how to make a life

The Temptation to Preach on What We Do Not Know

There is such a strong urge to sermonize or preach in people. It is often to be commended because we need folks to take a moral stand. However, it bothers me to no end when someone, anyone gets up to give a protracted and hopefully reasonable explanation on what their opinions are on topics they really do not understand.

It is hard enough to having cogent discussions around topics where opinions…

Pairing Wines for Us Normal Folk

When thinking of food and wine pairings, your first thought is likely the age-old Champagne and Caviar or a lucious cool climate Pinot with your favorite Duck Rillette. No? Good, because those certainly aren’t our go-to’s. When we want to get down with an exceptional food and wine combo, we go for what we like to call “real people pairings.” The kind of pairings that add a touch of class to an…

Thirsty for a bit of history: The Wine of the Popes

This is a guest post from Tablas Creek. 

By Evelyne Fodor

The other day a young couple stopped at the winery for a tasting.  Timothy and Cassandra, as they introduced themselves, were from Silver Lake, a hidden Los Angeles neighborhood that attracts creative people and foodies. My guests fell in both categories. “Timothy is a TV writer and I am a private chef” Cassandra told me.  Timothy had an…

Wine Tasting Like a Pro

When many people hear the words “wine tasting” they immediately cringe and picture a stuffy room with snooty people sniffing glasses and spewing out all kinds of ridiculous adjectives to describe the wine, but to you it just tastes like “wine.” And that’s fine. Maybe you didn’t pick up the “fresh can of tennis balls,” “campfire,” “barnyard” or “forest floor” on that last glass of red like the…

You Had Me at Merlot

Red wine snack cake Is it just us or is fall the perfect time for baking? The colder months ahead mean more time inside, unfortunately, but they also mean more time on Sundays to bake up delicious sweet treats, like this one. 

We saw this red wine snack cake recipe and knew we had to share it with you all. C’mon, we’re all winos here, so we knew you’d love the idea of wine as an ingredient in a…

Wine and Food Pairing Basics

Step 1: Learn about the fat content in your food

Some foods have a high-fat content. The higher the fat content, the more your wines should have a higher alcohol level, higher tannin level or higher acidity to cut through the fat left in your mouth from your foods.

Step 2: Check the acidity 

Wine and food both have acidity levels, so make sure the acidity of your wine matches or exceeds the…

Expensive wine prices in the real world

by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On 5 Mar 2018

I can see Glenda Jackson and Justin Timberlake for $150, but the best I can do in wine at that price is far from legendary

For $150, I can watch Glenda Jackson do Edward Albee on Broadway. For $150, I can see Justin Timberlake perform in Dallas. But for $150, the best I can do in wine is hardly legendary – labels that even the cheerleading Winestream…

Wine Is Full of Healthy Polyphenols. But What’s a Polyphenol?

These antioxidants set wine apart from other alcoholic beverages. Here’s what they mean for your health

Photo by: iStock Polyphenols are found in the pulp, seeds and skins of grapes.

Polyphenols play a big part in wine’s claim to health-benefit fame. But can you actually explain why wine’s polyphenols are good for you? Or even what a polyphenol is? For those without degrees in organic…

Bad Hair…Bad Wine…We Can Have Bad _____ Days

Why do we have bad wine days?

Sometimes you can taste a really high-quality wine and then a really low-quality wine, and they both somehow taste horrible. How is that?

It’s not that there’s anything that the winemakers are doing wrong, per say. But there are other factors that affect all wines, regardless of their prestige (or lack thereof). Specifically, there are things that affect the day…

For the first time in its 63-year history, Disneyland will be open for the Happiest Hour on Earth: News comes that the original Disney theme park in southern California will begin serving alcohol to the visitors for the first time. Star Wars (adult) fanboys and girls will be particularly happy to know that beer, wine and cocktails will be landing, specifically, at the “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” attraction Black Spire Outpost when it debuts in summer 2019. (Galaxy’s Edge is also coming to Walt Disney World in Orlando, but Unfiltered readers know that Florida Disney is already in the business of Minnie-earred wine cocktails and wine slushies.)

Disney/Lucasfilm

Mudhole? Slimy? My home this is!

“No self-respecting remote outpost on the edge of the galaxy would call itself a smuggler’s planet without a cantina, and Black Spire Outpost is no exception,” as a recent post on the official Disney Parks blog explained the decision. The proprietor of watering hole Oga’s Cantina is, per Disney, extraterrestrial bartender Oga Garra, which brings the count of wine aliens and supernatural beings in this week’s Unfiltered to at least three.

Scotland – It Hasn’t Always Been About Whisky….

Wine Bottles, Oyster Shells Unearthed at Queen’s Scottish Palace Point to Epic 500-Year-Old Party

Time traveling back to past again, over in Scotland, another set of wine-related remnants has been discovered. At the Palace of Holyroodhouse (nowadays sparkling winemaker Queen Elizabeth II‘sofficial Scottish digs), archaeologists have excavated artifacts that give several snapshots of life in…

Remember the Water into Wine Story?

Archaeologists Dig Up New (Old) Dirt on ‘Water into Wine’ Miracle

If you’ve ever been to a party that’s run out of booze, you might empathize with the revelers of the Marriage at Cana, the wedding whose wine supply ran dry in what became perhaps the most infamous party foul in the Western Tradition. As the Gospel tells it, of course, special guest Jesus of Nazareth divinely transformed the…

Derek makes a strong, clear point. Keep growing. The quote at the bottom is so perfect.

Autumn aromas found in your vino

Autumn aromas found in your vino It’s fall, y’all! Yes, summer is wonderful and we’ll miss it dearly, but some of us at Napadreamin’ HQ have been craving the changing of the seasons like a warm apple pie.

We just can’t help it. Fall is the best. Maybe we love it so much because of the picturesque trees and crisp sweater weather. Or maybe, just maybe, its because it reminds us of the only thing we…

Stop Going and Start Having Networking Events

from Derek Coburn HBR…with comments from yours truly

Large, traditional business networking events are a time-honored institution. They have been a staple of aspiring and successful professionals for so long that most networking advice focuses not on whether you should attend, but on how to make the most of these events when you doattend. In theory, they’re one of the best ways to grow your…

One more time: The independent wine retailer is your best friend

Napadreamin Hopes to be Your Friend by Wine Curmudgeon Posted On 7 Sep 2018

Only the independent wine retailer can save us from crappy wine and unfair pricing

The country’s pre-eminent “natural foods” grocer had two wine displays next to each other last month in a Dallas store. One wine was the kind you’d expect it to carry – Jules Taylor New Zealand sauvignon blanc, a terrific wine and…

Flavors Found in Wine

See the most bizarre wine flavors and find out what wines have these flavors. If wine tasted only like flowers and fruit, it wouldn’t be as awesome as it is.

<img class="i-amphtml-intrinsic-sizer" src="data:;base64,” />

Walnut An aroma commonly found in aged Madeira wines, particularly Malmsey and Bual.

Banana An aroma that comes from a winemaking process called ‘carbonic maceration’ that is…