Thanksgiving is a day that we all sit down with the ones we love as well as the ones we must. For years many of us have been in a rut relying on tried and true wines for our Thanksgiving meals. Pinot Noir, Reisling, and Gewurztraminer. Our next wine tasting will let you get out of that rut, allowing you to show thanks to the ones you love without overspending on the ones you must. You may also find some wines you did not know you liked and may be willing to drink all year long. Coincidentally the wines are all French and try as I might I cannot come up with a tie in between France and Thanksgiving other than the fact that these wines will really complement your meal and the French did help us win the Revolutionary War but that was way after the first Thanksgiving. First off, we will be tasting a Trimbach Pi not Blanc ($17.99 Total Wine), followed by a Jadot Beaujolais Villages ($10.99 Total Wine) followed by a Cuvee Signee by Romain Parisis Chinon ($18.99 Total Wine). The first t...

Joe Cillo of Cleveland Ohio asks “what is the difference between a horizontal and a vertical wine tasting?”.  W ell Joe I know that for someone like you a horizontal tasting is the portion of a tasting after you have had too much to taste. But for others a horizontal tasting compares wines from the same year but from multiple producers. For example at a horizontal tasting you may taste nothing but 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon from Bogle, Kunde, BV, Grgich Hills, and Joel Gott.   That way, in comparing the wines, you get a better understanding of the wine style of that particular producer, and you can then decide which producers match your taste.    A vertical tasting involves wine from the same producer but from different years.  For example a vertical tasting may consist Ravenswood Zinfandel from 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012.  That way you get a better understanding of the each vintage in order to better understand the vintage that best fits your t...

We just got back from our first wine tasting trip to Temecula.  The place kind of reminds me of how Disney would create a wine tasting area.  It was really cool but in a manufactured sort of way.  Most of the tasting rooms were stunning.  A lot more opulence then you would see in Paso or Santa Barbara. The reason for this the fact that one of the main economic drivers for the area is attracting people that want to have weddings in "wine country".  So it is as important for them to create the "wine country" wedding experience as it is is that as import as it is to create wine.  They have to make sure that what they offer matches the  vision that the bride and groom have when they thinking about "wine country".  Because it is so competitive if they don't have it they have to manufacture it thus all the magnificent tasting rooms.  The wedding operations are also why many of the wineries also operate restaurants. Now that we got that out of the w...