Greetings from Catawba Island!

Diane and I had a wonderful time with our friends Dan and Marie last night and enjoyed a couple of wines worth noting. First was the 2004 Veramonte Primus from Chile that has received great reviews including a 90 point rating from Wine and Spirits. A blend of three grapes, the Carmenere (almost lost in Europe since the 1880's Phylloxera outbreak is one of Chile's signature varietal) 23%, Cabernet Sauvignon at 30% and 47% Merlot.

The second was a Shiraz from McLaren Vale in Eastern Australia, the 2005 Tinterra Shiraz.

Greetings from the Lake Erie Islands!!

Lunchtime and a great big salad with Honey-Baked Ham, and Jarlsberg Cheese with lettuce, tomato carrots and and a nice vinaigrette dressing, and an opportunity to sample the 2001 Columbia Winery Columbia Valley Syrah. Washington State's first winery to release syrah wines from vines from France planted in the Red Willow Vineyard, this syrah is a great example of am American made syrah.

Deep purple color, this wine mixes ripe fruit in a bigger wine than might be expected. (kinda overpowered the salad). This is a wine better suited with steak (which we will remedy tonight with a couple of steaks on the grill and the rest of the bottle (or yea, and probably at least one other)! Dark fruit, Plums and red berries, with a little spice and vanilla with nice acidity and tannic structure, this one is 87 points and for under 10 bucks a good QPR. Now for those steaks!!!

Greetings from Akron, Ohio!

Here are a few new wines that you might want to look for in the stores for this coming weekend. All are inexpensive and have a great QPR. (Quality/Price Ratio)

2006 Castle Rock California Cuvee Pinto Noir. In my never ending search for a good Pinot under 20 bucks, this one fits the bill nicely. The Castle Rock 2006 Pinot Noir is a medium bodied (not as light as most) wine with a nice nose of cherries and spice. On the pallet is is smooth with rather mild tannins and the distinct taste of cherries and a hint of iced tea, with a spicy but not peppery finish. At 13.99, this one rates 88 points and a great bargain.

2006 A to Z Oregon Pinot Noir. This is my first experience with this jammy fruit bomb. It is one of Wine.com's top sellers and now I know why. The label says "aristocratic wines at democratic price" and they are correct! At 17.99 a bottle the 2006 Pinot Noir is a refreshing mix of red cherry and red raspberry with good acidity and a hint of spices. Just what you would want from a Oregon Pinot. At 17.99 a little more expensive, but when you look at all of my Oregon favorites that used have this price point now over $30 bucks a bottle this one is a bargain. This is a 90 pointer!

2006 Windmill Estates Lodi Old Vine Zinfandel. What can I say, always one of my favorite Zins for the price, Michael and David Phillips have done it again with the 2006. This one reminds me of the 2001 with huge fruity plums and prunes, some Asian spice and black pepper on the long finish. A bargain at 11.99 and 88 points.

 2005 Columbia Crest Two Vines Vineyard 10 Red Wine. This vibrant blend of of Washington State Syrah, Sangiovese, and Cabernet Sauvignon, brings aromas of strawberry and some spice with blackberry and plum flavors on the mid-pallet and an nice smooth finish. And at 7.99, a really nice everyday wine especially with pasta and pizza. 86 points and a good QPR.

Cheers! Have a great weekend.

Greetings from Catawba Island, Ohio!

Every year the New Oxford American Dictionary declares its word of the year. In 2007, it was Locavore. Loosely defined, it's someone who prefers buys their food and wine locally. It came out of the local food movement, which encourages people to develop their own local or regional food economies.

 

A locavore, is a person who would rather shop at the farmers market, stop a local roadside stands, and consume locally produced and grown foods and yes, wines!!

I was talking with a friend in Michigan who recently returned from Italy and all he could talk about was the local fruit and vegetables and local wines. He couldn't believe how fresh and flavorful they were. As we talked we both commented about how in the United States we eat food from all over the world but most is picked before it is ripe and then must be shipped to the US distributor then to the local stores. It never tastes as good as it looks. It just isn't as good as local.

 

For me my favorite tomatoes are grown in my back yard. And what national distributor can beat Seiberling Farms corn, sold from their roadside stand in Norton? One of the nice things about living on Catawba Island is the opportunity to get Catawba peaches right off the tree at the roadside stand on NW Catawba Road. Or to purchase Ohio apples from Bergman's on Route 53 or the famous Rittman Orchards.

 

The same goes for wine. It's a wonderful thing to drink the local wines from Ohio. It's no different that dinning at a local Trattoria in Italy. If you ask for a wine list, they'll simply say "house wine" and fill a carafe from a unlabelled barrel or jug. Montepultiano has never tasted better than the local house wines of Abruzzo.

 

So Ohio, let's make it our goal this summer to shop the local farmers markets. There is a nice one in Downtown Akron every Saturday morning. And stop by those local roadside stands. And when your near Lake Erie or the Ohio River, stop in at one of the Ohio Wineries and check out the local wines. They'll be glad to see you and you might just discover that you are a locavore as well.

Greetings from Wadsworth, Ohio!

With social networks all the rage, MySpace, Facebook, Linkedin are as popular among we oldsters as they are among the college aged students who have been at this the longest. With this in mind, I thought it was time to do a column on my favorite social network sites dealing with, you guessed it, wine!

I got the idea tonight after signing up for a new wine community called MustLoveWine.com . This site has all the feel and easy navigation of Facebook and lots of really great features that make this a well thought out community. So far I have made a few friends, posted a few sample blogs, made a few comments to fellow members of the community and had some fun. And don 't forget to send me a FRIEND REQUEST!!

The site is still in beta and granted, I have more MySpace friends that the site has members, that will change fast! As a matter of fact, I have promised to introduce some of my blog friends to the site and see what that think. Let me know your feelings once you've spent some time on MustLoveWine.com.

Another favorite is OpenBottles.com. This site is great for reviews of not only wines but wineries. I've found the wine reviews very interesting and helpful and the site has a nice feel and navigation. I wrote an earlier blog on OpenBottles.com but it is worth repeating here.

Still another favorite is Corkd.com. This one features reviews of wines and an easy way to set up an on-line wine cellar and wine journal. Wine buddies are the friend equivalent and you can friend me up there at as well.

And finally a FaceBook application called Wine Beagles is a cool app with some very active users. If social networks are your "thing" then don't forget the wine communities on the web and again, friend me up!