Travel & Tasting Notes From A Couple of Wine Lovers
Temecu-what? And where? Temecula is a steadily expanding wine region 90 miles south of Los Angeles. VinoDuo first visited this then-unknown area over 15 years ago, when there were fewer than 12 wineries. Back then, the wines were certainly drinkable but only a few were noteworthy. The vines were young and the learning curve of… Continue reading Temecula Redux
On a recent flight to LA we passed the time with Wine Enthusiast’s Best of 2023” issue. As fans of Duckhorn Vineyards‘ “everyday” Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon (@$40) we were pleased to see its much pricier ($125) 2019 Monitor Ledge Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon named the #1 wine of the year. Imagine our delight when we… Continue reading When a Duck is a Decoy
After VinoDuo’s five-day trip through several Bordeaux AOCs with our guide Frederic from Into the Vineyard we took the [extremely fast and clean] TGI train to the city of Montpellier, which would be our home base for exploring several small AOPs [Appellation d'Origine Protégée, similar to AOC] in the Languedoc-Roussillon region. Before we post our… Continue reading What’s Up, Languedoc?
We interrupt our Grande French Adventure Series to Consider Cost, Quality, and the Correlation Between them in the Wines of Bordeaux. While wandering through the wine shops and vineyards of Saint-Émilion, Saint-Julien, Médoc, Pomerol, and Pessac-Léognan we noticed significant pricing disparities for seemingly similar wines. In Saint Émilion we wondered why the flagship wine's best… Continue reading Does High Cost = High Quality? VinoDuo Investigates
The Wineries of Saint-Julien We concluded our visit to Bordeaux's Left Bank with stops in the Saint-Julien appellation. The smallest of the four "communes" that make up Bordeaux's Haut-Médoc region, St.-Julien is Cabernet Sauvignon country and, therefore, Gary [and often, Lisa] country. In fact, Gary hand-picked each of the wineries and Into the Vineyard made… Continue reading Our Grande French Adventure, Part 3
I. The City of BordeauxWhen you hear "Bordeaux," you think of the wine region. We certainly did. And then we spent three nights in the city of Bordeaux...an ancient [3rd century], lively city that benefits from its namesake wine region's popularity but stands on its own if you never sip a drop of wine during… Continue reading Our Grande French Adventure, Part 2
Part 2 - Red Wines For many wine lovers, Bordeaux is Mecca; the greatest wine region in the world. So we made a pilgrimage to Bordeaux in October, along with a three-day visit to Languedoc, an under-appreciated wine region in the South of France. Our Bordeaux journey was coordinated by wine travel planner Into the… Continue reading A Trip to France Yields Beaucoup Bottles to Recommend
Part 1 - White Wines VinoDuo took a trip to the South of France in October for a wine-tasting adventure in Bordeaux and Languedoc. During tours and tastings we visited 19 wineries and tasted more than 150 wines, winding our way South from St. Emilion to Bordeaux and then east to Montpellier. We'll have plenty… Continue reading A Trip to France Yields Beaucoup Bottles to Recommend
https://youtu.be/ZDJ9ux2qHQw Back to Puglia and two of our favorite wineries. Not only do these winemakers produce gorgeous wine, they also export some of their best bottles to the U.S. TENUTE EMERA (from Claudio Quarta) We were treated to the three wines Tenute Eméra exports to the U.S.-- a Negroamaro rosé, the Anima di Negroamaro Lizzano,… Continue reading Wine Tasting in Puglia/Part 2
Celebrating a Patriots win and my birthday with a Tenute Rubino Susumaniello. Yes, we put our money where our mouth is.
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