Back to wining...

Hi, All! It's been a minute since I posted, but 2025 turned out to be a challenging year on multiple levels. Luckily, things got better! So, I'm back in the wine world, and happy to be here.

I am always excited when long-established wineries look for ways to improve their winemaking processes and systems. In this case, I had the opportunity to taste two new wines from Robert Hall that embody the goal of making wines that are organic, sustainably made, and climate conscious. Winemaker Amanda Gorter has produced Robert Hall's first commercially available Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC®), offered exclusively through Whole Foods Market. 

Wining...well...whining...

 

So, a quick update about what’s going on with the Goddess of Wine. You may have noticed that I haven’t been particularly active in the wine community this year, and here’s why:

In January, I had 3 emergency oral surgeries, resulting in the loss of 2 molars. After a whole lotta pain, and only soft foods, I have had 2 titanium posts implanted in my jaw, and am waiting for the jaw to heal sufficiently to finish the implant process. Hoping to have new molars by November.

Ironically, the dental issues provided me with a way to lose the weight that my orthopedic surgeon wanted me to lose. So, since January, I’m down around 35 pounds, and happier for it.

However, on July 22^nd, the day before my scheduled hip replacement surgery, I fell, hitting my head and right shoulder. The humerus bone was cracked, leaving me unable to use my right arm at all, and the head injury has caused vertigo, which has proved to be fairly disabling.

2 months in, the arm is healing nicely. I have most of my range of motion back, as well as strength. But the vertigo is hanging on. I’ve had 2 physical therapy sessions for it, so far, with one more scheduled. The first session resulted in such terrible dizziness and nausea that, after trying to get my brain to settle down, the therapist ended up calling the EMTs to check my vitals. My brain went into complete trauma mode, and the vertigo actually got worse after that.

The second session was much better. No trauma, no drama. However, when I tried to get up in the middle of the night, I was suddenly so dizzy that JD had to help me, and felt pretty bad the next day.

I’ve got another session scheduled in a few days, and I hope that will do the trick. Today is a good day. Not dizzy or lightheaded.

As I’ve said to many folks, my goal is to get my life back. I’m still not driving due to the vertigo, and I have to strengthen my arm in order to support myself on a walker, so that I can get my damn hip replaced. The hip, of course, still hurts like hell.

JD has been waiting on me hand and foot - and not enjoying any of it. I don't know what I would have done without him.

So that’s what’s happening with me. Send me some good thoughts, and I hope to see you all and share a bottle of wine soon!

At Her Table 2024 - Celebrating Women in Food and Beverage!

Winetasting with the Winemakers!

Wednesday, March 6, 2024

(click link above to purchase tickets)

Indulge your senses in an extraordinary evening of exquisite flavors at our wine tasting, celebrating the artistry of four remarkable women winemakers. Set at The Savory Palette, with one of the best views in Morro Bay, this event promises to be a unique and empowering experience, where passion and craftsmanship meet.

The focal point of the evening will be the exquisite selection of wines curated by our featured winemakers – four extraordinary women who have mastered the art of winemaking with finesse and creativity. Each winemaker will present a carefully chosen selection of their wines, sharing the unique stories behind the inspiration that fuels their craft.

Happy New Year 2024!

New Year's greetings to all you lovely wineaux out there! 

We're a bit behind in updating the site, but I can assure you, there are LOTS of great wine events coming your way this year! 

Stay tuned to see what the Goddess of Wine and JDBakes have upcoming this year!

DATE CHANGE - Bubbles & Burgundy!

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we must postpone our planned adventure in France to April, 2024! We're sad, of course, but in the long run, I think April in France is going to be delightful! 

We are also thinking about adding on a short hop over the Channel to southern England to taste some English Sparkling wines! Interested? Lemme know!

Stay tuned for specific dates and details, and follow me on Facebook and Instagram.

Cheers!

I'm looking for a few great wine lovers...

I know the last few years have been challenging. What I've missed most of all is the sense of community we had when we would gather to taste and talk about wines.

So, I'm starting small and inviting those folks who have been so supportive of my efforts over time.

Our first class back on the Bay is going to be a comparison of some delicious wines from all over the world. It's your chance to taste varieties from different regions - side-by-side - and decide for yourself where your favorite wines may come from.

We're limiting the size of the class in order to create and intimate place where you are free to discuss, agree or disagree, or just learn a bit more about wines from all over the world.

We'll be meeting Wednesday, November 9th, at 7 PM at The Savory Palette in Morro Bay. 

Hope you'll join us! Here's the link to purchase tickets for the class: 

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/old-world-vs-new-world-a-tasty-comparison-of-wines-and-wine-regions-tickets-440625120597

Cheers!

A Tale of Three Wines...

 

The Goddess of Wine and JD started off Tuesday at their home-away-from-home, the Savory Palette in Morro Bay. Our little group of "Paletteers" tries to meet every Tuesday afternoon to catch up on the week's events, trials, and tribulations, while supporting our local wine bar. 

I found this modest 2017 Vin de Pays, a blend of Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot from Triennes, a project from two Burgundians, Jacques Seysses, founder of Domaine Dujac, and Aubert de Villaine, joined by their Parisian friend, Michel Macaux. They looked for land in the south of France, and in 1989, found the Domaine du Logis de Nans in the Var, north-east of Marseille.

The wine was deep purple in color; the nose delightfully rich in baking spices and red fruit. We paired it with an artfully made cheese plate, but had to leave earlier than usual, so we put a cork in the bottle and took it home. The tasting notes from the winery suggest that this could be aged another 10 - 15 years. Hmm...not so much, but very tasty now.

2020, the gift that keeps on giving...

I was really excited about 2020. After a pretty darn good year, I was going to take advantage of the momentum from 2019, increase the number of my wine classes, work more hours at various venues, and travel. Yeah...JD and I were supposed to spend a few weeks in England and France this year, but that was not to be.

What a disaster 2020 has turned out to be. Global pandemic. Global shutdown. Families and friends lost. Businesses closed. So much anger, misinformation, fatigue.

Thanks and Happy Holidays!

It's been a heckuva year for the Goddess of Wine and #FirstAcolyte (#JDBakes) John Dickey, and we couldn't have done it without your support! 

Thanks to all the thirsty students of wine, the good-natured and patient wine bar owners, the wine company reps who consistently find amazing wines no matter what we ask for, and, of course, all the wine makers who create liquid magic for us.

We're looking forward to more wine and food pairings, more geeky wine arcana, and more wine enjoyment!

Happy Holidays to all!
Happy New Year!
See you in 2020!

Tasting Spring Wines...

The Goddess of Wine and an enthusiastic group of tasters had some fun at the Morro Bay Wine Seller on March 13th. The idea was to introduce my students to wines with which they were probably not familiar, and that would be fun additions to a beautiful Spring season. So, what wines pair with lighter foods, afternoons on the patio, and tasty grilled foods?

  

NV Nino Franco ‘Rustico’ Prosecco Superiore, Valdobbiadene, Veneto, Italy – Prosecco is a sparkling white wine from north-eastern Italy, specifically the Veneto and Friuli-Venezia Giulia wine regions. It is also the informal name for the grape variety used to make these wines, which is known officially as Glera. Since July 2009, the name 'Prosecco' has been regulated and protected under DOC law, ensuring that wines labeled with the name come only from the specified areas of north-eastern Italy.

Tasting Little-Known Wines of Spain & Portugal...

We're back from summer vacation, and it's back to school! 

Wine school, that is!

Join us for a voyage through some of the little-known wines of Spain and Portugal that the Goddess of Wine and JD discovered on their recent trip to the Med!

Wednesday, September 12th, 7 PM, at the Morro Bay Wine Seller!

$35 per person includes tastes of several delicious wines, #tasty snacks from #JDBakes, and tasting notes to take home.

Click here to buy your tix.

Hope to see you!

Wining in the Med...

Pena Castle, Sintra, Portugal

JD and I traveled to Europe in June. It was the first time we had been overseas since 2004. We traveled with a group from Zaca Mesa Winery, on the beautiful Oceania Riviera cruise ship. All travel was facilitated by Food & Wine Trails. We spent two days, precruise, in Lisbon, a city I would like to revisit very much. The cruise stopped in ports along the Mediterranean coast, ending in Civitavecchia, the port of Rome.

In the light of the current political situation, I was afraid we were going to have to apologize for being American. Amazingly, all the folks we met - Americans, Europeans, Africans, Asians, Indonesians, etc. - were friendly, kind, interested and interesting. We were able to learn about the history of the cities and towns we visited, sparking our imagination and memories of what we had learned in school so many years ago. We ate delicious local food, drank beautiful local wines. Visited historic sites. Talked to people.

More after the jump...

Name That Wine! A Blind Tasting Experience!

DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES BEYOND OUR CONTROL, 

WE HAVE TO CANCEL THIS CLASS. 

STAY TUNED FOR FUTURE EVENTS!

Have you always wanted to taste wine like the pros? Here's your chance!


Join the Goddess of Wine, Denise Lowe, for an evening of "blind" wine tasting to test your senses of sight, smell, and taste! We'll taste through several wines as you learn tips and tricks to WOW your friends!

Light munchies will be provided by #JDBakes.




Must be 21 years or more to attend.

Don't wait to reserve your glass!  
$45/Public or $35/MBWS Member or Wine Trade

Wednesday, May 16th, 2018, at the Morro Bay Wine Seller
601 Embarcadero #5, Morro Bay, CA 93442
805-772-8388

Tasting Santa Barbara County Wines with the Goddess of Wine...

From the Sta Rita Hills in the west, to Happy Canyon in the east, and to the Santa Maria Valley in the north, the diversity of winemaking and grape varieties in Santa Barbara County is astonishing! 

Did you know that there are more than 70 varieties of grapes currently being grown and made into wine in Santa Barbara County? From the coolest Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs to the warmest Cabernets and Syrahs, there is something for everyone!

Join Goddess of Wine, Denise Lowe, for tasty trip through Santa Barbara County!

As a special treat, the Goddess will be pulling bottles from her own cellar for this #tasty evening! 

Wednesday, April 18th, 7PM, at the Morro Bay Wine Seller, 601 Embarcadero Ste. 5, Morro Bay, California 93442 - Tel: (805) 772-8388

Click here to purchase your tickets! Must be 21 or older to attend. 
$45/per person / $35/MBWS Club Members (or wine trade)

Includes wines, snacks, handouts, and fun!

Denise Lowe, the Goddess of Wine, provides wine education in an informal, fun atmosphere. We’ll talk about regional history, how and where wines are made, and what foods to pair with them, all in a casual and interactive setting. The more questions you ask, the more we all learn! Basic tasting notes will be provided for you to take home, and best of all, there’s no test!

Happy New Year!

Can't believe another year has gone by! 

It's always a wild ride, and luckily there's wine!

Cheers to all! 

Join the #GoddessofWine and the #FirstAcolyte in 2018 

as we continue to learn about wine!

🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

Upcoming classes in 2018:

All Wednesdays at 7:00 PM

at the Morro Bay Wine Seller

1/17/2018 What's That Smell? Expand Your Palate!

2/21/2018 Sherry and Port

3/14/2018 Australia/New Zealand

4/18/2018 Santa Barbara County

5/16/2018 Oregon/Washington

🍷🍷🍷🍷🍷

7th Annual Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles!

This year marks  the seventh year of the Garagiste Festival in Paso Robles. The Festival, which also brings Central Coast wineries to Los Angeles, the Bay Area and Solvang, has its home in Paso where the first festival was held in 2011.  

Dubbed “one of the most exuberant wine festivals because of the thrill of discovery," and "Wine-tasting Nirvana” by the LA Times, the festival takes place in  Paso from November 10th to 12th 2017, at the Ponderosa Pavilion at the Paso Robles Fairgrounds and other area locations.  Over 60 local commercial garagiste winemakers will be pouring over 200 handcrafted, micro-production wines. 

Now a local institution because it benefits a special scholarship fund for the Cal Poly Wine and Viticulture program, it is the first and only festival dedicated to undiscovered and under-recognized American garagiste winemakers who are making some of the best, most exciting wines in the world. 

This year's festival includes a Grand Tasting, a Winemaker mixer featuring “Rare and Reserve" wines, intimate and educational tasting seminars, a Rocking After-Party, a Paso Passport Day and more.  And, like all Garagiste Events, the Paso Robles Festival offers attendees a low-crowd experience, high-quality wines, first-time and ‘soon-to-break-out’ discoveries, personal winemaker interaction, diverse grape varieties and a renegade and fun-loving spirit. 

Tickets:

info@garagistefestival.com / 805-769-8211 

Website: http://garagistefestival.com

Tasting Wine and Chocolate...

Wine & Chocolate

The Goddess of Wine™ often finds herself in conversations about pairing wine with food, and occasionally that food is chocolate. Ask most folks about pairing wine with chocolate and you'll most likely hear about dessert wines. Lovely wines like Sauternes or Port or Madeira. But, I rarely drink dessert wines, and when I do, I generally pair them with cheese, but that's a story for another day.

So, the Morro Bay Wine Seller, Ley Vaughn, and I put together a class to pair table wines - all available in the USA, and specifically at the MBWS, to pair with dark, bittersweet chocolate. All these chocolates are available at Mama Ganache Artisan Chocolates in San Luis Obispo, and are sourced via Fair Trade cooperatives.

Our lively group of tasters found the following (after the jump):

Wining during the last days in Burbank...

The old house in Burbank

Yikes. The Goddess of Wine just realized it's August 1st, and we haven't written anything other than Facebook posts and Tweets since June. It's been an interesting, odd, and tremendously stressful couple of months, with at least another month to go. So here's what's happening with the Goddess and JD:

We're moving! It's really happening. This whole year has been leading up to the move. As previously reported, we started #decluttering in February, even hiring an expert to help us remove the accumulated detritus from our lives. So much stuff gone - so much still to go. But we are traveling MUCH lighter than we have been.

Wining at Urban Exposure...Coming on 7/11...

‘Rare and Reserve’ Tasting Raises the Curtain on Garagiste Wine Festival: ‘Urban Exposure’ at LA’s The Wiltern July 11^th

Garagiste winemakers share special, tiny case-lot, library, and reserve wines, rarely available to the public, as well as pre-release and barrel tastings at exclusive festival pre-event; Grand Tasting features over 50 winemakers from across CA, including 12 from Napa/Sonoma

Paso Robles, CA –June 17, 2015 – Garagiste Events, producers of The Garagiste Festivals, today announced the addition of a new tasting, ‘The Rare and Reserve Hour’ to kick off this year’s Garagiste Festival: Urban Exposure, which returns to Los Angeles on July 11^th. Rare and Reserve raises the curtain on special library and reserve wines that are rarely available to the public, as well as on some pre-release and barrel tastings, from over 45 of the participating wineries. The tasting is available to VIP ticketholders only and takes place at 1pm at the stunning art deco masterpiece, The Wiltern, which has never hosted a wine festival like this before. Tickets available at www.garagistefestival.com.

Wining into the New Year...

After a spectacular case of the flu, the Goddess of Wine and JD are creeping back to health. 2015 started so badly, I have every expectation that things will improve! In the meantime, life - and wine - goes on. This year the plan is to start/finish clearing out the house, sell it, move to the Central Coast, and fully enjoy the wine-y life.

Towards the end of 2014, I was hired by Fab's to assist with choosing wines for their somewhat depleted list. This has been a good learning experience about how to determine what wines will sell for 'happy hour' as well as what will pair best with the standard and special menu fare. It has also provided a great opportunity to taste some wines that don't usually cross my path.