Thursday, March 28, 2013

MO Wine Madness


With all this bracket madness in the air, we wanted to get in on the fun too this March. And of course, our minds went straight to wine! We love the idea of doing a full blow bracket including wines from all the regions of Missouri, but sadly we didn't have the time to or alcohol tolerances to make that happen. We decided to do a mini bracket, just 4 wines, and focus on a specific varietal, Vignoles. We went with Vignoles because it’s a classic Missouri white wine that makes us think of spring, flowers, and winery hopping. We chose 4 wineries completely randomly (well, if they were on Friar Tuck’s shelves, they were in the running.) Our contestants in the first ever MOWinePlease.org Best Vignoles March Madness Bracket Challenge are….. (We’re going to work on that name!) Adam Puchta Vignoles, Stone Hill Vignoles, Westphalia Osage Innocence (Vignoles), and Robller Vignoles

These wines will face each other in a double elimination bracket. Michael and I will both have our brackets guessing the outcome. (There may or may not be money on this!) We will blind taste sample the 2 dueling wines in each round and won’t know how the bracket went or who the winner is until the end. Don’t worry; we won’t have all the fun. We want to know what you think too. We’ll post the dueling wines on Facebook, and you can see how your bracket comes out too! Let the madness begin! Follow all the fun HERE!


Thursday, March 21, 2013

Allergies and Wine


Yesterday was the first official day of Spring even though it didn't feel that way. I'm still hopeful that warm weather is just on the horizon. Any day now, flowers will be blossoming, birds chirping, and of course wine flowing. I'm eager to pack my picnic basket and take in all the sites and sounds of wineries awakening from a cold winter. However, I want to take a moment to let you all know about a sad situation, that you may find yourself in as well. If you're like me, you suffer from seasonal allergies. Yes, sneezing, running nose, itchy eyes, stuffy head, I have all the symptoms. I take medicine, but they never work as well as I would hope. Going to wineries in the spring is a love/hate situation. I love getting out of the house after being cooped up all winter and rolling on the hills of a winery after a few bottle of Vignoles or Tramminetter, but I hate feeling like crap and having a pocket full of tissues and poofy, watery eyes.



And here's an extra dose of knowledge that some of you may not know about when you're out at the wineries, the pollen isn't the only thing triggering your allergies. The wine itself could be adding to your misery. Yes, the wine is an enemy for people with allergies. It's hard to accept, but it's been proven. The histamines in wine (and alcohol in general) worsens allergies. Histamines are produced in wine and beer during the fermentation process. And if that isn't enough, the sulfites in beer and wine also provoke asthma and other allergy-like symptoms. One more fun fact, women are affected by this 3 times more than men. On the brighter side, if you don't suffer from seasonal allergies, the sulfates and histamines in wine should have no effect on you!

Of course there is some controversy about the idea that wine increases allergies symptoms  I live it, so I feel comfortable agreeing with the studies. I did find one study that encourages drinking more RED wine during seasonal allergies. Red wine is high in quercetin, an antioxidant that reduces the amount of histamine the body releases. Since I'm not going to let allergies stop my wine drinking this spring, I will be sticking to red wine and popping allergies pill regularly. I don't want to discourage anyone from heading to the wineries this spring. I just want you to be aware of what you're getting yourself into and advise you to bring extra tissue! Happy wine trailing!

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Blumenhof's March Mania Case Sale Continues


Looking to buy some wine in bulk? Head to Blumenhof NOW to take advantage of their March Mania Case Sale. You can't beat paying only $8.88 a bottle for their stunning wines. You can order online or by phone, and they will ship their wines for a flat fee of $8.88 (Orders over $100) anywhere in Missouri. If you haven't tried their wines before, you need to get down their as soon as possible for a complimentary tasting. Trust me, you will have a hard time narrowing down which wines to get because they are all top-notch. We just got a case of our favorite Missouri white wine, La Charrette.

LA CHARRETTE
If you're a fan of semi-sweet whites definitely try La Charrette, and their Vignoles is also fabulous wine with an aroma of pineapples and strawberries. Fan of the Traminette grape? The 2011 Femme Osage will satisfy your palette with a floral yet spicy finish. I'm also a big fan of the 2012 Rayon D'Or which features light apple and citrus flavors. And don't forget the Seyval! This crisp wine will come in handy on hot summer days. Try them all and the rest of their wine list. I'm certain you will fall in love with at least 3 of them! It NEVER hurts to have wine on reserve, and it makes a great gift!

Blumenhof is featured on our "Ultimate Weinstrasse" Trail and our s Highway 100 Trail, so why not make a day of it.