The Wine Dummy

11/19/2016

Festive sparkling beverages for the holidays.

Champagne, real Champagne from the Champagne region of France est très chère. In my experience, Champagne priced under $50 is money down the drain. New baby? Huge career promotion? Yeah, for…

09/24/2016

From Vine to Table Certificate Program. The next seminar is Oct. 6-8. "Sensory Evaluation & Service." Learn professional tasting/evaluation/articulation techniques, food & wine pairing fundamentals and how to serve wine with confidence. Course designed for food & beverage employees, bar/restaurant owners / beverage buyers and for those who are considering a career in the wine industry. http://www2.humboldt.edu/extended/winecertificate/. For more details call Pam Long (707) 696-9800.

05/21/2016

Big, beefy farmer dudes drink pink wine. I snapped this photo in Burgundy in a rural hamlet holding their annual summertime ‘vide-grenier’ which literally means ‘free the attic.’ It translates to what we call a yard sale. In France the whole village has a yard sale – it’s a collective activity. My travel partners and I went to many over the course of several weeks. [ 318 more words. ]

https://thewinedummy.wordpress.com/2016/05/20/make-mine-pink

Big, beefy farmer dudes drink pink wine. I snapped this photo in Burgundy in a rural hamlet holding their annual summertime ‘vide-grenier’ which literally means ‘free the attic.’ It translates to w…

05/13/2016

Northern Sonoma County Wines lecture and tasting is this Saturday and Sunday 2-4:30 in the bay view Community Room at HBAC, Eureka. Saturday's presentation is focused on Sonoma Coast and Russian River. On Sunday we go deep in the reds of Dry Creek and Alexander Valleys. I have gorgeous Chards, Grenache Blancs, Pinots, Zins, Cabs and Petite Syrahs that showcase this world-class wine region. There's room for 6 more participants and you can just show up tomorrow and do a late reg. This is an HSU OLLI program for people 50+.http://www2.humboldt.edu/olli/courses/spring/index.html

the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at Humboldt State University College of eLearning & Extended Education (OLLI at HSU) offers an opportunity to access the university and enjoy various experiential learning programs. All the classes offered in spring are listed here.

02/20/2016

12/29/2015

Next in the series is Jan 21 at HBAC, Eureka. 6-8pm. $10 at the door. Waste control pros from Fetzer and Sierra Nevada leading the lecture and discussion. Yes, there will be local wines to sample. http://zerowastehumboldt.org/

11/28/2015

http://recork.org/en/about. If you save your corks like I do there's this global company that collects corks and recycles them into all kinds of products, including Birkenstock soles. Humboldt County's nearest cork drop off is Ukiah Natural Foods. There are scores wineries in Sonoma and Napa who are partnered with ReCORK. We need some local wine cork drop off locations....Fieldbrook, Briceland, Moonstone, Bergeron....? Good way to drive a wee bit of traffic into the tasting room.

10/29/2015

This is tonight at the Arcata Playhouse. I will be pouring Briceland Vineyards Winery releases. Tickets are very reasonable - $30 for table seating or $50/couple table seating and $20 for riser seating.

When Humboldt Made gets together and throws a potluck, it's legendary. Our members bring a dish that highlights their own products and the results are magic. Those of us in this organization are spolled every few months when we get to attend one of these dinners where the guest list is limited to…

08/17/2015

Humboldt wine harvest and crush is on. Alder Point Pinot Noir for Briceland Vineyards Winery's Brut.

07/02/2015

I love the Sonoma wine community. It's like Pixar - nothing competitive, only supportive. They're always rooting for you.
-John Lasseter

06/27/2015

2012 Isole e Olena Chianti Classico, DOCG. $24. Ruby color with aromas of plum, baked raspberry and cherry. On the palate, light to medium bodied with high acidity and firm tannins. Pronounced flavors of cherry, anise, white pepper, plum and a smidge of vanilla. Long finish. This is a good value, elegant, lean and fruit froward Chianti Classico. Perfect food wine. I poured this wine on Thursday at my Italian Reds seminar (OLLI) and it was well received by all 20 of my students. Thanks to Sarah Covey, store manager of the Redwood City K&L Wines and advanced Master of Wine student, for steering me to this particular Chianti.

06/16/2015

Good read for getting to know what Portugal has been up to when it comes to their dry wines.
http://winefolly.com/tutorial/5-dry-portuguese-wines/

Over the last few years Portugal has been ramping up their quality for dry red and white wines. Surprisingly, most can still be found for less than $10. Here are 5 wines you just have to try...