Sunday Social Sips at Dino

Highlighted in over 60 reviews on Yelp for their notable selection of wines, Dino invites you to a join them for a select tasting and light food pairing as part of DC Wine Week on Sunday, October 16 from 4-6 PM. Sample six fine Italian reds as the knowledgeable staff at Dino move about the room to engage and educate attendees on Italian grapes. Communal seating will be provided and private tables may be reserved for parties of 4 or more. Cost per person is $50 inclusive of tax and gratuity and reservations should be made directly by calling Dino at 202.686.2966 or via email to eat@dino-dc.com. Please mention DC Wine Week when making your reservation.

Best in Show

Now, I love French wine. Yup, I said it! I love drinking it, talking about it, and writing about it.
But I’m diverse, I drink other things too. This week we’re going local with the wine region and
highlighting the wines from the state of Maryland. How did I make the leap from Beaujolais
to Maryland you ask? I was one of 15 people that had the honor to be judges for the Maryland
Governors Cup Wine Competition. We sat down one Sunday morning and drank through 150
wines to decide who gets Bronze, Silver, Gold, Best in Class and Best in Show. It was tough
work, but someone had to do it!

It’s said that wine was first made in Maryland in 1648. Interesting, that’s over 350 years ago
but people still haven’t heard much about or even tasted a Maryland wine. The state is broken
up into four distinct wine regions with over 450 acres of grapevines planted: Piedmont Plateau,
Eastern Shore, Southern Plain and Western Mountains. The majority of the vineyards are planted in the Plateau region located in Central Maryland. The all-stars of the region are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris.

Being a judge in this competition gave me the opportunity to taste a whole lot of MD wine in a
short period of time. I was at a table with 4 other judges and we were served 7 flights of wine
before lunch, and 4 after. For each wine we tasted (of course) then discussed it and voted on
gold, silver, bronze, or maybe next year. In the midst of the Chardonnays and Pinot Grigios we
tasted, my group had a cider and a mead flight. It was a refreshing change of pace and one of the
ciders was the first gold our table awarded. After lunch were the red flights, with the
Chambourcin blends being a big hit as the grape grows extremely well in Maryland. After the 1st
round of tasting was complete, they brought out all the Gold Medals for us to taste again. I tweeted a picture of the view from my seat…overwhelming in a word. About an hour later, we
had our Best in Show. Wonder what it is? Head over to Maryland Wine and find out!

American Craft Beer Week

I know that this blog is called, The GrapeVine, but in my appreciation for fine/finer wines...I have come to really appreciate craft beers. Now I can't say that I know a lot about them, or can describe them with the same technical prose that I do wine, but there are some times that only an ice cold Witte or IPA will do the trick.

So from May 16th - 22nd, celebrate American Craft Beer Week with me! Check their website for events in your area, or just pick up some craft beers at your local retail shop and see what it's all about. Enjoy!

2011 Languedoc Ambassadors Tour

I had the pleasure of attending not one but TWO wine tastings on Tuesday! It was so nice to be at a trade tasting again as I haven't attending any in awhile due to work. I've always been a fan of the wines of Languedoc, so this was surely a treat. And to hear the awesome Mark Fine speak about the wines of Minervois and Corbieres, and then amaze me with some card tricks....it was a great day!

Here's a quick clip of Mark speaking about the Languedoc wine region.

The GrapeVine hits the MD wine trail

The GrapeVine talks with Deb Scarbourough of Running Hare Vineyard in Prince Frederick, MD

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N82A2_LKAow

A New Year, A Clean PC

2010 found me with trials, tribulations, and several viruses on my laptop! In my excitement and naivete to get a free iPad, I seemed to have gotten many many free viruses, trojan horses, etc on my PC. Well, this year I'm starting off fresh and clean thanks to ChicaPC-fix!

ChicaLogic is all about women and empowering them for the technological age. It's designed for women, by women that need solutions to technical problems...and need them fast. I clearly need my PC to be bug free and run faster. I downloaded ChicaPC-fix in just seconds. A little while later (not sure exactly how long as got sucked into a Lifetime movie and had a glass of wine) I found out my laptop was near death. I ran the error fix and VOILA! my laptop was restored back to its original greatness. It now moves at lightning speed and there are no more weird pop-up screens. ChicaPC-fix definitely gets my thumbs up for ease of use and speed. If you're not using it on your PC right now, well you're just crazy!

Now if I could just get my email to stop sending out free iPad messages to my ENTIRE address book...

Happy New Year!!

I'm changing it up a bit, I'm starting my NYE off with a little Infinium Ale from Sam Adams and Weihenstephan, a Bavarian Brewery, open since 1040 AD. A light Bière de Champagne....I even served it in flutes. Not being a beer aficionado or knowing the lingo, my thoughts on this sound like a bubbly review: nice foam on the top with flavors of citrus and wheat with a tart, slightly dry finish. 2011 might be the year that I admit to being a beer drinker.

Hope 2011 is filled with the best wine that life (and your wallet) has to offer!!!