Fleur de Vino

Blue Quail Sauvignon Blanc

October was shaping up to be a very familiar wine month. It was nice with the fall weather moving in to be able to reach for something more recognizable. I have tried several a Sauvignon Blanc and found them to be hit or miss most of the time. Sometimes they were just too light to hold up to pairing with anything and not flavorful enough to stand on their own. But we would see what this week had in store. Blue Quail Wines are grown on a completely organic vineyard on McFadden Farms. The vineyard is situated between the Russian…

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White

Jeannette Eger Riesling

I was very excited for this week! I would be trying a Riesling that I had chosen from Wine Awesomeness for winning Instagrammer of the week. Each week they choose an Instagram post based on tags used to win a free bottle of wine from their site. Bonus! You get to pick it out! Jeannette Eger’s story is a rather interesting one. She grew up deep in German wine country and her family owned a very large vineyard. She worked with them until she felt the yearning to produce something all her own and on a much smaller scale. She…

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White

Clot d’encis White Grenache

I thought this week would make for an interesting tasting. I had tried red wine Grenache before, but now it was time for white Grenache. I thought it would be interesting to see the similarities and differences between these two varietals. Clot d’encis wines belong to the Terra Alta region of the Catalan wine region. The region has become known for its white wines, although there are a few reds grown there as well. The whites from Terra Alta have the classic Mediterranean character, with their definitive herbal and fruity tastes and scents.* Clot d’encis is part of the larger…

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White

Six Hats Viognier

This week marked a completely new wine for me. It was time for a Viognier. The first thing I wanted to know about it was how to pronounce it. No one wants to sound silly or like they don’t know what they’re talking about, so a quick search produced the pronunciation “Vee-yoh-N’YAY” and this made me feel a little more confident before diving into my tasting. The grapes for this Viognier were produced in a most interesting sounding place. Piekenierskloof. I knew my research had to start there with a name like that! Piekenierskloof is a ward in the Western…

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Red

Cellar el Masroig Solà Fred Carignan

As I moved back to Spain this week, I was happily ready to try another Carignan. Knowing now that this was a wine I could pair with barbeque made me even happier! Living in Texas, barbeque is on the menu basically weekly and I am always happy to have a reason to eat more of it. Knowing nothing about Cellar el Masroig, I began my research there. This winery started in 1917 and functions as a co-op of grape and olive growers for wine and olive oil. The winery claims that Carignan makes up the foundation of their wines and…

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Red

Field Recordings Red Blend

This was a week that had me a little apprehensive but I had been looking forward to it for quite a while. I was just waiting for the perfect day. The day had come. I would be trying my first wine in a can! This meant I could finally have wine at the pool without pouring it into a plastic cup. I then began to think of all of the possibilities. I could go to the beach and finally leave behind feeling bloated from all of the effervescence coming from my usual cans. What a life! It seems like this…

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White

Graef Chardonnay

I know I have had my fair share of Chardonnays. I think just about everyone has. Those golden hued bottles pull you to them in just the right way. Maybe just the golden color makes us feel a little richer. If you are looking for something familiar you can usually count on that oaky, buttery taste. However in recent years, the Chardonnay industry has been shaking it up a bit and it is proving to be quite the improvement according to wine lovers far and wide… Chardonnay is the most popular white wine grape in the entire world and the…

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Red

Glory Days – Van Ruiten Zinfandel

With a new box from Wine Awesomeness came a bottle from Van Ruiten Vineyards that was most intriguing. With it’s adorable label, I just couldn’t resist opening it first. A little station wagon with a surfboard, vintage-style font, and matching top and label made this wine really stand out. The information provided in the Wine Awesomeness booklet alluded to the story of Van Ruiten Vineyards, but I delved into my own research in order to understand the wine’s story further. The Van Ruiten’s were a Dutch family that moved to America right after World War II and to Lodi, California…

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Rosé

Eikendal Vineyards Rosé

Being that it was mid-summer, I was more than a little excited to have a rosé on deck for this week. The heat was settling into Dallas fiercely and a rosé was just what I needed to quench my thirst and cool me down. I was also excited to try this particular rosé, because Wine Awesomeness was advertising it quite a bit and even allowing mid-day deliveries of it in Manhattan. To tell the truth, I was pretty jealous I did not live in Manhattan this week. After simply going through the Eikendal Vineyards website, I noticed how this vineyard…

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Red

Record Family Wines Merlot

It was time, yet again for another Out of the Box Week at my house. This week brought a familiar wine variety, a merlot. Pulled from the collection that my husband had procured, I selected this wine because I felt like having something familiar. As the second most popular grape in the world, it’s safe to say that Merlot has quite the following. Only Cabernet Sauvignon is grown in a larger quantity.* Merlot is a highly approachable red wine. Its name is easy to pronounce and it generally pairs well with many different dishes. It also makes for easy drinking…

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A simple blog about my wine journey