wine and food pairing

A Washington red meets Mediterranean-style cuisine

Like a person or a cherished pet, a wine has a personality of its own. Some are slow to open up. They’re intense, complex and take a long to get to know. Others are forward and direct, or they may be hearty and easygoing. To me, the L’Ecole No. 41 Frenchtown Red, Columbia Valley AVA, […]

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Red, white and pink – the colors of Côtes du Rhône (#winophiles)

Invited to a party while the weather is still warm enough to dine outdoors and wondering what wine to bring? Simply put, you can’t go wrong with Côtes du Rhône. No matter your budget, you can easily find an easy-drinking, crowd-pleasing Côtes du Rhône wine. If you want, you can delve into the nuances of

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Vegan black bean burgers and organic wine: A planet-conscious pairing (#winePW)

Back in the day – a decade ago, actually, when I was first getting into wine seriously, few producers made wine from organic grapes. I’d wander around the Pennsylvania state store in a futile search for these wines before finally having to flag down a sales assistant to help me. Organic wine is now a $54.5

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Shining a light on white grapes of Walla Walla Valley

Walla Walla Valley is predominately a red region. Only about 5% of grapes in this corner of southeastern Washington are white. So it felt kind of special to open a bottle of L’Ecole No. 41 Luminesce and shine a light on their two estate-grown whites, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc. Family-owned L’Ecole No. 41 was the

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Tasty Txakolina from Basque Country calls for fish (#worldwinetravel)

“Fascinating” is an overused word, but it seems appropriate to describe the culture, language, wine and food of Basque Country (País Vasco in Spanish). Fiercely independent and proud, the Basque people inhabit both sides of the Spanish-French border in the western foothills of the Pyrenees Mountains. Many more live in Spain than in France. Traditionally,

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