For our first day in Santiago we wanted to get out of the city and eventually booked a trip with AndoAndes. They had very good reviews on TripAdvisor for their main hiking excursion to the nearby San Francisco glacier. However, I didn't want to spend the whole day hiking, so we negotiated back and forth to find an outing that would give us both waterfalls and wine tasting. The original plan was for us to be picked up at the hotel at 9am but we got a reminder email two days before with a … [Read more...]
weekend wrap-up
July 5, 2009
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Thanks to some creative driving by my fearless father-in-law and the separate security line for AA Gold status passengers at JFK, we made it onto our flight this afternoon with just a few minutes to spare. Whew! So, we are now home with a very happy (and relaxed) schnauzer... The weather was sunny and we had a great time this weekend: visited with several family members, did a bit of wine tasting and ate some tasty pizza in NYC. I will be posting more about the three wineries we … [Read more...]
Napa Valley Wineries
April 30, 2009
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Wow. We had such a nice time tasting wines in Napa Valley, mostly in the St Helena and Yountville areas. Eric already mentioned the who, so now that I'm back in NC and can edit the photos... here are some shots of the beautiful winery estates we visited... my dad, me and my stepmom under the trellis at Domaine Chandon the setting at Jarvis was more lovely than the wine, unfortunately hey! the Silver Oak lighthouse isn't really in the vineyard like the label illustrates who … [Read more...]
having a great time in napa
April 25, 2009
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We arrived in San Francisco late last night, and made our way to St. Helena this morning. Today we tasted wines at Rombauer, lunch at Domaine Chandon, Jarvis, Silver Oak, and finally Beringer. Tomorrow includes lunch at French Laundry and tasting at Joseph Phelps. It's a rough life, we know :) … [Read more...]
Loire wine tasting
April 3, 2009
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Last night we attended a Loire wine tasting lead by Sheri Sauter-Morano at 3CUPS in Chapel Hill. Sheri is a certified Master of Wine who lead us on a geographic tasting tracing the Loire river valley from west to east. The Francois Chidaine Montlouis demi-sec was our favorite, a lovely chenin blanc that tasted of sweet honey. Of course, the Loire Valley is well known for it's white wine, and this tasting didn't disappoint, as all but the Bernard Baudry Chinon (cab franc) were white wines. A … [Read more...]
Oregon wineries, day 2: Anne Amie, Carlton Winemakers Studio, Lemelson, Erath
November 5, 2008
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See the wineries we visited on the first day, Oregon wineries. day 1: Montinore, Kramer, Arborbrook, WillaKenzie. Anne Amie Vineyards—Fruit flies were competing with us for the wine here, but we still managed to sneak a few samples in. The woman pouring the wine was very nice and we got to hear all about her family vacation to Mexico with teenagers—thankfully that won't be a challenge for us anytime soon! Eric had the advantage here as the regular $5 tasting only included one Pinot Noir … [Read more...]
Oregon wineries, day 1: Montinore, Kramer, Arborbrook, WillaKenzie
November 4, 2008
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After several miles of hiking to some beautiful waterfalls on our first day in Oregon, we headed south into the Willamette Valley to spend two days wine tasting. The weather could not have been more perfect, mid-sixties and sunny the entire time. Plus, the vineyard leaves had all changed to a stunning yellow, which made the wineries even more picturesque. Montinore Estate—This winery was recommended by our friends at Wine Authorities here in Durham and since it was furthest north of the … [Read more...]
A beautiful weekend for wine tasting
ericOctober 27, 2008
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We've been touring around the Willamette Valley visiting a number of wineries and vineyards and we haven't visited a bad one yet. The weather has been near perfect- sunny, upper 60's- and the fall colors are beautiful. This photo of Lemelson Vineyard is a good representation. … [Read more...]
Corks for Kids!
September 15, 2008
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On Saturday, Eric and I attended a fundraiser for NC Children's Hospitals that was not only a great cause but a very fun evening of wine tasting, meeting new people and catching up with others. We wrote an extensive review of all the wines we enjoyed over on triangleVINO.com, so I won't repeat it here, but there were plenty of amazing wines being poured even if not all of them were my taste. I also came home with two silver wine bottle tag souvenirs after I got into a playful argument with … [Read more...]
Long Island wines
December 31, 2007
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Eric and I have been visiting Long Island wineries for as long as we've been together and we've seen many changes in the last ten years. While some wines have certainly increased in quality, one major negative is that all wineries now charge a pretty hefty fee to try their wine. Some places refund the tasting fee if you purchase wine, but others don't. At least in Santa Ynez, California you get a complimentary wine glass, no such luck here in NY. Roanoke Vineyards—By far our best … [Read more...]