A bottle of Napa Cabernet Sauvignon from Cameron Hughes Wine lies in the vineyard next to ripe grape clusters

Napa Cabernet Sauvignon – Gatekeepers of the Valley’s Best Secrets

Forget everything you know about Napa Valley’s famous Cabernet Sauvignon wines. Read on to find out why these decadent, structured, richly-flavored reds are the gatekeepers of the Valley’s best secrets. A True Gem… There’s no denying that Napa Cab stands out as a true gem in the world…

Understanding Italy: Super Tuscans

Super Tuscans are wines made in Tuscany, outside of the well known Chianti and lesser known Tuscan regions per DOC guidelines.  In the 1970s winemakers wanted to experiment with blending Sangiovese (the main regional variety) with the noble grapes of Bordeaux (and in a few cases Syrah from…

A glass of red wine with pieces of delicious-looking chocolate

Chocolate & Wine

Wine and chocolate… It sounds like heaven on Earth, but there are a few things to keep in mind with regards to this delectable combination to fully enjoy your experience.  Often times people will auto-pilot red wine with their chocolate, paying no mind to things like the wine’s…

Silhouette of the state of Texas with TX written, overlaid on a wine Texan vineyard background

TX Wine Facts

For Texas Wine Month, we’d like to share some information on the Lone Star state’s wine industry.  Hopefully it will inspire you to check out some wineries on your next trip to the SXSW festival or whatever brings you to the great state of Texas! Texas has 7…

Beautiful midday scene of Red Mountain winegrowing region

Red Mountain AVA

Red Mountain is the smallest AVA in the state of Washington, hovering around 1600 hectares (~4,000 acres), with around 240 hectares cultivated for winemaking purposes. A sub-appellation of the Yakima Valley AVA (which in turn resides within the greater Columbia Valley AVA), Red Mountain’s unique geographical location allows…

WA Cabernet Sauvignon

In celebration of Washington Wine Month (August) and International Cabernet Day, let’s take a look at a few Cabs from Washington that made the state internationally recognized. While Washington wasn’t built on a foundation of Cab, Merlot and Syrah, those red varieties have come to dominate in the…

A lineup of Cameron Hughes Wine wine bottles lying on their side

Decoded: Wine Serving Temps

It is well-known and spoken about in the wine community: Americans drink their whites too cold; their reds too warm.  While this is a grossly generalized statement, it exists for a reason.  For example, when you dine out at a restaurant, the white wines are sitting in a…

Drawing of various wine bottle shapes and sizes

Decoded: Intro to Wine Bottle Shapes

In the world of wine, there are numerous bottle shapes and styles.  More recently, wineries have been doing some incredibly artistic things with their bottles with marketing and customer awareness in mind.  At a later date we will go into a much deeper dive on these shapes and…

Sommelier at work. Confident male sommelier pouring wine to decanter while standing near the wine shelf

Decoded: On Breathing & Decanting

Today we’ll learn about breathing and decanting wine. Most simply put, Breathing is allowing the wine to interact with Oxygen with the cork removed or poured into a decanter.  Decanting is the process of separating the sediment in your wine from the juice you desire (and possibly waited…

Wagyu Steak paired with red wine

Wagyu New York Strip Steak

Steak time!  Nuff said. As always, click on the recipe card below for a 4×6 printable version. Remove the steak from the refrigerator 10 minutes or so before cooking. Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high heat until very hot.  Season the beef with salt and pepper and…