Mano a Vino - Eat, Drink, Write - Great Wine, Food, Beer and Places

Speaking of Beer - Star Hill Brewery Charlottesville, VA "The Gift of Great Beer"

I tasted this great lager at the restaurant "The Local" in Charlottesville, VA.

The brewery, Star Hill, has a slogan "The Gift of Great Beer" and this Jomo Lager certainly lives up to that claim.

It is smooth flavorful light amber lager that is crisp and clean with a slight malty sweetness. I really enjoyed it.

The bad news is that you cant find it in New Jersey. The good news is that I have yet another reason to go back to Charlottesville.

Tutidi Cortese a Fun Sparkling White from Piemonte

We poured this fun sparkling wine for some friends the other night.

It is made by the same people who make Tutidi Brachetto a red sparkling wine that we also loved.

"Tutidi is a tantalizing white wine that is an everyday treat . Made from 100% Cortese , a native grape to Piedmont, the wine is a delicious unoaked white that is dry on the palate but possesses a very pleasant floral nose." Winemaker Notes.

It is great as a starter wine with light Italian cheese or salted nuts.

MANO A VINO AFTER DARK Agwa de Bolivia by Nell

We have a new author here who will be writing a new series of posts called MANO A VINO AFTER DARK. Please let me introduce Nell Conway.

Millennial, Gen-Yer, what ever label you may attempt to apply, she offers the voice of another generation. And we are excited to share her words.

Here is her first review of a very interesting liquor called Agwa de Bolivia. Not to my taste in particular but very enjoyable nonetheless.

Ravines Wine Cellars Makes it Easy to Fall In Love with Finger Lakes Wine

Winebow's 22nd Annual Vintners' Harvest was a spectacular showing of the latest offerings of many of the worlds greatest winemakers. I did not have a lot of time so I focused on finding some new wines that I had never experienced before. I saw that there was one vineyard from the Finger Lakes so I set my sights for their table.

I have been hearing more and more about how great the  wines from this region have become. There are over 100 wineries along Keuka, Seneca, Cayuga and Canandaigua lakes. The region's micro-climate provides the ideal growing.

Still I did not expect a lot. To my very pleasant surprise I was completely blown away by how good Ravines Wine Cellars's wines are.

A very nice dinner at Red Hen Bistro Wood-Ridge, NJ - Restaurant Review

I had heard about Red Hen many months ago, but it was a little out of the way so never made it there. A Groupon bridged that gap and Nell and I had dinner there the other night.

We took a nice Cotes du Rhone Les Garrigues a great wine for the Red Hen Menu.

The food is wonderful here which makes up for the few shortcomings.