wine

Operations Tour and Tasting at Barbeito Winery, Island of Madeira, Portugal

June 2013 - Our appointment to visit Barbeito Winery was scheduled for 10:30am, and Paulo drove his SUV expertly around the many twists and turns on the narrow road to the hilltop location. The CEO and winemaker, Ricardo, greeted us and we started the tour at the grape reception platform. As the tour progressed, we became more and more impressed with Ricardo’s energy, passion, and innovative spirit. Barbeito produces around 170,000 liters of wine per year (around 19,000 cases), including a variety of third-party labels such as the famous Historic Series. Ricardo said they purchase all of their grapes from [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:43:57-08:00July 3, 2013|

Three Days in Madeira – Not Enough Time

In June I was fortunate enough to spend three days in Madeira – well, really 2.5 days because our plane landed at 1pm on Monday and we had to be at the airport to leave at 1pm on Wednesday. Madeira, a wine island in the middle of the Atlantic off the coast of Morocco, and owned by Portugal, is a place I’ve always dreamed of visiting. Now I’ve decided I must go back sometime and spend at least a week on this enchanted isle. Flying to Madeira from Lisbon My friend Lupe and I flew from Lisbon on TAP Air [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:44:15-08:00June 28, 2013|

Pairing Madeira Wines with Food – Amazing 5 Course Meal at Chalet Vincente in Funchal

(June 11, 2013) - We enjoyed a 3.5 hour lunch at Chalet Vincente, a charming restaurant near the ocean in Madeira’s main city of Funchal. The menu was impressive, custom ordered in advance, and served with both Madeira fortified and still wines which accompanied traditional Madeira dishes. Appetizer: 5 year old H&H Sercial with Marinated Octopus and “Bolo do Caco” (Madeira Bread, unleavened with garlic) First Course: 5 year old Barbeito Verdehlo with Tuna simmered in a Tomato & Onion Sauce Second Course: Still Verdelho Wine Terras do Avô with "Espada Preta" (Black Scabbard Fish) lightly battered in a local [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-19T00:08:53-08:00June 13, 2013|

Buying Wine in Moorea, Bora Bora & Tahiti

May 2013 – My husband and I decided to celebrate our anniversary in the Tahitian Islands on an 8 day/6 night trip. The reason it was 8 days is because the non-stop flights from Los Angeles to Papeete only fly at night, so we spent two nights trying to sleep on a plane, and the other 6 nights sleeping in beautiful resorts. Naturally we packed some wine to take with us – 3 bottles – but quickly discovered that we should have brought more, or purchased it in duty free as we witnessed many other people doing. This is because [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:46:15-08:00June 12, 2013|

Wine and Food in Hilton Head and Savannah Georgia

One of the items on my husband’s bucket list is to play golf on Hilton Head Island, so when I was able to get a good deal on a weekly condo rental there recently, we jetted off to the South Carolina island covered with long white sandy beaches, swaying palms, pink azaleas, and oak trees dripping with lacy moss. He was happy because he was finally able to play Harbour Town golf course with the famous red and white lighthouse on the 18th hole. He also enjoyed the challenge of Sea Pines Ocean course, Palmetto Dunes and Shipyard. I was [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:46:41-08:00June 4, 2013|

Costa Rican Cuisine, Wine & Ecotourism – Living the “Pura Vida”

March 13, 2013 –This past week I enjoyed my first visit to the beautiful country of Costa Rica. Though better known for coffee than wine, since I was in the country to present a paper on the wine supply chain at the NBES academic conferences, I was naturally curious to learn about the types of wine available in Costa Rica. Therefore I made it my mission to investigate wine lists and store selections during my stay. Monkeys in Costa Rica Chilean Wine Dominates, Followed by Argentina and Spain After visiting six restaurants, three grocery stores and four wine shops, I [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:52:51-08:00March 20, 2013|

Badia a Coltibuono – An Organic Winery in an 11th Century Abbey

(Jan. 5, 2013) - Before arriving at our 2:30pm appointment at Badia a Coltibuono, we stopped in the small town of Radda where Janeen had made a reservation to eat lunch at La Botte di Bacco Restaurant. This turned out to be one of the best meals of my trip. Lunch at La Botte di Bacco in Radda We started with a glass of local vermintino and a fresh salad mista. They served this with a big basket of mixed breads, including a very delectable mini-fried bread, which were addictive and hard to stop eating. In general, I usually do [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:56:26-08:00January 14, 2013|

Visiting Castello de Verrazzano in Chianti Classico Italy

Jan. 5, 2013 – The next day, we boarded the bus at 8:45 to drive to Chianti Classico and our scheduled visit with two wineries. On the bus, I provided a brief overview of the DOCG regulations for this region, including the mandatory 80% sangiovese rule with the remainder 20% up to the winery where they can use other grapes such as merlot, cabernet sauvignon, syrah, and the traditional caniolo and colorino. As of 2006, white grapes are no longer allowed in Chianti Classico red wine. We also reviewed the production method of the famous dessert wine of the region, [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:56:45-08:00January 13, 2013|

Wine Judging Trip to Blue Mountains of Australia and Lillianfels Resort

October 2012 - During the second week of October, I was honored to be invited to participate in the Sydney International Wine Competition in Australia with 12 other wine judges from around the world. Two of us arrived on the non-stop flight from San Francisco to Sydney on Sunday morning at 7:30am and took a taxi ($15 with tip) to the Mercure Airport Hotel where they had reserved a day room so we could shower before meeting the rest of our group at 10am. We then boarded a small bus and drove the 1.5 hours into the Blue Mountains and [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T15:57:50-08:00November 14, 2012|

Dinner at Beaumont Winery (Best Pinotage) and South Africa Blue Cranes at Wildekrans Estate

Sept. 23 – 24, 2012 - We returned from our trip to the ocean to check into the large plantation estate and winery of Wildekrans. This is a very impressive property where the owners are trying to bring back the original fynbos vegetation and also have a wild bird refuge. It was here that I got my first glimpse of the tall and elegant South African blue cranes (see photo below), as well as many other colorful species of smaller birds in bright yellow and red. Dinner at Beaumont Winery in Bot River After twenty minutes to freshen up, we [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T16:26:59-08:00October 11, 2012|

Visiting the Cape South Coast Wine Region and Gabrielskloof Winery, South Africa

Sunday, Sept. 23, 2012 – My alarm did not go off, so I barely managed to throw on some clothes, pack my suitcase, and wolf down some eggs before we boarded the bus at 9am to drive to Elgin. This is about an hour outside of Capetown to the southeast and is part of the Cape South Coast Wine area. In addition to Elgin, it encompasses Bot River and all of the sub-pockets of Walker Bay, and is considered to be the coolest wine growing region in South Africa. It’s wine are known for the freshness and high acids. Baboons [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T16:25:51-08:00October 9, 2012|

Visit to Chateau Helan Qingxue and Daylong Organic Vineyards, China

Sept. 1, 2012 – After a buffet breakfast at the hotel we boarded the van for a day of visits to vineyards and wineries located near the foothills of Helan Mountains, about a thirty minute drive from Yinchuan. Unfortunately we woke up to drizzly rain that day, instead of the humid heat of the previous days. Therefore we spent much of the tour huddled under umbrellas and trying to avoid the mud in vineyards. The first stop was the Decanter award winning Chateau Helan Qingxue where winemaker Zhang Jing greeted us very warmly. She is a small, bubbly Chinese lady [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T16:24:43-08:00September 12, 2012|

Ningxia Wine Auction and Banquet, China

August 31, 2012 – That evening we dressed for the formal banquet dinner and wine auction that was held at another hotel. Over 300 people attended, and once again we were seated at the main table, but this time it was long and rectagnal with 12 different courses served, including this lovely dish of prawns. We were were served the Best of Class White and Red wines, so I was very happy to drink the Xixia King Chardonnay NV and the Jiabeilan Grand Reserve 2009. The media were in attendance with more cameras flashing and video cameras rolling. The winning [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T16:22:38-08:00September 12, 2012|

Opening Ceremony of the Ningxia China Wine Festival – Dancing Girls, Conference and Violin Concert

August 30, 2012 - The next morning, after a quick breakfast at the hotel buffet, we took a bus to the opening ceremony of the 1st Helanshan Mountains' East Piedmont Wine Festival. Again our delegation of around eight people was treated like VIPs. We descended from the van to walk on a red carpet and have a flower pinned to our clothes. Multiple photographs snapped many pictures of us as we continued to walk on the red carpet into the large convention center where two lines of more than 100 young women dressed in purple and pink sparkling dresses with [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T16:21:31-08:00September 10, 2012|

Grand Welcome Banquet in Yinchuan, Ningxia, China

August 29, 2012 - After time to relax in our rooms a bit, we were asked to meet in the hotel lobby at 5:15 in order to walk over to a formal reception with the governor of the Ningxia region. Most of us dressed in formal clothing and arrived at the reception room to find we each had a large white lounge chair to sit in with our name printed on a red sign in both English and Chinese. Translators assisted with the very impressive ceremony of announcing each official – around ten of them, as well as our group [...]

By Dr. Liz Thach, MW|2021-01-23T16:21:05-08:00September 10, 2012|

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