Can you imagine the terror? You are just settled in with a bowl of popcorn and a few fun-size and you ask your son to get you the bottle of red wine from the kitchen. There is a long pause. A cackle. He comes around the corner, glazed eyes carrying a bottle you don’t recognize. […]
There are destinations in this world that I have longed to see for decades. “One day,” I have always said. One day I will have the time. One day I will have the money. One day. And nothing shows me more clearly how one day morphs into years, into decades than our children. My children […]
Some clichés don’t bother me a bit. In fact, some, I relish. Like pink for Mother’s Day. Pink flowers, pink cards and pink wine suit me just fine. While the color choice may be cliché, I am certain your mother is not and she deserves a wine choice that fits her personality. Mom-Next-Door She answers […]
The best wines take you on a journey. Perhaps to a time when you first encountered the wine, perhaps to the place of origin. This wine transported to a place I have not been, to a place I have not seen, except for in my mind’s eye. It was a setting I’d imagined in the midst of […]
Can wine make you happy? It seems like a ridiculous question. Since most of my readers are wine lovers, there is likely a resounding response like, “OF COURSE! What a ridiculous question!” Since I have other readers who lean more toward the esoteric, there is likely a more cynical, “Of course not, things don’t make one happy. […]
I compared clones from neighboring vineyards and vertical samples from one plot. I tasted Pinot Gris that cleansed and teased my palate, Pinot Blanc, layered and zesty. I had a few sparkling wines and flat wines that sparkled. And while the wines warmed and pleased my palate, the winemakers, owners, and representatives warmed my heart.
If you are in Dallas or Austin, or anywhere near these cities, and want to learn more about Pinot Noir, this is a must attend. Willamette Valley Wines is presenting Pinot in the City in late January. the 24th in Dallas and the 26th in Austin. One of the 65 wineries represented with be […]
Dot-to-dots began with a scanning of the page to find where to begin. A one, an a, however it began, you had a pretty good idea of how it was going to end by the general placement of all the numbers. And yet we would happily practice numerical order, giving our caregivers a brief moment of […]
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both…* So begins the frequently referenced Robert Frost poem which alludes to choices made, paths traveled, destinies missed and revealed. When John Balletto was a very young man, he was forced to choose a path that would, again, diverge. Through trials and tenacity, […]