There is, of course, a certain sadness to waking up and realizing that it’s the last day of your wine-tasting vacation. But every vacation has a last day that must be not only faced but enjoyed, and so after another delicious Alpenhorn breakfast, Sheila and I were off to meet her friends Abby and Scott [...]
La Grange, Henderson, and Fabbioli: What It’s About
The past several months have been a wild ride for the Winery at La Grange. ...
Searching for Norton (Stone Hill Style)
At last! The sun is out, the snows are melting, and after yet another amazing Alpenhorn Gasthaus breakfast, we’re ready to hit the road for a proper day of winery hopping. We have a simple goal in mind: head down Highway 100 leading out of Hermann to visit a few smaller wineries we’ve heard some [...]
Searching for Norton (Little House Style)
Finally! The Alpenhaus’ driveway has been cleared enough to get the very-non-four-wheel-drive Camaro out onto the road, and although the sky is still gray and spitting yet more snow (angry snow, the kind that falls more like sleet), we are undeterred. Today, we will resume our wine-tasting adventures. Well, sort of. Today is actually the [...]
Searching for Norton (Snow Style)
OK, so winter storm Virgil wasn’t really a joke, after all. As it turned out, we had about 7 inches of the white stuff dumped on Hermann, MO, which basically meant we had to spend a day snowbound. Camaros, as it turns out, are really fun cars to rent when it’s nice out. Not so [...]
Searching for Norton (Missouri Style)
(The next few posts on Pazvino.com will detail a wine-tasting jaunt through the various wine areas of Missouri, which is where Virginia’s own Norton grape thrived after being eradicated in its home state. This is Day 1). Hermannhof Vineyards, an historic winery at the edge of the very stony town of Hermann, MO, whose sprawling [...]
Fabbioli Cellars: Where Bottles Grow on Trees
Every now and then, I realize that’s it been entirely too long since I’ve visited some long-favorite winery of mine. I’m something of a creature of habit, I suppose, and it’s all too easy to settle into a familiar loop that consists only of the wineries I normally frequent because, in addition to having great [...]
DuCard to the Rescue
A while back, I wrote up a quick description for Madison County’s DuCard Vineyards, which is posted here. In it, I referenced the fact that one of my favorite past wines from Rappahannock Cellars was the Cabernet Franc they’d released with a “DuCard” designation on its label (the two wineries have a long tradition of [...]
Up on Cobbler Mountain
I’ve been a horribly negligent blogger lately, due in large part to my being out of town for a month for what I suppose would be called a writing vacation. But I’m back and caught up with almost everything I need to catch up on, so wanted to write up a quick blurb about a [...]
A Book Signing, Farm Market, Wine-Tasting Weekend
You know those weekends where it seems like there’s no end of fun things to get into? That was this past one. By Saturday morning at 11:00 I’m down in Sperryville, VA, at Rappahannock Central, which has fast become one of my favorite weekend destinations. There, at the Farm to Fork Market, owner Terri Diley has teamed [...]
Cheatin’ Omelettes and Apple Wine Mimosas
It’s been a while since I last wrote about breakfast, and that’s unfortunate because it’s my favorite meal of the day. Don’t get me wrong — I love a home-cooked, delicious dinner, but there’s always been something about a good, hearty breakfast to start off the day that makes me happy. Plus it’s a lazy [...]