Long legged Croatian Cats

Touring & Tasting loves cats! Here's T&T President Paul petting long legged Croatian kitties in Dubrovnick. We tried a Croatian wine--very aromatic but light and dry without much fruit.

The Touring & Tasting Wine Cruise in Naples, Italy

Woke up to the sunrise over Naples. A wonderful day with a private visit to the Terredora Winery in Campagnia--about 1 1/2 hour drive on the far side of Mt. Vesuvius. Terredora's wines have been receiving 90+ ratings and a lot of attention--we found out why. The area is one of the oldest viniculture regions in the world--the local grape varietals have been cultivated here for 2700+ years! Hand-picked, estate grapes grown in volcanic soil are crafted into wines of finesse. Our Touring & Tasting group was fortunate to taste their Falanghina, Greco di Tufo, Fiano, Aglianico varietals, plus the excellent red Taurasi blend. Read tasting notes here.

On The Touring & Tasting Mediterranean Wine Cruise

The painted tombs at Tarquinia are a UNESCO World Heritage site and just 30 minutes from the port of Civitavecchia where our cruise ship docked yesterday. It was amazing to see the 2700 year old Etruscan art and walk the cobbled streets of the medieval section of the little town. Tried the "vino locale" (local wine) at a cafe'--a crisp, aromatic white (70% Chardonnay, 30% Trebbiano) from Tenuta Sant'Isidoro.

Today, Touring & Tasting arranged for a private winery visit just for our cruise members to the award-winning Terradora in Campagnia. Really excited about tasting their wines, which have been receiving a lot of great press--and they are made from indigenous varietals that have been cultivated there for thousands of years--that's quite a winemaking history!

Wine in the News

French monks of the Lerins Abbey on an island in the Mediterranean make about 30,000 bottles of wine in between their religious duties.

For only the second time in two decades, wine ties beer as the top choice when U.S. drinkers are asked whether they most often drink liquor, wine, or beer.

Electronic tongue identifies Cava Wines

Photo from www.wineterroirs.com

Wine Tasting Road Trip

"The first is from the Winderlea tasting room in the Willamette Valley (which we found thanks to Touring & Tasting magazine) and the second is Barrel Fence Winery, directly across the road from Winderlea. Today, we’re off to explore the Rogue Valley, OR."

-Teresa R

Lover's Walk -- Cinque Terre, Italy

Touring & Tasting is in Cinque Terre--had a lovely glass of vino bianco frizzante locale: a slightly sparkling white wine made from the local grapes Vermentino, Bosco and Albarola. The grapes are grown on steep rugged hillsides that fan above the five little villages clinging to the rocky coast north of La Spezia. The rocky terraces have to be built and scaled without machinery, so the local wine tends to be expensive relative to other Italian wines (which are very inexpensive relative to other countries'. Cheers!

Wine with Winston

"[I] enjoy your blog, here's a shot of my dog "attacking" me for a drink..."

 

-Greg (and winston)

European Wine

San Sebastian, Spain May 2011

Enoteca Parlamento, Rome, Italy

Top left corner bottle of Gaja selling for 33000 euros!!!

Taken in May 2011

-Mcitriniti



Enjoying Wine!

"Enjoying our wine"

"Love receiving your wines every month, living in PA we are not able to purchase some of the better wines from the West Coast."

-Phyllis from PA

PHOTO ENTRY!

Touring & Tasting Mediterranean Wine Cruise

Touring & Tasting is on the Celebrity Solstice cruising the Mediterranean. We had our "Meet & Greet" to sample some of the many fine Brys Estate and Rodney Strong single vineyard and Reserve wines we will enjoy on the trip and get to know the other 32 members of our cruise. More photos to follow--here's a Rioja we enjoyed in Barcelona at a sidewalk cafe. We asked the waiter for his recommendation--turns out it was a Marques de Caceres that Touring & Tasting offered as an Online Grapevine special in the past. It was delicious with grilled, spicy prawns and buttered cannellini beans!

This weeks Wine WINNER is...

AnnE! Congrats on winning TWO Bottles of WINE!! Thanks everyone for entering, and keep submitting photos! There's no limit to how many times you enter, so keep 'em coming!

Here is our winner!

Submit now for next weeks contest!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NANCY

Celebrated Touring & Tasting's Vice President, Nancy's Birthday at lunch today!

So fun and SO YUMMY!!

We love you Nancy!

Wine Tasting

"The first picture is from Silver Oak in Oakville, while the 2nd picture of the wine bottles is at Castello di Amorosa."

                                                          -AnnE

Bordeaux, France: Photos and Facts

Photos from Bordeaux, France

                                             -"mcitriniti"

DID YOU KNOW??
- 88% of wine produced in Bordeaux is red
-Bordeaux is France's largest fine wine region in both production and vineyard acreage (123,000 hectares, or 300,000 acres)
-The Bordeaux region produces approximately 60 million-to-70 million cases of wine each vintage (12 x 750ml bottles per case)

(Source: Bordeaux Wine Bureau and reuters.com)

Napa Wineries

FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA WINERY, NAPA, CALIFORNIA

THE HESS COLLECTION, NAPA, CALIFORNIA

Photo Entry from Chuck of Gainesville, FL

Domaine Pichot

"‎2010 Vouvray from Domaine Pichot. Young and crisp Chenin blanc with medium acidity and on the nose with honey and citrus. This wine is value for money as it is a 90 Pt rated wine from WS and still costs slightly under $15. Goes well with any Light Apertif."

                                          -Robby P



Photo Entry from Santorini

"A few photos of our stop at wineries on Santorini, Greece.  This was one of the stops on a recent wine cruise that started in Athens and ended up in Venice."

                                  -Tony from El Sobrante, CA

Photo Entry from Illinois

"We were starting out with the whites and ended the day with some very nice reds!"
                                -Ravi

Photo Entry from Chateau Pibarnon

"At Chateau Ravatys in Provence our fellow wine tasters (the two men on the left) were from Brazil and Columbia--part of the fun of wine tours is the interesting folks you meet. Our guide flipped back and forth from French to Spanish to English. (The woman is my boyfriend's mother and on the right is Chris--my boyfriend and wine tasting companion!)"
                                    
                                                       -Teresa R

WINNER!

We have a weekly winner!!! Teresa R won 2 bottles of wine for entering her photos in our Weekly Photo Contest! We draw a random name every Thursday!

CONGRATS TERESA! Enjoy your FREE wine!

Who will win next week? Will it be you?

Email katie@touringandtasting.com with your wine photo and be entered to win the weekly prize!

Snap, send, WIN!

Wine Tasting in France!

A picnic with Jaboulet wines on Hermitage Hill overlooking the Rhone Valley. (I wish the bottle of wine were more obvious, but trust me...it was there!)

Notre Dame de Cousignac (the Rhone Valley) rose' with goat cheese ice cream. To. Die. For.

 -Teresa R.

PHOTO CONTEST ENTRANT #2!!

View from Sheldrake Point Winery

                         

"[This] is a picture of the view from Sheldrake Point Winery in Finger Lakes region of New York state.  While the wineries from the Finger Lakes area are known for their Rieslings, they also have a nice selection of reds.  One of our favorite parts of the country."

                                                   - Ravi

OUR FIRST PHOTO CONTESTANT OF JULY!!! Have you ever wine tasted in the Finger Lakes Region?

Rieslings and Petrol

Finally, the answer to the WEEKEND WINE QUIZ!

Which of the following likely describes a wine made from Riesling grapes?

C. Floral, peaches, limes and kerosene!!

That's right, the answer is C! Riesling wine acquires a petrol note with time. This may sound off-putting at first, however it is highly sought after by most experienced drinkers!

Did you guess correctly? Does this answer surprise anyone?

Learn more about Washington whites http://www.touringandtasting.com/distinctive-washington-whites

Weekend Wine Quiz!

Hey All! It's the WEEKEND! That means it's time to BBQ, watch 4th of July fireworks, relax and ... answer this weeks WEEKEND WINE QUIZ!

Which of the following likely describes a wine made from Riesling grapes?

A. A fortified dessert wine
B. Light, grassy with hints of asparagus
C. Floral, peaches, limes and kerosene
D. Pineapple, coconut, and banana
Have a wonderful 4th of July!

Have a wonderful 4th of July!