cheers to moms, military spouses and cheap wine!
We’re all busy and we compare ourselves to others. And there’s this natural assumption in that comparison that there’s no way that her life is harder or busier than mine. If you too are a mom, you’ve observed what tasks other moms are taking on, how put together their outfits are, how nice their hair looks, how nice their kids’ hair looks, their Instagram profile, and the list goes on. And you’ve likely thought, “how does she do it all?”
If you’ve been following along for more than a minute, I don’t need to tell you that I do not have an affinity for sweet wines. So any word starting with “musca…” immediately results in my reaction of “no thank you!”. However, when I was recently reassured that Muscadet was different, I decided to incorporate this wine into our 52 Weeks of Wine Training Program.
Continue reading “52 Weeks of Wine – Week 29: Muscadet (May 11th – 17th 2019)”
Carignan has been adding subtle requests to my life to be included in the 52 Weeks of Wine Training Program schedule. I’ve recently been on a French Rosé kick and I keep seeing Carignan as a varietal in the wines. Also, a few months back, I focused my efforts on researching canned wine which connected me with Sans Wine Company and their Carbonic Carignan. When I realized that Carignan was secretly inserting its presence into my wine consumption and education, I knew it needed to be incorporated in the training program.
Continue reading “52 Weeks of Wine – Week 28: Carignan (May 4th – 10th 2019)”
Nerd Alert! I’m sharing my recent research on wine production and the effects of natural disaster and extreme weather conditions over the past twenty years. My goals were to identify the natural pattern and see how it was disturbed by California drought and fires. The data that I used was from the Wine Institute and the Alcohol Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau which looks at consumption and production at the national level. Bottom Line Up Front: at the national level, change in production and consumption is not evident with statistical significance. With access to California data, I feel confident that effects in production and consumption would be evident. If I haven’t lost you yet or you’re a math geek like me…here’s an overview of my report:
When I am tasting a wine and considering the varietal for my own consumption and palate (versus serving for party or a wine tasting event), I am looking for something unique. If a new wine or varietal is not distinctly different in taste from a common varietal (think Pinot Grigio, Sauv Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, you get the idea) and the price difference is significantly higher, I lose interest pretty quickly and categorize that varietal in the “meh” bin. “Meh” doesn’t mean it’s not a good wine, it just means, it’s not that special to me. I’m not unwilling to try anything from the “meh” category again, but I’m less likely to see it on a menu and think “ooo! I think I’ll order an overpriced glass of that and enjoy it!” So, unfortunately, Pinot Blanc got tossed in the “meh” bin.
Continue reading “52 Weeks of Wine – Week 27: Pinot Blanc (April 27th – May 4th 2019)”