Tag: food and wine


Nov
2017

Flora Springs 2013 Ghost Winery Red Blend

categories: Booze, Wine

¡Feliz Dia de los Muertos!

Flora Springs creates beautifully balanced red blends that could knock the socks off of even the most discerning wine drinker. But the winery also knows how to have some fun. Each year, the winemaking team creates a unique Halloween-themed wine in honor of their “Ghost Winery” in St. Helena. Apparently the historic stone cellar, built in 1885, has a few — shall we say — lingering guests.

The Flora Springs 2013 Ghost Winery Red Blend, available through the winery’s website, comes in three different labels, designed by Virginia-based artist Wes Freed. While technically “Halloween-themed,” something about Freed’s artwork this year just said “Dia de los Muertos” to me so…

¡Feliz Dia de los Muertos!

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Oct
2017

JN Wines Skull Ring Red Blend

categories: Booze, Wine

Happy Halloween!

Nat Komes, General Manager of Flora Springs (and son of founder John Komes), and I have a few things in common — a love of Halloween and a love of good wine. Nat put his hands together when he created the Skull Ring Red Blend under Flora Spring’s sister label JN Wines. You may see the label and think “gimmicky;” you may read the blend — Syrah and Petite Verdot — and think “scary.” But I tell you to cast these assumptions aside because if there’s anything I know, it’s that Flora Springs crafts excellently balanced wines, especially when it comes to their red blends. And this crazy Skull Ring is no exception…

Happy Halloween!

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Oct
2017

Passaggio Wines 2015 Connect Red Blend

categories: Booze, Wine

Just in time for the holiday season, Cindy Cosco — owner and winemaker of Passaggio Wines — is about to release 7 new red wines. In fact, if you’re in the area, you should join Cindy for her Fall Holiday Wine Release Party this coming November 11 and 12. But, if you just can’t wait for something amazing from this passionate winemaker, then you’re going to want to connect with this red blend — available to purchase and ready to drink — now!

I present to you Passaggio Wines 2015 Connect Red Blend…

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Oct
2017

Tercero Wines 2016 Cinsault

categories: Booze, Wine

Hello Cinsault, you are usually blended with Grenache, Syrah, and/or Mourvèdre. Because of your light skin, you’re a fun grape to blend into a Rhône-style rosé (often using the saignée method), adding a bit of funky-perfume to the mix. Hello Cinsault, meet Mr. Larry Schaffer of Tercero Wines — he loves you just as you are.

“I refer to this wine as my ‘MTV Unplugged’ wine,” says Larry, “It’s like a young singer sitting in the corner playing acoustic guitar and singing unmiced, more of a ‘whisper’ of a wine – it does not scream like so many other red wines do.” So…let’s jam shall we?

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Oct
2017

Tercero Wines 2013 Mourvèdre

categories: Booze, Wine

Mourvèdre is a funny grape. It thrives in warm weather, is a late bloomer and, thus, is usually the last variety picked in the vineyard (and is often the bane of a grape grower’s existence). What’s more, the grape clusters are quite compact, making it more susceptible to disease and mildew. But it’s these somewhat frustrating qualities that give the Mourvèdre wine its signature tastes and textures: high alcohol and high tannins. Wonky and somewhat imbalanced on its own, Mourvèdre tends to serve best as a blending ingredient (most notably as the M in Rhone-inspired GSM blends). But every once in awhile, if the weather and the harvest are just right, vintners can craft a Mourvèdre that can stand on its own.

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