“Red is the great clarifier – bright and revealing. I can’t imagine becoming bored with red – it would be like becoming bored with the person you love.” – Diana Vreeland

photo credit: EatonAlive ©2013

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“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls.” ― Anaïs Nin

I’m in Spain as I write this, embarking on a twenty-six day wine odyssey beginning with Penedés and Priorat as a guest of Freixenet, a few days in Barcelona with gin and tonics, Gaudi and European professional basketball. The a week in Bordeaux as a guest of Vignobles Ducourt, before jetting to Lyon before the Wines of France tour of Beaujolais and the Rhône and then a weekend at the Fête des Crus du Beaujolais and with a hot-air balloon ride at dawn, and hanging out with Vicky Wine Finishing up the trip is a journey to Champagne, which seems fitting — beginning and ending the effervescent escapades with a sparkle.

Due to the travel schedule, and potential Internet connectivity issues, I don’t anticipate posting a lot here at Wine Harlots during my travel. Follow the journey in pictures over on my Wine Harlot Instagram feed to stay current.

photo credit: EatonAlive ©2013

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“Once I knew only darkness and stillness… my life was without past or future… but a little word from the fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the rapture of living.” — Helen Keller

Tired of winter weather? The darkness, stillness and cold still enveloping you, making you long for brighter days? Pour a glass of Crios Torrontés, with it’s evocative label with the line drawing of a free-form hands,  this torrontés is spring in a glass – sunlight, honeysuckle and limes. The perfect pairing? Try Pork & Shrimp Pot Stickers. The music match? We’re listening to a favorite, “Take My Hand” by Dido from the album No Angel.

The details: 13.9% alcohol. Screw-cap closure. Appellation:Argentina. Grape: Torrontés. Retail price: $11-15 USD. Imported by Vine Connections. This was a media sample for a Whole Foods spring wine tasting.

photo credit: EatonAlive ©2013

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“You have to speak your dream out loud” – Kelly Corrig

Wine Harlots are huge fans of Kickstarter, a new way to fund projects by crowdsourced funding. We’ve told you about the successfully funded products the wine rack STACT and the Mason Cocktail Shaker. Today we have three more worthy of your consideration for funding.

The first is the Latitude Wine Bar, a new drinking establishment in Bluffton, South Carolina by Jean Wilson, better known in the blogging and social media realm as the Red Wine Diva, who envisions the bar just outside Hilton Head to be welcoming and homey to tourists and locals alike. Looking to support a wine bar? Here’s your opportunity.

Glassed Over is an established business looking for a little capital to grow. Glassed Over makes ecological soy wax candles using recycled wine bottles as the container. Just shy of their goal with three days left, give them the final push and score a cool candle for yourself or you favorite oenophile.

Rx Bitters Co. (pronounced “prescription bitters”) is a San Diego based bitters company created by mixologists, and who better to create a better bitter than a bartender? Two days are left on their campaign; show your love of cocktails by showing support.

Rolling Stones says “Kickstarter funds the future.” Fund the future by supporting start-ups and visionaries, the one’s who have the courage to speak their dreams out loud.

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Here comes Peter Cottontail right down the bunny trail…” — Beatrix Potter

Run out of wine glasses this Easter? Try this whimsical life-hack from my friend Beth Smith of Traveling Wine Chick. Lobotomize a hollow Easter Bunny and pour in your favorite tipple. Wine Harlots suggest Port, but feel free to use whatever suits your fancy!

photo credit: Elizabeth Smith ©2013

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“It’s St. Patty’s Day, everyone’s Irish tonight. Why don’t you just pull up a stool and have a drink with us?” — Murphy McManus

What to pair with your Guinness or your Irish whiskey on St. Patrick’s Day? Probably more ale or whiskey, if you’re doing things properly. But for the Wine Harlots, nothing says St. Patrick’s Day like a viewing of the cult classic movie, Boondock Saints.

It’s begins in Boston on St. Patrick’s Day in church with a sermon perpetuating the myth of the bystander effect as the priest lectures the parishioners about the murder of Kitty Genovese and warns against the kind of evil we must fear most, the indifference of good men. After an unfortunate barroom brawl with the Russian mafia and a call from God, twin brothers, Connor and Murphy McManus, played by Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus, begin on a quest to eliminate evil from the world. There are more continuity errors, mangled plot points and foul language than there are Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. If you as easily insulted, steer clear – Boondock Saints is an equal-opportunity offender. But any movie Willem Dafoe is in, is always worth a viewing. For St. Paddy’s, pair your pint with the Boondock Saints. Sláinte!

photo credits: Franchise Films ©1999

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“Be careful to trust a person who does not like wine.” — Karl Marx

photo credit: Chris Lamphier ©2013

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“The way to drink a cocktail is quickly, while it’s still laughing at you. Wines, of course, merely smile.” — Harry Craddock

Wine Harlots first heard this iconic quote from the incomparable Derek Brown of Washington D.C.’s renowned bars The Passenger, Columbia Room and soon, the eagerly awaited Mockingbird Hill, a sherry and jamón joint, who name harkens from a lyric in the legendary punk-band the Clash’s song Spanish Bombs. A rebel aesthetic, tapas and sherry? The Wine Harlot will be lining up to be first at Mockingbird Hill.

The Wikipedia entry states, “Harry Craddock was a United States citizen who left during Prohibition and joined the American Bar at the Savoy Hotel, London, in 1920. Craddock was one of the most famous cocktail barmen of the 1920s and 1930s. Craddock’s “The Savoy Cocktail Book” was published in 1930, and is still in print today. Craddock invented a number of classic cocktails, including the famous Corpse Reviver #2 and possibly including the White Lady, and popularised the Dry Martini.”

The chalkboard drawing is courtesy of Best Waitress.

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“Between two evils, I always pick the one I never tried before.” ― Mae West

There’s no evil in the Paul Cheneau Rosé Cava, it’s an affordable, delicious sparkler with subtle flavors of raspberries. It’s a best buy and it’s a crowd pleaser. It was what I was quaffing last weekend when I was getting my ass (drink!) handed to me on my maiden voyage of playing Cards Against Humanity, which the creators opine is “a party game for horrible people.” Cards Against Humanity is kind of like playing the children’s game Apples to Apples, but adult-themed, with no boundaries and no filters. If you are evil and inappropriate, you will rule Against Humanity. I thought I was evil and horrible, but it just wasn’t in the cards for me. I consoled myself with another glass of Paul Cheneau Rosé Cava and plotted my victory Against Humanity for another day.

The details: 11.5% alcohol. Traditional sparkling wine cork closure. Appellation: Penedès. Grapes: trepat 85%, pinot noir 15%. Actual retail runs $12-15 USD. The US distributor is Pasternak. The wine was provided as a media sample for editorial consideration.

photo credit: EatonAlive ©2013

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“All we need, really, is a change from a near frigid to a tropical attitude of mind.” — Marjory Stoneman Douglas

Drinking the Dashwood Sauvignon Blanc will change your attitude to a tropical mindset. It’s a refreshing glass with flavors or limes and grapefruit with bracing acidity. It’s still has the same qualities as the Dashwood we spoke about last year, but the bottle label has a new re-design and it has a percent less alcohol than the last vintage, but still the same good juice. If you can’t venture to a tropical vacation, pick up a bottle of Dashwood and have the tropics in your glass.

The details: 12.5% alcohol. Screwcap. Appellation:Marlborough. Grapes: sauvignon blanc. Actual retail ranges from approximately $10-14 USD. Imported by Pasternak. This was a sample provided by the distributor for editorial consideration.

photo credit: EatonAlive ©2013

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“They slipped briskly into an intimacy from which they never recovered.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald (This Side of Paradise)

Lola. L-O-L-A. lo-lo-lo-lo Lola. C’mon sing it. I can hear you right now. Lola. L-O-L-A. lo-lo-lo-lo Lola. Lola is arguably the best rock song ever created, Lola was released by the seminal band The Kinks in 1970 on the album Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One. Forty years later it still holds up. Funny and poignant, with a riff you can’t get out of your head and can’t stop yourself from singing, Lola is a classic.

Classic. As I predict the Steven Kent Winery Lola white wine will become. A blend of two white grapes native to Bordeaux, it gives a quick nod to its Gallic heritage, and then in true rock fashion rips it to shreds like a punk rocker going through guitars. The American terroir from the Livermore Valley gives the Steven Kent Winery Lola a bright, fresh, exuberant, sassy styling. The predominant note is kaffir lime with notes of pear and white flowers with a little river rock riff at the end and dazzling acidity. Lola. L-O-L-A. lo-lo-lo-lo Lola. You might be singing Lola right now, but Wine Harlots suggest you drink Lola right now.

The details: 13.9% alcohol. Screw cap closure. Appellation: Livermore Valley. Grapes: sauvignon blanc 65%, semillion 35%. Suggested retail: $24 USD. This was a media sample provided by the winery for an on-line tasting event.

photo credit: EatonAlive ©2013

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“We must leave this terrifying place tomorrow and go searching for sunshine.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald

Wine. Terrifying? For the general public, it can be. So many, brands, so many labels, so many rules, rituals and misconceptions. Like the myth that “Bordeaux wines are super-expensive.” Sure, they’re a few grand crus that are prohibitively expensive, but 85% of all Bordeaux wines are $25 dollars or less.

Case in point, take the Château Ballan-Larquette Bordeaux for example. It’s a bottle of sunshine for under $15 USD. Crisp and clean with notes of citus it’s an easy drinking wine – not at all terrifying! The perfect pairing? Artichoke & Feta Tarts with Tomato Salad. The music match? “Afraid Not Scared” from Ryan Adams from the album Love is Hell.

The details: 12.5% alcohol. Cork closure. Appellation:BordeauxBlanc. Grapes: sauvignon blanc and semillon. Retail: approximately $11-15 USD. Producer: Vignobles Chaigne et Fils. Importer: Exclusive Imports. This was a media sample provided by the trade organization Planet Bordeaux for editorial consideration.

photo credit: EatonAlive ©2013

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“Without music, life would be a mistake.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

Make no mistake, it must be spring  if ATO Records is releasing their new music sampler. In exchange for your email address you get ten songs to enjoy for free. Click on the album covers to navigate to the ATO Records website.

1. Caitlin Rose – Only A Clown
2. Alabama Shakes – I Ain’t the Same
3. My Morning Jacket – Leaving On a Jet Plane  (From John Denver Tribute Album)
4. Bobby Long – Devil Moon
5. The Bronx – Youth Wasted
6. Jim James – A New Life
7. Jonny Fritz – Ain’t it Your Birthday
8. Vusi Mahlasela – Amdokwe
9.  Kopecky Family Band – Heartbeat
10. Allen Stone – Contact High

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The United States Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration (TSA) announced yesterday new guidelines that will allow corkscrews on domestic flights in the United States, effective April 25, 2013. As delighted as the Wine Harlots are about the new regulations (as wine keys are de rigueur for any self-respecting oenophile, we inadvertently have had many, many corkscrews confiscated by security agents around the globe) we now call for the TSA to amend the liquid rule to 750 ml (the size of the standard wine bottle), as the current rule of 100 ml really doesn’t require the need for a corkscrew. C’mon, Homeland Security, if you let me bring delicious wine on the plane, we promise we’ll share!

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“See how the sacred old flamingoes come,
Painting with shadow all the marble steps:
Aged and wise, they seek their wonted perches
Within the temple, devious walking, made
To wander by their melancholy minds.”

William Butler Yeats

Anytime it’s sunny and warm, rosé wines always are an easy choice to quaff. It’s been spring verging on summer the past few days in Southern California, and the Jean-Luc Colombo Cape Bleue Rosé really hits the spot. The nose is a compelling mix of peaches with a spicy note. The color is a beautiful flamingo pink. The flavors are gentle raspberry and strawberry with nice acidity. And if you’re knee deep in snow, pouring a glass will help you remember spring is just around the corner. The perfect pairing? Try Asparagus & Ricotta Tarts. The music match is “See the Sun” from Dido from the album Life for Rent.

The details: 12.5% alcohol. Cork closure. Appellation: Méditerranee. Grapes: syrah 67%, morvédre. Retail price: $10-14 USD. Imported by Palm Bay International. The wine was provided by the importer as a promotional sample for editorial consideration.

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