Tasting Wine When Traveling

On July 19, 2023July 19, 2023 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Travel Tips7 Comments

Regardless of where we travel to, we always taste local wines during our time in the country. Sometimes we go on an actual wine tasting tour where we visit several vineyards and taste several of the varieties that they offer. Other times we seek out wine bars that specialize in serving local wines and then try a couple of different wines. Even if we don’t go to anyplace that specializes in wine, we’ll still ask the local restaurants about any wines that they would recommend from the region. We often find that the people that live there are extremely proud of their country’s wine traditions.

Wine Purchased from a Wine Tasting in Strasbourg, France

There are certain obvious places like France, Italy, Spain, and California in the US that not only offer wine tastings and tours, but often target tourists specifically to visit for their wine. However, we have been to many other countries that are not necessarily known for their wine and found that they have a wonderful wine tradition. Places like Peru, Panama, Egypt, Romania, Turkey, Vietnam, Bulgaria, and the Czech Republic all had wonderful selections. Obviously, Germany has many wonderful wines as well.

Grape Vines at Lorimar Vineyard in California

Another place where we did a wine tasting was in Budapest where we enjoyed a wonderful charcuterie board as well as sampling a variety of wines. The region that we heard the most about for producing excellent wine was Eger, which grows both red and white varieties of wine. As far as red wine from Eger, the Bull’s Blood or Egri Bikaver was really good and came with an interesting back-story. Legend has it that in 1552 a small group of soldiers were drinking wine in preparation for the upcoming siege of Eger and bull’s blood was added to the wine to give them extra strength and stamina. The group was able to successfully beat the larger group of Turks and the legend was born.

Many Varieties of Local Wine in Budapest

What was your favorite location to enjoy a wine tasting?

Visiting Vineyards After the Harvest

On January 31, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Photo Challenge3 Comments

We have done several vineyard tours with wine tastings and, in almost every case, our visit happened shortly after the harvesting of the grapes. Just because the vines are empty, it doesn’t detract from the experience of visiting the vineyard. Most of our visits have occurred between late October and early December and even though the grapes may have been harvested, the vineyards had started to change colors for autumn. We have done our vineyard tours in California, Spain, Germany, and France, but the images are not surprisingly similar.

Grape Vines Across the Valley in California

Although After Harvest, We Saw a Few Grapes Next to a Winery in California

Wine-Beer at the Liberati Restaurant and Brewery in Denver, Colorado

On June 26, 2019 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado, Craft Beer8 Comments

It is certainly no secret that we enjoy having both different beers as well as wine during our travels. We had heard about a brewery in Denver that was creating beers with fermented grapes and we knew that we had to give them a try. The Liberati Restaurant and Brewery has 15 different Oenobeers, or beers made with as much as 49% of the fermented ingredients coming from grapes. We sampled several of the beers that they offered and each had its own flavor profile. For some, there was no mistaking the wine component of the beer as the grape flavors were very noticeable. There were others where you wouldn’t even know that the beer was brewed with grapes if you hadn’t read the menu. And there was even one beer that tasted exactly like a port wine and, if you didn’t know better, you would never think it was a beer.

The first beer that we tried was called the Sea of Cherries and it was definitely on the fruity side. It was made with Pinot Noir grapes, but the flavor of the cherries certainly were up front. The second beer was a Franciacorta that was bubbly and the champagne-like qualities certainly came through. Next was an Imperial Kolsch and the taste was that of a traditional beer despite having been brewed with Pinot Grigio grapes. Another beer that was more on the traditional side was a Nut Brown beer that was darker beer with a nutty flavor. The final beer that we tried was the Port Oenobeer, which we have already mentioned tasted exactly like a port wine, bold and delicious.

Sea of Cherries, Franciacorta, and Kolsch Samples

It is certainly an interesting innovation in brewing beers. Even with the grapes, the beers can have just as diverse flavors as any other beer, including IPA’s. Although we only tasted one-third of the beers on their list, we are excited to try them again the next time that we are in Denver. The restaurant itself has a wide variety of Italian food and a wonderful atmosphere, including an outdoor patio area.