Another wine tasting brought a glimpse of what Croatian wines can offer the world at the 2013 International Wine Tourism Conference. The informal wine tasting at the 2012 IWINETC allowed for tasting what you had a fancy for. In my case, varietal grapes previously not tasted. Once again, my notes will be haikus.

Graševina, Kutjevo

Straw colored vina
Graševina fruity wine
Sunshine colored vines

Traminac, Ilo?ki podrumi

Yellow light spices
Simple mist covers vineyard
Girls are meaner, no!

Terre Bianche cuvee blanc, Degrassi,

Straw colored stoney
Peaches, nectarines sunchine
Clean fruity finish

Malvazija, Alba barrique, Matoševi?,

Flowers golden hue
Malvazija fruit salad
Chewey on finish

Pošip, Zlatan otok,

Pošip light yellow
Very fragrant nice in mouth
Wonderful vina

Plavac Mili, Istravino,

Earth wine dark ruby
Plavac Mili kissing wine
Bold tannins wakeup!

Babi?, Gracin

Earth, smoke and fire
Barbequed hamburger now
Babi? grape wants food

Cheers
Terry

The Many Flavours of Italy was a wine tasting at the International Wine Tourism Conference conducted by Jane Hunt, MW. Rather than traditional wine writing notes, I decided to write haiku, a form of verse that requires one to count syllables. The first and third lines contain five syllables each while the second line contains seven syllables. With only 17 total syllables one has to tell about a wine.

Scacciadiavoli Rosè Brut Metodo Classico from Scacciadiavoli:

Sagrantino sparks
Tamer than a still Sagran
Crisp can drink all day

Colle Imperatrice from the Cantine Astroni:

Falanghina white
Earth, mineral, a rainfall
Crisp with aftertaste

Terre Vineate from the Palazzone:

Terre Vineate
Now peach orchard memories
Calls for summer days

Decugnano Il Bianco from the Decugnano dei Barbi.

Decugnano white
Lemon grass Decugnano
Reminds of NZ

Sucano  from the Madonna del Latte

Sucano veggies
Cab Franc eighty percent blend
Autumn cows grazing 

L’Arringatore from the Goretti

Goretti red wine
L’Arringatore blend
Tannins and dark fruit

Rubesco Vigna Monticchio from the Cantine Giorgio Lungarotti srl

L’Andrea red
Fruity with major tannins
Needs food. Where’s dinner?

Montegauro from the Cantine Grotta del Sole

Montegauro red
Tannins thinking of hillsides
More food is needed 

Turriga from the Cantine Argiolas

Sardinia wine
Turriga super tannins
I will drink it all.

Pago Dei Fusi from the Terredora

Pago Dei Fusi
Capagna with big tannins
Deffinately food

Montefalco Sagrantino from the Azienda Agraria Perticaia

Sagrantino yum
Powerful red drink all day
Need no dump bucket

Chiusa di Pannone from the Antonelli San Marco

Sagrantino red
Antonelli San Marco
Delicious red wine

25 Anni Montefalco Sagrantino from the Arnaldo Caprai

Twenty-five anni
Caprai Sagrantino red
Outragious tannins 

Picolit from the Aquila del Torre

Picolit dessert
Following Sagrantino
Need a sweet wine now

Cheers,
Terry

Back in 2008 Barrel Oak Winery was the “new kid on the block.” Relatively new to winery industry the owners, Brian and Sharon Roeder, quickly immersed themselves into the world of learning about wine, making wine all the while planting and maintaining vineyards and building a large state of the art facility that accommodates the winery, tasting room and event room. Brian and Sharon are a delightful couple, with the enthusiasm and strength to carry out this large undertaking. Sharon spent time at numerous wineries learning about winemaking from the winemakers as well as asking questions about the structure of the winery and what they wish they had done differently when the winery was built.

Now in 2012, Barrel Oak is being watched as it has successfully produced wines and has a large number of visitors to the winery. The Roeders host many events including charities and food events.

Fine Art Gallery & Tasting Room in Middleburg

More evidence of the success of Barrel Oak Winery is the second tasting room they opened in 2011. This tasting room includes fine art. The Fine Art Gallery & Tasting Room is in historic Middleburg next to the Red Fox Inn.

Currently the Middleburg location is open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays. Appointments can be made on other days.

If you enjoy fine art and wine, then be sure to stop by the Middleburg location.

Cheers! Kathy

I recall the advice from Eric Asimov at the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference in Virginia. Mr. Asimov suggested that wine writers change the way they write about wine. Don’t use terms such as “hints” or “nuances.” So at the time, when challenged to be creative, I decided to write haiku instead of a more traditional wine description. My first discovery was that the restriction of using 17 syllables works perfectly for writing about a wine on Twitter. After writing one or two haikus, I was able to speed up and write quicker.

At last evening’s dinner, we tried a few wines from Umbria.

2010 Corbora PodereIl Caio  haiku

Umbrian white wine
Malvasia, Grechetto
Grassy, lemony finish

2008 Elicius Umbria Rosso  haiku

Elicius Rosso
Leather, licorice, dark fruit
Tannins, crisp finish

2007 Marciliano Falesco  haiku

Marciliano
Fruity, leather, licorice
Silky tannin wine

2007 Palazone Muffa Nobilis  haiku

Golden dessert wine
Honeysuckle floral hints
Flowers in the mouth

Oops, I did manage to get the word “hints” in one of the haikus. However I needed a one-syllable word.

Cheers
Terry

Combine a visit to the beautiful Temecula, California region with its numerous wineries with the opportunity to help a triple-amputee soldier and his young daughter. A special benefit concert, “Building for AMERICA’S BRAVEST” is taking place for a soldier who is a triple amputee due to his service in Afghanistan. The goal of this fundraiser is to help build a “smart house” which will be specially equipped.

The special benefit is presented by Tunnels to Towers Foundation and The Gary Sinise Foundation. Gary Sinise, of CSI fame, and Lt. Dan Band will be performing at this concert.

Temecula, California is the location of the Gary Sinise/Lt. Dan Benefit Concert taking place on March 1. Tickets start at $35. VIP Seating is available for $150 and includes a wine and appetizer reception. Tickets are available online.

If you haven’t been to Old Town Temecula or wineries in Temecula, you are in for a real treat. Plan to stay in the region for several days to allow time to explore Old Town Temecula and visits to numerous wineries.

If you cannot attend the concert, the Tunnel to Towers Foundation is accepting donations, call 718-987-1931. The Gary Sinise Foundation accepts donations at
http://www.garysinisefoundation.org/help_us/donate.
Articles about wineries in beautiful Temecula, CA are available online.

Cheers! Kathy

Our three day vacation in Rome was filled with walking, meeting new people, exploring new sites and prayer. We have a 40-something year-old niece that has a rare form of Leukemia. We stopped at every church we passed including St. Peter’s and prayed for her. We received the first positive news today since she was diagnosed last year.

Today our vacation comes to an end and we start working in ernest. We’ll meet and join the other people participating in our FAM trip to wineries and sites in Umbria and Campania. We’ll also attend and present at the International Wine Tourism Conference in Perugia. Some of our friends and family like to point out that whenever we travel we are on vacation. They don’t see drinking wine, visiting wineries and seeing sites as work. What they don’t understand is that our mindset is on getting a story so we are tuned into the who, what, where, when, how and why. We’re not like that when we are on vacation, however we never turn off the possibility of a blog entry.

Another task of wine travel writers is writing, editing, photography, photo editing and publishing. Now it sounds more like work than vacation. Articles and blog posts just don’t appear out of nowhere. We need our notes from a visit and photos to build a story. We’ll be writing blogs and articles about this FAM trip and conference until the end of February when we attend another conference in Las Vegas.

Writing about wine has its perks. I have a saying, “On our bad days we just swallow.” There is always a challenge to write about each wine as though it is the first wine you taste for the day. I’ve discovered that fresh pineapple can reboot your brain if you start to taste wines and they all seem the same.

So it’s off to work. Real work that includes note taking, photography, listening, asking questions, writing, editing etc.

Cheers,
Terry

After walking and walking and more walking today, we decided to take a taxi back to the hotel. Staying at the Rome Cavalleri definitely has its highlights. One of the hotel restaurants is located on level -1. Terry thought that using the numeral -1 on the elevator was great. The numbers actually started at -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3 and on up to the top floor.

The hallway outside of the restaurant has windows facing the restaurant and the other side faces outside. The halfway ceiling is lit with starlight lights. The restaurant is elegant and includes impeccable service. Many of the staff members have a good command of the English language. The large carpeted room has wall sconces lighting and each table has a white tablecloth.

The main menu is not too long but covers a range of foods including salads, soups, meat, fish and pasta. A wine menu is also available. A separate menu for dessert arrives at the end of the menu.

The Lazio wine region  doesn’t seem to have a large market share of wines in Rome. Frascati is and should be on wine menus. The fruit forward white is drinkable by itself and pairs well with lighter foods. This is our second day of enjoying Frascati.  Last nights’ Frasacti Superiore 10 was from Casale Marchese. This Frascati tasted a bit sweeter than those tasted yesterday.

We had a bean soup appetizer. There were bits of bacon in the soup that gave a salty taste. The sweetness of the Frascati paired well with the saltiness of the soup. Terry’s entrée was fish with Buffalo mozzarella. The Frascati actually gave a sweetness to the entrée.

The 2010 Frascati was fruity with pear, peach and a bit of the pineapple, and melon on the taste. There was sweetness on the taste. Casale Marchese is located in  the Frascati DOC area.

While visiting Italy make sure you try Italian wine varietals you haven’t tried before.

Cheers! Kathy & Terry

Back in 1994 Chanel acquired an old French winery, Château Rauzan-Ségla that began producing wine in 1661. Château Rauzan-Ségla is in the Margaux appellation of France.

Karl Lagerfeld, a renowned designer, and Chanel have collaborated on celebrating the 350^th Anniversary of Château Rauzan-Ségla. Karl Lagerfeld designed the wine label for the 2009 vintage, which is considered to be an exceptional vintage.

To celebrate the exceptional vintage and the 350^th Anniversary, Lagerfeld designed the label with an image of the Château Rauzan-Ségla.

The 2009 Grand Cru Classé to be released in March 2012 for $129 can be preordered now.

Cheers! Kathy

While in Rome we decided to try a local wine. Rome is in the Lazio wine region and a white wine made by several producers is Frascati. We stopped by a corner restaurant adjacent to the Barberini Plaza and had salads with a half bottle of Frascati DOC by Principe Pallavicini. This particular Frascati was a blend of Malvasia del Candia, Malvasia del Lazio, Chardonnay and Trebbiano Toscana. The light yellow colored wine offered an aroma and taste of a fruit salad especially mellon and pear with a hint of peaches. The crisp finish had some pleasant almonds and just a trace of bananas on the after taste. The wine paired well with the salads, however was challenged by arugula which over powered the flavors.

Our quest to taste 50 different varieties of wine grapes has just decreased by three. The  Malvasia del Candia, Malvasia del Lazio and Trebbiano Toscana were three grape varieties we haven’t tasted before, at least for inclusion in the Wine Century Club’s 200 different grape variety level.

We tried another Frascati while back at the Rome Cavalieri hotel. This Frascati was from Fontana Candida and was a blend of the Trebbiano Toscano, Malvasia di Candia and Malvasia del Lazio grapes. It was similar to our first Frascati but had a stronger almond taste. Off exploring Rome, we’ll try to find some more wines from the Lazio region.

Cheers,
Terry

We landed in Rome early this morning watching a beautiful sunrise from onboard the United flight we took from Dulles. Our flight was restful. I am a believer in acquiring airline miles and hotel honor points. We flew to Italy in United’s first class. This allowed us to turn our seat into a bed and get a few hours of sleep. I asked for champagne during the flight and since I was the only one drinking champagne, I decided to keep drinking the sparkling. It turned out to be a good choice. The appetizer was crab cakes followed by a bisque soup. The dry champagne paired well with both dishes. It also worked well with the sea bass entrée. Now that we are in Italy, I’m looking forward to meeting my goal of tasting wines from 50 varietal grapes that I previously haven’t tasted.

After collecting our luggage we took a taxi to our hotel. Again I firmly believe in collecting Hilton Honor points. We are staying at the Rome Cavalieri now part of the Waldorf Astoria family and the only Waldorf Astoria in Italy. We previously stayed at this hotel when it was a Hilton. Things have changed there. It is still a beautiful hotel facility. We went to checkin and Laura helped us. When she discovered that we were Hilton Diamond members she asked us to follow her to a special area to sign in for the hotel. We had water and orange juice while sitting in comfortable chairs. Lura explained some of the changes since becoming part of the Waldorf Astoria line. Lura was very friendly and helpful. She explained about the Imperial Room on the 7th floor that we were encouraged to use. Wow! what a nice room and we finally had a cup of tea done right!

The Rome Cavalieri is a bit out of the way for some sightseers who want to be closer to the sights. However the hotel runs an hourly shuttle bus to the main part of the city, where travelers can easily walk to the various locations of interest. During our first few hours we have been very pleased with Italy. For the next couple days we are on vacation, a real vacation.

Most of our friends and some family believe we are always on vacation. They don’t see going to Italy as work. It may not help that I constantly explain that on bad days we just swallow. However travel writing and wine writing as well as the winemaking is work. I can’t help it that I enjoy it. We are looking forward to starting the WinePleasures.com FAM tour on Saturday and the International Wine Tourism Conference on Monday. All work, but with a smile.

Cheers,
Terry