Tag: Covid-19

Wine Travel – keeping it local in 2020

September 3, 2020 / Mel / 3 Comments

Happy September everyone! As you know, these days I’ve been fighting the travel bug by doing my wine travel through my palate. This wine travel idea inspired me to write an article for my neighbourhood magazine. It’s obviously written for a local Ottawa audience, but since most of you don’t live in the area, I’ve copied the article below (and added some pretty pictures), just for you. Enjoy!

View of San Gimignano from Fattoria Poggio Alloro

Vernaccia di San Gimignano and Tuscan memories of gluttony

July 26, 2020 / Mel / 4 Comments

The senses can be a truly powerful force. I recently opened a bottle of Vernaccia di San Gimignano and found myself in Tuscany! Read on as I recount our last evening in Tuscany and the amazing farm-to-table meal at Fattoria Poggio Alloro.

Anyone else embarking on wine travel these days?

I love drinking a wine and being transported to far-off places through the sensations on my palate.

I’m talking about pulling the cork and being whisked away to a foreign land by the bouquet. You close your eyes and with that first sip you can hear the Mediterranean breeze whispering through the olive trees.

Loios Red – a quality and affordable wine from Portugal

May 8, 2020 / Mel / 5 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself at the local liquor store, stocking up for…well…the Apocalypse. With the new social distancing measures in place, the line-ups at the cash had customers snaking up and down the aisles. Taking my place in line (2 metres behind the person in front of me, of course), I found myself in the Portugal section and perused the shelves while waiting for my turn. My eyes quickly darted from price tag to price tag. Were these prices for real?? Was I dreaming? Everything was under $15! In the name of research, I grabbed a bottle of Portuguese red wine on the lower end of the price range, thinking to myself it would probably be undrinkable.

I was wrong.