Wine Selection of the week: West Coast California Square Chardonnay

For about $15 dollars you can get this enjoyable buttery wine at Total Wine and More.  

The Bottle:
The bottle is gorgeous and perfectly displays this wine. It looks like it should be a Whiskey bottle and totally stood out to us in the store. When we saw that it was from the Russian River Valley we knew that we had struck gold. The bottle is so cool, we could see it being displayed in some creative way after the wine is gone.

The Wine: The wine itself has a nice balance of fruit, butterscotch and creme brulee.  A lot of wines claim to have certain flavors -but this one really delivers.  The buttery goodness rolls across the tongue, definitely our pick for wine of the week.




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A Wine Adventure: Off The Vine in San Pedro

This past weekend we checked out a little wine bar in San Pedro that we had picked up a Living Social deal for recently.  It is called "Off The Vine" and is located on 7^th St. in Downtown San Pedro.

It is in a little theater district that reminded us of Retro Row in Long Beach (on a smaller scale).

We went early in the afternoon on Saturday, as you can see from the picture below we were the first ones there!

Our Living Social deal was for a small Meat and Cheese plate (which was simple, yet really good) and a Wine Tasting that included 6 different wines.   

The tasting of the day was a red wine tasting –We aren’t normally big Red wine fans –but all of the wines we tried were good. It included wines from Chile and Portugal and even one from Croatia. We liked the Obsession Red Blend from California the best and got a bottle to take home.   

This Living Social deal was a really good value –but the thing that would bring us back was the Flatbread that we ordered in addition to our deal. The Flatbread was made up of Havarti Cheese with Fig and Arugula and it was fantastic,  in fact I’m craving it now just writing about it.  The server was really nice and told us a little about each wine---(something you don’t always get at busier wine tastings). 

So if you are in the San Pedro area and want a little wine getaway Off The Vine is the place to go.

Here is our version of the Havarti, Fig with Arugula flatbread..

I added a little drizzle of balsamic glaze to ours to give it just a little kick.. I'd say it turned out pretty darn good!! 

Here is their Website:

https://offthevinewines.com/  

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Wine at the Disneyland Resort: Alfresco Tasting Terrace: Disney Flight of Wines

When Disney's California Adventure opened about 10 years ago it brought with it wine tasting.  Definitely a representative adventure associated with many regions of California.  Originally sponsored by Robert Mondavi - The wine section of DCA is a great little section of the theme park and has been home to the Food and Wine Festival that was a staple of the park for many years until Carsland went into construction.  The Food and Wine Festival may not be returning (even though the one in Epcot is still going strong), but that doesn't mean you can't have a great wine experience in the park.

We had read earlier this summer on the Disney Parks blog that the Alfresco Lounge above the wine tasting area would be serving a unique wine list of Disney related wines.

I love that the menu tells you about each of the wineries and what their Disney connection is.  This list features 8 wineries from what they are calling the "Disney Family of Wines:  The wineries include:

Fess Paker Winery  (Davey Crockett)

MacMurray Ranch 

Silverado Vineyards

Lasseter Family Winery

Gogi  (Owned by actor Kurt Russell)

Chappellet Winery 

Skywalker Vineyards  (Star Wars Wine) 

When we went during the Summer we each did a different Flight of wines and then we had to try the Skywalker Star Wars Wine. Which was excellent by the way.

A great touch that all Wine Flights should have is the little Wine Flight info cards that tell you about each of the wines you are tasting that would also serve as a great way to order wines that you like 

To accompany the wine flights we had a tasty Aged Cheddar Risotto Bites with roasted garlic aioli and marinara and a flatbread that was also good. 

So the next time you are at the parks and want a perfect little getaway from the crowds --definitely check out this little hidden gem.

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Wine Adventures with the 2 Dollar Wine Connoisseurs: An OC Wine Adventure

We had a little Wine Adventure the other weekend in Orange County visiting 2 places we hadn't been to yet

We started our adventure at The OC Mix

The OC Mix is a cool little unique shopping center.  It was like an in-door swap meet for cool people, with artsy stores like a tiny little vinyl record store, a bourbon shop and clothing and design stores.  I saw this little beauty in the record store - but it was really pricey.

We wandered through the shops and then settled in for lunch at a place called We Olive and Wine Bar -which had olive and wine tastings.   The olive oil was great -from a really good aged balsamic vinegar, to an amazing pineapple flavored olive oil, as well as a good lemon cake one.   We had a cheese plate with amazing cheeses from the shop across the way (which is connected to the Cellar in San Clemente).   You aren't going to find a better combo than We Olive  and Wine Bar and The Cellar Cheese Shop at the OC Mix.

 There is also  wine tasting across the way in a large culinary store that is obviously designed for Master Chefs- we didn't stop for wine there- but checked out the store --which also has a little cafe.   We already had our sites on our next stop which was in the same area called The Camp

The Camp is a quirky little shopping area setup like campground.  A total Hipster spot that had some cool stuff like a Pirate Bakery -that had some really good breads.   There was also a Vegan Eatery an Italian restaurants and an REI style camping store.   We of course came for the cool little wine bar called The Wine Lab.

lWe shared a good bottle of wine called Gold Crush Chardonnay and had more delicious cheeses with honey pairing and a flatbread pizza.

The Wine Lab had a cool vibe and atmosphere and was playing Ferris Bueller's Day Off on a loop in the background.  We look forward to visiting both of these wine bars again.   Check them out and let us know what you think.                    

Here are links to the OC Mix , We Olive and Wine Bar, The Camp and The Wine Lab

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http://winelabcamp.com/