Tasting Easter and Passover Wines...

The Goddess of Wine is so lucky! I was able to show two different groups of students delicious wines to enhance their Spring festivities. Thanks to Fossil Wine Bar in Atascadero and Morro Bay Wine Seller in Morro Bay for their partnership and willingness to bring in wines for me and my acolytes! Cheers!

It was the Old World vs. the New World...

The Goddess of Wine led a group of curious wine enthusiasts through a comparison of Old World wines and New World wines at the Fossil Wine Bar in the picturesque town of Atascadero last night.

Old World wine refers primarily to wine made in Europe but can also include other regions of the Mediterranean basin with long histories of winemaking such as North Africa and the Near East. The phrase is often used in contrast to New World wine which refers primarily to wines from New World wine regions such as the United States, Australia, South America and South Africa. 

The terminology is used to describe general differences in viticulture and winemaking philosophies between the Old World regions where tradition and the role of terroir lead versus the New World where science and the role of the winemaker are more often emphasized. 

In recent times, the globalization of wine and advent of flying winemakers have lessened the distinction between the two terms with winemakers in one region being able to produce wines that can display the traits of the other region—i.e. an "Old World style" wine being produced in a New World wine region like California or Chile, and vice versa.

Do Old World wines taste different than New World wines? Yes, they often do. The differences in Old World and New World wines come from winemaking practices (tradition) and from the effect of the land and climate on the grapes (the “terroir”).

• Old World wines are often described as tasting lighter, having less alcohol, having higher acidity, and tasting less fruity
• New World wines are often described as tasting riper, having higher alcohol, having less acidity, and tasting fruitier

Wining about Shai Cellars...

Shai surrounded by his wines

The Goddess of Wine and a friend were talking about Shawn Shai Halahmy the other day, and she asked, "Have you written an article about Shawn?" I thought for a moment, and then realized that even though I talk about and write about Shawn and his wonderful wines, it's mainly in the context of hanging out with friends, and no, I have not written an actual article about him. So here we are!

JD and I met Shawn through Ian Blackburn and LearnAboutWine. During the period when we were working with Ian and his team on a regular basis, we were present at many classes and events, and this inquisitive guy was there, asking lots of questions about making wine. We actually found him kind of annoying (!) because he was quite persistent and wanted specific answers to his questions. Things changed when we - kind of by accident - adopted him into our rapidly-expanding group of Wineaux during a wonderful event, the Union des Grand Crus de Bordeaux in January 2010. Suddenly, we couldn't get enough of him!

Wining with Wes Hagen...

Petit Vendome

The Goddess and JD had the opportunity to hang at the Petit Vendome in La Canada last weekend and do some tasting with winemaker and philosopher Wes Hagen of Clos Pepe from the Sta. Rita Hills AVA near the quiet hamlet of Buellton.

The Sta. Rita Hills is one of my current favorite AVAs. Its east/west valleys pulling in cold, foggy air from the Pacific and the seabed soils create the perfect environment for stressed (in a good way) vines to produce small clusters, small berries, and great flavor and texture. The wines tend to be lean and elegant, with relatively low alcohol; they're food-friendly and unlike wines from any other region.

Tasting the Rhone Rangers...in my living room...

Yeah, yeah...I'm complaining because I'm still way behind.  I haven't told you about the delicious wines from Dutcher Crossing in Sonoma, or the charming couple who grow and make the noteworthy Laraneta wines from Paso Robles.  And I haven't written about the Napa Nightlife event from LearnAboutWine at the Elevate Lounge downtown, so all those columns will be coming up shortly, but I really felt that I needed to tell you about the truly fun tasting I did on Saturday afternoon, where I participated in the Rhone Rangers Grenache tasting event -- from my living room!