If you're looking for a unique event to share with your sisters, book your pedicure, polish your peep-toed pumps and join us at Wine, Women & Shoes.  

The Napa Valley sisters will be pouring on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 from 5 to 8:30 pm at the beautiful Claremont Hotel Club and Spa in Berkeley, California. The event features wines, fantastic food, Accessory Marketplace, shoes, shoes and more shoes plus a fashion show. $75 individual admission or $95 VIP admission. Proceeds benefit the St. Rose Hospital Foundation.

Wine, Women & Shoes was founded by a group of Napa Valley vintner women who wanted to help their community. So they came up with an idea for a fundraising event combining some of our favorite things--wine, shoes and friends. 

Their slogan is "Change your shoes, and change a life..." To date, Wine, Women & Shoes has raised over $4 million dollars for women's and children's charities. We're proud to be pouring our wines such as Middle Sister,  Monogamy, PromisQous and Purple Cowboy at Wine, Women and Shoes events across the country in 2010.

You can find out more about Wine, Women and Shoes by visiting the website. There are events happening all across the country.  Check out the calendar to see if there is an event near you.

Chardonnay doesn't get any respect. It got to be so hugely popular a couple of decades ago that it almost became a cliche. Wine snobs loved to hate it. "ABC" was the code for anything but Chardonnay. Chardonnay was for ladies who lunched. Ironically, Alanis Morrisette found a black fly in a glass of Chard and had a hit song.

While we love the song, we have no use for the attitudes. They suck the pleasure out of wine, which is 110% a matter or personal taste. If you like Chardonnay, drink it. If you don't, drink what you like. Can't we all just get along?

We appreciate Chardonnay deeply. When we pour it at tastings, people love it. When we don't people ask for it. Far from being  a one-dimensional variety, Chardonnay is made in a variety of styles and comes from many different places. The range in styles makes Chardonnay extremely versatile with food. It's still the most popular varietal in America. 

One of our favorite wine and food writers, Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, has written an entertaining and educational essay about Chardonnay for Minnesota Monthly Magazine.  "Chardonnay, Uncorked" is an excerpt from her recently published book: "Drink This:  Wine Made Simple."  Dara breaks down the Chardonnay facts: various styles, where each style tends to be produced and how to serve and drink each style.

She also gives detailed instructions on how to throw a Chardonnay Wine Tasting party. The piece was just nominated for a James Beard Award for Wine Writing.

Highly recommended reading for all Chardonnay lovers out there--and maybe of few of your "ABCers", as well!

Cheers!

A few days ago, this article in USA Today caught our eye. It seems like none other than Reese Witherspoon has signed on to star in The Pioneer Woman movie, based on the crazy-popular blog. If you've never checked it out, the blog's author, Ree Drummond  chronicles her life as a city-girl-turned-country-wife-and-mom-of-four. 

Her blog, which gets bazillions of visitors, has been on our radar screen for awhile. So we sent her some Purple Cowboy to try a few months ago. Seemed like a good fit for a lady married to an Oklahoma cowboy.

Anyway, she was nice enough to give us a shout-out for Purple Cowboy, so we were happy to see the news. We think it's a great follow-up to the orginal blog movie:  "Julie & Julia".

And who knows? Purple Cowboy at the Hollywood premiere? 

Last week at the SXSW tasting, somebody swore that we looked like Kate Hudson and Kim Catrall (respectively). O.K., maybe it was the Middle Sister Wicked White or she's just the kindest woman on earth. But it got us to thinking, who would play us in Wine Sisterhood, The Movie.

Who would star in your movie? And why?

Introducing Goodie Two-Shoes Pinot Noir.  Thanks to all Wine Sisterhood members who voiced their opinion, voted in the survey and helped us select the name for our newest wine.  If you haven't signed up to become a member, maybe it's time to give it a go.

Goodie Two Shoes is kind, helpful, well-groomed, always prepared and delicious with grilled salmon and just about anything else.  She's fond of pink and reminds us a little bit of Reese Witherspoon in "Election".

We're very excited to be launching a Middle Sister Pinot Noir.  It's such a versatile varietal--dee-lightful with meat, fish, veggie dishes--and it's the perfect light red for enjoying during warm weather months.

Look for her on store shelves later this spring. Or, if you can't wait to sample a sip, check back in a few weeks.  As soon as she's in the bottle, we'll be featuring Goodie with an exclusive preview offer through our Bottle Boutique.

But wait's there more.  We've had many requests for a Middle Sister Sauvignon Blanc.  And since we thought Goodie could use a sidekick, there's ANOTHER sis making her debut.

Who is she?  What's her story?  What the heck is she wearing?  Well, we don't want to reveal all at the same time, so stay tuned. 

Are you going to SXSW? The Wine Sisterhood will be pouring at the Girl and Guy party presented by Kirtsy on Sunday, March 14 beginning at 5pm at the world-famous Allens Boots. Sold out,--it's one of the hottest parties at SXSW--but we have a few remaining spots for sponsor VIPs.

We'll be pouring Middle Sister and Purple Cowboy. If you'd like to join us, send us an email by end of day Thursday, March 11 and we'll put you on the list. LIST IS CLOSED NOW.

Just off the boat from Italy wih love! We invite you all to visit the brand new Website for one of our very latest wines--Cocca di Papa. Cocca di Papa means "Daddy's Girl" in Italian and that's exactly where we've sourced the fruit--from the signature growing regions for Italy's two most popular wines: Chianti and Pinot Grigio. 

Cocca di Papa Chianti is grown with care under the Tuscan sun; our Pinot Grigio comes from the cooler Veneto region. The wines are vinted and bottled in Italy, then journey across the sea to your dinner table. 

The Italians consider wine to be an essential part of the meal. These wines are made in a well-balanced style that is intended to enhance (not overpower) whatever you're serving. You'll taste bright, fruit, refreshing acidity, balanced alcohol, and for the Chianti, just a touch of oak. The Pinot Grigio is fermented in stainless steel to maintain its fresh fruit character.

We think you'll not only love the taste but also the super stylish label which is in the running for a number of prestigious design awards. Check out Cocca di Papa and let us know what you think. 

Cocca di Papa is currently at your local Target store (where wine is sold).

Salute!

Do you like wine and cowboys?

Who doesn't! We'd love for your to join our community so you can take this month's survey and voice your opinion about a new wine we'rethinking about producing. Our newest wine has a western story behind it and is sourced from one of our very favorite California growing regions--Paso Robles (aka "Cowboy Wine Country").

Sign up to become a Wine Sisterhood member, so you can access the survey, or if you're already a member just log-in and vote. Once again, we'll be drawing a survey participant at random and awarding a prize--just to say thanks for playing!

 We'll be announcing the results of the
February survey shortly, and also the monthly winner.

So stay tuned for more and be sure to VOTE!

Gnocchi. Pronounce it? We can hardly spell it.
But that's o.k. because it's so creamy-licious.

You know the feeling. You’re looking at a menu, thinking about what to order. But you’re also wondering  “How the heck is that pronounced?”  Maybe your palms get a little sweaty or you start to hyperventilate.

Of course, this mini-drama also happens with wine and wine lists. We’re not suggesting, of course, full-on panic attack mode every time we see a an unfamiliar word, or one that we've never really been sure we're pronouncing correctly, but yes, it can be a tiny tad uncomfortable. Even for us major food and wine enthusiasts. 

Remember the high school French class where you pretended you were in a French restaurant and had to order? Although we will not be able to negotiate a screaming deal on an antique mirror at the Paris Flea Market,, we will most likely be able to order dinner and wine at any little bistro here and abroad. 

On the other hand, having never taken high school German, even that proposition seems remote. Trockenbeerenaulese, anybody? 

So every once in awhile, it's nice to have a little refresher course on some of the more troublesome words in our food and wine vocabulary.

An amusing blog from the Chicago Tribune discusses just this: how to correctly pronounce some of the most commonly mispronounced culinary terms. (Well, common to some people at least).  If  you care what the server or the sommelier thinks about you, you might find this the best thing you'll read all week. 

And although we don't usually care what people think--our Wine Sisterhood policy is no snobs and especially no food and wine snobs--it is kind of interesting to see how some of those tricky terms are really pronounced. 

If ever in doubt about what a food or wine word means or how it is pronounced, we think the best strategy is simply to ask  your helpful server, sommelier, bartender or wine retailer: Or one of your savvy friends at the Wine Sisterhood. Gets you off the hook every time.

Any food or wine words that are a mystery to you? Join the discussion on the Wine Sisterhood community site and we’ll see if we can straighten things out!

Question:  Have you ever NOT ordered or purchased a wine because you didn’t know how to pronounce it?