Great White Wine for Spring and Summer

Last night I was eating dinner at Chez Nora (http://www.cheznora.com/) in Covington, KY and decided to have a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Our waiter recommended a wonderful Pinot Grigio that is now one of my favorites, Maso Canali Pinot Grigio.

This clean crisp pale yellow wine had a lovely floral bouquet that had a hint of citrus to the nose. The taste was devine, small hints of lemon, citrus, and a hint of apple. The best part was very low acidity so it didn't leave that sour taste or twinge in your jaw that you get when you drink high acidic white wines.

I went online and found the winemakers website (http://www.masocanali.com/home.htm) and it's price doesn't hurt the wallet. This specific winemaker specializes in Pinot Grigio, so you know that this Pinot Grigio is going to knock your socks off! I found it for $15.99 at one of the local wine stores (http://www.thepartysource.com/express/item.php?id=7458).

So drink up, stock up on this great white wine.

Cheers
Angela

Favorites things

How about some cheese to go with your wine

Recently I blogged about wines under $20. Well how about some cheese with your wine! I have to admit it; I'm a huge wine and cheese fan. Wine and cheese pair with anything on any occasion.

My first cheese pick is Roth Kase Moody Blue Cheese  http://www.rothkase.com/new.html. For all you smoky cheese lovers or anyone who's a fan of blue, this is the perfect cheese. This is the cheese you can eat with or without crackers, crumble in pasta (awesome), or have with a great Cotes de Rhone wine. Personally I had it with a red Zinfandel and I was in love!

A close second pick is Parrano cheese http://www.parrano.com/, what a wonderful cheese that pairs with just about anything. This delightful Parmesan cheese mixed with Gouda is the best of both worlds! My local grocery store cheese shop recommended me this one. I had it on flat bread with a Zinfandel to drink (again, I love Zin's). I've also had it with a Malbec and it worked too! It's great with red wine or if you're into white's try it with a Pinot Gris.

My all time favorite that never let's me down is of course Cambazola triple cream blue cheese http://www.cambozola.de/. This stuff is heaven! It is the best triple cream Brie cheese with accents of blue. It can be paired rice wafers and a Malbec to drink. This is a cheese that can be enjoyed with a dry sparkling wine.

Cheers,
Angela

Things that are in my pantry:

Wines under $20

Hello out there, hopefully today is a great Tuesday for you.

It's rainy and cold in the Cincinnati Area, it's a perfect day to talk about wine. I am a wine enthusiast, I love the process, the colors, the smells, and of course drinking the wine. People tend to believe if wine is expensive then it will taste better, that's not necessarily the case. I found some great wines under the price of $20 that I buy time and time again. In fact I keep a wine journal and write down all of my favorites so I remember to purchase them again.

Some of the main stream wines like Barefoot, Kendell Jackson, Woodbridge all have wines that are under $20. I tend to stay away from them, they have no complexity and no real taste. I'm going to focus on smaller wineries from all over.

Here are some wines that I drink during this time of year:

1. French wines - they are bold, big, and go great with meat and cheese dishes. Example: E. Guigal 2005 Cotes-Du-Rhone Red, it's 50% Syrah, 40% Grenache, 10% Mourvedre. The 2006 just came out so if you can't find the 05 go for the 06 but let it breathe for a while. This sells for about $13.00 a bottle a perfect little french wine that won't kill the wallet.
2. South African red wines - I love almost every wine I try from South Africa. Big, bold, and once they breathe they're amazing. Example: Boekenhoutskloof The Wolftrap 2008 Syrah, it's 68% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre, and 2% Viognier.  Let this wine breathe for about 15 minutes before you drink it. It's a wine that will compliment steaks, red sauce pasta dishes, chicken, and just drink it by itself. Price: $ 8.99 a bottle
3. Spanish Reds - God bless the Spanish wine maker some of my favorites wines are from Spain. Examples: Opera Prima 2008 or 2009 Tempranillo by J. Garcia Carrion La Mancha winery. On the label you'll only see Opera Prima so do not look for the Wineries name on the label. This is a great Tempranillo that you can drink right out of the bottle or let it breathe. This bottle I'm not kidding you goes for $3.99 a bottle on-line so buy it buy the case trust me! You'll also find it in your close-out section of your local wine shop. If you can find their Syrah or Cabernet Sauvignon buy those too! Another great Spanish red: Vega Sindoa Cabernet Sauvignon-Tempranillo 2006, for those who like a fruiter or coffee tasting red this is your wine. It's great with cheeses or meat dishes. It's 60% Cabernet Sauvignon and 40% Tempranillo. 
4. California Reds - For those who like Cali reds well here one to knock your socks off: Lonen Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2007, this wine is priced at $20 and it's worth ten times that. Let this bad boy breathe and wow, this is 75% Cabernet Sauvignon, 10% Cabernet Franc, 10% Charbono, 5% Malbec. It's great with every cooked meal or just great with friends. 

That's a few of my pics for now. Enjoy and drink some wine. 

Cheers,

Angela 

Products that are fun:

Where is this blog going?

Hello it's been a while since I blogged. A lot has happened to me in the past 6 months. I've had some health problems, was laid off from my job, and I ended my long term relationship with my boyfriend. Yuk how things happen in 3s and that's all I'll say about my personal life. I'm here to tell you that I'm still going to continue my blog. I'm going to throw more topics into the blog for a small change. I will figure out which topic for me to stay with and if I start another blog...great.  Please feel free to post something if you want me to write about it. Topics that will be on this blog:

• Websites and SEO
• Wine
• Cooking and Food
• Painting

I hope my followers will not mind the extra topics.

I will start the new blogging topics within this week.

Cheers,
Angela Laible


Products that I'm loving right now

Standing out above the rest

On an over cast day watching a sappy love story, I realize how important it is to stand out. Stand out in whatever you do, love, work, your family, your website whatever.  If you don't stand out then how can you be recognized. If you think about the things that stand are the ones that you stare at, fantasize about, think about, etc. Whatever it is pretty, weird, funny, romantic, inspiring, silly it stands out. The websites that are the most colorful, most creative, the most outlandish are the ones we look at.  So Stand Out! Do something a little bold or creative and see what happens to your website. Try doing that to yourself too, add that extra colorful scarf or tie.

Stand out,

Angela Laible

Web consultant

angela@aranzamendezdesign.com

sype: magnivis.a.laible

Things that will help:

The importance of being diverse on your website

Most people assume that you should have one website for each company. It's actually to one's taste, I know an artist that has her own watercolor website that also sells brushes and paint for another company too.  The nice thing about her website is the fact her website will show up in 3 different web searches; watercolor artist, paints, and brushes. If you're selling products keeping your website diverse is the way to be more search able.

Another way of being diverse is having products for different markets. Let's say your a hard ware company website that specializes in tools.  Well your main target of course will be men. But why not trying to market to women, by having smaller tools for them or lighter weight tools. Or someone who's left handed. These are some ways for a tool company to be a diverse website.

Look at the big websites that have just crushed all the markets over the years with multiple products.  Perfect example is Amazon.com this website started off as a website that sold books, now look at it. You can find everything on it. Look at Nike, they started off as a track shoe company but now they have every sporting product out there.  And they market to different consumers and different sporting markets. I mean how many times do you think they pop up at a search engine.

If your looking for a consultant that can help customize your website, Please contact me.

Keep Surfing,
Angela Laible
Magnivis Web Consulting
a.laible@magnivis.com

Products that rock:

A call to action on your website helps drives traffic and capture it

I see a lot of websites that are pretty but don't have a Call to Action.  First you need to make sure that your contact info is easy to find on your website.  Honestly it should be on your home page.  Once that happens, now you can have future clients call you.  But, you should always have more. Have something like a free white paper about your product or on a topic in your field. For example, if I were a doctor, I would have a free white paper on healthy ways to stay fit. You have an email sign up and boom, they get the free paper and now you have their email address. This way you know they are interested in your product and now you have a reason to contact them via email.  This helps build your business. I can help you with this type of work on your website.  The more enticing your website the more likely clients will choose you over your competitor. Contact me for help.


Click on this short 5 minute video and then contact me at a.laible@magnivis.com for help.


Stay at the top,
Angela Laible
Magnivis Web Consulting
a.laible@magnivis.com
skype: magnivis.a.laible




Products that I recommend: