Cork Poppers Taste Summer Favorites!

Our Cork Popper gang gathered recently at hosts Roger and Merdith's to taste "Summer Wines." What kind of wine do you enjoy in the summer? Bring that!"

Our selection of wines!

Roger kicked things off with a mango mimosa. 

Cork Poppers: Where Do YOU Want to Be?

It's time for another Cork Poppers post! This time we met at my house and our theme was "Where in the World Would You Like to Be Right Now." That opened up a lot of options for wines from about every country you could imagine and we had a few -- New Zealand, Spain and Italy!

Popping Corks with Cork Poppers!

It may be the December holidays now, but in late November, we were popping corks with Cork Poppers, celebrating fall and the upcoming "busy season" with some wonderful wines and delicious foods! This time, our hosts were Mike and Kate and the theme was Wines to See Us Through the Winter.

 

We started out with some festive Prosecco, because what is more festive than that?

Cork Poppers Go Italian!

The September gathering of our Cork Poppers wine tasting group featured a delicious array of Italian wines -- and some pretty tasty food to go along with it! Meeting at friends Anne and Clayton's home (about 90 minutes away), we were in for a tasty tasting afternoon! 

Our hostess, Anne

Postcards From the Lake: Road Trip -- Leelanau Peninsula

Our road trip continued as we left Strings by Mail and headed to the Leelanau peninsula, which juts out from Traverse City and is bordered on the west by Lake Michigan. We were off to have an afternoon with our friends Mark and Jan, who have returned for several years to a resort called Jolli Lodge. It was a beautiful spot and I could instantly see why they returned.

 

Cork Poppers Go for the Reds, Whites, and Blue (label!)

Our wine tasting group, the Cork Poppers, met with the theme "The Red, White and Blue," and the assignment to bring a red, white or blue wine (don't laugh, someone once did); a wine from a red, white or purple state, or just something reflecting those colors.

 

In other words, a good "anything goes" theme!

Cork Poppers Sample the Wines of Spain

I haven't had a Cork Poppers post in months so I had been looking forward to our September gathering for weeks. Yes, September. Life happened but now I'm happy to update you with our autumn Corkie escapade!

When Kate chose "wines of Spain" as our theme, I was excited -- I love Spanish wine and plans for a potluck menu of Spanish-related foods and cheeses sounded delicious. 

Then I got on meds where I couldn't have red wine, cheese, sausage (like chorizo) or all the other good stuff! But I could still have loads of fun!

Cork Poppers Taste the Wines of Bordeaux

It has been many moons since I attended and posted about our wine tasting gang, the Cork Poppers. Covid put a halt to our gatherings, and even after vaccinations and lifting of restrictions, we were hesitant to gather into a potential super spreader. But after many moons, we are together again, this time to sample the wines from the Bordeaux region.

We met at the home of Roger and Meredith during a rainstorm (which put a stop to the anticipated boat ride up the Grand River!). No matter. The wine was flowing, the food terrific!

"Quarant-whine!" The Cork Poppers are Back!

The morning of our Cork Popper reunion, with the theme "Quarant-wine," started with an ER trip for Rick and ended with us all tasting seven wines, enjoying a fabulous feast of appetizers and desserts and having a non-stop, "It's been 16 months since I've seen you!" catch up party!