Wine 101 - Chardonnay

There are a TON of wine varietals out there and it can be difficult to navigate through them. With a little bit of education, you can be a wine expert in no time. My Wine 101 series will help you do just that by teaching you what you need to know before you hit the wine store.

CHARDONNAY

Chardonnay is a white wine varietal and just happens to be the most popular wine in America. It originated in the Burgundy region of France but is now the most diverse and most planted wine grape in the world. Chardonnay wines can have a wide range of aromas and flavors, many of those based on where the grapes were grown. Geographical locations have a huge impact on the flavor of wines. One of the reasons that Chardonnay is so popular is its ability to adapt to many different growing conditions.

TASTE PROFILE:

Fruit Flavors - Lemon, Apple, Pineapple, Pear, Peach

Other Flavors - Lemon Zest, Beeswax, Honeysuckle, Vanilla Bean, Almond

Oak Flavors - Vanilla, Caramel, Butter, Coconut

Serving Suggestion - Chilled

There are two major types of Chardonnay - Oaked and Unoaked. These fermenting styles result in incredibly different taste profiles. Let's take a look at each of them:

Blog Tour - Sleeping With The Blackbirds

Sleeping with the Blackbirds by Alex Pearl
Publisher - Pen Press
Publish Date - 9/10/11
Genre - Young Adult Fiction
Buy on Amazon
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My Rating:

Schedule

6th July - Book Wormie Spot - Guest Post

7th July - Mallory Heart Reviews - Review

8th July - CK Books Blog - Review

9th July -  Mousiey Books - Review

10th July - Books and Barrels - Review

13th July - Daniela Ark's Blog - Interview

14th July - Lovely Paranormal Books - Guest Post

                 - Tanya Robinson 100 - Review

15th July - A.E. Albert: A Writer's Blog - Interview

16th July - A Cascade of Books - Interview

17th July - Poseidon99 - Guest Post


Author Bio:

Who is Alex Pearl?

It's a question I often ask myself. Well, basically I'm a short-sighted bloke aged 50, which I suppose is pretty old really. And for 27 years I have worked at various advertising agencies and marketing
companies as something called a copywriter. This means I have to sit in an office and write the
words that appear in adverts, leaflets and letters. It's a funny old job. Sometimes it can be fun when,
for instance, you have to make a TV or radio commercial. But this doesn't happen very often. At
other times it can be rather dull and frustrating when a client rejects your work that you created and
insists that you do something far less interesting.

Outside work I'm a husband and a dad, and I live in North West London with my wife and two
children. We don't have any animals in our house but we do see lots of birds in our garden. And yes,
we do have a bird table, but only the one, and this is usually attacked by the squirrels before any
bird can get to it.

Winery Wednesday - Pippin Hill Winery

I am extremely lucky to live in a state that offers so many wineries right in my backyard. Not only do we have a ton of wineries in Virginia - but we have GOOD wineries. Seriously people, we are the next Napa Valley. Except more like Sonoma County. Just you wait and see.

If you have never gotten the opportunity to come out to Virginia's wine country, make the trip. It's worth it. Trust me. Do it. Unless you don't like wine and in that case, come anyway and be the DD.

At last count (read: last Google search), Virginia had over 250 wineries. My goal is to get to all of them one day. It's a lofty goal, I know.

For my first ever Winery Wednesday Feature, I wanted to talk about my absolute FAVORITE winery in the entire state of Virginia - 

Pippin Hill Winery

Pippin Hill, located in Charlottesville, VA is so incredibly beautiful and really showcases the magical qualities of the Blue Ridge mountains. Not only do they offer incredible wines, but they have top notch gourmet cuisine too at their Farm Table. I mean - look at that photo, it's amazing!

All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Publisher - Scribner
Publish Date - 5/6/14
Genre - Historical Fiction
Buy on Amazon
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My Rating:

In this novel, Doerr tells two parallel stories during the Nazi uprising in Germany and France that eventually weave their way together. The first is of Marie-Laure who lives with her father in Paris, France. Her father works at the Museum of Natural History as a locksmith. It is rumored that this museum is home to one of the most cursed jewels in all of history – the “Sea of Flame”.

At the age of six, Marie goes blind and her father builds her a miniature version of the city so she can learn to maneuver the city on her own. Six years later, the Nazis occupy Paris and Marie and her father have to flee the city. What Marie does not know is that she and her father may be carrying the dangerous Sea of Flame jewel and all of the legendary misfortune that comes with it. The museum curator made 3 exact copies of the jewel and sent one of each, along with the real one, to trusted friends in order to keep the jewel out of the hands of the Nazis.

Patriotic Picnic - Host your own for the 4th of July

It's hard not to get wrapped up in Patriotism and the Red, White and Blue during the 4th of July holiday. It's not just a day off work, it's a day to celebrate this awesome country that we live in.

Hopefully wherever you are, the weather isn't TOO hot to get outside and enjoy some sunshine. A backyard BBQ is the perfect excuse to get family and friends together and it's one of my favorite summer activities.

Now I'll admit something here to y'all - I'm a Pinterest ADDICT. I'm not exactly sure how my life was complete before Pinterest existed. It's an amazing place to gather ideas and find new ones. Other fellow Pinterest aficionados have come in to my house and immediately pointed out my many Pinterest inspired projects.

I love to get pretty much all of my entertaining ideas from Pinterest too. So here, I'll share some of my favorite ideas with you so that you can be the hostess with the mostess at your Patriotic Picnic this year!