East Coast Wine Party

East Coast Wine Party 1

Working in the wine industry in Florida and then in California, I received an interesting perspective as to what is defined as “Wine Country.” I heard that there is wine made in almost all of the United States. This is not to say that every state can grow grapes but many states purchase juice from one of the grape growing regions and make their own wine.

Fiesta Vino de Nance

Fiesta Vino de Nance 1

Our final WineAndCheeseFriday in Costa Rica is only wine. The time went faster than we expected so we purchased one final wine before we left. This wine is by a brand called Fiesta, www.Vinosfiesta.com, which makes many different fruit wines here in Costa Rica. This reminded us of Florida where you very rarely find a grape wine made there.

Vino de Coyol and Para Derretir Cheese

Vino de Coyol and Para Derretir Cheese 1

The wine this week is a complete wild card. We were driving down the road, near Guanacaste, Costa Rica, and saw a roadside stand with a sign for wine. Well we had to stop here but really didn’t know what we’d find. There was a little kid that ran over to the car and said we could get 1000 for 3000. We eventually figured out that the 3000 was the price, converts to about $6 US. We gladly paid and were handed a previously used soda bottle with a white cloudy liquid. When I asked which fruit is used for this wine, the boy pointed over at a palm tree in the distance.

Viña Maipo Sauvignon Blanc and Quesos del Cerro

Viña Maipo Sauvignon Blanc and Quesos del Cerro 1

Throughout our time in Costa Rica we have been exploring many grocery stores to see the selection of wines available here. The wine we chose for this week’s selection seems to be a brand that is common here. The cheese is one we found at a farmer’s market. We were about to purchase some broccoli when we saw a sign for some cheese on a refrigerator, let’s give it a try.