When it comes to white South Africa wines, our minds often go to the popular and expressive grape, Chenin Blanc.
But Momento took it one step further for this one with producing a unique blend using this popular grape alongside Verdelho (approximately 63% Chenin Blanc, 37% Verdelho). So while the Chenin Blanc character comes through primarily, the Verdelho adds a nice little twist in this one!
When it comes to French Sauvignon Blanc, most drinker's first thoughts go to the popular region of Sancerre.
But in the USA, we've often find that high quality Sancerres are hard to come by, and when we do find them, they're often north of $40 which is a hard pricepoint for us for this particular grape (if only because many regions do it well for far less).
Instead, when we can find it, we often pick up Pouilly-Fume bottles as they can be just as if not more intense than equivalently priced Sancerre bottles. Marc Deschamps Les Champs de Cri was no different. This one was a gem!
Most of the wine clubs we have tried to date often follow a fairly traditional format. That is to say, you sign up, you get wines delivered every month, and the bottles you receive are often the same as every other member within your order tier.
Wine.com, one of our favorite companies to order wine from in the USA, takes a different approach to their wine club, and is aptly named Picked by Wine.com. The reason this one is named so well is that you aren't receiving the same wines as all other club members, and instead get a specially curated box picked out by a sommelier just for you!
After trying this one out, we are sold on the concept- especially for those who want to spend a bit more for premium bottles.
If there was one module (outside of D3) that I was not looking forward to in my WSET Diploma coursework, it would be D4: Sparkling Wines.
Part of this is because I didn't know that much about sparkling wine outright. Prior to sitting for the exam I had never been to a major sparkling wine region (e.g. Champagne), and I'd only ever been to one winery that primarily focused on sparkling wines outright- and that was just for a tasting, not a tour. Throw on the fact that the differences between sparkling wine regions are nuanced at best, and this module felt like an uphill battle to learn all the facts in its short course.
While I am not going to call D4 enjoyable by any stretch of the imagination (well, the drinking bit was nice as I do like sparkling wine), I have to admit I came out of this one learning a great deal.
Note: I took the WSET Diploma D4 exam in October 2022. Test material and structure can and does change over time. I passed D4 with merit.
WSET Diploma D4 covers all things sparkling wine and, to me, was the most daunting outside of D3: Wines of the World.
The reason for this is that while the category of sparkling wine does not have many broad topics, the devil is in the details with many nuanced topics on things like local laws, production volumes, climates, lees aging, and more.
Throw in a major unexpected curveball on my exam (identifying country of origin and grape), and you have the makings for a rather challenging exam all around. So in this one, I wanted to dive into more about what you can expect, how to plan, and some D4 exam day logic as well!
Note: I took the WSET Diploma D4 exam in October 2022. Test material and structure can and does change over time. I passed D4 with merit.
When I visited Sicily in 2019, I was able to stop at only one winery, Gambino Vini on the slopes of Mount Etna. While I regret not being able to try more wineries during my visit, I really fell in love with this producer and always have a few bottles on hand to enjoy at home.
One was their Feu d'O bottle made of a blend of Grillo and Carricante grapes.
We opted to pair this one with a mushroom-based pasta and quite enjoyed the pairing!
This article first appeared on our travel blog, Living the Dream.
I am a frequent traveler to the Finger Lakes– in recent years at least.
Part of this is because I now live within a manageable five hour drive, and the other part is that I've developed a love for many of the exceptional vineyards that call the region home (notably Boundary Breaks, Hermann J Wiemer, and Heron Hill to name a few- must visit Finger Lakes wineries in my opinion).
But one problem I've always had when visiting is figuring out where to stay.
The reason for this is because the area known as the Finger Lakes is large. It is so large, in fact, that to drive from the furthest west lake to the furthest east lake in one direction you're looking at a two hour drive time (not to mention bypassing every lake in between). Or if you want to stay in larger cities like Rochester, Syracuse, or Corning (for the Corning Museum of Glass) you're looking at 30-60 minutes of driving before you even begin to see water.
Going even further, if you pick any lake (especially larger ones like Seneca or Cayuga) you will have an hour driving just to go from tip to tip as well- all before stopping at all the vineyards, breweries, and distilleries along the way.
It is because of this that picking a good hotel location is so important when visiting. After my stay at Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel as a guest of the property, I can safely say that I've found my spot for the foreseeable future.
Whenever it comes to fine Champagne, you generally have many categories of bottles to choose from. These can include non-vintage, vintage, and more exclusive blends that feature the best of the best the producer has to offer.
Prestige-branded Champagne often is the top of the top for any given producer, and we knew we were in for a treat when we opened Champagne Dumenil's Cuvee Prestige Vieilles Vignes Brut.
But it wasn't until we sampled this astoundingly delicious bottle that we truly understood how special it was. This one is quite the gem!
When studying for my WSET Diploma D4 exam in sparkling wines, I had to buy a number of bottles well beyond my normal drinking habits.
While I do enjoy a good Cava, I often find myself trending to artisan producers over some of the larger companies. But for studying purposes, I knew I had to go for some name-brand bottles to increase my tasting experience, which is exactly how I ended up with a bottle of Freixenet Cordon Negro Gran Seleccion.
In our never-ending quest to try new wine clubs, we stumbled upon Naked Wines at the recommendations of several friends.
This wine club takes a different kind of approach than conventional wine programs where members become de facto “investors” of artisan wineries around the world. But rather than being part owner, the perk comes back in the form of steeply discounted wines!
So in this one, we thought we'd share more about how Naked Wine works, what your membership fees get you (and how to get the most out of your orders), plus a broad look into the offerings we saw after joining. We touch on just about everything in this Naked Wines review!
