Usually when we take road trips to Texas wineries, at some point we have to ask for a box to keep our bottles from rolling around the trunk or floorboard. But now that I have a VinGardeValise Petite wine suitcase (holds 8 bottles), which has been great for transport and to keep the wine pseudo-insulated from the Texas […]
Food & Wine
Celebrating the Harvest at Messina Hof
It’s always a pleasure visiting Messina Hof in College Station (just northwest of Houston). I’ve been a huge fan of Texas wine for over a decade since I started my wine journey driving around the Texas Hill Country with printed maps from Yahoo and a car full of my college friends. Though my mode of […]
Niagara Trip Report (Part 2: Wine)
A guest blog post by Tracy Continued from: Niagara Trip Report (Part 1: Waterfalls) Day 3 – Exchanging Waterfalls for Wine On Sunday, we scheduled a wine tour of Niagara-on-the-Lake and were thrilled to temporarily escape the massive crowds surrounding the Falls. We booked a private tour with Wheelz Niagara (https://www.wheelzniagara.com/packages/private-day-tour-with-niagara-region-hotel-pick-up). Bernie picked us up just before […]
Niagara Trip Report (Part 1: Waterfalls)
A guest blog post by Tracy The idea of visiting Niagara Falls had been thrown around many times over the years but, for some reason or another, had always gotten pushed aside in favor of other destinations. However, last November, my boyfriend, Steve, informed me (quite out of the blue) that he’d taken it upon himself […]
Considering Wine in a Can
My body may not be ready for summer, but like it or not summer is here. It’s hot and I’m thirsty! I’m usually a red wine drinker but in the summer I tend to drink more rose and white wine. So let me go on record, again, and say that I’m not a wine snob. […]
Summer Solstice Newsletter
Happy Summer Solstice! This is Red Shoes. Red Wine.‘s quarterly newsletter/e-zine, the second of its kind on the blog: a short and colorful recap of all the adventures we’ve had this past quarter, blog posts that were published, and a reminder to subscribers of all the goodies hidden in the password protected Subscriber’s Only page (sign-up at […]
A Malbec Horizontal Tasting
Recently I was encouraged to reconsider malbec as a more nuanced wine than previously thought. Not all malbecs are grown and made the same, so why would we expect them to taste the same? And why hadn’t I thought of this before? My geology and wine loving friends and I got together to explore four […]
A Burgundy Wine Tour for the Blissfully Ignorant
A guest blog post by Tracy Let me tell you right up front that I’m no wine expert. While I greatly admire those who can brilliantly describe a wine, from its complexity to its flavor profile, that’s just not my strong suit. The most valuable piece of information to me is simply whether or not […]
An Anomaly of Clear Water at Galveston
Fun fact: I was born on the island and married on the island. Galveston, Texas holds a special place in my heart, and I visit as often as possible. I love its history and its quirks. Unlike other well known beaches, our waters are brown. They’re not dirty (per se), it’s just that the choppy […]
Loire Valley Wines Event: Spring to Loire in Houston
There are a couple countries/regions that have been swaying me away from my usual Italian pour lately. While I’ve been learning about and enjoying South American wines, I received an invitation to attend the Spring to Loire tasting and seminar event hosted by Loire Valley Wines. Having never dabbled in this French region, I jumped […]