argentina and Chile over the past 6 weeks. He called me two days ago with a list of places I have to see and wines to try and he said the facility at Lapostolle is awesome, and he loved their wines and then he told me about another vineyard/winery called Vina Montes. With these kinda referrals I just do not know how I will sleep for the entire week before I leave…it will feel like the night before school starts and Christmas eve all rolled into one!

The best Chilean wine I have had so far in all my tastings has been Concha Y Toro Puente Alto Don Melchor 2007….I could drink that for breakfast, lunch and dinner! I have been reading tons on what makes Chilean wines so special and Chile is kinda where California wines were back in the 80’s and 90’s starting to really flourish and get the attention they richly deserve.

One bit of information about the vineyards of Chile, they have never been infected with phylloxera. Phylloxera is a vine attacking disease that once it gets in the vines you have to take them all out and get a resistant root stock to get healthy grapes growing again. This wicked guy has hit every other grape growing region in the world but Chile has not had this problem.

Anyway…my world today revolves around Chilean wines, who knows what I will love tomorrow but Chile is on my mind today!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning!

Years ago I read a book called Love by the Glass. It was written by two journalists Dorothy J. Gaiter and John Brecher, who started out writing about wine on the side while covering completely different subjects and they eventually became the the wine reviewers for the New York Times. I really loved the book it was more about how their relationship grew and how they became wine people, not so much about wines, but it did have some awesome wine advice packed in the stories.

I read the book before I really got into making and drinking wine. They discussed how they traveled by train from NYC to Napa each year and all the wines they tried and how they started to “judge” wines. They talked a lot about the questions people would write to them and they told stories about different people they had meet along the way.

While telling some of these stories some were tearjerkers, like one couple who bought wine on a trip and they had been saving the bottle for a “special” occasion, the wife had passed and now he did not know when to open the bottle. Then on a lighter note they talked about a couple who fell in love with a wine in Italy and they brought a case home and they were saving it for their son’s wedding…he turned out to be gay!

So Dorothy and John decided to host the first ever Open Bottle Night…a regular night that you can turn into an occasion because of the wine. Once they set a date they ask everyone to join in and then write in afterward and talk about how the wine was and what they did. This turned out to be wildly popular. While reading this book, it also opened my eyes to wine is as much an experience as it is a taste, flavor etc…

So last Saturday night was Open the Bottle Night…Or at least it was in the Twitter universe. So I looked in my cellar and pulled out a bottle that we bought about 4 years ago at Merryvale winery on a trip with a HUGE group of our friends. It was such an awesome day I kinda wanted to save the bottle for when we would all be together again, but we live so far apart now, so it might be quite sometime before that reunion happens.

I opened a bottle of the Oakville Cab produced by Merryvale…it was wonderful and while I was opening it I called a few of the friends who where with me that day and we caught up while I enjoyed the wine.

Please, do yourself a favor and open the bottle you been saving…you will enjoy it and smile about when you found the wine.

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning!

When you read this the Oscar’s will have just wrapped up last night. I personally loved The Fighter, King’s Speech, The Social Network and two movies that will win nothing…Burlesque and The Tourist, but I loved both of them! So, I am not really a great movie critic, but I thought I would go through the categories of the Oscar’s and apply them to my personal fav grapes and just see how my votes are counted.

So, I will not pick out the brands of wine or vintages but I will discuss the grapes and I might drop hints at regions that I really enjoy. (These opinions are my own and reflect nothing more than the fun I have with wine.

Best Supporting Actor – This wine might be a surprise, it kinda surprised me but when I think back to this last year, I had a reoccurring theme of Rose’. I know the color pink is not masculine, but this wine is so sure of it’s appeal he does not care what color he is. He was at picnics, BBQ’s, formal dinners, tastings and casual wine enjoying moments.

Best Supporting Actress – The best supporting grape for me is Sauvignon Blanc. She is always found in my frig and ready to hit the pool or patio with me and my friends.

Best Comedy – This is no laughing matter, but a wine that always makes me giggle is sparkling Shiraz. It is fun to look at and fun to enjoy with a serious message. I would never replace my Champagne with this for celebrations but if I have something less serious to celebrate, like my son got excepted to jr. college or I made it through Monday…this is a pure fun wine to drink.

Best Drama – The most dramatic wines I had this year were from Argentina, Malbec is winning my heart up against Rhone style blends being created in Paso Robles. It might be a toss up, but I am giving Paso Robles and there crazy blends my award.

Best Director (Winemaker) – I will catch some flack over this and I just have to go with who I know. I love Merry Edwards. She is hands down the most lovely, engaging, intelligent business woman and winemaker I have met so far. I only spent a few hours with her, but I was and am totally inspired by her quiet and gentle mannerisms and kind heart. I want to make wine as gentle, bold and sexy as her wines. If she reads this I hope some day we will work together…I am not even kidding! You change the way I look and enjoy wine.

Best Soundtrack (music to drink wine by) I am such an old school music fan but I switch it up from time to time and listen to some hip hop. So if you can mix Stevie Wonder and Jay Z or Ludicris. I would be thrilled. But the best wine drinking music ever for me is Santana…He just makes me want to dance and soak in the wine, music and fellowship.

Best Costume (label) – The best label in the world is TJR Select, but I am disqualified because my wines are not available for consumption by the public…So the most fun goes to Fat Ass Cab, the most regal label I liked this year was Opus One, just cuz it’s Opus and it seemed like when I brought the bottle out many folks oohhed and awwwwed. I most favorite labels are on Italian reds full of color and excitement. They are just fun to look at from me…so all Italian wine labels take home my prize!

Best Actor – Carmenere from Chile….hands down the wine came from Colchagua Valley. I was enthralled. Massive flavors, aromas and yet gentle and strong…my personal Cary Grant.

Best Actress – Complex Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley…grabbed my taste buds and took them to places I had no idea I was missing….My Angelina Jolie in a bottle.

Best Documentary – The Syrah from Rhone Valley France. I never tried a french wine until 2 years ago and this year I focused my palette toward these wines and the rewards were AWESOME!

Best Picture of the year – This is hard for me because I am still learning my palette and what makes each wine so special..by this is where I started with wine and my mouth just keeps taking me back home to this grape….Cabernet, the bigger, bolder, more powerful, steakhouse kinda wine you spend way more than your expense account likes but you love every minute of it. Cakebread, Jordan, Merryvale, Grigh Hills, Ridge, I could go on and on and on….I love this wine, perhaps it was the first great wine I tried so that is what my tongue will always be drawn to!

As for the rest of the great wines out there, Zinfandel, Merlot, Chardonnay, Cab Franc, Riesling, Albarino, Chenin Blanc…just to name a few..you all are mentioned because we spent so much time together this past year and next year I expect the pricey bubbles to show up…they are always available in my house….I wish I had more categories to pass out more awards to give to all these fantastic wines and winemakers!

Enjoy the show and enjoy your wine!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi

Good Morning,

I had an email from my biggest fan this week that made me stop and think. First, let me say thanks mom! Mom emailed me and said how often do you check your Ask the Wino questions? She went on to say, she was at the Doctor’s office and some of her pals read daily and have sent in questions and I had not answered.

Yikes! Talk about LAME response time. So I had to start digging around and finding out if I had dropped the ball, I did not see any notifications that I had any questions. I am still really new to this whole website and blog thing and I honestly learn or teach myself something everyday. So, I called the folks who set up the site and host it and said, what’s up?

To my relief, I actually had not missed anything, but when the site went from prototype to a “live” site, we missed turning on the switch or program that would email me the questions. I just figured since I had no questions, only mom had been reading the blogs. But much to my surprise even without me announcing the site to hardly anyone, I have had many, many viewers. I am totally excited.

If you have sent me a question in the past, please send it again! We can not restore any of the past questions but we can learn from this and move forward. I think this is one of the scariest parts of starting a new business from the ground up, there are things I know a lot about, there are many things I always left to the experts when I worked for a corporation. Now I have to hire experts or become one myself.

I can smile about my own lack of knowing, but I need to thank my mom for being my biggest fan and keeping me on track! Thanks, mama! I love you!

Much LOVE and wine…enjoy the Oscar’s and have a great weekend!

Tammi

Good Morning!

The other day I was ask about what is a Sommelier? I thought I would do a little research and share with you what I have found out.

Sommelier pronounced (saw-muh-LYAY) is the French term for a wine steward or waiter in charge of wine. For hundreds of years, sommeliers were responsible for the cellaring and serving of wines for royalty. Eventually, the tradition of the sommelier spread to restaurants, where such an individual is expected to have extensive knowledge of the wines, pairings, and how to serve and decant them.

This is the “official” defintion…but here is what I learned about the process they went through to become a Sommelier. There is a very focused testing process covering sensory, viticulture and vinification. It is very expensive and they will need to be working in the restaurant and or service industry (sort of an apprenticeship). Many of the sommeliers move on to study the Master Sommelier education programs.

Tastevin, I had never heard of this word and while digging around I found out this is the name of the small, shallow silver cup used by sommeliers to analyze wine for color, aromas and flavor. I understand this was started in the cellars of Burgundy, France. The cup has a ribbon so it hangs around the neck of the sommelier.

I also found out there are several levels of wine education Certified Specialist of Wine CSW and Certified Wine Educator CWE (CWE testing and entire process looked crazy hard). These are not directly related to being a sommelier, but many eventually become a sommelier. The tests are intense and will challenge the sharpest of wine minds.

I sent off for all the info about taking the entire program. I have no intent on becoming a Sommelier, but I’d like to know what they know!

I hope this helps you the next time you are out for dinner and the Sommelier stops by the table and you want some help picking out your next bottle of wine….pick their brain, ask lots of questions and I know I am always inspired by their deep knowledge and only once has a pairing not really worked out perfectly!

Much LOVE and wine,

Tammi