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Wine Reviews

Invino.com

I posted this early but it’s worth sharing again. If you love wine and want to find good deals, consider signing up for Invino.com and take advantage of their expertise. I’ve been a member for a few months now and am impressed with their selection, price, and service. They offer everything from inexpensive wines to crazy $1000 a bottle stuff.

If you do sign up, please use this link so they know I sent you. If you end up buying something I get a small bonus, which I’ll use to buy more wine so I can serve it to you …

Wine Reviews,

Taste of Terroir

Last week we had a great time at the Taste of Terroir hosted by the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association. There were sixteen different restaurants and wineries working together to create the best pairing of food and wine. The competition was to see who could do it best, and the results were delicious!

Most of the food was small and bite size, and the wine was poured in small amounts, so we weren’t completely overwhelmed by the quantity of food from so many great pairings. I was doing well — until they announced that the dessert room was open! This included …

Wine Reviews,

Wine Deals

Somebody recently asked me where I buy wine, and with the weekend here I thought I’d share my favorite secret tip.

First, obviously I love shopping at wine shops, my favorite being The Wine Steward in Pleasanton. Sometimes I buy at the wineries themselves if they happen to have something extraordinary. And I’m a member of four different wine clubs (Justin, Biale, Pear Valley, and Fisher).

But lately I’ve also been buying through Invino, which is an online retailer. You get daily emails with the specials of the day, and they are often very good deals. Sometimes they …

Wine Reviews,

White Wine Challenge

I went to BevMo with plans to buy every nickel wine rated over 90 points, just as I’ve done in the past. Oops, wrong plan. There are over 150 wines in the sale rated over 90, so it’s not practical to buy them all. Not to mention tasting them all!

Instead, I chose a dozen summer wines to taste. These are all white wines under or around $10 when you factor in the nickel sale price. The results are below. Keep reading for the SURPRISE winner!

The Italian Stella Rosa Imperiale Brachetto is a unique sweet sparkling wine made from …

Wine Reviews,

Livermore Wine Tasting, Part II

About a month ago I wrote about two wineries that are near our new home. My plan is to slowly expand the circle around our home and visit each of the Livermore wineries. So here are two more that are within a mile or so.

The first winery is Mitchell Katz. Launched in 1998, this winery has become a popular brand because of their broad selection of wines and beautiful property. Most of the wines are perhaps a bit on the high side. My assumption is you can find the wines cheaper than the pricing at the winery …

Wine Reviews,

Livermore Wine Tasting

D’Aun and I have officially moved to the City of Livermore. Since we are surrounded by vineyards with several wineries within walking distance, from time to time I’ll post a few thoughts about the nearby tasting rooms. These are our neighbors, so I won’t be too tough, but I’ll try to point you in the right direction. Last weekend we visited two wineries and I’ll start with those.

Fenestra Winery is nestled along a seasonal creek with heritage oak trees. The tasting room is in an old farm building, but most of their grapes are grown elsewhere in the Livermore …

Wine Reviews,

Body by Fisher … Wine by Fisher?

There are a lot of reasons to enjoy the discovery of a new winery. Sometimes the wine itself makes you feel like you’ve found a hidden gem. Or perhaps you discover the beauty of the winery. At other times you are struck by the people involved and you feel like you’ve made new friends.

But few discover a winery that reminds them of their childhood. And even fewer find a winery that reminds them of growing up in a wrecking yard!

Last September I discovered a new winery that was all of the above. It began when D’Aun and I …

Wine Reviews,

The Napa Valley Wines

I posted the wine list from our dinner at The French Laundry, but we tasted a lot more wines than that over the past week. I have this simple iPhone app that lets me record tasting impressions and snap a photo of the label. Some of the wines below were great, some disappointing, and one we didn’t even taste (it remains an unopened gift). Anyway, I thought you’d enjoy seeing the list in this fun way:…