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Tasting Rioja Alavesa: Viñedos y Bodegas de la Marquesa – Valserrano

We spent our first morning in Basque Country in the Alava Province. It is an area of great history juxtaposed with modern structures. For example, we visited a vineyard containing stone foundations from medieval wine presses located not far from Bodegas Ysios. If the landscape contains contradiction the families and wines do not. Rioja Alavesa…
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Sowing the Seed of the Future with #Wine

Imagine approaching the summit of Argentina’s Aconcagua Mountain, part of the Andes, with your best friend when oxygen is running low, your lungs are crackling and pulmonary edema is setting in. At this point retreat is the only option. A life well lived is full of retreats, stopping points, re-direction. We all experience brokenness. What…
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Heading South of the Border for Great Taco & #Wine Pairings

Who doesn’t like a taco? A hand held arsenal of deliciousness featuring some type of meat or veggies topped with awesome condiments that include avocado, cheese, and salsa; all enveloped in a pocket of either corn or flour tortillas. Brilliant! I have been eating tacos all my life, but now tacos are trendy. Why? I…
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Rioja Alavesa: The Perfect Day

Some days are just too perfect. Words somehow lack the means of effectively communicating the experience. Poets have ways of transporting us to places and times of great beauty; alas I am not a poet. I am a wine writer armed with joy, gratitude, enthusiasm, and an iPhone 6S. Today, that will have to be…
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Castello di Amorosa: Winery Fit for a King

What comes to mind when you think of castles? For me, castles conjure up ideas of damsels in distress, evil queens, dragons and handsome princes. Ok, so maybe I have seen to many Disney movies or read too many Brothers Grimm stories. Castles are actually fortified structures built by nobility during the medieval period. Castles…




