Cheers to the Holidays with @BanfiWines!

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

A good glass of wine for Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner is a must as the holidays approach. Whether you are drinking it with dinner or with dessert, check out the great varieties that Banfi offers: 

Bell’Agio Rosso Dolce

Inside the gates of Bell’Agio, you’ll discover a place where bistros are bustling with people living life to the fullest. A place where quality of life is defined by friendships, food and wine. Bell’Agio captures that attitude. It’s bold with a beautiful Italian flair. During the production technique, soft pressing is followed by maceration. Fermentation takes place on the must in stainless steel containers.A second fermentation (Charmat) develops the characteristic sparkle.

Bell’Agio pairs delightfully with spicy foods, sandwiches, burgers, pastas, aged cheeses, and is superb with pastries.

Bolla Sparkling Rose

Select grapes are gently crushed and pressed then quickly separated from the pumice to avoid imparting too much color on the young must. After the first temperature controlled alcoholic
fermentation at about 18°C, the base wine undergoes a second fermentation in closed pressure tanks for the “prise de mousse,” resulting in a light, fully-sparkling wine. Bolla Sparkling Rosé is a lively pink bubbly best served chilled. It makes a wonderful accompaniment to hors d’oeuvres, delicate
first courses, white meats, and fruit-based desserts.

Maschio Prosecco Brut

Prosecco Brut is produced by Cantine Maschio, one of Italy’s leading Prosecco producers, with a proud 200 year heritage of family winemaking experience. Prosecco Brut embodies the
finest traditions of Prosecco while accommodating modern, sophisticated tastes.

The grapes are pressed gently to extract only the free-run juice from the heart of the grape. The juice is then left to rest in stainless stee tanks. After approximately 12 hours, when the must has separated
from the lees, fermentation begins. Vinification takes about 15 to 20 days and is completed in stainless steel vats kept at a constant temperature of 65 to 68˚F to develop the wine’s sparkling character.

Prosecco Brut makes an ideal aperitif and also pairs wonderfull with antipasto and hors d’oeuvres, light fish dishes, sushi and sashimi, fresh fruit, and pastries. Serve chilled (42° to 54°F).

Rosa Regale

Rosa Regale is produced using the Charmat process, fermentation with brief skin contact, filtration and storage at 32˚F, followed by refermentation in stainless-steel vats, and isobaric bottling.
A unique and festive sparkling wine and a seductive aperitif. Pairs well with seafood, cheeses, spicy fare and chocolate. Serve chilled.

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You can purchase all these Banfi wines from your local spirits retailer.

* Thank you to Banfi for their product for review! Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Sterling Wine Brings Luster to Your Spring! #SterlingLuster

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

Spring is officially in the air and so is love!

With warmer weather here, there are so many new opportunities to spend time with your significant other or grow closer to someone special. From spreading a blanket on the grass for a picnic to having a romantic five-star meal al fresco, Sterling wine adds a bit of luster to any spring date idea.

Sterling has an array of affordable, yet luxurious selections. Below are some of my favorite varieties from Sterling and accompanying spring date idea!

Sterling Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc

This 2013 Napa Valley Sauvignon Blanc is the perfect addition to any early date! Picnic in the park, anyone? It pairs beautifully with simple sandwiches and your favorite cheese. 

The NV Sauvignon Blanc begins on the nose with fragrant aromas of white peach and bright floral notes. Stone fruit and honeydew melon continue on the palate, accented by ripe ruby grapefruit. Associate Winemaker John Hazak used lees stirring, which contributed to the smooth viscosity and silky mouth-feel. A vibrant streak of citrus continues into a long and satisfying finish.

MSRP: $17.77

Sterling Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon

When dining al fresco at your favorite Italian spot, Sterling Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon is a must-have; red isn’t just a winter wine!

Intense aromas, led by toasty oak and spice, unfold with layers of cardamom, cedar, dark chocolate and anise over briary fruit. Velvety, plush and round, the palate delivers style and sophistication with enjoyable, rewarding accessibility. Layers of red fruit, brown sugar, and black licorice are joined by chocolaty tannins that melt into a long finish. The cooler vintage left a lift of acid that makes it perfect for pairing with food. Try with a hearty mushroom tart, roasted pork loin or grilled meat.

MSRP $27.99

These wines were perfect after a long day, with a delicious meal or with a sweet dessert! Add luster to your Spring with Sterling wines - I know it has made my Spring just that much better! :)

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You can purchase Sterling wines from the Sterling wine online shop.

* Thank you to Sterling wine for their product for review! Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Wines for Every Holiday Occasion

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

Whether you are looking to serve a bottle of wine at your holiday dinner, after dinner with dessert or with appetizers, Banfi Wines has just the right bottle of wine for you!

Check out some of their great selection below:

Bolla Prosecco

Grapes were both hand and machine harvested for this Bolla Prosecco. Fermentation takes place in stainless steel and cuvee close to develop the stars.

The color is a bright, deep straw in color and the bouquet is an appealing ripe fruit on the nose with hints of apple, pear and peach. And it tastes fresh and fruity on the palate with a great vein of acidity and lively finish.

You may enjoy Bolla Prosecco with anything! It is delightful with appetizers, seafood, pasta, chicken, pork and veal as well as desserts.

Rosa Regale

The Rosa Regale has an aromatic bouquet with hints of raspberries, strawberries and rose petals. It tastes like fresh raspberries, with crisp acidity, enticing the palate with an initial softness, graduating to a clean and dry finish.

It is perfect for any occasion because it is an unique and festive sparkling wine, seductive aperitif, and elegant dessert wine. It pairs well with seafood, cheeses, spicy fare and chocolate. Serve chilled.

This sparkling red wine made from Brachetto d’Acqui in Piedmont, Italy is love at first sip and a perpetual crowd pleaser.

Riunite Lambrusco

The pressing and brief maceration of select grapes for this Riunite Lambrusco is followed by the fermentation of the must at controlled temperature. A second fermentation, using the Charmat method, imparts the characteristic sparkling note.

The fruity, soft and harmonious bouquet is paired with the light, well-balanced taste! This is one of my our favorites!

Riunite Lambrusco is perfect for every occasion. Enjoyable and straight forward, its easy drinkability make it a favorite with a wide variety of foods, including spicy fare.

Riunite Peach Moscato

This Peach Moscato has a bouquet of strong peach, accompanied by hints of honey and sage. The taste is clean, with strong, ripe peach flavors; sweet with soft aromatics.

It is ideal as an aperitif, but Riunite Peach Moscato also pairs well with fruit, salads, spicy foods and desserts in general. Serve chilled at 40°F-46°F.

Pacific Rim Riesling

The Riesling juice is fermented at cold temperatures for 30 days and then aged in stainless steel tanks. All our Rieslings are fermented with native yeasts. They use no oak and no malolactic on this wine– it’s as pure and unmanipulated as it gets.

The Jasmine, pear and apple bouquet is paired with the taste of apricot, jasmine with a balanced sugar level.

It is ideal to pair with spicy Thai and Mexican cuisine, and even rich cuisine such as French and German.

Pacific Rim Sweet Riesling 2012

For this Sweet Riesling, they pick the Riesling grapes early (20-21 Brix) and use only native yeast and ferment at low temperatures in stainless steel tanks – there is no use of oak barrels or malolactic fermentation. They stop the fermentation at about 7% residual sugar, and clean the wine rapidly to retain as much freshness and fruitiness as possible. They leave a fair amount of natural carbon dioxide in the wine to create a lively mouth feel.

It creates a bouquet with honey, pear and orange blossom and the taste is sweet, bright acidity with pineapple and white peach.

Pair this Sweet Riesling with fiery fare – especially Thai, Szechwan, Mexican, Middle Eastern and Caribbean cuisine.

Buy It:

You can purchase all these Banfi Wines at your local spirits and wine retailers.

* Thank you to Banfi Wines for their product for review! Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

No Tricks...Just Treats with Deep Red Wines this Halloween‏!

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

We all know that chocolate will be overflowing in your house in a couple of days (if it isn't already...). Why not pair some of that chocolate with your favorite dark red wine?? I know I will be!

As Halloween creeps closer, Save Me, San Francisco Wine Co. invites you to get in touch with your “dark” side by treating yourself to a rich, deep red wine. Check out three of my favorite reds below and how to pair them with your favorite Halloween chocolates!

This intense, full bodied “California 37” Cabernet Sauvignon is a bold wine that pairs well with peanut butter filled candies. This Cabernet Sauvignon pairs perfectly with these sweet-salty treats or it tastes great on its own too!

This smooth, full bodied “Hella Fine” Merlot has flavors of chocolate and cherries and pairs nicely with crunchy wafer candies!

And my personal favorite varietal, “Soul Sister” Pinot Noir is a light red wine that compliments smooth milk chocolate. With its flavors of ripe cherries and strawberries and its smooth finish it is definitely good with OR without chocolate!!

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You can purchase all Save Me San Francisco wines online or at a local retailer.

* Thank you to Save Me San Francisco for their product for review! Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Cheers to California Wine Month with Save Me, San Francisco Wine Co.

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

In California, September is a big month because it is California Wine Month and a celebration of California's annual wine season! It has always been my dream to get to Wine Country in California but until then I will celebrate California Wine Month here in Minnesota as I drink a glass of wine from Save Me, San Francisco Wine Co.

In partnership with winemaker James Foster, Grammy-award winning band Train invites you to raise a glass in celebration of California’s annual wine season. This September, say “cheers” to California Wine Month with the Golden State natives’ Save Me, San Francisco Wine Co.

Whether in California or elsewhere, I invite you to enjoy my favorites from Save Me, San Francisco Wine Co:

• “Drops of Jupiter” Red, which features a fruity, boysenberry taste. It is great with food or without!

• “Bulletproof Picasso” Sauvignon Blanc is a fruit-forward varietal with a powerful grapefruit taste. It pairs great with Grilled Seafood or a Greek Salad! This one was my favorite!

• Soul Sister Pinot Noir is an expressive medium ruby wine with flavors of ripe cherries and strawberries and a smooth finish! It tastes great with an Italian dinner or grilled chicken. 

I love trying new wines and these wines from Save Me, San Francisco Wine Co. were unique, delicious and I loved each one! If you are looking for a taste of California and a unique wine taste, I highly recommend Save Me, San Francisco Wine Co. wines.

Buy It:

You can purchase Save Me, San Francisco Wine Co. online or at a retail store near you.

* Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*

Riunite Lambrusco & Other Great Wines for Spring!

A product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.

Lambrusco was one of the first wines I ever tried and one of the wines I really still enjoy drinking and look for on a menu right away when ordering wine at a restaurant.

I was so excited to be able to drink it again at home when I recently tried out Riunite Lambrusco, the iconic brand that introduced Americans to wine and put Lambrusco on the map.

After 50 years in the U.S., Riunite changed its bottle to a classic design reflecting its vintage Italian heritage. Inside the bottle, it’s the same easy-drinking, soft and fruity Lambrusco with a refreshing spritz on the finish. Taste it chilled with your favorite spicy food, charcuterie, or BBQ.

Check out some more fun history on Riunite Lambrusco: 

The first radio commercials for Riunite, aired in the early 1970s, featured “Cowboy Bob” of Howdy Doody fame, and a jingle that borrowed the TV show’s theme -- “It’s Riunite Time.”

Riunite Lambrusco was the first 750ml fine wine bottle enclosed with a screwcap. The Mariani family worked with Italian beer and soda bottlers to engineer and perfect the technology for wine bottles. (The new bottle uses a Stelvin-like enclosure; this is the first change to the enclosure since 1969.)

Riunite Lambrusco remains the #1 selling Italian red wine imported into the USA (and has been for the past four decades).

In its history, over 2 billion bottles of Riunite Lambrusco have been sold in the USA. If you stacked every bottle sold on top of each other, it would equal almost 15 times the distance around planet Earth.

Check out these other great bottles of wine that are perfect for enjoying with friends and family this Spring!:

Fontana Candida Terre dei Grifi Frascati 

(SRP: $13)

This wine is a clear and brilliant yellow with soft green shades. This wine features the delicate fragrance of exotic fruits and citrus with a taste of dry and soft, with exotic fruit and a touch of ripe pear and almonds on the finish.

It is ideal as an aperitif or with Caesar salads, avocado based starters, fish, veal and chicken as well as Thai and Indian food.

Castello Banfi Rosso di Montalcino 

(SRP: $25)

The selected grapes are vinified in Horizon hybrid stainless steel & wood tanks, with an average maceration of 7-10 days. After an aging period of 10-12 months, partially in barriques and partially in large oak barrels, followed by an additional 6 months in bottle before release.

A super-classic of Montalcino and Banfi. This is a wine that is able to match the elegance and solidity of its elder counterpart with a freshness and directness that make it one of the most versitile wines within Banfi’s offer. Very enjoyable when released, it is also suitable for a long aging.

Maschio Prosecco

 (SRP: $13)

This wine is made by entle pressing of the grapes to extract only the free-run juice from the heart of the berry. Then the juice is left to rest in stainless steel tanks and after approximately 12 hours the limpid part of the must has separated from the deposit and fermentation begins. Vinification takes about 15-20 days and is completed in stainless steel vats kept at a constant temperature of 18-20˚C (65- 68˚F) to develop a natural sparkle.

The color is a light straw yellow with a lively froth. The Bouquet is White peach and orange blossoms with a taste of fruit forward, with peach and almond flavors.

This wine pairs great as an aperitif or as an ideal match with fish, fresh fruit and pastries. Serve chilled at 42-56˚F.

* Disclosure - This product was given for review for my honest opinion. No other compensation was given.*