The climate and soil in Paso Robles are very suitable for vineyards. The soil is rich, porous, and holds water. The days are hot and the nights cool. All these factors, make it ideal for growing grapes. The grapes are allowed to reach full maturity while still retaining crisp acidity. Paso Robles is home to 11 different viticultural areas or districts over approximately 614,000 acres. I’m going to take you to three of these districts on our tour.
Read moreCelebrate National Rosé Day! They are our best of June, but you should drink them all summer.
Anyway, getting back to the point of this post, the reason that we were at Slate was for the #roseallday tasting, and National Rose Day (the second Saturday of every June) happens to be today. So it seems like as good a time as any to tell you about some of the wines we tasted at Slate that night. This year’s tasting line-up was pretty solid, and I would recommend any of them as options for you to drink today or any day! There were two flights - one American and one European, so naturally we had to try both.
Read moreHow and why to get started building your own wine collection
Wine is always a good thing to keep on hand at your house. If you’re anything like Andrew, Meghan, and me then you probably always have a house wine on hand. You might also have some nice bottles you’d like to save for special occasions or maybe even let age for a bit. But how do you turn having a few bottles on hand into a full-blown wine collection? To answer that question, we have a few tips and tricks for starting your own collection.
Read moreI drink, and I know things. Actually reviewing the Game of Thrones Paso Robles red wine blend.
With an average of 10.1 million viewers each week and 38 Primetime Emmy Awards, Game of Thrones is one of the most successful TV series ever. Anyone who has watched the show has seen the copious amounts of wine drinking, leading to such lines as Tyrion’s “That’s what I do: I drink and I know things.” It’s also led to the creation of branded wines designed “to match the strength of the characters and the terrain of their kingdoms.”
Read moreExploring Portugal's Manz Wines with our friends at Slate Wine Bar in Washington, DC
This Portuguese Wine Dinner featured wines from Manz Winery near the Atlantic coast outside of Lisbon, and food pairings from Danny Lledó, Slate’s Chef and Sommelier. Manz is a small, boutique winery in Portugal's Lisboa wine region, about six miles from the ocean. To quote their representative, Raul Silva, Manz believes “good wine is marked by wanting to open a second bottle.” They aim for minerality and freshness in all their wines, especially in their Jampal grape varietal.
Read moreReview: Air France, Economy Class aboard Boeing 777, Paris to Washington
This was the final leg home on a trip that took me to Niamey, Niger in West Africa. The trip from Niamey to Washington took almost 24 hours, with a long layover in Paris’s Charles De Gaulle Airport (CDG). Niger may be far off the beaten path for most travelers, but Air France between Paris and Washington, DC certainly is not. Despite the layover, overall I had a fine experience in economy class to bring my trip to a close. This is my complete review.
Read moreCelebrate Rosé Day with these four wines we tried at Slate Wine Bar in Washington, DC
With National Rosé Day just around the corner on Saturday, June 10, Wine:ThirtyFlight would just like to put it on the record that we were on the Rosé train way before it was trendy and became a fad. That said, despite some smugness about being the OGs of Rosé, I am still fully on board with a good trend and will gladly rock a Rosé All Day shirt while sipping on some Frosé down by the Georgetown Waterfront. For this year’s National Rosé Day we are going to take you back to Slate Wine Bar in Glover Park, where we recently tried these four wines with which we recommend you celebrate the day!
Read moreRevisiting Arrington Vineyards and their "Premier Experience" tasting great Tennessee wine
We decided to revisit Arrington Vineyards for what turned out to be their excellent Premier Tasting experience. We are very glad we did – it turned out to be a very enjoyable day, well spent with some of our most favorite people! Located about 35 minutes outside of downtown Nashville, the winery is co-owned by Kix Brooks, of country music’s Brooks & Dunn fame, but it offers more than a famous owner to its visitors.
Read moreDelicious pairings with Georg Albrecht Schneider wine at Washington, DC's Slate Wine Bar
Georg Albrecht Schneider, a family run winery located southwest of Frankfurt in Germany’s Rheinhessen, produces mostly Riesling on a bit more than 54 acres of land. Chef and Sommelier Danny Lledó of Slate Wine Bar in Washington, DC recently featured a beautiful four-course meal, each paired with a different wine from the Schneider Estate.
Read moreJoin a wine club to broaden your wine knowledge and appreciation
There are a number of ways you can work towards expanding your knowledge of wine. Wine clubs offer an appealing alternative for those looking to develop their wine collection and interests with minimal time commitments. There are number of different ways to join a wine club. Here we explore the pros and cons of joining wine clubs at shops, wineries, and online.
Read moreExpand your palate by adding cheese and chocolate pairings to your next Wine Night
I recently discussed hosting your own wine night to expand your wine knowledge and preferences. This week I want to share one of my favorite ways to host a wine night: hosting a wine, cheese, and chocolate night. The idea expands the basic wine night. Instead of asking your friends to bring a bottle of wine along a theme, ask your friends to bring a favorite cheese or chocolate and a wine that pairs well with it.
Read moreExpand your wine knowledge with "Tuesday Wine Nights", any day of the week
The rules were simple. Everyone brings one bottle of whatever is good, red or white, and reasonably priced. If you didn’t know what to pick, you are allowed to ask for suggestions from others, including people at the wine shop. The variety in both people and theme week to week meant we tasted many different wines-some we liked and some we didn’t.
Read moreHow to get a second date with Kathleen: Be willing to try new things
To get a second date with Kathleen, you must be willing to try new things. The guy in question got a second date but didn’t last much longer than that for one simple reason: he wasn’t willing to move past boxed wine. Anyone can learn to enjoy a glass of wine. You just have to be willing to try new things and expand your palate beyond the boxed wines out there.
Read moreHow to get a second date with Kathleen: Own your drink choices, wine or not
We met for drinks and spent some time perusing the menu, or at least I did. I didn’t have to search long for my choice because they had my favorite sparkling wine, Bugey-Cerdon, on the menu. Naturally, I ordered Bugey. He ordered beer.
Read moreRed Hook Winery showcases New York State viticulture in an urban on-water setting
Red Hook offers a unique perspective on wine making. Owner Mark Snyder started the winery in 2008 to bridge the gap between New York City and the local growing community. Today, the winery has three winemakers who each bring their own perspective to the same grapes. Understanding the style of the winemakers is the key to understanding the wines at Red Hook.
Read moreHow to get a second date with Kathleen: You must be able to order the wine you've chosen
Pronouncing wine names correctly is the first step in impressing your date, but that will only get you so far. No one will care if you can say the wine’s name correctly if you can’t order it properly.
Read moreHow to get a second date with Kathleen: Know how to pronounce the wine you're ordering
He attempted to tell the waitress what he wanted. She couldn’t understand him and looked at me for help. I also couldn’t understand what he was trying to say. He said it again. This continued with increasingly bungled pronunciations until finally he just had to point it out on the menu. He wanted a Cabernet Sauvignon.
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