Please The Palate |

Beat the Summer Heat with Rías Baixas Albariño

This past weekend was the Seventh Annual International Albariño Days. It is also summertime and hot outside, so it took little excuses to drink these crisp, refreshing wines. In my recent column in the Napa Valley Register, which you can read below, I shared three Albariños from Rías Baixas that I have been enjoying! The heat of the summer is here, and my palate is calling for crisp, refreshing white wines. One of the wines that is filling this request is Rías Baixas Albariño and right now it is perfect timing because it is also the seventh annual International Albariño Days, August 2-7.

Albariño is indigenous to northwestern Spain and northern Portugal. In Portugal, it is known as Alvarinho and it is the primary grape of Vinho Verde. In Spain, Albariño is the primary grape of Rías Baixas, representing 96 percent of all plantings in the region.

Rías Baixas is located in Spain’s northwest region of Galicia. An Atlantic-influenced climate, it is also known as “Green Spain” as it is an area that is characterized by moderate year-round temperatures, ocean mists and an average rainfall that can be three times the national average. Galicia also gets a lot of sunshine hours, which enables Albariño to fully ripen with good natural acidity.

07 August, 2018

Ramona, San Diego – A New Wine Destination

A few weeks ago, I went wine tasting for the weekend in California. I did not go to Napa or Sonoma. I did not go to Paso Robles or Santa Barbara. I did not go to Temecula. I went wine tasting in Ramona Valley in San Diego. Yes, the Ramona Valley is a quickly growing wine destination that I wrote about in my recent column in the Napa Valley Register.

Living in California, we are lucky that no matter what city we live in, there is a wine region in our backyard. San Francisco has Napa and Sonoma, Los Angeles has Santa Barbara, Orange County has Temecula and San Diego has the Ramona Valley.

Yes, there is a wine region in San Diego County. In 2006, the Ramona Valley AVA was the 162nd area to be designated as an American Viticulture Area. It was only the second AVA to be designated in San Diego County (San Pasqual Valley was designated in 1981) and the third in Southern California (Temecula Valley was designated in 1986). These three AVAs all fall within the large South Coast AVA, which covers all of Southern California south of Santa Barbara.

31 July, 2018

The Flying Winemaker Giuseppe “Beppe” Caviola

Beppe Caviola may not be a familiar name to you. But, in Italy, he is considering one of the most important winemakers in Italy, consulting at more than 30 wineries around Italy, as well as making his own wine Ca'Viola. I met him on a recent visit to Piedmont, Italy and wrote about the famous "Flying Winemaker", also known as the "Dolcetto King" in my wine column in the Napa Valley Register. Sharing the story here.

During my recent travels in Piemonte, I visited winery after winery who told me that their consulting winemaker is Giuseppe “Beppe” Caviola. Known as “The Flying Winemaker” or “The Dolcetto King,” Beppe Caviola is a consultant to more than 30 wineries in Italy, from Piedmont to Sicily and from the Marche to Sardinia, some of which are the most legendary estates in the country. And in the heart of Dogliani, Beppe Caviola has his own winery, Ca’Viola, which in local dialect means “little violet house.”

Beppe Caviola is from Montelupo in the Langhe. He attended the Enological School in Alba and then worked at the Enological Center in Gallo, just outside Alba. He found a small vineyard in Montelupo, called Barturot, and began making wine in the garage of his parents’ house. After some encouragement to bottle the wine, Beppe bottled 860 bottles of Dolcetto is 1991 and Ca’Viola was born.

17 July, 2018