We lived in Napa for nearly five years and did our best to visit wineries across all of the far-flung American Viticultural Areas (AVAs) that make up the larger Napa Valley AVA. Of course, we tasted on the valley floor at many wineries on Highway 29 . . . along Silverado Trail . . . More
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Croatian wines available in the United States.
MoreFor the past year we have been importing and selling a very unique Bordeaux-style wine from Croatia, produced by the Josić winery. We were thrilled when we read a review of this wine on one of our favorite blogs: Strong Coffee to Red Wine. With permission, we are excerpting Rick Dean’s evocative write-up on one More
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Most people associate Albariño – the grape or the wine – with Spain, and for good reason. This white wine grape grows is indigenous to Spain (although some Portuguese argue that their “Alvarinho” is the original) and there are some truly fantastic wines that come from the wine regions in Galicia. On our last trip More
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Back in mid-2016 we connected via Twitter with The Vinum, an Italian winery located in the small town of Ortona in the Abruzzo wine region. As it turns out, my husband was planning a surprise Europe trip for the two of us and he arranged for us (to my total surprise) to meet the husband More
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The best sparkling wines to serve on Thanksgiving.
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In December of 2017 we started selling Croatian wine on our online wine store Topochines Vino Wine Store. In a few short months we sold out our entire inventory of Croatian wines, most of them produced from indigenous grapes but a few stellar labels using international varietals. Sadly, we sold out our last couple of bottles More
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We recently encountered a travel company that has the type of experience in Croatia and surrounding countries that we wish we knew about when we planned our first trip there. www.AdriaticTours.com. Read to the bottom for contact information and to obtain a discount on their services for being a Topochines Vino reader! Some travel is More
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This is the third and final installment in our series on the superior Lodi wineries that we visited over the course of a weekend last month. We published our three-part series in the chronological order of our winery visits. We were so impressed with Lodi that we have added wine from three wineries to our More
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In our recent inaugural visit to Lodi we had the good fortune to meet one of the most unusual characters in that emerging region: Markus Niggli. Come to think of it, he would be one of the most unusual characters in any wine region. A native of Switzerland, Markus has worked in vineyards and wineries around the More
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One of the top wineries in Lodi, Acquiesce Winery.
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The ability of social media to connect people across countries and continents has several very powerful proof points for us. One of these proof points is a seemingly random “like” and “follow” that we received after one of our tweets in the summer of 2016. We do not remember what the particular tweet was, but More
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We read an article recently in a reputable publication that proclaimed Zinfandel as California’s “heritage grape,” and went on to describe this grape varietal as “a quintessentially American phenomenon. It’s zesty, rugged and loud, challenging to rear, a lover of barbecue.” This characterization of Zinfandel is not uncommon and we have even heard more casual More
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We import white and red Croatian wines and make them available to U.S. consumers at our Topochines Vino online wine store: www.topochinesvino.com. In late 2016 we made our first ever foray to the Balkans, a trip that was planned more or less on a whim and without any goal in mind but to explore More
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One of the wines in our Topochines Vino Wine Store is from Oregon winery Vidon Vineyard whose winemaker Don Hagge we met recently and enjoyed a tasting of over a dozen of his wines. The 2016 Vidon Rosé of Pinot Noir is available here for $20.00 per bottle. We recently ran across a book that asserts “wine is not More
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For many in Northern California wine country, October was wicked and haunted indeed. Today, on the last day of the month, we say goodbye to October 2017 and welcome November with open arms and a spirit of optimism and hope. Last weekend we took to the car and drove about 250 miles through Napa and More
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You’ve heard the old joke, right? Q: How do you make a small fortune in the wine business? A: You start with a large fortune and lose some of it. A clear sign of our dubious sanity is our decision to become wine importers and online retailers, despite not staring with a large fortune. Today More
MoreAs we recognize March as Women’s History Month, I feel motivated to celebrate the vital role of women who work in the wine industry. As a woman working in wine, I have a keen appreciation for the challenges facing women in an industry that historically been dominated by men. Thankfully, as there have been across More
MoreWe read an article recently in a reputable publication that proclaimed Zinfandel as California’s “heritage grape,” and went on to describe this grape varietal as “a quintessentially American phenomenon. It’s zesty, rugged and loud, challenging to rear, a lover of barbecue.” This characterization of Zinfandel is not uncommon and we have even heard more casual More
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