This bottle got a little lost in my wine cellar, and then you know, there was a pandemic, so we opened it at age 13 years. The cork broke and that made me worried we were going to be dealing with something less than lovely. But I was very wrong – it was absolutely stunning.
Mondeuse is a grape native to Savoie, and this wine was produced by an independent vigneron, the fifth generation since 1840, located east of Lyon and south of Geneva on the eastern French border with Switzerland.
Translucent garnet, it has a fabulously perfumed nose with black pepper, violets, boysenberry and leather belt. The dry palate goes deep with more purple flowers, black pepper, plum, blueberry and leather. Mondeuse is related to Syrah and it shows in this sample.
We enjoyed it alongside pork chops with mushroom sauce, tossed salad with strawberries and basalmic vinaigrette, and corn on the cob. If you’re holding, and you’d be lucky as that would be unlikely at this point in time, enjoy it now.
southwest of the Caribbean, well out of the path of any hurricanes, and just 17 km off the coast of Venezuela.
Usually when I venture to warm climates, wine is not an option, and because beer is not my ‘go to’ drink, I focus on the cocktail menus at the restaurants we visit.
published a recipe book of drinks called ‘How Can I Make You Happy’. And I was – very.
I drank the Lemon Drop before I remembered to take a picture, but the dirty Gin Martini with a whole dish of olives was a hit,
followed the next night by a Reverse Cosmo (aka Char-Tini). The Dark & Stormy was delicious, and again, I drank the Old Fashioned made with Diplomatico Rum instead of Bourbon before I realized I’d forgotten to document its deliciousness.
But the pièce de résistance was the Pornstar Martini, complete with its accompanying Prosecco shot.
This wine has a history going back 2,000 years in France’s Rhône Valley, but the first bottle I found and enjoyed was in Curaçao, off the coast of Venezuela. What a find it was at the Carrefour supermarket – it was incredibly fun to drink, and absolutely delicious. 
Rhône Valley, it’s made out of a maximum of 75% Muscat Blanc à Petits Grains and 25% Clairette. Naturally sparkling, it undergoes the first fermentation in a vat and the second in bottle. 
Flavours include more white flowers and nectarine, Clingstone peach, and fruit cocktail. 
estate. Now that the world is reopening, I can’t wait to take a trip there some time in the next few years.
From one of the truly bona fide, historic and traditional Barolo houses comes a 2008 Barbaresco.
While perusing the shelves at Costco Lihue, I picked this Premier Cru Chablis up for a song.
stainless steel for a year, this was a great wine to enjoy in the warmth of Kauai on the lanai. I did not want any wood on my wine, so I was in the market for some Chablis, and this one delivered.
is a retirement gig – and what a gig it is. His wines are eagerly sought after and elusive, as he doesn’t make much, and what he does make is often only available at his home in the
beautiful Dundee Hills AVA of Oregon.
has mouth-watering acidity with flavours of more ripe cherry, mint, leather, savoury light mushroom, a little freshly turned dirt, and some softly scrubbed tannins.
through the Willamette Valley, make sure to 
winellama 