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Are bars the last great “third place”?
Earlier this week, Starbucks rolled out a new “Code of Conduct” for their cafes. The headline- grabbing change was a directive straight from the chief executive: You can’t pee for free. Beginning soon, restrooms and seating at Starbucks will only be available to paying customers. Baristas are currently being trained on enforcing this rule. The…
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Review: L’Enclos de Carbonnieux Pessac-Léognan Blanc (2021)
Late January is the worst. The Yule tree is put away, and yet it’s still below freezing and gray outside. I find myself daydreaming about springtime and picnics. And with them, picnic wines. In the Wine Fairy’s household, a picnic wine is something crisp and aromatic. Buzz-inducing, but not so high in alcohol that you…
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A big win for a Texas Cabernet (plus 5 other Texas Cabs to try)
Texas enjoyed our own little Judgment of Paris this week when a Hill Country winery won a top prize in The San Francisco Chronicle’s annual Wine Competition. Yessirree–that’s right, California. A Texas Cab beat out many storied Napa producers to achieve the “Best in Class” award for a Cabernet in the $90 to $99 price…
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The trippy AI wine art of Flying Blue Imports
Costco sells a wine advent calendar, which we reviewed back in December. The wines are generally pretty good. But the video marketing materials that accompanied them are nothing short of a surrealist masterpiece. Today we’re looking at samples from the vast AI art dump that accompanied the 2024 calendar release. The wines are by Flying…
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Stop saying “elixir”: 5 cocktail trends we’re so over in 2025
Just another day of typing while the world burns. It’s all too scary out there–so let’s just complain about some drinks, shall we? Recently, The Wine Fairy posted about wine words we think are dumb and wine trends we don’t really understand. But why only pick on wine? Here’s how cocktail bars are getting on…
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Review: La Tour Blanche “Emotions” Sauternes (2018)
Are you sweet on Sauternes? I certainly am! Sweet wines a usually get a bad rap in the wine world. Beginning wine drinkers tend to prefer sweeter tastes–a fact that causes many intermediate wine drinkers to assume that sweet wines must be basic or bad. But the nobly-rotted white wines from Bordeaux have a long…
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This $5 Temu item will spice up your wine tasting notes
Okay, wine friends: I’m totally geeking out over this 560-piece Vegetable and Fruit Stickers set I bought off of Temu. I know I’m going to have a blast with these while I practice identifying the flavor and aroma characteristics of different wines. I’m not usually an advocate of ordering cheap crap from China, but where…
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WSET Level 2 Class: Week 2 Thoughts
Hooray, I’ve done it! I’ve completed my Wine & Spirit Education Trust Level 2 class and exam. Now comes the long wait for the test results–and hopefully, a nifty digital certificate and bragging rights. Last week I posted some notes about WSET Level 2, including how I decided to take this class and why it…
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New Dallas wine bar: Palate by Lekka
North Dallas has a stylish new watering hole for wine lovers: Palate by Lekka. It’s right next door to the home-and-gift shop, Lekka Retail Concepts. (Both storefronts share a shopping center with veteran Preston Road restaurants Banana Leaf Thai and La Hacienda Ranch.) Palate actually opened right before the holidays, but it emerged on my…
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Review: Kith & Kin Russian River Valley Chardonnay (2022)
Poor Chardonnay. It got too popular for its own good, and now it’s facing an epic backlash. “Anything but Chard,” say the trendy drinkers at the bottle shop and the wine bar. Meanwhile, the Chardonnay bottles sit on the shelf with their golden, sloping shoulders and plead: Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful. Don’t hate…
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WSET Level 2 Class: Week 1 Thoughts
To be honest, I’m not completely sure what I’m doing here. Just a few months ago, I was a wine drinker–meaning a normal lady who drinks wine. A little knowledge here and there, a few opinions and preferences. I’ve seen “Sideways” once, maybe twice. I have Wine Folly on my coffee table. I always bring…
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Llano Estacado acquired, plans expansions in Lubbock and Fredericksburg
Llano Estacado Winery is staking out new territory, according to a press release from January 14, 2025. Texas’s largest premium winery was recently purchased by a group of investors with big plans. Currently, Llano Estacado has just one public location: A tasting room in Lubbock, Texas that also includes a 200-person event center. The planned…