I'm so excited! I mean, c'mon. It's about time I add more to this blog than wine. To that end, here is a link to a news article I wrote within a 2-hour deadline due to the sensitive nature of the story. You can see all this in my social media profiles, too. I hope posts like these will become more commonplace: http://www.indyposted.com/192072/hillary-clinton-i-felt-responsible/#.UQBDnGeH-So
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Happy New Year! To "celebrate," I'm drinking another award-winning wine. The Yellow Tail Moscato won a Double Gold at the 31st Annual San Francisco International Wine Competition. It's a little sweet, and a little fizzy! Like all their wines, it goes down too easily!
This wind is a nice blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Syrah. As such, it's taste is a mix of the sweet and earthy. The Cabernet Franc and Syrah dance on the palate with robust twang while Merlot undercuts the atmosphere with its deep, earthy tones. The wine changes flavor as it goes down: The drinker tastes Syrah at the end for a final bite of sweetness. Makes an unusually complex and dynamic red table wine. Not surprising coming from an award-wining winery that's among the "cream" of the crop!
Jessie Creek is a shiny new winery that is making its mark in New Jersey. Having opened to the public this summer, the winery, which boasts a bed and breakfast, currently has five wine varieties: Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Chambourcin, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. The latter two are award-winning, but all their wines deserve awards. And their Chardonnay indeed makes the cut in my book! So does their Pinot Grigio, which smells strongly of ripe pear and taste unusually tropical--not at ALL like a dry white wine. Try it, you'll definitely like it!!
This wine is a sipping wine for the table, but it's unlike anything you ever tasted before. From Black Walnut winery near Coatesville, the wine has a burgundy color. A spice smell is immediately apparent, wth ripe fruit and blackberries and maybe some unripened strawberries giving it a semi-dry and light crip finish tasted on the tip of the tongue versus spices mid-palate.
Went to the first EVER Brandywine Food and Wine Festival today. Six hours of pure happiness. Details here: http://www.pawinefestival.com/index.html
Two of the guilty pleasures in my life are drinking Kureg coffee at Hagley Museum and Library, where I volunteer once a week, and drinking wine. Galer Estate winery (www.galerestate.com) recently opened for business--10 minutes away from my house!! All of their wines have won awards, but the family favorite was the Pino Gris.
As we wended our way back through the hilly countryside, we decided to stop off at J. Maki Winery. They seem to specialize in champagnes, as they were the only winery to win first place for their Blanc de Blancs in 2001 at the Vinalies Internationales competition in Paris, France--the so-called Olympics of wine making. They even have a quote at the bottom of their tasting list from John Maynard Keynes, who said, "My only regret in life is that I did not drink more Champagne." No events are ongoing at this winery because, as owner Janet Maki says, one is supposed to sit and "contemplate" the vines in a peaceful way while drinking the champagne, which runs between $34 and $157 a bottle. Even so, the winning bottle earned a price tag of $2,500!
Falling one point away from gold in 2003, Janet and her husband Jim's ice wine eeked out a silver medal in the same competition, which they have only entered twice. The two awards are ostentatiously displayed at their on-site tasting room in Elverson, PA. Beginning their winery in 1991, Janet and Jim sell some interesting wines. I'm not usually a white drinker, but the 2008 PGV (Pinot Grigio--Viognier blend) was a hit with me as well as my parents (and the least expensive at $29) as was the 2005 VSP, or their Boudeaux Blend, grown in Vertical Shoot Positioning to protect and aerate the grapes, and their 2005 Petite Verdot. More information can be found at http://jmakiwine.com/ My family and I on Firday decided to go Yellow Springs Farm in Chester Springs, PA, where the roads haven't changed much since historical times and horse travel. We went there for the award-winning goat cheese Catherine and Al Renzi make themselves from the milk of their 27 goats and farm-grown herbs, nuts, and honey. And it's unlike any cheese you have tasted before! That's probably because the Renzi's goat milk is, as a handout states, 100% pasteurized and their goats "eat local hay, organic grains, and graze in healthy pastures." (In fact, the goats popped out 30 kids just 11 days prior--which can ONLY mean MORE BUTTERY GOODNESS!!)
We were anxious to buy their "Red Leaf:" a firm cheese aged in red wine-soaked Sycamore leaves and having a similar taste to bleu cheese, which took home second place in the 2010-2011 American Cheese Society competition. Their black walnut liquor-infused "Nutcracker" cheese, which wouldn't be ready this season until a few more weeks, won first place. Since buying the dairy farm--which dates back to William Penn times-- 11 years ago, the Renzis have only begun making cheese in the last two years. So, we also bought "Bliss," which is a firm cheese with hints of mushroom (I thought cheddar) and comparable in color and texture to Bree and tasting like Manchego. All of these cheeses and 15 others are available through a cooperative known as a CSA, or Community-Supported (or Community-Shared) Agriculture. You, the community member, pay the famer an annual membership fee to help cover production costs, and, in return, receive a regular share of production in local artisinal cheeses. There are convenient pick-up locations in places like Downingtown, West Chester, Ardmore, and Wayne. Please visit: http://www.yellowspringsfarm.com/ for more information. Inspired by the advice of a friend, and, after an extremely dark period of my life, I have discovered my newfound hobby and a thing that makes me happy: BLOGGING!! I....can't....WAIT!! Firsts are exciting! More to come soon!!
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