sparkling wine

Casa Valduga – Brazilian Wine So Rare Thieves Steal It

(June 2018) It was a bright sunny morning when I visited Casa Valduga in the Serra Gaucha wine region of Southern Brazil. Elisa Walker, Export Coordinator, met us at the front door with a large smile, gesturing for us to enter the spacious tasting room and retail shop.  Immediately I was reminded of Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley, not only for the large size of place with countless different types of wines for sale, along with grape-based cosmetics, glasses, and souvenirs, but because the winery was the first in the region to focus on tourism – just like Robert [...]

By |2021-01-22T22:27:53-08:00July 24, 2018|

Cave Geisse – Home of Highly Ageable Sparkling Wine and Burrowing Owls in Brazil

(June 2018) We arrived at Cave Geisse in the late morning, when the fog was just beginning to lift from the long green rows of chardonnay and pinot noir vines. Nestled in the Serra Gaucha wine region of southern Brazil, Cave Geisse is one of the oldest and most prestigious sparkling wine producers, with a cellar full of vintage sparkling wines made in the Champenoise method. The winery and it surrounding vineyards are ideally located in the Pinto Banderia GI, which is a cool climate area dedicated to sparkling wine production. It is also an area rich in bird life, [...]

By |2021-01-22T22:28:38-08:00July 14, 2018|

Fun Facts about Brazilian Wine

If your only reason to go to Brazil is to play on white sandy beaches and drink caipirinhas, think again. Instead consider heading further south to the Brazilian wine region of Serra Gaucha, about 375 miles north of the Uruguay border in a cool hilly region that looks like Northern Italy. Indeed this region was settled by immigrants from the Veneto and Trentadoc regions of Northern Italy in the 1880’s, and, of course, they planted grapes and made wine. This region of Brazil also has many excellent Italian restaurants, as well as Brazilian steakhouses to celebrate the fact that this [...]

By |2021-01-22T22:29:00-08:00July 10, 2018|

Domaine Carneros – Still Enchanting Young and Old Visitors Over the Years

(March 2017) “Mommy, can we stop at the castle winery with the long flight of stairs?” This was the question my 6-year old daughter asked me every time we drove past Domaine Carneros coming or going from Sonoma to Napa Valley. Since she was three when we first moved to California wine country, I have joined many winery wine clubs over the years. One of the first was Domaine Carneros, because I love their delicious bubbly wine as well as the expansive view of the vineyards from the terrace of the massive chateau designed after one in the Champagne region [...]

By |2021-01-23T13:06:13-08:00March 20, 2017|

Dinner at Bagrationi Cellars – A Sparkling Wine House

(March 2016) After about a 50 minute drive from the Kartli wine region, we arrived back in Tbilisi to visit the famous Bagrationi Cellars, known for their sparkling wine production. Established in 1882 by Georgian Prince Ivane Bagrationi-Mukhraneli, today they produce around 2 million bottles of sparkling wine made in the traditional method of secondary fermentation in bottle.  In addition, they also produce 1.5 million bottles of Charmant.   Entry Hall at Bagrationi Sparkling Wine Cellars During the Soviet era, the winery was taken over as a Soviet project and produced millions of cases of sparkling. Indeed the winery cellars [...]

By |2021-01-23T14:10:57-08:00April 17, 2016|

Chardonnay Lunch at Jordan Winery in Stellenbosch, South Africa and Green Tie Wine Bash

Sept. 24, 2014 – We left Bot River amidst partially sunny skies and drove approximately one hour to Jordan Winery in Stellenbosch. The scenery along the way was stunning as we passed through the mountains again, saw the ocean in the distance, and then arrived in Stellenbosch with its green vineyards and tall, granite mountains. Stellenbosch is one of the oldest and most famous wine regions in South Africa, and I would compare it to Napa Valley in terms of the fancy wine estates, beautiful landscape, and famous wine names. Jordan Winery’s Pond with Abundant Bird Life We arrived at [...]

By |2021-01-23T16:27:45-08:00October 13, 2012|
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