Judith Smelser Tastings, Wine Experiences, Wine Reviews

Step Outside the Champagne Box: Six Unexpected Bottles of Bubbles for NYE!

Not much beats Champagne on New Year’s Eve, but if you’re looking for some out-of-the-box (and easier-on-the wallet) alternatives for the big night, you’re in luck! Champagne doesn’t have a lock on quality sparkling wine anymore. All six of these bottles should delight your palate, satisfy your enological curiosity, and enhance your celebratory mood as you welcome 2017. And only one of them is even from France!

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Judith Smelser Tastings, Wine Experiences, Winemakers

Bodegas Valduero – Transcending Spanish Wine

Winemaker Carolina Garcia Viadero refers to the wines she creates for Bodegas Valduero in Spain’s Ribera del Duero region as “little pieces of art.” 

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Carolina Garcia Viadero with her Valduero 12 Anos

I don’t drink a lot of Spanish wines, but when I do, the ones from Ribera del Duero in northern Spain are often my favorites.

So I was thrilled to be invited to meet Viadero and sample some of her most prized masterpieces at a recent tasting for wine collectors and wine professionals in Orlando.

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