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Archive for category Wine Tasting

Ernie and Wine. A Good Pairing.

Feb 11

Posted by julie in Golf, Wine Tasting | 2 Comments

I’ve been building our golf pages on the CalActive site and for a few worrisome moments thought that I was in danger of getting The Bug. I’ve never been a big golf fan (I was a golf-widow for a number of years as my then-boyfriend was a lot more enamoured with the game than he was with me) but have always toyed with the idea of taking up the game when I am older, more patient and have enough time on my hands to justify chasing a small white ball around on a manicured lawn whilst wearing ridiculous clothes (there are whole blogs dedicated to this very alarming subject). However just recently while I was checking out all the stunning courses in Palm Springs, I found myself toying with the idea that perhaps I should give it a shot now, just to see what all the hype is about.

Fortunately, I have come to my senses and found an alternative manner of getting closer to the game whilst combining two of my great loves: Ernie Els and wine. I have always felt that Ernie is a great sportsman, a great ambassador for South Africa and apparantly a really nice guy to boot, and when I discovered that he recently established a winery back in my hometown of Stellenbosch, South Africa, I felt a wonderful sense of harmony, peace and relief descend upon me. I can leave the plaid knickerbocker trousers for a later stage of my life after all.

Check out another great blog that shares my appreciation of The Ern. Cheers.

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Napa, Bordeaux, Santa Barbara… Baja???

Feb 7

Posted by julie in Wine Tasting | 1 Comment

Up until about a year ago, I had absolutely no interest in drinking wine. The look on my face the first time I tried wine must have been priceless. It just tasted like…. well…. old, bitter grape juice. Doesn’t sound very appealing when you think about it. I can’t quite remember the label, but I do know that it was red, maybe a Cabernet Sauvignon. Probably not a good idea to start off with a red, especially a Cab, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

It took me a little while to really get into wine. I loved champagne/sparkling wine though, which was really the closest I would get to wine. But eventually, the champagne kick wore off and that didn’t seem to be my first choice anymore. Now I love wine and would order a glass of Pinot or Grenache any day over a glass of champagne (or sparkling wine). However since I’m still fairly new at this, I usually stick to the California wines as they’re nice and juicy.

I wouldn’t say I know a whole lot about wine, but I read an interesting blog from someone who seems to know quite a bit about different varietals and regions. You’ve got some of your common regions like Napa, Sonoma, Santa Barbara, France, Oregon, Washington, Australia, Italy, Spain, etc. Would you ever consider Mexico to be a good wine-growing region??? I would’ve never guessed, but apparently some of the best wines are grown just 70 miles south of the border. There are three regions where the largest wineries in Mexico can be found – San Antonio de las Minas, San Vicente Valley and the Santo Tomas Valley. Some of the common reds grown in the Baja region are Cabernet Sauvignon, Ruby Cabernet, Zinfandel, Grenache and Mission. Whites include Chenin Blanc, Palomino, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Saint Emilion and Malaga.

I have never tried many of those varietals, so I think I need to make a trip down south and do some wine tasting!!! Who’s with me?

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