Wine Tasting in Carlsbad (Witch Creek Winery)

While on a recent trip to Carlsbad we ran across this tiny little tasting room called Witch Creek Winery.

Being the "wine connoisseurs" that we are we had to stop and check it out!! 

Upon entering the building we were not too impressed with the store / tasting room but thought what the heck for $5 bucks we would try the wine tasting featuring 6 wines. What a deal right! 

Can you say ...Reds ...Reds and more Reds.....It was like a Russian invasion there were so many red wines to taste.....And us being White wine lovers the only whites in sight were of the dessert variety.

The staff seemed busy so other than asking "What did you have last" and pointing to the list of what you were trying next there wasn't much explanation or conversation about the wines.

The Muscato was only one of two white wines that we were given the opportunity to try. We both found this wine to be a little too sweet for our taste but If you are a person who likes extra sweet wine than you would probably love this one! It would probably be good paired with a vanilla ice cream and fruit topping or even used as the base for a summer fruit Sangria. Not to mention is has a cute label!!

So all in all if you are a Red Wine lover than this might be a winery that you would like to check out.
As for us we did not find enough variety to peek our interest or keep us coming back for more ... 

Check back with us soon as we will give you some tips on hosting your very own backyard movie wine night!!  

Cheers~ Brad & Kim

for more pics from our trip Check out Kim's (Blonepixals) Photoblog at the link below

http://blondepixals.blogspot.com/2012/04/carlsbad-flower-fields.html

Our Facebook page is here https://www.facebook.com/2dollarwineconnoisseur

A Mad Housewife does not a happy Wine Night make

Sometimes you have to get a wine because of the label.

With a motto like "Housework can't kill, but why take a chance" it was too funny to pass up. Funny labels we have tried in the past have included Fat Bastard and Bitch Wine. The Mad Housewife was all label and no substance. This is a great wine to bring to a White Trash party if the store is out of Boone's Farm or wine  in a box.  

Of course even with our disappointment of the wine a little  goat cheese, blinis, brie cheese and cinnamon crisps on the balcony we were able to salvage our evening. 

After the angry housewife the other wine for the night was Emma Pearl Chardonnay which we didn't like much better.....Despite it's Tiffany Blue label...we felt that Emma was definitely no pearl. It was even said while drinking it "They fool you with the Tiffany blue label, when in all actuality it tastes more like a bottle of swill."

 On their website they talk about Emma Pearl as is if she was a person and I quote "She has impeccable taste and gracious manners.  She always knows the right thing to say without ever implying you don’t. Possessed of breathtaking style, her classically chic handbags elicit ardent admiration.  Ever ready to entertain, she may very well have inspired the phrase “fabulous hostess.” 

In our opinion we think NOT so much, it's like the old saying goes.. You can put lipstick on a pig, But it's still a pig!!  

Even though we did not like the Chardonnay very much and we will probably not be trying it ever again we reccomend you check out their website just for the laughs!! 

http://madhousewifecellars.com/

As always "Cheers" from Brad & Kim 

Our Facebook page is here https://www.facebook.com/2dollarwineconnoisseur

It doesn't have to be expensive to be good....

Wine doesn't have to be expensive to be good.  It isn't the price on the outside of the bottle that makes it a good wine, it is whether you like it and enjoy it that makes a wine a good.  That is why we decided to start  this blog.  We thought the 2 dollar Wine Connoisseur would make a great name to show that a fun wine night can be had at a reasonable price. To demonstrate that you don't have to spend a lot of money to have a good wine experience. The greatest example of this of course is "2 Buck Chuck"  Charles Shaw wines at Trader Joe's.   Sure we would love to have a wine cellar with fancy wines from all over the world. We will buy a pricier wine every once in awhile and we have some wines in the the $10-$20 dollar range,  but to fill those empty spaces in our modest little wine fridge we stock it with some Chuck.  At $2 a bottle it is less expensive then a one liter soda and much more fun.  We first fell in love with Charles Shaw Chardonnay but we are now more into the  Sauvignon Blanc.   It really can't be beat and we actually like it better than a lot of the Chards and Blancs we have tried.  So cheers to Charles Shaw and some quite good wine that doesn't empty the wallet.  So fill up that wine fridge at a cost of $23 dollars a case!! 

For more information on $2 Buck Chuck here is the link 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Shaw_wine

A Wine Night at the Ritz in Laguna Beach

Even though you can have fun Wine experiences without spending a lot of money, every once in awhile it is fun to get a little fancy.  So while having a little getaway in Laguna Beach we decided to experience the Eno Wine Bar at the Ritz Carlton in Laguna Beach.   We arrived a little early so stopped first at the 180 Blu lounge to take in the Sunset.

The 180 Blu lounge is an outdoor terrace featuring a panoramic view of the Laguna coastline. 

If you look closely you can see it was a clear shot of Catalina Island at sunset.

The 180 Blu lounge offers up an upscale yet relaxing vibe featuring several marble and glass fire pits well placed around the balcony. All of this while you listen to the tantric tunes and nibble on lime soaked Peanuts dusted with sugar and homemade Wasabi Chips.

This experience alone would have been good enough but for us it was off to the Eno Wine Bar located inside the Ritz ... 

Pictured below is  the entrance to  the Eno Wine Bar an upscale wine tasting room that features over 300 different wines.

We ordered the Refreshing Whites Wine Flight  that was paired with some excellent cheeses 

 ENO had a delightful atmosphere  with the wines displayed in a glass chamber.  Also another cool aspect was the cheese area where you could watch them prepare the cheese pairings.

 Even though it was a splurge it was an enjoyable experience that we will plan on doing again.

For more photos from this trip check out this link
http://blondepixals.blogspot.com/

Food and Wine Festival "Today all the Food and Wine is Free" 2008

As Promised here is the first of several blogs about the Disney California Adventure  Food and Wine Festival that we hope will return sometime in the future

Let the Festival begin

Starting things off with a little  (FREE--Beer) Demonstration.  Given by Karl Strauss.  But first Brad had to knock over one of the samples while smashing his knee into the table leg.   (Embarrassing  ---yes but luckily the fellow in front of him had already knocked over 2 of his samples in the same fashion)   The Curse of the Table leg ---they joked.

Ummmmmm Free samples.....

Ben Franklin  Beer Quote  was mentioned   "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy." (Ben Franklin  ---was a Time Traveling Alien--what didn't he do)

Also the "That's what she said"  beer comment of the day.   "Put it in your mouth and let it cover your entire tongue"

Then  we went to the Boudin  Bakery Demonstration --with plenty of  FREE Bread

The Sun Dried Tomato dip was amazing

 Ratatouille  Quote    "You're the one who was getting fancy with the spices! What did you throw in there? Oregano? No? What, r - uh, rosemary? That's a spice, isn't it? Rosemary? "

The third and final  FREE Tasting  ---Wine and chocolate.
    
A pairing I Absolutely love.....  Any excuse for chocolate

 

Seasons of the Vine: An Introduction to Wine: Disney style

Here is the best version I could find of the old Seasons of the Vine film that used to run at Disney's California Adventure until a couple of years ago when it was replaced by Blue Sky Cellar.    It was the main attraction at the Mondavi Winery section that also featured wine tasting of Mondavi wines at the time that DCA opened.    Mondavi is no longer the sponsor but you can still get out of the sun and stop by for Wine tastings there.

This 8 minute film was a great place to relax and get out of the sun and learn about the process of wine making from grape on the vine to wine in your glass with the soothing narration of Jeremy Irons.   It was one of my first introductions to learning more about wine. 

Over the next couple of months we will do a series of blogs covering  the Golden Vine Winery area in Disney's California Adventure including the  Food and Wine Festival  that began in 2006 and ran through 2010.....(It was cancelled for 2011 and 2012 due to the massive construction going on in the park)  but we hope that it returns again in 2013.   It was a great festival that grew a little bit every year and had a wide array of free Food and Wine seminars as well as special ticketed events that were a blast and a great learning experience.

Temecula Wine Country

Hi all, this is Kim~ I wanted to share with you some pictures from a recent trip we took to the South Coast Winery in Temecula. 

I have been wanting to venture out to Wine Country for awhile now and the opportunity presented itself recently so I jumped at the chance. Here are some of the pictures I took during our visit to this beautiful and serene little city ... Hope you enjoy them!! 

And here he is is my husband and fellow blogger Brad 

                                                                                                                      That's Me

                                                                                              Old Town~ How cute is this place!!

Until next time .... 

Photo's by Kimberly Lynn of Blondepixals Photography~
If you like these photo's please check out my Photo Blog at http://blondepixals.blogspot.com/

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