The knock-your-socks-off end-of-summer pairing is a no-heat, no meat even, match with Napa Cabernet or really any favorite red wine with some grip and spunk. Tomatoes+basil+Cabernet=music for your mouth. The post The Ultimate End-of-Summer Food & Wine Pairing – No grill needed. appeared first on Andrea Wine ..read more

Sustainability Spotlight: Trimbach, Tasting Time in a Bottle Since 1626, Trimbach has been one of the grand houses of Alsace. I was fortunate to visit and I’m excited to share with you my tasting of their two top (my opinion) Rieslings, Cuvee Frederic Emile and Clos Ste. Hune. In 1972, Maison Trimbach eradicated all chemical use from the vineyard and winery and has been practicing sustainable agriculture for the Classic range and organic production for the Reserves, Gold labels, Grands Crus, and Prestige wines. I encourage you to target the classic range any time you are searching for value ..read more

G-WOW: Napa Valley Deep Dive This year has been exciting for many reasons. First of all, It’s not 2020 anymore, and we can all be super thankful for that! Secondly, I launched my Great Wine Made Simple virtual wine course, which has been so much fun each week, talking and educating about my favorite topic: wine. Another thing to celebrate this year is my upcoming Great Wines of the World, or as I like to say “G-WOW!”, series—which are deep dive explorations into iconic wine regions and styles focusing on a new wine region in each class. Buckle up and get ready to say, “Gee, WOW!”, as I bring ..read more

IG Contest: Great Wines of the World, Napa Valley We’re all dreaming of the next time we can take a big trip to see a new or personal favorite corner of the world. Well, now’s your chance to visit Napa Valley. Well, kinda! My Great Wines of the World (G-WOW) deep dive immersion classes take you to iconic and loved wine regions all over the world, and coming up on Saturday, March 20, I’ll be taking you to my home turf: Napa Valley.  Better yet, I’m hosting an Instagram contest for your chance to win a spot in my G-WOW: Napa Valley class! Here’s how to enter the Instagram Contest: Follow ..read more

Thanksgiving Traditions: Turkey Two Days Rather like our American melting pot culture, our Thanksgiving turkey approach is a crazy quilt of inputs and experiments refined. And we’re not done! I’m also eager to gain more feedback and words of wisdom. But here are our must-dos: First the dry brine… This means lots of kosher salt crusted and rubbed all over the turkey, inside and out. Maybe 1/3 cup total for our small-family 14 lb bird. Nothing else. I used to wet brine in salt water until the year we experimented with 2 turkeys, a wet and a dry. It was no contest. So much more flavor ..read more

60 Second Sommelier: How to Open Sparkling Wine This year, as many of you, I was so ready to say BYE BYE to 2020 with a bottle of bubbles—but(!), opening sparkling wine must be done with care! The ~5-6 atmospheres of pressure in each bottle—that results in the fine stream of bubbles we all love—can also result in a shotgun-style opening. It may be fun and celebratory, but trust me—those flying corks can hurt and do some damage! Check out my quick demo on how to properly and safely open a bottle of sparkling wine. If you want to learn more (or brush up on your knowledge) about Champagne, I’m ..read more

Riesling: How Sweet (and Dry!) it Is Since my last Riesling post following the Riesling Rendezvous 3 years ago, I have seen increasing acceptance of, and excitement about, Riesling – yay! It’s amazing how many regions around the world produce world class Rieslings. Here’s a quick tour of them: [jwplayer player=”1″ mediaid=”30369″] If you are a wine geek, or hang out with any of us, you know why sommeliers love Riesling. Very simply, it’s the complexity – how’s that for a turn of phrase? That means fruits from citrus to tropical, florals like honeysuckle and jasmine, palate depth and conc ..read more

60-Second Sommelier: Special Club Champagne You know you love Champagne, but few Champagne drinkers are aware of how unique and special it is for growers of Champagne grapes to actually produce wine from them. Yet think of how many great chefs have turned to farming their own ingredients to have full control over the food quality–whether it’s the great Thomas Keller (of The French Laundry) employing a full-time staff to tend his gardens across the street from the restaurant, or the inimitable Vitaly Paley cultivating vegetables and honeybees on the hotel roof where his restaurant is located ..read more

Meet Oregon’s Brooks Winery, producers of structured, elegant and ageable Pinot Noirs and Rieslings. John and I were thrilled to visit and get the chance to taste their 2002 Janus Pinot Noir (still a baby!), to add to our experience of having tasted some of their extraordinary older Rieslings. While the Pinot Noirs are indeed superb, its the dry, detailed and mineral-driven Rieslings that really define Brooks. Janie, the owner, told me they bottled 23 different Rieslings this past harvest – I’d call that a serious commitment to Riesling, and I could not be happier about it. What are they like ..read more

My husband John and I are extremely lucky. For us, stunning scenery and stellar wines are a part of daily life and work (if you can call it that) in the Napa Valley.  On Tuesday, May 1, 2018, we experienced a pinch-me bounty of both, at an amazing vertical tasting of Dalla Valle Cabernet Sauvignon. The iconic proprietress Naoko Dalla Valle had invited us and a few other trade friends to this gathering with her vineyard and winemaking team, including daughter Maya and winemaker Andy Erickson, to taste every Dalla Valle Cabernet vintage ever released, from 1986 to 2015. The goal of this com ..read more