World of Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara -on location

Tasting Rombauer Chardonnay and Pinot Noir with Pacific Ocean views.

I was given the opportunity to attend the annual World of Pinot Noir event last month which brings together the foremost Pinot Noir wineries and winemakers from around the world in a weekend-long celebration of this enticing wine. Champagne to Bourgogne in France, down under wines from Tasmania in Australia, Pinot focused wineries in South America, and all along America's premium West Coast Pinot regions including Santa Barbara, Russian River Valley, up to Willamette Valley, this is truly a celebration of Pinot Noir from around the world.

A Grand Tasting of Pinot Noir at the Ritz Carlton Bacara. Though the house was full ,it was still easy to maneuver to the different tasting tables to sip with the many winemakers on the floor.

Attendees have the opportunity to enjoy tasting classes, paired winemaker lunches and dinners, and two Grand Tastings in the refined comfort of the Ritz Carlton Bacara Hotel in Goleta, CA. Drinking world class Pinot Noir while enjoying Pacific Ocean views in the Santa Barbara wine region is definitely a fantastic experience for any wine lover. Pinot Noir aficionados can stay extra days and sip through the local tasting rooms or visit some of the many Pinot Noir producers in the region, as well.

Panelists for Legacy tasting included David Millman of Domaine Drouhin - Oregon,
Laura Catena with Domaine Nico in Argentina, Ray Isle from Food & Wine who moderated, Tessa Gorsuch from Martinelli Vineyards & Winery, and Michael Fay from Chateau de la Crée in Bourgogne and Domaine Serene in Oregon.

This event is held annually. The pictures seen here are from the 2024 World Pinot event held last week from February 29-March 2. I attended two seminars, two lunches, and two Grand Tastings. Though there are also paired dinners on the schedule, they sold out quickly so, every evening, I went out to try some of the highly rated local restaurants that I wanted to visit.

The Legacy Generational Library Tasting was moderated by Ray Isle of For & Wine magazine with winemakers from multi-generational family wineries.

My seminars were "The Legacy Generational Library Tasting - Know Your Winemaker" and "Bubbles and Bites: A Journey Around the World". The seminars are educational regardless of your level of wine knowledge and featured winemakers and wines from boutique, luxury producers to larger, more well known wineries.

The Bubbles and Bites seminar and tasting featured eight Pinot Noir sparklers like the Rosé from benchmark Champagne producer Laurent-Perrier to the newly released Sea Spray from the highly allocated Sea Smoke Vineyard with paired bites topped with gourmet additions like caviar and truffles.

The multi-course and paired lunches I attended were the Domaine Della 10th Anniversary Celebration Luncheon at the onsite Angel Oak Bluff Restaurant which featured a single winery and their new releases with the owner and his family hosting and the Women of Russian River Valley Luncheon which was set up in the Rotunda and featured multiple women winemakers with their wines.

The second course of four which featured a 32 hour braised short rib with charred heirloom carrots st the Domaine Della lunch.

Timing your visit to taste the local wine with this event gives wine drinkers the opportunity to taste the fantastic wines of the area with a bonus taste of Pinot Noirs from all over the planet, this taste of the world should be on every Pinot lovers wine travel bucket list.

Follow @worldofpinot on Instagram to find out when to plan your trip for next year.

Lust Zinfandel 2007

My husband loves this wine so he purchased quite a few bottles at a recent Michael~David dinner that we had attended. Last night, I decided to open a bottle to serve with dinner. I was making a roasted southwestern pork tenderloin, sweet potato fries (w/ chipolte ketchup) and a salad consisting of baby lettuce (fresh from my garden) with strawberries, red bell peppers, red onions and walnuts tossed with a white balsamic-raspberry vinaigrette. This turned out to be a great pairing. It is a bold wine that really stood up to the strong chipolte seasoning while complementing the fruit flavors. I opened the bottle a 1/2 hour before I served it as I have found this wine to be more enjoyable when I do so. The Lust Zinfandel by Michael~David 2007 was a dark purple color with a ruby rim. It has intense aromas of very ripe mixed berries and baking spices-both allspice and ginger with hints of cedar. It has flavors of creme de cassis, milk chocolate and also more of the baking

Nocera - A Native Grape from Sicily

Nocera is a native grape from Sicily. It comes from the Messina province which is located in the northeast. Nocera is a quality red wine grape that is most known as a blender in the red wines of the Faro DOC. I had the opportunity to taste some pure versions (which according to Wine Searcher are rare) this week at a trade tasting held at Roma Restaurant in Houston. Wine production in the region dates back to the 14th Century BC, however, phylloxera decimated the vineyard area in 1881 leaving it at a fraction of its original size. The area boasts a Mediterranean climate with sunny days and coastal breezes, moderate rainfall, and mild winters, all ideal for grape growing. The Nocera grape is a bluish/black color and has a thick skin which allows for the production of structured wines with prominent tannins which are balanced by good acidity. High alcohol is common. Red wines produced from the grapes are an intense ruby color with purple highlights and aromas and flavors of dark fruits a

The Salta Tour 2012

Vine Connections and Pioneer Wine Company hosted a seminar and tasting event for Houston's wine trade and media at Backstreet Cafe yesterday. All but two of the wines were from the Salta Province of Argentina. Salta is the most northern wine region in Argentina lying close to the Bolivian border. The climate is very extreme due to the high altitude. Plantings start at 5,000 feet above sea level and climb to 9,000 feet, making these vineyards the highest in the world. The intense sunlight the area receives helps to create grapes with more anthocyanins, these are the color pigments which result in softer tannins, lower astringency and more intense flavor. The wines produced are extremely pure, concentrated and terroir specific. Torrontes Riojano which is considered the best of the three Torrontes clones is the most widely planted grape with plantings of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon and Tannat increasing. The seminar started with a tasting of four Torrontes wines, three from diff

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