Exploring the Wine Glass

Getting Down and Dirty in the Vineyard

We are getting down and dirty in the vineyard. It isn't what you are thinking though! We are shedding a litle light on the science behind making wine.  I'm sure you have heard the saying, "Great wines are made in the vineyard." Well, it is absolutely true. 

Enjoy as I discuss a grapevine's annual growth cycle, the importance of rootstocks and site selection.  Allowing the grapes to create the best quality fruit possible is a balancing act in terms of maintenance of the vine and trellising systems are a major factor in creating the perfect environment.

Before we get into the nit and grit, we'd love if you could click that subscribe button, and please leave us a review, so we know your thoughts!

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

~Slainte! 

James Suckling's Great Wines of Italy

I had the privilege of being invited to the James Suckling Great Wines of Italy event in New York City.  The Great Wines of Italy series identifies the most outstanding and unique wines that italy has to offer. It also brings the top producers that are typically behind the scenes to the forefront.  I had the opportunity to mingle with and taste wines  with vineyard owners and winemakers that are responsible for producing some of the Top 100 Italian Wines of 2017.

This is a similar event to Episode Ep. 29 Spain's Great Match Wine Region Interview also held at the IAC building on 18th Street and Episode 19: An Interview with the Greek Winemakers held at City Winery on Varrick Street. 

As a note on these episodes, the inteviews are done in a large room with over 100 producers and numerous attendees, so there is some background noise.  I hope you enjoy the interviews.

Cusumano Winery - Maria Leone - website

You can find more information about Cusumano on my blog.

Chioccioli Alta Donna - Federico Biondi - webite

Gabrizia Cellai - San Fabiano Calcinaia - website

Serena Gusmeri - Vecchie Terre Di Montefili - website

Filip - Pitars Winery - website

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

~Slainte! 

 

Portugal’s Political History Affects Its Culinary and Wine Culture

I participate in a monthly twitter chat known as #WinePW. A group of us get together on the second Saturday of every month to discuss food and wine pairings.  Back in September, the theme was Portugal.  I decided to write a post about how Portugal’s Political History Affects Its Culinary and Wine Culture. (recipe included)

I spent a lot of time researching the article, but never in my wildest dreams did I think that writing this post would provide me with the opportunity to visit Bordeaux! Thanks to the Millesima Wine Blog Awards, and to alll those who voted for me, I will be experiencing a once in a lifetime trip to Bordeaux.

If you would like to participate in a future #WinePW twitter chat, all you need to do is follow the hashtag #WinePW. You don't need to have a blog to participate in the chat. If you have a post and would like to share your story with us, you can find out all the information here. 

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

~Slainte! 

Winephabet Street; I is for Itata

When we are looking to find some new and exciting wines we look to our new sponsor Winc! Spelled W-I-N-C.  Winc makes it easy to discover great wine.

It doesn’t get much easier. Winc has experts that know how to match your taste preferences with their wines and they ship it right to your door is included as long as you purchase 4 bottles or more!

Head to TryWinc.com/Winephabet to get $20 off your first shipment! 

Welcome to Winephabet Street! 

Note: I just learned that the Valley is Bee-O Bee-O.. Not Bye-O Bye-O like I pronounced it. (Maybe I thought I was still working in micro BIO. :o)  )

Vines first appeared in the Itata Valley not far from the bay of Concepción in the 1500s and its reputation as a wine region continued to grow until the 1800s when the more fertile soils of the Central Valley to the north became fashionable.

Itata Valley, the largest winegrowing region in Southern Chile is located at the cross of the Itata and Ñuble Rivers, this area features unique characteristics in the southern lands: its humid Mediterranean weather, the presence of lower temperatures than in other valleys and well defined seasons, a good soil and plenty of light. 

 

Our next episode of Winephabet Street will air on Monday, March 19^th at 8pm EST. You can sign up for a reminder here. The letter of the day will be J and it stands for Jacquere.

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

~Slainte! 

Berlin Kelly and Proud Pour Wines

Welcome to Dracaena Wines on Wine. In this series, I sit down with someone in the wine industry and discuss how they are Pursuing their Passion.  They get to tell their story of how they got to where they are. Their highlights and lowlights. A behind the scenes look at their life in wine.

In this episode I sit down with Berlin Crystal Kelly of Proud Pour Wines. Berlin paired her passion of wine with solutions to local environmental problems. They produce, as of now, two wines. A Mendocino County Sauvignon Blanc which restores 100 wild oysters per bottle, and a Pinot Noir from Oregon that sales allow 90 sq ft of bee habitat per bottle. It's a great notion to know that drinking wine can help the environment in your own backyard. 

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

Slainte!

Cindy Cosco of Passaggio Wines

Welcome to Dracaena Wines on Wine. In this series, I sit down with someone in the wine industry and discuss how they are Pursuing their Passion.  They get to tell their story of how they got to where they are. Their highlights and lowlights. A behind the scenes look at their life in wine.

In this episode I sit down with Cindy Cosco of Passaggio Wines in Sonoma, California.  I have known Cindy for about 5 years (we think-  time flies!) and both Mike and I enjoy her wines and are honored to be able to call her a friend.  We, or I should say I, had quite a bit of technical difficulty during the live stream. My computer took on a mind of its own and kept booting me off the internet. But I have tried to edit the podcast the best I could.  (all cursing has been removed!)

So sit back, grab a glass of your favorite wine and enjoy.

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

Slainte!

Video of this interview can be found on our YouTube Channel at https://youtu.be/HMzp5KecpCc 

As a headsup, I had technical difficulty with the video, only half of the interview recorded. 

 

Alistair Veen

In this episode, I sit down with Alistair Veen, a chef, sommelier, restaurant owner and the wine expert involved with a new product, V-Spin.  

I received a V-spin as a sample to review and I fell in love with it immediately. This product really does work. In just a few minutes, the magnetic spinner hyperaerates your wine, allowing you to enjoy the wine without having to wait hours for it to decant. 

Find out more about Alistair and his restaurant at http://www.taprestaurant.ca/

Learn all there is to know about V-Spin at https://vspin.us

 

Click here for "The Internship" scene I was talking about. 

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

~Slainte! 

Winephabet Street; H is for Horse Heaven Hills

When we are looking to find some new and exciting wines we look to our new sponsor Winc! Spelled W-I-N-C.  Winc makes it easy to discover great wine.

It doesn’t get much easier. Winc has experts that know how to match your taste preferences with their wines and they ship it right to your door is included as long as you purchase 4 bottles or more!

Head to TryWinc.com/Winephabet to get $20 off your first shipment! 

Welcome to Winephabet Street! 

 

Is it before January 29th? Can you please take a moment to vote for my wine blog? I am one of three finalists in the Millesima Blog Awards and the post with the most votes wins a trip to Bordeaux! 

CLICK TO VOTE FOR DRACAENA WINES 

Thank you! 

Now onto Horse Heaven Hills

 Horse Heaven Hills is a 570,000-acre stretch of land located in South Central Washington state along the Columbia River. First established in 2005, the Horse Heaven Hills AVA is part of the larger Columbia Valley AVA. Surrounded by the Yakima Valley AVA on the north and the Columbia River on the south, HHH has elevations that range from 200 feet above sea level in the south to 1,800 feet above sea level at the northern boundary. 

If you are a historical buff, you will be familiar with this area as it was described by Lewis and Clark in their journal from October 1805. "In every direction from the junction of those rivers the Country is one Continued plain low and rises from the water gradually, except a range of high Country which runs from S. W & N E and is on the opposite Side about 2 miles distant from the Columbia and keeping its direction S W until it joins a S W. range of mountains." In fact, their campsite was at the junction of the Snake River and the Columbia River which is now the location of Washington's Sacajawea State Park.

 

The name, Horse Heaven Hills, was given thanks to James Gordon Kenny in 1867  who proclaimed, “This is surely a horse heaven” and termed the phrase, Horse Heaven Hills. Throughout the years, wild horses roamed the area. In the 1920s with the hard times, many people decided to release the horses in to the wild, rather than continue to pay the upkeep. As more people moved into the area, the wild horses began to be seen as pests and in 1939 Time magazine reported one company in Portland was said to have killed 350,000 horses in the area, and shipped the meat overseas. But their numbers still remained. During the 1960s, the government gave the order to get rid of them and in less than three decades, they were gone.

Our next episode of Winephabet Street will air on Monday, February 19^th at 8pm EST. You can sign up for a reminder here. The letter of the day will be I and it stands for Itata.

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

~Slainte! 

Winephabet Street; G is for Gruner Veltliner

When we are looking to find some new and exciting wines we look to our new sponsor Winc! Spelled W-I-N-C.  Winc makes it easy to discover great wine.

It doesn’t get much easier. Winc has experts that know how to match your taste preferences with their wines and they ship it right to your door is included as long as you purchase 4 bottles or more!

Head to TryWinc.com/Winephabet to get $20 off your first shipment! 

Welcome to Winephabet Street! 

 

Welcome to Winephabet Street! Grab a glass and join Lori and Debbie as they take you through the world of wine one letter at a time. Each episode will be a new letter and a new wine. Learn the characteristics and history of the grape, as well as suggested wine pairings. So uncork, unscrew or saber that bottle and connect with us as we chat, laugh and drink wine all in a laid back atmosphere. Today, the letter of the day is G and it stands for Gruner Veltliner.

Gruner Veltliner is a dry white wine that grows almost only in Austria. With flavors of green pepper and lime, Gruner Veltliner is an exotic alternative to Sauvignon Blanc. The name translates to "Green wine of Veltlin." Veltlin was an area in the lower Alps during the 1600s that is now part of Valtellina, Italy. 

Join us for our next episode of Winephabet Street Live on Monday January 15th at 8pm EST where the letter of the day is H and stands for Horse Heaven Hills, a region in Washington state. Register for free here.

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

Sláinte!

Paso Robles Entrepreneurs

Mike and I fell in love with Paso Robles on our first visit ten years ago. We knew immediately we had found our home, not only for the winery but for us.  I love to support local and small business and in this episode I get to do both at once.  Join me as I talk with three small business owners in Paso Robles. 

The Wine Boss - Thomas Booth

1317 Park St. Paso Robles, CA     

 Mon-Wed: CLOSED
 Thurs:   4PM - 9PM        

 Fri/Sat: 4PM - Midnight Sun:  3PM - 8PM

Earth and Fire Brewing Company -  Nick Vega

825 Riverside Dr. Suite 1 Paso Robles, CA

Friday 4PM - 9PM

Saturday 12PM - 9PM

Sunday 12PM - 6PM

 

Farmstead Kitchen and Catering - Nancy McDevitt

1344 Park St. Paso Robles, CA

(805) 538-3865

 

If you like what you hear, please give us a 5 star review, so that others can find us! We appreciate your support.

Our Wines + Your Moments = Great Memories

Join our wine club. The Chalk Club 3 bottles of Dracaena Wines 2x per year. Choose between all red or red and rose'. 

Thoughts or comments? Contact Lori at dracaenawines@gmail.com.

Please like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dracaenawines

Find us on Twitter, Instagram , Pinterest, Google + and Snapchat (@dracaenawines)

Want to watch some pretty cool livestream events and wine related videos. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel.

Find out more about us and our award winning Paso Robles wines on our website.

Looking for some interesting recipes and wine pairings? Then head over to our wine pairing website.

Thanks for listening and remember to always PURSUE YOUR PASSION!

Please support us by finding out more about our sponsors:

Sláinte!