When we arrived in Sion, we were surrounded by vineyards! What a pleasant surprise. Although we wouldn’t be renting a car there, we were determined to find a way to make our way over to the grapes. They are ripening now and it’s the perfect time to go see them.
I searched on Trip Advisor and found an excursion that included a walk through the vineyard and lunch. Just what we were looking for! Les Celliers de Sion (The Cellars of Sion) were only about a 20 minute walk from our AirBnB and although it was warm, we agreed it was close enough to make it happen.
Our second wine tasting in Italy brought us to Nervi, the oldest continuously operating winery in the Gattinara region. If that isn’t enough reason to visit, it’s also run by Roberto Conterno of Giacomo Conterno fame! We taught you a little about the Barolo region during our last entry and that’s where Conterno’s main winery is. This is a recent project for him just having purchased Nervi in 2018.
Renee began her wine life in a small Michigan winery. Once she was able to return to St Croix she was ready to open her own wine endeavor. She’d source the juice from California vineyards and then make the wine here on the island. They purchased a place in downtown and the wheels were in motion until the pandemic hit. That didn’t stop them though, there was enough room to make wine, prepare small plates and do tastings, right?
After creating our Wine and Chocolate Pinterest Board, it got me thinking we should do another wine and chocolate pairing. As I looked into those links, it reminded me that the tannins in Malbec wines, work well with the tannins in dark chocolates. That settled it, I’d find a Malbec and some local Costa Rican chocolate. Strangely I had a hard time coming across some local chocolate. (Most likely due to the pandemic) Then, at a local coffee shop, we noticed a display with a few different options. The owner recommended the almond one, so we were ready to go.
Quarantining/Social Distancing sucks when you love being social but that doesn’t mean you can’t share a little holiday cheer still! Looking for some quirky gifts to brighten the day of those #winelovers and #cheeselovers in your life? Let’s have some fun with some more unexpected gifts that they would appreciate. These gifts can all be ordered online through our affiliate partner, Etsy.
We visited Cellar Door Winery, back in December. We were in Maine visiting our friends Dwaine and Beth and she was so excited to show us one of her local favorites. It’s fortunate we were there when we were because they were only days away from closing up for the winter season. They’d open back up sometime in April. How could we have known that would be the last time we’d be wine tasting for a long while?
Maria and Neil started wineandcheesefriday.com to learn more about wine in 2014. We’ve visited wineries, and creameries across the world to learn as much as we can about these two wonderful delacacies. We❤️🍷&🧀
