Feb 14thHappy Valentine’s Day!

Valentine’s Day brings to mind thoughts of love and romance. If you’re a wine lover, thoughts of sharing a bottle of wine with your love one will not be far behind.

Many wine experts are recommending rosé as the perfect wine for romance. Some say reds are best. Here’s my advice — choose your favorite wine. Make it a special one that you only have on special days. Whether the wine is red, white, or  rosé doesn’t matter. What matters is the person you are sharing it with!

Have a wonderful, romantic Valentine’s Day with that special person!

Jan 30thVerona Vineyards

Has the winter blues got you down? For those who live close to Boone County, I have just the cure. Verona Vineyards is open from Thursday through Sunday. The wine and the atmosphere will cheer you up.

For those who enjoy sweeter wines, the winery is offering a Pinot Grigio. This is an Italian grape that makes a lovely wine. The wine has a light straw color, with floral aromas, and flavors of tropical fruits. I would recommend it to anyone who likes their wine on the sweet side. For those who enjoy a bolder, dryer red, Verona Vineyard’s Cabernet Franc is lovely with flavors of dark cherries, with just a hint of chocolate.

They are also offering a new wine for them, a Petit Verdot. This wine is newly bottled and while it is enjoyable now, it will get better as it ages. Look for fruit and strawberry flavors with bold tannins.

Last weekend, we stopped by for a couple of hours, tasted some wine and relaxed. We were pleased to chat with Dan (the owner and winemaker) for a while and got some hints about some new wines coming soon and the possibility of another off-site tasting room. I’ll let you know when this happens.

Verona Vineyards also offer events during the winter months. Go to their website (check the links) to find dates and times.

Dec 31stHappy 2017!

As 2016 winds down, cuddle with a loved one and your favorite Kentucky wine. 2016 brought a lot of changes, not all of them good, but let’s raise a toast for a better 2017! Hope to have some book news for you soon! Also, look forward to sharing some wine news!

Hope your new year is a great one!

Dec 24thMerry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Hope all you wine lovers have a red and white Christmas, not a blue one.

Best wishes from the Kentucky Wine Lover!

Aug 31stRising Sons Home Farm Winery

A couple of years ago, we were able to taste a really good wine from a new winery in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky. We kept promising ourselves that we would visit the winery and kept that promise this summer.

Rising Sons Farm Winery is a charming farm winery, owned and operated by Francine and Joe Sloan. Rising Sons has a cozy tasting room and many good wines, some that are not the varietals you might expect. They do offer wines made from Norton, Chambourcin, and Vidal Blanc, those standard Kentucky grapes. But you’ll also find a Vignoles, a Baco Noir, and a St. Vincent.

The St. Vincent is not very well known. Though it is often grown in Missouri, even there it is described as an orphan grape, with a mystery of its parentage and growth. It is agreed that it is a French-American hybrid, but that’s where the agreement seems to end. Francine referred to it as a problem child in the vineyard. But Rising Sons uses it to make a very interesting wine, with an interesting name and label – Crazy Llama Red, with a Barnyard Collection label.

Other labels feature their Italian heritage, such as Cataldo’s Salute, an aged Norton, Maria’s Dolce Rosato, and Bellissimo Bianco, a Cayuga. Visitors there to taste wine also get to taste a yummy Norton wine jelly.

You might want to visit their website (check my links) and blog. I found the recipes on the blog especially interesting. If you find yourself near Lawrenceburg, you’ll want to stop at this appealing winery.

Jul 31stThe Winery of Chrisman Mill at Fayette Mall

Chrisman Mill Vineyards and Winery has always had a tasting room in Lexington, even before the Vineyard was able to open to the public. For the last few years, the tasting room was at Hamburg. For a lot of reasons, they decided to move. The Winery of Chrisman Mill opened in June, on the outside of Fayette Mall, just a couple of doors from the Cheesecake Factory and next door to Chipotle. The Winery at Fayette Mall is a welcome addition to one of central Kentucky’s favorite shopping sites. The décor is unique with beautifully displayed wine gifts, wine racks, an antique cork collection display, an arrangement of old vines on one wall, and a long tasting bar with a mood feature. What’s that, you ask. A section of the bar allows you to rest your hand and find out your current mood. Just like the old mood rings, you can find out if you are happy or anxious. After tasting, you might want to buy a glass, or a bottle, and relax at a table or on the sofa in a corner that just sends out a welcoming message. The winery offers a selection of truffles created and made by Denise. They are yummy. Other snacks are also available.

The setting is just perfect for relaxing in the midst of a busy day shopping or making a special trip to experience a fun day at the Winery.

Jun 30thThe Wine Lover is back

As many of you have noted, I’ve not been keeping up with the wine news lately. After injury, surgery, recovery, and physical therapy for three long months, I’m back. I’ll try to catch up with all that’s been happening. I’ve even been able to visit a few wineries and attend a couple of events. I’ll write about those later. Check back soon.

Elk Creek Vineyards is under new ownership. The Papina family, with over a hundred years of wine making experience, are the new owners. Originally from California, they are introducing new wines and new ideas to Kentucky wine lovers. The winery is now open seven days a week, with the Café opening 1 hour after the 10 AM opening of the winery. Events are planned all summer long. Check out their website for more information at http://www.elkcreekvineyards.com

Brianza Gardens and Winery is now open 6 days a week. Their new hours are Tuesday to Friday 11 to 5, Saturday 11 to 8, Sunday 1 to 5, or by appointment. Many scheduled special events are planned. Check out their website at http://brianzagardens.com

Chrisman Mill Vineyards and Winery has opened a new tasting room. The Fayette Mall Tasting Room is located just in front of the mall, next to Chipotle’s. The hours there are Monday to Saturday 11 AM to 9 PM and 1 to 6 on Sundays. The tasting room at the vineyard hosts special events and is available for private parties. For more information, visit https://www.chrismanmill.com/

If your last visit to Verona Vineyards has been a couple of years, you might not know that they have a tasting room in the town of Rabbit Hash in the old iron works building. Both sites are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Check their website for the hours at http://www.veronavineyards.com

Just a few bits of news for those wine lovers that are looking for a place to visit and try some Kentucky wines.

Mar 30thBrianza’s Gardens and Winery

Been recovering from an accident and surgery and watching a lot of TV, I was pleased to see a commercial for one of Kentucky’s best wineries.

For the last year, I’ve been recommending Brianza Gardens and Winery to anyone who asks me about Kentucky wines, especially those living in Northern Kentucky. They are just off the Walton exit on I-75. Their new commercial did a great job of giving wine lovers a reason to visit. Once you try their wine, you’ll keep returning.

With warm weather returning, it’s a great time to visit a winery. You will be glad you did. Check their website for hours.

Mar 11thKentucky Makes Great Red Wines

When the weather is bad and it just looks dreary when you look outside, a good way to cheer yourself up is to treat yourself with a special bottle of wine and an inviting fire in the fireplace. We had three of those nights in the last month, with three amazing red wines and they were all from Kentucky. In case you doubted it, take my word for it, Kentucky makes some great wine.

One of our favorite wines in the state has been Reserve Norton from Chrisman Mill Vineyard and Winery. Reserves are created with the best grapes from the year. We have enjoyed each vintage of this wine since 2005, when winemaker Chris Nelson began making it. We had been saving a few bottles from that first vintage and opened one. If you’ve ever wondered what happens when you age a red wine, a good wine gets even better. The aromas and flavors become more intense while at the same time becoming smoother. The wine was worth the wait.

For Valentine’s Day, we enjoyed a bottle of Jim Wight’s special blend of three reds. In 2013, Wight-Meyer Vineyard and Winery released a wine called 3 Reds by Wight, a Meritage style, made of a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petite Syrah. This wine is fantastic and proves again that Kentucky can produce an excellent wine with grapes raised in Kentucky. Jim Wight did it. Each time we open a bottle, it seems better than the one before.

Our third exceptional red was Grand Reserve Cabernet Franc, from Lovers Leap Vineyard and Winery. This 2009 vintage was released in 2013. It has improved with age; and it started out great. The flavors have mellowed and smoothed over time. From the aroma of dark berries, to the lingering flavor of a chocolate covered cherry, the experience is fantastic.

The good news for wine lovers is that this is only the beginning. This is not the only great red wines. We’ve enjoyed many of Kentucky’s reds and look forward to many more.

Feb 20thVerona Vineyards

Verona Vineyards got a shout out about their wine from an unexpected source Wednesday night. During the ESPN coverage of the Kentucky and Tennessee basketball game Wednesday night, announcer Joe Tessitore held up a bottle of wine and talked about National Drink Wine Day.

The wine was a bottle of Trio, a blend of three reds, made by Verona Vineyards. He mentioned that while many might not expect a good red wine from Kentucky, this was as good as a Cabernet Sauvignon from California, and the vineyard was just an hour’s drive from Lexington.

Kudos to Verona Vineyard and Go Big Blue.