Always Ravenous

Adventures in Food and Wine

Sokol Blosser Winery: Founding Pioneer Winery of Willamette Valley

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Disclosure: The wines were provided to me as media samples. All opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

Sokol Blosser Estate Vineyards

Sokol Blosser Estate Vineyards – courtesy of the winery

Are you a fan of Pinot Noir? Oregon’s Willamette Valley is known for its quality, world-class Pinot Noir. A climate study made in the 1960s indicating the Willamette Valley, specifically the Dundee Hills region, had a similar climate to Burgundy. This climate study would lead a handful of pioneering winemakers to plant vines in the Willamette Valley in the 1960s and 1970s.

Sokol Blosser is one of those founding pioneer wineries that established Willamette Valley into today’s wine-growing region. Susan Sokol Blosser and Bill Blosser had a dream to grow and produce Pinot Noir. In 1971, they purchased 18-acres of an old prune farm in the Dundee Hills region and planted their first Pinot Noir vines. This was the beginning of the Sokol Blosser story. This year Sokol Blosser is celebrating 50 years as an Oregon Family Winery known for their Pinot Noir….

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Tasting and Pairing Loire Valley Wines #Winophiles

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Muscadet Sèvre et Maine Paired with Oysters

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to take a virtual tour of the Loire Valley wine region known as The Garden of France and The Heart of France’s Organic/Biodynamic/Natural  Wine Movement.  This wine-growing region is France’s largest white wine region, second largest sparkling producer, and third largest overall producer of Appellation d’Contrôlée (AOC) wines.  I’ll introduce you to a few of the Loire Valley’s principal grape varieties with my tastings and pairings below.

This month the French Winophiles are exploring the Loire Valley wine-growing region. Join us for our chat on Twitter, Saturday, April 17th, 2021, at 11:00 AM ET (using hashtag #winophiles), and don’t miss more articles from the group at the end of this post.…

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Sheet Pan Dinners Paired with Cabernet Franc/Merlot

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Disclosure: The wine was provided to me as a media sample. All opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

Sheet Pan Smoked Paprika Chicken

Sheet pan dinners are the solution to a busy weeknight dinner. They are easy to assemble, and my favorite part, they don’t create a huge post kitchen cleanup. I made two different sheet pan dinners; Smoked Paprika Chicken and Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables to pair with L’Ecole No 41 Winery’s new small-production Cabernet Franc-Merlot wine. What better way to bring a hectic day into balance than to slow down and enjoy dinner with family or friends and a glass of wine….

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Filet Mignon paired with Washington Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon #WinePW

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Disclosure: The wine was provided to me as a media sample. All opinions are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

Filet Mignon paired with Washington Yakima Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

If you are not familiar with Washington State’s wine country, you may be surprised to learn the Cascade Mountain range divides the state into two very distinct climates. The Cascade Mountains act as a rain shield protecting the eastern half of the state. So unlike the Seattle rainy weather, eastern Washington is categorized as a Continental Semi-Desert. Grapes can thrive in this desert environment because of irrigation, 300 days of sunshine a year, layers of prehistoric created soils, varying elevations, a vast difference between the day time (80’sºF) and night time (50’sºF) temperatures, and a longer growing season. In fact, of the sixteen AVAs (American Viticultural Areas) in Washington, all but one are in the eastern half of the state.

This month the Wine Pairing Weekend group of bloggers takes a closer look at the Yakima Valley AVA located in south-central Washington (east of the Cascade Mountain range). What better way to get to know the Yakima Valley wine region than to open a bottle of Yakima Valley wine. I did just that, a bottle of Owen Roe Cabernet Sauvignon, and paired it with a filet mignon. Join the group on Twitter, Saturday, March 13th at 11:00 AM ET for our chat, and don’t miss more articles from the group at the end of this post.…

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Provencal Braised Beef with Bandol Rouge

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Provencal Braised Beef (Beef Daube) with Bandol Rouge

When you think of Provence wines, you might instantly think of rosé; after all, 75% of the region’s production is rosé. Then you may picture the Mediterranean coastline and the almost 3000 hours of annual sunshine. But Provence is not all rosé and sunshine. The Mistral, a strong, cold northwesterly wind, can blow up to 150 days across the Provence region. It is the strongest in the winter and spring, with winds ranging from 60 to 110 miles per hour.  When these cold Mistral winds blow, hearty fare like Provencal Braised Beef (known locally as Beef Daube) paired with a Bandol Rouge is a classic winter combination….

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Tasting Alsace: Food and Wine Pairings

Alsatian Flatbread with Bacon and Crème Fraîche

My interest in food led me to wine – what better way to enhance that plate of food than with a glass of wine, right? Absolutely! The glass of wine with dinner has grown into a keen interest and curiosity about wine. I have two WSET (Wine & Spirit Education Trust) certifications, levels 2 &…

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Cabernet Franc Paired with Flavors of Persian Cuisine #WinePW

Cabernet Franc Paired with Bison Steak Tartines

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Cabernet Franc is a grape variety often used in Bordeaux style blends alongside Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot. But Cabernet Franc is also made as a single varietal wine. Its signature herbal and green characteristics, and notable acidity and moderate tannins make it a food-friendly wine,  inspiring me to…

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Italian Frizzante with Holiday Sweet Treats

Italian Frizzante with Holiday Sweet Treats

Frizzante (fizzy) is a semi-sparkling Italian wine. The gentle bubbles are produced during a secondary fermentation in large pressurized, sealed stainless steel tanks that trap the bubble creating carbon dioxide inside.  This method is called the Charmat or tank method. The Charmat method is used with grape varieties that are highly aromatic, helping to preserve…

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