Category Archives: Food and Drink

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Love Wine? Forget Napa and Head to the Colorado Wine Country

Mike Richard of Vagabondish tells us why Napa is “out” and the Colorado Wine Country is “in.”

Aaaahhh, Napa Valley. Breathe it in … roll the words around your tongue… It’s legendary! Can’t-miss! Bucket list worthy! America’s Mount Everest of Vino for oenophiles! Blah, blah, blah… If you ask me, it’s also staid, pretentious and (most important for budget-wise travelers aka normal people) it’s overpriced. When celebrity chefs can bilk their clientele for $500+ dinners per couple without wine (I’m looking at you, Thomas Keller) when the classic, once venerable Wine Train becomes little more than a rolling fish bowl for mildly intoxicated, purple-toothed tourists dropping $120 per lunch aboard “Napa’s most unique restaurant”, while stumbling from one predictable, mediocre winery to the next; when an over-hyped, well-to-do vintner constructs a monstrous, Disney-esque replica of a 13th century Italian castle (complete with moat, drawbridge and torture chamber!) along the Valley’s rolling hills, it’s safe to say that Napa has finally “jumped the shark”. For travelers seeking an up-and-coming, affordable, back-to-basics wine country experience, look no further than…

Western Colorado Wine Country

Wine-Tasting-Room “Colorado wine country, eh? Wait … did you say Colorado?” If you’ve never heard of the Grand Valley or West Elks AVAs (American Viticultural Areas), you’re not alone. Most out-of-staters are blissfully unaware of these vast, rolling expanses of Western Colorado viniculture. (Hell, most Coloradans are too.) While best known for a thriving beer scene, the state is also home to a growing number of excellent vineyards and wineries – more than 80 small, family-owned estates in total. Be forewarned though: if you fancy your adult beverages “neat”, have ever considered purchasing an ascot, or routinely use the word “zeitgeist” in passing conversation, you’re probably not Colorado Wine Country material. This area is for wine lovers looking to eschew uppity, pinky-up tastings in favor of a no-frills tour with a laid-back vibe. If you can’t have fun and catch a cheap buzz on excellent local wines here, you’re doing it wrong.

Getting Around in the Colorado Wine Country

A handful of “official” trail will guide you through the area’s best wineries, but I highly recommend the Heart of Colorado Wine Country Trail. Those fortunate enough to travel this entire loop beginning and ending on I-70 in Glenwood will have seen where almost every grape in Colorado originates. Make sure to pack your drinking shoes though! This massive trail covers both of the aforementioned federally designated AVAs. Allow two days minimum, three to really enjoy yourself. The area is most easily traversed by car as most of the wineries are on or near major highway routes. However, the region also offers some of the best biking trails in North America. So, if you’re feeling particularly adventurous, hop a mountain bike and pedal the entire route. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous but a little lazy, hop a pedicab ride with Palisade Pedicab (call: 970-250-1654) and pay someone else to pedal it for you.

Where to Taste

I’ll be so bold as to say that virtually every winery and vineyard along The Trail is worth a visit (although it’s worth noting that I spent the tail end of my two days babbling semi-coherently about the dearth of In-N-Out Burger joints in Colorado. But that’s another story for another post…). Allow me to present a brief selection of my favorite Western Colorado wineries:

Sample a Cherry Pie at Carlson Vineyards The fun, knowledgeable staff here pours generous samples of more than a dozen varieties with names like Laughing Cat, Pearadactyl (Pear-Apple), and Prairie Dog Blush. While they’re most famous for their Rieslings, don’t miss their cherry wine. It’s served in a small, plastic cup with a chocolate dipped rim and described as “cherry pie without the crust”. Or their Cherry Lemonade – a blend of cherry wine and frozen lemonade. (Napa snobs, turn back now. It doesn’t get any prettier…)

Get High at Terror Creek Winery This oddly named winery is located high above the town of Paonia on Garvin Mesa. At an elevation of 6,400 feet, it is “the highest estate bottled winery and vineyard in the northern hemisphere” (just in case you were hoping to finally check that one off your bucket list). The tasting room boasts excellent views of Terror Creek’s vineyards and the West Elk mountains. Inside, winemaker and sole proprietor Joan Mathewson is happy to chat about each of her Alsatian-style wines, including a smooth chardonnay vinted without oak and a spicy gewurztraminer.

Help Yourself at Colorado Cellars Winery Colorado-Cellars-Winery The folks here have been producing wine since 1978, making it Colorado’s oldest winery and the only one legally allowed to use the state’s name. It’s also the largest and (in their words) “most award-winning”. The best part: they offer most of their 23 varieties in a self-serve, imbibe-as-much-as-you-like setup. Oh, and it’s free. And there’s often food samples, including fruits, salsa, and gourmet cheeses. Don’t miss their meads – light, soft bodied wines with rich, sweet honey flavors. (Come to think of it, you might just want to stay here and skip the rest of the trail.)

Sample Cabernet and Peaches at Colterris Wines Opened in 2010, Colterris (literally: “from the Colorado land”) is the new kid on the block. They’ve taken to doing one thing and doing it well: red wine blends aged in French oak barrels. For two dollars per, grab a sample of their 2010 Cab Franc or Cabernet Sauvignon (currently 2009 or 2008). The tasting area is a small, open-air patio where the winemakers themselves are happy to serve you and chat about their unique blends. Don’t miss: the small fruit stand next door. The peaches are out-of-this-world good!

Taste Specialty Seasonals at Grande River Vineyards Grande-River-Vineyards-Colorado-Wine-Country The ambiance of the polished wine shop here might feel more like a gift shop to some. But the selection of wines is solid and the tastings inexpensive – first three are free, and just $3.50 for the next five. The real win here is the specialty offerings which vary by season. During my summer visit, I couldn’t get enough of the Late Harvest Viognier – like a full fruit basket upfront with a mellow, not-too-sweet finish. Don’t miss: their outdoor summer concert series featuring everything from jazz to Latin, bluegrass to classical … and of course plenty of food and vino. Well there you have it. Who needs the Napa Valley now we’ve got Western Colorado to play with?

 

Mike-Richard

Mike Richard

Mike Richard is a Rhode Island native, professional web designer and travel junkie with an unhealthy addiction to backpacking, hiking and seeing the world. Since 2006, he has edited, written for, and kept the gears running behind the scenes as founding editor of his blog, Vagabondish. He absconded from corporate life in 2010 to travel full time and hasn’t had a permanent residence since. He has spoken professionally as a featured panelist at the annual TBEX (Travel Blogger’s Exchange) conference. Other noteworthy credits include “Woman’s World magazine contributor” and having once been interviewed by Tyra Banks (seriously). Find Mike on Google+. Follow @vagabondish.

Ant-Tacos

5 Top Travel Bloggers Name “The Worst Thing I Ever Ate”

Popular Food Network and Travel Channel shows featuring famed food adventurers like Anthony Bourdain and Andrew Zimmern have made it cool to eat like a local. We asked our famed travel bloggers “What’s the craziest thing you ever ate?” The answers were brave…can you say cobra a la carte?

Ant-Tacos

Ant Tacos


Lost in Translation, Marrakech
Nellie Huang

We were in the chaotic Djemma el Fna food market in Marrakech, hunting through the smoke and blinding lights for some local food at a budget price.

At Stall 34, blazing flames were clouding the sky in smoke and the aroma from the barbecued meat skewers was too tempting to pass up. My friends ordered several brochette de viande or meat skewers (the only item that we could read in French) right off the sizzling grill but I was craving for something new and exciting.

I scrolled through the menu, which was written only in French, and randomly picked a dish.

“Cerveaux de moutons s’il vous plaît!” The cook looked at me and smiled. Clearly, I had no idea what was coming.

Soon enough a dish was produced: it looked like a lightly sautéed chunk of mincemeat, but in the dim lights, I could hardly make out what it was and the cook didn’t speak any English. I was too hungry to care. I took a bite on the tender meat and almost threw it up. It had a soft, tofu-like texture and a strong gamey taste. No, it wasn’t beef. Neither was it lamb. It had a subtle hint of herbs. Bull testicles? Pigeon?

It was only when I returned home and checked up on the translation of the word did I solve the puzzle. It was sheep brains, and apparently it was a delicacy in Morocco.

No wonder the cook was pointing to his head the whole time!

A Cobra Bloodbath, Hanoi
Stephanie Yoder

Stephanie-Yoder

I’m comfortable with the implications of being a carnivore but still it’s unnerving to look your meal right in its still squirming face.

I’m not sure what I was expecting upon being invited to a Vietnamese snake restaurant. The building was just another generic store front on a dark street in the suburbs of Hanoi. I would never have found it (or sought it out) on my own. We were the only foreigners there yet dozens of groups sat in their own private areas, all feasting on the same thing: cobra.

The snake came out nearly immediately. “Who will eat the heart?” the server asked, passing around our very alive, very alert, and very poisonous entree, “Vietnamese Viagra!”

I laughed nervously and downed a shot of rice wine. Next to me, my boyfriend Michael raised his hand to volunteer.

Do snakes feel fear? I flinched when they brought the knife out. It was just a quick hand motion and the beating heart was outside the body, still attached, still pumping. Michael bent over and ripped it with his teeth. Vietnamese Viagra? No way I was kissing him now.

“How did it taste?”

“Slimy.”

In the confusion afterwards the snake was bled out, the blood mixed with the wine and handed out in thumb-sized cups. We toasted and drank. The wine overpowered any taste but the act itself felt primal. Next up, wine with venom and bile. This shot tingled on the way down. I tried not to think about it too hard.

The snake disappeared into the back to be cooked into an (ultimately delicious) 6-course meal. The rest of us, who were clearly having a better night than him, went back to drinking wine.

Bulls Balls in Brazil
Keith Jenkins

Keith Jenkins

I saw them for the first time at a grill house or churrascaria in Foz do Iguaçu, the Brazilian side of Iguazu Falls. The restaurant chef accompanied me and explained the different parts of the cow on the massive grill.

With a chuckle, he proclaimed, “bulls balls”!

“Testicles? No way!”

I glanced at them and made a beeline for the juicy-looking tenderloins. But when I returned to my table I was horrified to see the person next to me sitting with an enormous testicle on his plate. Seeing me recoil in shock, he grinned and asked me if I’d ever tried it.  I shook my head, trying to regain my cool and appear uninterested.

His grin grew wider, he cut a slice from the testicle and handed it to me.

I shook my head but no words came out of my mouth. The sight of his knife slicing through the testicle made me squirm in my seat. I looked at it on my plate and thought, “Get over it. It’s just a meatball!” I put my fork into it (ouch!) and raised it to my mouth. I munched on it twice and swallowed it quickly. The only thing I remember was a salty flavor, which I swiftly washed down with a big gulp of beer!

Having the Guts to Try Something New, Buenos Aires
Jessica Festa

Jessica-Festa

One hungry afternoon in Buenos Aires, my friend and I caught a whiff of grilling meat and followed our noses to a street vendor selling the usual selection of choripan sausage and other snacks.  Although delicious, choripan is pretty greasy and very fattening so I thought I’d brave something called morcipan. It was cheaper, darker and less greasy; vegetarian sausage I assumed, without stopping to ask either my friend or the vendor.

One bite was all I needed to realize something wasn’t quite right, but it tasted enough like black beans that I kept chewing. And I mean chewing. They were the chewiest black beans I’d ever eaten.

At one point I was yanking a very stretchy piece of “black bean” with my teeth trying to rip it out of the bun until the food actually snapped apart, whipping my head back. Annoyed, I turned to my friend and asked him why they made their vegetarian sausages so chewy in Argentina.

After nearly choking on his own food he finally explained what was wrong. This was no vegetarian dish, it was congealed pig blood and intestines. Let’s just say from then on I stuck to the fattening choripan.

Mexican Fried Critters
Mike Richard

Mike-Richard

It would appear that bugs are the last bastion of “extreme eating” nowadays. And I’d say that I’m a traveler willing to try (almost) anything.

Which is how I found myself in Puebla – the literal epicenter of Mexican cuisine – this past summer with a mouthful of multi-legged critters. The good chefs at El Mural de los Poblanos an upscale restaurant in the heart of the city – serve some of the most traditional fare in the entire country.

As an “appetizer”, we started with gusanos – worms fried table side and served in corn tortillas with salsa, guacamole and ground worm powder. They’re crispy, crunchy and well … fried. Once I got beyond the fact that I was eating worms, they were surprisingly tasty.

But the real prize was the escamoles – fried ant larvae served with all the same fixin’s as the worms.  It goes without saying that, among the dozen travelers in our group, few opted to taste this admittedly terrifying delicacy.

I knew if I was gonna do it, I was going all the way – a heapin’ helpin’ of ant eggs with a dollop of salsa and guac spread liberally on a fresh tortilla. It all combines into a buttery, nutty, and slightly spicy mess of flavors. To be honest, it’s still one of the best things I’ve ever eaten in Mexico!

By Heather Green