The Jusselys Go West: February 2008

Monday, February 25, 2008

This past weekend, we went to our first ski lesson. I've been skiing once before, but J had never gone. We did pretty well until we went up on our own after the lesson. I lost one of my poles on the lift, and then we both ate it on the way down. I knew we should have stayed on the same slope we went down during our lesson. We had to head home early because a huge storm was headed up there. We go back to South Lake Tahoe next weekend for 4 days. I'm not sure my calves can take it. Scroll down to the bottom of our blog to see another great picture.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Almost Spring

Well, we think winter is over here. It's been in the 60's the past couple of weeks. This picture was taken in Napa this past weekend. The vines have been pruned and the mustard grass is growing everywhere. What a beautiful picture.

Things are starting to slow down at work for both of us and we're getting back to our routines after the holidays. J is still traveling to Denver every other week, but we've had lots of fun weekends.

For Valentine's Day, we toured Opus One and had lunch in Napa. In 3 weeks, we're going skiing with some of J's friends from NY & Chicago. Wish me luck!!

2 of my best friends are visiting at the end of March, along with a pal from Italy in April, and another great Tampa friend in May.

Who else is ready for a trip out west? The door is always open with two beds always empty.

We love y'all,

Kim

Gallo Fine Wine Pick

Wine Pick - 4/30

Since the weather was in the 90's this past weekend, I'm continuing with the white wine suggestions this week. My Gallo pick is Polka Dot Medium Dry Riesling. You may have seen Polka Dot at your grocery store or at World Market. It is a blue bottle with a white screw cap and a pink polka dot on it. That one is a more typical Riesling. The Medium Dry Riesling is the same package but a green dot. It's not as sweet and goes great with spicy meals like Thai food. Yes, this is the second week for a screw cap wine, but it's great! I think it retails for $10-12.
My non-Gallo pick is Bantam Cellars Vermentino. It's a small winery in Amador County, about 45 miles east of Sacramento on the way to Lake Tahoe. Vermentino is an Italian varietal that is really nice. I'm not sure where you can find it, but you can order the wine directly from Bantam, depending on which state you live in. Amador County is another wine region of California that has great zinfandel and barbera. I will have recommendations for those later on.

Did anyone try the ones from last week? If you haven't, here they are again.
Gallo: Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc - New Zealand
Non-Gallo: St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc - Napa, California

Wine Pick of the Week

I thought I would add a new section to our blog. As most of you know, I work for a Gallo-owned company, as in Ernest & Julio Gallo. Before I came out here, I didn't know which brands belonged to Gallo. So I'm going to try and recommend one Gallo and one non-Gallo wine each week.
My first Gallo pick is Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc. It's a screw cap, so no corkscrew needed. It's different because it's not fruity. When you smell or drink it, see if you smell something like grass or green bell pepper. I know it sounds weird, but try it and see if you do. $18-20.
My non-Gallo pick is St. Supery Sauvignon Blanc. It's awesome, and, if you like grapefruits, you'll love it. I think it's $18-20 too.
I picked 2 S. Blancs because it's almost summertime when whites are more popular. I'll try to put pictures of the bottles next time.