Showing posts with label wine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wine. Show all posts

Monday, February 29, 2016

Wine and Knitting

I live near the Southern California wine area of Temecula.  It's a beautiful area with a steadily growing selection of wineries.  My husband and I joined the wine club of one of our favorites this last year, Miramonte.  It's a great winery with delicious wines and live entertainment every weekend.  One of the perks of membership is eight free glasses of wine per month.  So, one of my knitting friends has gone with me a couple of times to "help" me drink a few of those glasses. ;-)  It makes for a wonderful afternoon....great weather, great wine, great company, and knitting!

I think she enjoyed that a lot because she decided that she wanted to join a winery too.  She tried out a bunch and decided to join the wine club at Europa Village.  I'd never been to that one and was excited to try it out.  We went last Friday and I fell in love!  It's still small and I love that about it.  However, that's going to change soon as it looks like they're planning a major expansion.  I love them so much more when they're small and charming.  Miramonte was like that when we first discovered it.  Oh well, we'll enjoy the small version of Europa as long as we can!

Just look at how adorable it is!
Excuse the poor photos as they were taken with my cell phone.
This is the main entrance to one of their tasting rooms... 


Just outside of that tasting room was an adorable sitting area.  And, although I've not been to Europe, it made me think of that.  It's so storybook-like!



They have a big pergola outside with comfy seating.  Down the center is a lovely breezeway with branches across the top and pretty lighting.


Among the comfy seating there are some unique pieces of furniture.  There was an antique work table with an old wood vice.  I think this little bench seat is adorable...


Chloe, the winery cat, came out to visit.  Isn't she cute?!  Her nose looks like a heart.


We later spotted her in one of the special, reservation only, seating tents.  I caught her yawning...


I love the center courtyard with the olive tree and roses.  So pretty!


This is another tasting room that was closed that day.  We peeked inside and the ceiling is made to look like a cave.  Very cool!  I love the rustic wood touches on the outside.


The arch to the left is where we entered...



They have a long list of wines that I'm excited to try.  Their flavor profiles are very different from the winery my husband and I go to most often.  So, it'll be fun to try them.  I started with the top red on the list and hope to work my way down the list.  I don't remember the name of it but was delicious!

Here's a view out the back from where we were sitting...


The weather couldn't have been more perfect that day!  We enjoyed every minute, every sip, and every stitch!  Thanks, Judy!  :-D


It turns out that this winery has live music every weekend as well.  I bet it's magical at night with how cute it is and all those little lights that are strung around.  I just might need to take my hubby there soon.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Sippin' Sangria

We just got back from spending a few days in San Diego.  We went down there for a family reunion and had a great time with family members who drove in from various parts of Southern California and flew in from Washington, Oregon and Texas.  We enjoyed lots of food, drink, and visiting.  And, the weather was wonderful! 

On Saturday night, I made a pitcher of Sangria.  I've tried a few different recipes in the past and they've all been good.  This time, I decided to wing it and it turned out to be the best one so far!  It went quickly and I went back to our RV and whipped up another batch.  I'll definitely make this one again and again!  Here's what I did...

Into a large glass pitcher, I added...

1/2 bag of frozen organic raspberries from Trader Joe's
1/2 bag of frozen organic strawberries from Trader Joe's
1 bottle of Merlot (I used 2 buck chuck from Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup of brandy (also from Trader Joe's...Raynal VSOP Rare Old French Brandy...It's really good!)
1 thinly sliced lime
Half of a lemon, thinly sliced and seeds removed
Half of a juice orange, thinly sliced
1 single serving bottle of Raspberry Juice Squeezer for some fizz

Gently stir and enjoy!  It can be served right away but the longer it sits the better it tastes!

Sangria is so much fun to make because there are so many possibilities and it's so delicious to sip on hot summer days.  I saw a recipe last week that included a Serrano chili.  Hmmmm?  That sounds interesting!  I might give that a try. 

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Wine and Ruffles


As I knit more and more socks, I have more and more little balls of left over sock yarn. I've been wondering what to do with it. I recently bought the new "Knitted Gifts" book by Ann Budd and it has an adorable little project that I can use some of that left over sock yarn for. It's this "Ruffled Bottle Sleeve". It's easy, quick, fun, and practical. It should work great to catch the drips after pouring. I think I'll make several. They'll make great little gifts...with bottles of wine.