Travel & Tasting Notes From A Couple of Wine Lovers
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
When we started VinoDuo about 17 years ago we called it a wine and travel blog. The intent was to visit and uncover lesser-known wine regions in the US. In the early years we stopped in Temecula, Livermore, and Paso Robles, CA; the then-nascent Woodinville, WA area; the North Fork of Long Island, and the… Continue reading Our Grande French Adventure, Part 1
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
Waltham, Mass. is home to one of the Boston area’s best Italian restaurants and Italian wine shops, both owned by Campania native David Maione. La Campania and Vino Italiano are located a few blocks from each other on Main Street and are regular stops on the VinoDuo social calendar. In September, Maione paired the restaurant’s… Continue reading A Taste of Campania, from Campania
*Not to be confused with Montepulciano d'Abruzzo. First, let's clarify the geography and nomenclature. From Wikipedia: Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is an Italian red wine made from the Montepulciano wine grape in the Abruzzo region of east-central Italy. It should not be confused with Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, a Tuscan wine made from Sangiovese and other grapes.[1]… Continue reading Vino Nobile di Montepulciano Master Class*
New Finds from the Boston Wine Expo After a Covid-inflicted hiatus, the Boston Wine Expo was back in March 2023, with new ownership, a smaller venue, and a more professional ambiance. Shifting from the cavernous World Trade Center to the more intimate Park Plaza Hotel Ballroom was a smart move. Less cattle-call, more sip and… Continue reading 12 Wines to Love Now
Normally I would start a late-March post with "It's been a tough winter with cold and snow and we were stuck inside tasting new wines." I can't use that excuse this year, as our winter was remarkably temperate and dry. In fact, it was the perfect weather for seeking out new wines. Here are a… Continue reading Recent Favorites
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