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Winey Tasting Notes: In A Fog At Trader Joe’s – 2010 Villa Cerrina Chardonnay/Pinot Grigio

Sadly for me, the nearest Trader Joe’s is a good 25 minute highway ride away. So when I make the trek, I make it count. One of my favorite things about TJ’s is the people that work there. They are friendly and outgoing and they love their food and wine. Thus, I should not have…

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Winey Tasting Notes: The Winey Daughter Is Going to Spain and a 2009 Sangre de Toro Red

Ten days from now, our high school sophomore will be embarking on a fabulous spring break trip with her Spanish class. Yup, she’s heading to Spain. The same trip her older brother took 4 years ago. So it’s kind of a rite of passage trip around our house – heading to Europe without parents to…

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Winey Tasting Notes: A Tale of Two Chardonnays

“It was the best of wines..it was”…..I really don’t want to start off with that line, but with the title of this post,  I’m sure many of you thought it was coming, and I hate to disappoint my winey friends. Apologies to Charles Dickens. Here’s what I really want to start with…. Absolutes in life…

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Winey Tasting Notes: Classing Up Turkey Burgers With a Little Black Dress (Merlot)

Both of my children went through their food obsession stages. At one point we thought our daughter would actually just turn into a can of Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup. Or a bottle of apple juice. Our now 6 foot 3 inch son didn’t obsess over one food – for him, it was an entire restaurant:…

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Winey Tasting Notes: I Made Friends With the Discontinued Shelf for “Open That Bottle Night”

As if I needed someone to tell me to open a bottle. But the idea is a good one. Because at one time or another, we’ve all gotten a bottle of wine and decided to save it for a special occasion. It could be that you got it on vacation and wanted to revisit the memory…

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Winey Tasting Notes: My Dinner With Gregory Graham Wines

Don’t you just love the idea of a “wine dinner”? Pairing a different wine with each course, witty conversation, tasting insights? Ahhh…yes. But I have to admit that sometimes I come away from pairing dinners with what can only be described as a food induced coma. Seriously, 5 courses? I am usually happy to get…

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Winey Tasting Notes: Chocolate Shop Chocolate Red Wine and the Chat Party

After months of hearing about it and avoiding it because my winey mind couldn’t figure out what it thought about the whole idea…..I have finally sipped my first chocolate wine. This one comes from The Chocolate Shop (Red Wine, 12.5%, ~$15). Simply by their name, you know that they know their chocolate. Seems that they also know their wine, and know…

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Winey Tasting Notes: There Were Leftovers?! Estancia Cabernet Sauvignon, Nugan Estate Chardonnay, Willamette Valley Vineyards Pinot Gris

It’s kind of a big joke among wine lovers that the term “leftover wine” is an oxymoron. But it happens. If you are like me and are the only wine drinker in the house. (Hubby sips every once in a while, but then again, he doesn’t write a wine blog, does he?) Or you could have…

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Winey Tasting Notes: Invited A Little Mad Housewife (Chardonnay) To Our Super Bowl Party!

I am somewhat embellishing the idea of a Super Bowl “party” in the title of this blog. The party at our house consisted of one rather cranky high school sophomore who had 4 tests the next day, one very tired Hubby (tired because he actually went out on his yearly “I need new clothes and…