Hidden Wine Country: Napa’ School House Vineyard Keeps Things Quietly Classic

A great read on a hidden gem in the Napa Valley!!

Orlando Wine Blog

Napa and Sonoma, the two counties at the heart of California wine country, are famous for lavish tasting rooms, Michelin star restaurants, and deluxe accommodations. Drive even a few hundred yards along Napa’s main thoroughfare, Highway 128, and you’re likely to pass five or six big name wineries ready to put on an impressive, pricey, and often thoroughly enjoyable show for you.

But hidden behind them, there’s another world — a place that’s more about passion than money, more about soil than manipulation, more about history than trends, and more about experimentation than safe bets. You have to look a little harder for this hidden Wine Country, drive a little farther to get there, and pay a little more attention when you arrive. But it’s well worth the effort.

Part 1 of this series takes us to School House Vineyard, a Napa stalwart making elegant wines that remain largely…

View original post 771 more words

Events from Champagne to Greece and back to California

Orlando Wine Blog

Next week brings another opportunity to travel the world through wine, plus a few other fun events around the Orlando area. Let’s get right to it – here’s …

ORLANDO’S WEEK IN WINE!

View original post 159 more words

Sip Your Way Around the Globe Next Week in Orlando

Orlando Wine Blog

Six countries are represented on the Orlando wine events calendar next week – and a busy week it is! From Argentina to Italy, from Napa to Lebanon, you can sample the terroirs of wine regions iconic and under the radar. And that’s not all! Here are some highlights of the week to come.

View original post 209 more words

Step Outside the Champagne Box: Six Unexpected Bottles of Bubbles for NYE!

Orlando Wine Blog

Not much beats Champagne on New Year’s Eve, but if you’re looking for some out-of-the-box (and easier-on-the wallet) alternatives for the big night, you’re in luck! Champagne doesn’t have a lock on quality sparkling wine anymore. All six of these bottles should delight your palate, satisfy your enological curiosity, and enhance your celebratory mood as you welcome 2017. And only one of them is even from France!

View original post 852 more words

Orlando’s Pre-Christmas Wine Event Sprint is Underway!

Orlando Wine Blog

In the final week before Christmas, Orlando-area wine establishments hope to captivate you with a few last indulgences … at least until New Year’s rolls around! Check out these event highlights:

View original post 173 more words

Indulgence, Gratitude, Film … and Wine

Orlando Wine Blog

Happy almost-October!

Holiday decorations are showing up in stores, and Central Florida’s wine community is starting to kick into gear for high season. The calendar for next week – and for all of next month – is looking packed.

Local wine merchants are wholeheartedly embracing the start of the season of indulgence. Next week offers not one, not two, but four wine events centered around cheese, chocolate, or both.

Tuesday, The Wine Room on Park Ave. kicks off a three-night event series honoring American Cheese Month. Two of the three feature wine pairings.

Thursday, choose between a wine and chocolate tasting at Luisa’s Cellar and the latest Wine, Cheese & Chocolate – Perfectly Paired event at Quantum Leap Winery.

Fall is also the season of giving and gratitude.

Swirlery Wine Bar is teaming up with Uncommon Catering on Thursday to offer a seven-course “Gratitude” pairing dinner benefiting Second…

View original post 105 more words

Big Tastings, Blind Tastings, & More

Orlando Wine Blog

Orlando’s wine purveyors want you to expand your palate over the coming week, with two opportunities to try and compare a vast array of wines.

Tomorrow (Saturday, September 8), Swirlery is celebrating its third anniversary with a grand tasting of more than 30 wines. Light bites are included.

Next Saturday, September 15, Luisa’s Cellar in Sanford is celebrating harvest with a patio tasting, also featuring more than 30 wines.

Also coming up …

A blind tasting tomorrow with Master Sommelier George Miliotes at his eponymous Disney Springs wine bar;

A dinner with the winemaker from Silkwood Wines in California’s Central Valley on Wednesday at The Vineyard;

And a tasting of Spanish coastal wines at Luisa’s Cellar on Thursday.

Details are on the Events Page, where you’ll also find barrels of new entries for the rest of the month and into October.

Cheers to Almost Fall, Orlando!

View original post

Franciacorta Consortium chooses Orlando for first Florida masterclass

So glad to see @primlanikitchen gaining momentum on something for which she has so much passion!!

Orlando Wine Blog

Franciacorta is a baby, as Italian wine regions go. It wasn’t officially recognized until the 1960s, and its DOCG status was granted just over two decades ago.

But sparkling wine from this region near Milan is starting to turn heads, and its producers are getting more savvy in their efforts to raise its profile around the world.

Rashmi Primlani, Franciacorta’s new brand ambassador

Earlier this year, the Franciacorta Consortium hired Orlando sommelier Rashmi Primlani as a brand ambassador. Last week, she hosted a small group of local journalists and wine professionals at Orlando Chef Kevin Fonzo‘s “La Tavola” in College Park for the Consortium’s first Florida masterclass.

View original post 492 more words

Aromatized Wines: Where wine and cocktails meet

Orlando Wine Blog

You may have never heard of “aromatized wines,” but if you’ve ever had a martini or a Negroni, you’ve enjoyed them. You’ve also experienced this ancient beverage category if you’ve ever ordered a craft cocktail with “Cardamaro” or “Cocchi Americano” buried in its long list of ingredients.

By definition, aromatized wines are fortified wines (think Port and Sherry) flavored with herbs, spices, bark, flowers, or just about anything else you can find in a forest.

Cardamaro and Cocchi Americano are both aromatized wines, as are the vermouth in your martini and the Campari in your Negroni. (Campari is a brand of amaro, which falls within the broader aromatized wine family.) Seriously, this stuff is like science class … but studying it is a lot more fun!

Orlando’s Master of Wine Jean K. Reilly, who runs Slate Wine & Spirits Academy, hosted a class on aromatized wines last week…

View original post 567 more words

Chocolate, Grilled Cheese & Music – Wild Week of Wine Pairings ahead!

Check out this week’s coming events, compiled for your perusing by @orlandowineblog

Orlando Wine Blog

Looks like the summer holidays are over for the wine community here in Central Florida! Tomorrow is awash in vin-soaked Bastille Day celebrations – check out the highlights in my previous post. (LATE ADD: The PinkNIC event at Tim’s Windermere has been rescheduled. Check the Events Page for details.)

Next week’s theme is all about creative pairings.

You’ve heard of pairing wine with all kinds of food – what about wine and music pairings? Two events next week aim to engage your ears along with your nose and taste buds.

• Thursday, Swirlery’s co-owner Damian Roman (aka, DJ Collaborator!) is pairing ten tunes with ten wines, each chosen by one of Orlando’s top Sommeliers, for a “Wine & Vinyl Top 10 Listening Tasting.”
• Friday, Hard Rock Universal’s “Wine Riffs” series hosts BV winemaker Trevor Durling and features his wines alongside a five-course meal and a specially chosen soundtrack.

Next…

View original post 109 more words