Meet The Chef: Luis Pous of Little Palm Island Resort & Spa >>

There’s something about summertime that makes me think pink. Pink sundresses, pink flowers, pink picnic blankets on a warm, sunny day. Pink-hued skies that bring on a summer night breeze. It’s a bright and happy season, a time to relax, kick off the shoes and just enjoy life. Summer is for casual affairs and simple, refreshing sippers.

I also think pink when it comes to summertime food and wine. A rosy-hued raw tuna served with fresh summer fruit. A crisp, dry rosé is summer in a glass. These are the comfort foods of the season, fresh, simple pleasures that define summer.

In the spirit of this happy, pink season, I gathered the Swirl Girls in my home for a backyard picnic and rosé tasting. We invited Luis Pous, executive chef for Little Palm Island Resort & Spa in the Florida Keys, who was passing through the city. Read the full story

I’ll admit it – I am not generally a Cali chard kind of girl. I try to be fair when evaluating wines from this region, but it’s sometimes hard to get past a style of winemaking that I just don’t care for.

We’ve all had those incredibly oak-driven chards that California is famous for, and I’ll be the first to admit that I am not a fan. Maybe it’s my Old World sensibility, but I prefer tasting the true expression of the grape and the uniqueness of the place where it was grown. A little oak to support is nice, but I don’t want to feel like I’m licking a barrel.

With all that said, I loved the 2008 Ceja Chardonnay from Carneros. Not liked, loved.

What I love about this wine is the fresh, fruity aromas of apple, pear and citrus. Yes, the wine is aged sur lie in French oak for 11 months and, yes, I could smell and taste those vanilla and crème brulee elements in the wine. But the oak is right where it should be – in a supporting role – rather than taking center stage. The subtle elements add complexity to the wine while still allowing the chardonnay grape to express its true character.

On the palate, the wine’s crisp acidity really won me over. Ceja kept the acid by not allowing this wine to go through malolactic fermentation (as many chardonnays do) and I think it was a brilliant decision. The wine is bright, fresh and clean on the palate. The acidity makes it more versatile for food pairing or even drink on its own as a refreshing summer sipper.

Cheers!

~ Swirl Girl Dry (J. Gwen Berry)

The 2008 Ceja Chardonnay was sent to Swirl Girls as a sample for potential review.

Every once in awhile I achieve food-wine magic — a pairing that is so utterly in harmony, I can hear the angels singing just above my dining room chandelier. These moments of savory nirvana are beyond the intellect to decipher. They are not thought, they are felt. Alone, food or wine can be great. But together, they can transcend greatness to the realm of the divine.

A few weeks ago, the Swirl Girls received three bottles of Spanish albariño for review. We are all pretty keen on these crisp, dry and affordable white wines from the seaside region of Rías Baixas. I decided to grab the 2009 Salneval Albariño (retails between $10-13 online) and serve it as part of a 4-course meal I prepared for some wine-loving friends.

Albariños are known to match well with seafood, no doubt because the area where these grapes grow is the only part of the country that borders on the Atlantic Ocean and is host to a healthy fishing industry. Read the full story

Last week, the SG’s shared some of our favorite French wines for Bastille Day. But instead of celebrating with one of those, I headed to Total Wine on the French holiday to check out their picks at their monthly consumer wine education class. This month, the theme was a “Tour de France.”

Palm Beach Gardens store Wine Manager Theodora Snyder started us off with a few sparkling wines from Champagne. After an informative lecture on how Champagne is made and a bit of a debate about how many bubbles there are in a bottle (I’ve found answers online varying from 50 million to 250 million), we got to tasting.

My favorite sparkler by far was the Mailly Brut Reserve Grand Cru ($39.99), a blend of 75 percent pinot noir and 25 percent chardonnay. 100 percent of the grapes used to make this wine are sourced from Grand Cru vineyards within Mailly. The wine had a light golden color and a fresh, slightly creamy nose of sweet apple and pear. On the palate, the wine maintained a lovely balance of sweet fruit and zesty acidity. It had a slightly round and smooth mouthfeel while still remaining crisp, clean and dry and had an elegant, long finish. Read the full story

Last night Sweet, Bold and I took part in an online twitter wine tasting with TasteLive. The idea is that a bunch of wine bloggers sit down at the same time and taste the same wines, then tweet about them through the TasteLive website. The tastings are usually sponsored by a specific winery, in this case Kunde Family Estate from Sonoma, and each blogger receives a few sample bottles to taste the night of the event.

We’ve taken part in a few of these events during the past year and have found them a nice way to try new wines and meet like-minded people. Read the full story

Since we started the Swirl Girls in April 2009, we’ve occasionally written about our women’s wine tasting group, the Winettes. This is a group of girlfriends that get together once a month to gab about wine and whatever else comes up. It’s a fun and affordable way to try a variety of wine, expand our knowledge, and educate our palates.

Many of our readers have asked how they can join the Winettes. In response to that request, we’ve started our own SG-hosted “SwirlUps”. Our first SwirlUp was held at The Capital Grille on February 24. We sat down with about 20 guests to taste through 8 wines with accompanied food pairings. The event was a smashing success that far exceeded any of our expectations. We hope to host the next SwirlUp later this spring.

In the meantime, we encourage all of you wine lovers to start your own version of the Winettes (or wine hunks as it may be!). Since we’ve had a year’s head start organizing informal tastings, here are a few suggestions to get you going: Read the full story

More: “Dry” Gwen’s lessons learned | Dispatches from “Sweet” | Festival scores a touchdown

Our weekend at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival offered ample opportunity to try great wine. From $9 Patch Block Merlot to $330 Louis Roederer Cristal, there was certainly something to please every palate and price point. Here’s a look at some of our favorites:

From Dry:

Pommery Rosé Apanage
I can’t think of a better way to start my SoBe experience than at a tasting of Pommery Rosé champagnes. “We are not selling wine,” said Nathalie Vranken, head of Marketing for Vranken-Pommery Monopole, “we are selling you dreams, emotions and memories.” Amen, sister.

What struck me most about all of Pommery’s rosés was their delicate pale color and never-ending finish. I especially liked the Rosé Apanage, which had a slightly more pinkish hue than the other salmon-colored roses. The Apanage had a lovely nose of light raspberries and strawberries. On the palate, those delicate berry flavors balanced with a bright acidity and the finish – when I finally got to it – was clean and dry.

Pommery Cuvée Louise Rosé 2000
The Cuvée Louise is Pommery’s most prestigious rosé. It wasn’t just a champagne, it was an experience. Read the full story

More coverage: SoBe wine highlights | Dispatches from “Sweet” | Festival scores a touchdown

Sweet and I spent a fantastic weekend in Miami for the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. The festival, now in its ninth year, was a star-studded event packed with celebrity chefs, master sommeliers, top winemakers and the who’s who of SoBe socialites.

It was also an excellent education in wine from some of the top professionals in the field. Here’s some valuable lessons I learned. Check back tomorrow for more from Sweet. Read the full story

Vanessa Patel sure knows how to put on a fantastic wine tasting. The owner of A1A Wine & Spirits organizes a free tasting once a month at her Palm Beach Gardens store.

Wine is Patel’s passion, and the proof is on her shelves. She specializes in high-quality, low-production wines. Her tastings are a great opportunity to try a variety of unique wines, some of which are hard to find elsewhere in the county.

I finally got the chance to attend one of Vanessa’s tastings on Feb. 12. The weather was bad – torrential downpour kind of bad – but that didn’t stop a loyal group of A1A fans from showing up. Most of the guests were return visitors, which is always a good sign.

Here’s what I liked: Read the full story

The first annual Latin American Vinofest kicked off at Delray Beach’s Art & Jazz on the Avenue on January 28. I’ve certainly never seen so many malbecs or carmeneres in one tasting and it was a great opportunity to try these lesser-known varietals.

The event closed down a few blocks of Atlantic Avenue. There was plenty of room to stroll from table to table or to dance an impromptu tango to live music on the street. I was disappointed to find very little in the way of food (the event advertised both food and wine stations, but I found only one food table). But being on Atlantic Avenue, there were many options to dine when I tired of sipping.

The caliber of most of the wine fell in the “everyday” category, but I did find some great values as well as a few higher-end bottles that really impressed. I thought a few of the Argentine malbecs really stole the show. Here are the highlights:

Read the full story