Brix26, a personalized wine recommendation service located in San Francisco at the crossroads of Napa and Sonoma. Created in 2005 by Peter Langenstein, Peter works
directly with many of California’s boutique wineries, obtaining the unique opportunity to taste hundreds of the finest varietals available. Brix26 clients are able to browse and purchase single wines or mixed cases on the website, and are encouraged to call or email Brix26 directly for one-on-one recommendations. Each bottle will be shipped directly to home or business, complete with customized tasting notes and the option for individual gift-wrapping.
Peter has put together some suggestions for wine lovers and …read more

I’m sitting in my gorgeous room at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, on the absolutely comfortable, completely squishy bed, drying off from a serious downpour! It didn’t ever cross my mind that I would have to bring an umbrella to Whistler, the land of skiing and snowboarding!

Fairmont Chateau Whistler
Image source: Fairmont
I got into the Village in the early afternoon, and was pampered and treated like a queen by the Fairmont staff, and after grabbing a bite to eat, I headed down to the main Cornucopia site for my first session, “White Rhones” with Thomas Perrin from Chateau Beaucastel (and I got …read more

I had an opportunity to try both Seven Daughters Red & White wines recently.  At first, I was a little skeptical when I read that the wines are blends of seven different grapes, and then I remembered what Gary Vaynerchuk reminded me: trust your palate.
The Seven Daughters White Winemaker’s Blend is composed of seven distinct varietals including Riesling, Symphony, Chardonnay, Orange Muscat, Gewürztraminer, Sauvignon Blanc and French Colombard. Some sultry sweet scents of orange blossom, musk and melon danced around with the fresh flavours of lychee and tangerine.  My first sip was lovely, and it finished with a slightly …read more

When consoling a friend, the following is necessary:
1. Their favorite candy
2. Their favorite awful reality television
3. A bottle of wine that’s tasty and humourous
Fortunately for California’s Dog House Winery, the value in a bottle doesn’t stop at laughs for the Patches Pino Grigio. While you’re joking and trying to forget what brought on this occasion in the first place, you’ll be knocking back a truly delightful wine that’s both light and distinctive.
The tasty citrus-ness is balanced out by sweeter hints of melon, which keeps the palate from being turned off by too much of a grapefruit …read more

Last night I eschewed the common list of Chardonnay and Sauv Blanc for the more adventurous Marques De Riscal Rueda from Spain. I quickly learned that not only was this a good decision, but that the Spanish have a knack for whites I was unaware of. Delightfully balanced (I can’t stand a white that knocks you over with citrus) and playful, there was a little bit of a lime undertone that really took it to another level.
This was a welcome improvement from the wine tasting I co-hosted on Friday (more on that later) where no true winners really emerged. …read more

I will never forget the first time I was introduced to one of my all time favorite white wines, Ballet of Angels. There I was pondering the what would go best with a vegetarian sloppy joe (so. good. you don’t even know.) when my eyes fell on this.
Creepy Baby – semi dry white. $8/glass
Could you have resisted ordering something with a name so unforgettable?
Alas, thank goodness this particular restaurant chose to list the wine with such a hilariously apt nickname (see ghostly child featured on wine label), since I’m quite sure I would have missed “Ballet of Angels” entirely. …read more