Wine Together

Cocktail : The Purple Hugo… made with the traditional recipe of Elderflower syrup, Prosecco, and fresh mint leaves but with the addition of Gordan‘s Shimmer Berry Gin Liqueur. The Hugo is a very popular cocktail in Switzerland. Originally created in Austria as an alternative to the Aperol Spritz, the first iteration of the Hugo combined a bitter lemon liqueur with prosecco and mint leaves (with a...

The biggest rule in dessert pairing: The wine should usually be as sweet as - or sweeter than - the dessert. If the dessert is sweeter than the wine, the wine can suddenly taste: • sour • bitter • thin • overly alcoholic That’s why dry red wines often struggle with cake, chocolate, or pastries. A Cabernet next to chocolate cake can taste harsh and acidic even if it tasted smooth on its own. But de...

This Week’s Pour: Señorìo de los Llanos Valdepeñas Reserva 2020 The Pairing: Grilled chicken and cheddar hoagies with: • fire-kissed Duke’s mayo-smeared bread • grilled onions • peppers • mushrooms • melted cheddar cheese • optional honey mustard drizzle What We Tasted: The wine opened with floral aromas and soft berry notes immediately after uncorking. On the palate, the Reserva leaned smooth and...

The Wine: Today’s pour was Cuvée Rosé Suisse - a Swiss rosé that leaned fresh, clean, and food-friendly rather than overly fruity or sweet. Swiss wines are interesting because most people outside of Switzerland never get to try them. This is because the country produces relatively small amounts of wine and much of it stays local. That makes Swiss wine feel a little like a hidden gem for wine lover...

This week’s pour was the 2023 Étoile du Sud IGP Côtes Catalanes from the sun-soaked south of France. Ooo lala… We paired this with broiled pangasius wrapped in tortillas and topped with a bright homemade mango salsa bursting with citrus, garlic, heat, and freshness. The pairing tasted like summer vacation on a plate!😁 The wine‘s crispy, easy-drinking personality worked beautifully with the sweet...

This week’s pour was the 2023 Étoile du Sud IGP Côtes Catalanes from the sun-soaked south of France. Ooo lala… We paired this with broiled pangasius wrapped in tortillas and topped with a bright homemade mango salsa bursting with citrus, garlic, heat, and freshness. The pairing tasted like summer vacation on a plate!😁 The wine‘s crispy, easy-drinking personality worked beautifully with the sweet...

This week’s pour: Cantine Due Palma Primitivo Sedotto 8 2024. We paired this with homemade Hawaiian pizza… and what a discovery we made in the process.😉💜 We gave this young Primitivo a quick decant (about 25 minutes) before dinner and it absolutely paid off. The wine opened beautifully… softening the edges and allowing more of the ripe fruit and spice notes to come forward. The pairing surprised...

This week‘s wine and food was a bold and surprisingly cozy pairing: a 2022 Salice Salentino Rosso alongside a BBQ Chicken grilled cheese served on sliced ciabatta. The sandwich brought together shredded BBQ chicken, melted cheddar cheese, jalapeños, and red onions pressed into crispy grilled ciabatta - smoky, sweet, spicy, and rich in all the right ways! Mmm… mmm… mmm.😋 The Salice Salentino Rosso...

Casa Santos Lima 'Bonavita' Tinto is a popular, budget-friendly Portuguese red wine from the Lisboa region, known for its fruity profile with notes of cherry, plum, and berries, often with hints of spice or oak from aging. It's a blend of grapes like Touriga Franca, Tinta Roriz, Castelao, and Syrah, making it a smooth, easy-drinking wine that pairs well with grilled meats, pasta, and b...

This week’s pour: Be Dream Red Berry This week we opened a „sweet little bottle“ - literally… 50cL and just 7.1% ABV. This Swiss red blend came in sweet, fruity, and somewhat easy to drink. But this episode turned into something more interesting than expected… We explored the relationship between sweetness and alcohol in wine, breaking down how fermentation works: Yeast converts sugar into alcohol...

🍷Wine: Balance Chenin Blanc Colombar 2025 🍲 Pairing: Cape Malay Chicken Curry This week’s pot leans bright, youthful, and unapologetically easy to enjoy. The Balance Chenin Blanc Colombar 2025 is a young, white blend, and that youth works in its favor. Unlike many young red wines - which can feel tight, tannic, and a little aggressive - young white wines tend to show off their best qualities rig...

Wine: Palooza Creation Rosé 2024 Food: Mexican Chicken Street Tacos Started out as crisp, light, and fruity… turned into tequila-like somethin‘ somethin‘… just sayin‘ we didn’t expect that. Brooke is showing some real confidence by going outside the box with the food and wine pairings! Cheers, B & D💜🍷

This week’s pour takes us straight to Northern Spain - where the wine is bold, the food is hearty, and chorizo is doing exactly what it was born to do… steal the show!😁🔥 This is one of those pairings where nothing is competing - everything is just… agreeing with each other. The wine is medium-bodied (just right for those winters that just don’t want to let go)… notes of red cherry, raspberry, ma...

Apologies for the audio issues at the beginning of the episode! This week, we enjoyed Los Pasos 2024 Carménère, a wine that really leans into approachability and balance. 🍷 Carménère, originally from Bordeaux but now mostly famously grown in Chile, is known for its softer structure - and this bottle absolutely delivered on that promise. On the palate, this wine was smooth and easygoing, with low...

This week’s pour is Epicuro Rosato, a vibrant Italian rosé that brings together fresh fruit, bright acidity, and easy-drinking charm. Typically sourced from sun-soaked regions like Puglia or Sicily, this style of Rosato reflects warmth, ripeness, and a relaxed approach to wine. The perfect way to welcome the new warm weather.🌞 Made from red grape varieties such as Negroamaro or Nero d’Avola, Epic...

This week Brooke & Dr. Deb paired a Cab Sav with steak 🥩… not a surprise to anyone… 😁 Terraced Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2023 is bold, smooth, and ready to make friends with dinner.🍷🥩 In the glass on will find blackberry, cassis, and dark cherry… this is followed by hints of cedar, cocoa, and a touch of mint on the finish. The tannins are present but polished - the kind that remind y...

This week we explored Noirillon Assemblage de Cépages Rouges, a classic French-style red blend from a French-speaking region of Switzerland. The red blend creates a wine that is approachable, fruit-forward, and food friendly. On the nose one might notice aromas of ripe cherry, raspberry, and plum, along with subtle hints of black pepper and dried herbs. On the palate… one likely notices soft tanni...

This week we had Giulia Pinot Grigio delle Venezuela DOC 2024, a bright, classic expression of northern Italian Pinot Grigio. The delle Venezie DOC covers three major regions in northeastern Italy: Veneto, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and Trentino. The DOC was established specifically to protect and standardize high quality Pinot Grigio production. When you see “delle Venezie” on the label it signals a...

From Vine to Stein 🍺 This week, we took a little detour from the vineyard… and headed straight to the beer hall!😁 Instead of wine, we poured Pilsner Urquell, the original pilsner - first brewed in Plzeñ, Czechia 🇨🇿 in 1842. Yes - the original Pilsner! Before Pilsner Urquell, most beers were dark and cloudy. When this clear, golden lager debuted it completely changed beer history. Most of the wor...

A red wine that needs a bit of a chill was not what we were expecting when we bought this at our local grocer for less than 7CHF, but it is one of our favorites in 2026!🍷😘 We paired this with pappardelle pasta and lamb - a rich, savory, and herby dinner - because this easily digestible meal lets the fruit and warmth of the wine shine without overpowering the dish. A match that felt (to us) cozy,...

This week we paired a Malbec with chicken … not the usual. We know that it is non-traditional to pair this red wine with chicken and rice, but the chimichurri‘s acidity makes this Malbec feel right at home. As Deb said, „you don’t have to do steak with Malbec.“ Brooke definitely chose well with the pairing this week.

Our first wine from Austria 🇦🇹 did not disappoint. We will definitely try more wines from this delightful country. Brooke cooked a perfectly crispy veal schnitzel and added mashed potatoes with a sweet mushroom gravy. It was a perfect comfort food meal for a cold winter night. ❄️❄️ The conversation about this food and wine pairing was fun and light-hearted as any conversation about food and wine s...

Another rich red wine 🍷 and delicious meal prepared by Brooke help guide this chat today! Bordeaux wines are often well served with a variety of meats and roasted veggies or a hearty stew in the winter… Brooke chose something in between. A French Chicken Marengo served over jasmine rice was the perfect addition to our chosen wine for the evening. We hope you will find inspiration to spend time wi...

In today‘s podcast Brooke and Deb chat about their experience with their wine choice for this week - Cune Rioja Reserva 2019. From the perspective of two women who simply enjoy sipping good wine 🍷… eating good food … and chatting about life’s adventures, this wine offers a warm and friendly moment for both of us. This week Brooke prepared a tapas with Manchego cheese and fresh tomatoes atop crisp...

With our special guest, Todd Lipman, Brooke and Deb get down to the business of planning and making resolutions for 2026. Brooke wants to find a paying job, Deb wants to get her health on track, and Todd just wants to make sure everyone is ok. We are grateful for the many years we have had as a family. It is one of the most important roles we have had in the past 31 years. So here we go… sending w...