'Swirl Girl' Archives

La Paulée des Neiges -- aka The Ballers' Burgundy Fest -- returns to The Little Nell this weekend

By Kendra Anderson Fri., Jan. 18 2013 at 6:36 AM

La Paulée des Neiges: How ballers drink Burgundy.

If you love pinot noir and chardonnay -- specifically, the particularly revered varieties which hail from the postage stamp-sized wine-producing region of Burgundy, France -- you may want to buy a lottery ticket today.

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Bobby Stuckey, Boulder Burgundy Festival, Brett Zimmerman, Burgundy, chardonnay, La Paulée des Neiges, pinot noir, The Little Nell, wine

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Wine

Four top wine trends for 2013

By Kendra Anderson Wed., Jan. 2 2013 at 1:09 PM

Categories: Swirl Girl, Wine

Celebrate the top wine trends of 2013.

Welcome to 2013 and the next year of your wine-drinking life. Over the past twelve months we saw a slew of clever new wine concepts worth trying, and a whole lotta wine-related WTFs to studiously avoid. All the while we watched and waited, eyes peeled for signs of the wine-related developments that would turn out to be more than just a flash in the glass. Below, our picks for the four most compelling wine trends for 2013.

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Wine

Ten of the best (and highly giftable) wines of 2012

By Kendra Anderson Wed., Dec. 19 2012 at 1:11 PM

Categories: Swirl Girl, Wine

Last week, we poured out a little guidance on what you might sneak under the tree (or Festivus Pole, or whatever) that would add a little splash of joy in the lives of any wine lover on your list. But we failed to include any actual wine in that grouping, because we believe it deserving of a special rundown all its own. Well, we've made a list -- and checked it twice -- of the most extraordinary bottles we drank over the past twelve months, any of which would be ideal candidates for gifting (or just plain guzzling) this holiday season.

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best wines of 2012, Champagne, fiano, grenache, holiday wine, manzoni bianco, nero di troia, pinot noir, pinotage, riesling, sparkling wine, wine gifts

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Wine

Five perfect holiday wine gifts for every budget

By Kendra Anderson Wed., Dec. 12 2012 at 4:10 PM

Categories: Swirl Girl, Wine

The best holiday gifts always involve wine.

'Tis officially the season, wine lovers. Christmas is a mere thirteen days away, and if you're anything like us, then you've barely thrown out your Thanksgiving leftovers, never mind purchased anything sparkly or bright for your loved ones. The good news? We've made a list of all the primo wine-related goodies we're hoping Santa brings us this year, any of which would suit the oenophile you're shopping for, too. Read on for five of the most desirable gifts for wine lovers -- that are perfect for every budget.

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holiday wine gifts, Spiegelau polishing cloths, Tender Belly, The Infinite Monkey Theorem, Uber, wine, Wine Enthusiast wine refrigerator

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Wine

Three unlikely online wine clubs eager to quench your thirst

By Kendra Anderson Wed., Dec. 5 2012 at 2:55 PM

Categories: Swirl Girl, Wine

Amazon.com is the latest unusual suspect to join the wine club home delivery business.

It seems like everybody and their neighbor wants to be in the wine business.

Last week, we spilled the juice on Denver-based Club W's first year in the monthly wine club business. While we found their edgy-cool offerings well worth the hype, as we did our research we couldn't help noticing that the wine home delivery market is getting more and more crowded every day -- and by companies that you wouldn't normally associate with fermented grape juice.

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Amazon Wine, Club W, The New York Times Wine Club, wine, wine club, Zagat Wine Club

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Club W delivers tasty wines worth waiting for

By Kendra Anderson Wed., Nov. 28 2012 at 2:03 PM

Categories: Swirl Girl, Wine

Club W delivers delicious wine goods straight to your door.

Delicious bottles of wine. Hand-selected for you by industry pros, based on your personal palate's preferences. Shipped directly to your door, every month, for less than $40. Welcome to the club -- that is, Club W.

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Aaron Forman, Club W, Elise Wiggans, Ilan Baril, Panzano, Table 6, The Capital Grille, wine

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Wine

Four unique wines that will keep the Thanksgiving love alive

By Kendra Anderson Wed., Nov. 21 2012 at 10:03 AM

Categories: Swirl Girl, Wine

Mix things up -- and keep the love flowing -- with four unique Thanksgiving wines.

If your family's anything like ours, then it's not so much the turkey, stuffing and cranberry you're looking forward to inhaling tomorrow -- it's the booze.

There's a reason why most of us make sure we only commit to spending several hours in the company of these people two or three times a year. It's not that we don't love our relatives -- we do. But now that we're all grown up, what used to be explained away as Uncle Charles's "quirks" and cousin Tracy's um...colorful sense of humor now seem to work our nerves mercilessly.

Thank goodness there's a wine for that.

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blaufränkish, Crémant d'Alsace, Friulano wine, Lambrusco wine, Thanksgiving wine, zweigelt

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Wine

Beaujolais Nouveau is great, but Cru Beaujolais is even better

By Kendra Anderson Wed., Nov. 14 2012 at 6:00 PM

Categories: Swirl Girl, Wine

It's Beaujolais Nouveau time again -- but cru Beaujolais rocks, too.

There's a certain cadre of wine drinkers who anxiously await the arrival of a very special Thursday in November for their chance to eat and drink (wine, natch) until they fall into a pleasure-induced stupor. If you're reading this and thinking to yourself, "Yeah, that's called Thanksgiving," then think again. The peeps I'm talking about are giddy for a day most of the world pays no attention to: the third Thursday of November, when "le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!" -- aka, the day the Beaujolais Nouveau arrives.

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Beaujolais Nouveau, Burgundy, gamay, Thanksgiving wine

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Swirl Girl

2012 Pairsine Challenge: The ultimate food and wine throwdown

By Kendra Anderson Fri., Nov. 9 2012 at 5:21 PM

Categories: Swirl Girl, Wine

Pairsine: The Taste of Elegance comes to Denver.

Wine never tastes better than when matched with its perfect food-based soulmate. So when the annual Pairsine -The Taste of Elegance Chefs' Food & Wine Pairing Competition rolls into town, we clear our calendars and start fasting -- because we know that it's about to go down.

See also:
- Chef and Tell with Lon Symensma of ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro
- Chef and Tell with Tom Coohill of Coohills

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Tags:

2012 Pairsine Competition, ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro, Denver International Wine Competition, Denver International Wine Festival, Kachina Southwestern Grill, Pub 17, Row 14 Bistro & Wine Bar, The Fort, wine & food pairing

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Wine

Moving to Canada to protest the election results? Three things to know about Canadian wine

By Kendra Anderson Wed., Nov. 7 2012 at 2:14 PM

Categories: Swirl Girl, Wine

Wikimedia

Moving to Canada? At least there's good wine in that country.

No matter who you were pulling for in last night's Presidential contest, if you were on the losing side, you undoubtedly heard more than a few of your disgruntled peeps threaten to move to Canada in protest. Well, before you start packing your bags, we thought it only proper to give you the lowdown on the state of the Canadian wine business -- just because you'll probably need to stock up on warmer clothing for the much-colder temperatures doesn't mean that your wine standards must drop just as precipitously.

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