One of the best things about my hometown, Roanoke, Virginia, is our neighborhoods. Wasena neighborhood is an up-and-coming area with fun restaurants. One of my favorite restaurants in Wasena is Bloom. Bloom recently hosted a International Women’s Day Brunch – featuring wine and food pairings. For our aperitif, we chose Apricot Mimosas. On their à la…
wine and food
Holiday Sparkling Wine/Champagne Tasting ~ River and Rail Restaurant
What better way to take a breather from the hustle & bustle of the holidays than to sip sparkling wine and champagne at the River and Rail Restaurant in Roanoke Virginia? Relaxing and refreshing! Our first bubbly tasting was Avinyo Petillant 2018 from the Penedès region of Catalonia located just outside of Barcelona. Vibrant and…
Bordeaux Tasting ~ Domaines Barons de Rothschild
In preparation for holiday celebrations, we shared a very special evening with friends who had just returned from a trip to France. With so many holiday parties to attend and gifts to buy, we will all be on the search for wonderful pairing wines to toast the happy holiday occasions. It was in this spirit…
Magical Food Pairings with Cameron Hughes Pinot Noir and PetitVerdot
Please visit Cameron Hughes website and discover the wide selections of wines they offer from the world’s best wine producing regions and sell it directly to us for a fraction of the price. https://chwine.com/ Pinot Noir is my favorite late summer wine. It is a precious wine made from delicate grapes that grow only in…
French Herb Dip And Cameron Hughes Lot 631 Pinot Gris For Summer Sippin’ and Snackin’
My friends at Cameron Hughes sent me their Lot 631 (2017) Willamette Valley Pinot Gris to taste. I do enjoy a nice crisp Pinot Gris when it is 90 degrees + outside and I love to pair it with my favorite casual summer foods… Kettle cooked potato chips (I am partial to Martin’s Potato Chips…
Sparkling Holiday Champagne Dinner
Champagne Thought Of The Day ~ The Whisper Of Love The sound of air slowly releasing from the Champagne bottle when de-corked is called ‘the whisper of love’. To hear this noise, place your thumb on the muselet, the wire cage that fits over a bottle of Champagne, and gently turn the bottle left. (Under…
Alinea Experience Chicago
There is a fascinating documentary on Netflix “Chef’s Table” highlighting the life and career of Grant Achatz (Chef’s Table, Season 2, Episode 1). The show features Chef Grant Achatz and his restaurant Alinea. Chef Achatz battled tongue cancer which caused him to loose his sense of taste for a period of time. I was hesitant to watch the…
Put Sunshine In Your Champagne Flute This Weekend! Champagne Snockered Watermelon!
If you LOVE melon, you are going to LOVE this idea! Champagne Snockered Watermelon! The Wall Street Journal July 14/15, 2018 issue: “Drunk on Summer… recommends matching your favorite melon variety with a sympatico spirit.” The article, written by Aleksandra Crapanzano, makes these melon/spirit combinations: Cantaloupe (Sugar Cube, Serenade Cavaillon or Savor melons may be…
Happy Orange Blossom Day!
“A man who was fond of wine was offered some grapes at dessert after dinner. ‘Much obliged’, said he, pushing the plate aside, ‘I am not accustomed to take my wine in pills.’ “ …
A Toast To Italian Wine ~ Molto Bene! ~ A Favorite Mamma Leone Recipe
Our recent Italian wine experience with the Angelini family at the Shenandoah Club in Roanoke, Virginia brought back many “bei ricordi d’Italia” (fond memories of Italy). I love Italian cooking so naturally one of my favorite cookbooks is Leone’s Italian Cookbook. The author Gene Leone dedicated his cookbook“to the memory of my beloved mother”. He was the…
