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slutouttanowhere · 23 days ago

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Pairing: Drew McIntyre x plus-size!oc

authors note: this was an idea I was really into when I started watched Bridgeton a few months ago, sadly I didn’t get very far in it, but! But this wip came out of it, and I hope you all enjoy what I have here, maybe I’ll continue, I wouldn’t get to excited about that though lol. Follow me for me, and reblogs are very much appreciated.

“Fleece, are you listening to me?” Benedict’s voice pulled me from my meditation, I was not listening to him, I turned my head in his direction. His fingers gingerly turned my head to the people in front of me, suddenly I became aware of my surroundings. The studio was lavish, yet messy. Half naked women stood at the front of the room, their body types varied from a petite, dark haired woman, to a curvy figured woman with hair the color or the sun. Her waist was slimmer than mine, and her bust was twice that of my own. The artists that sat off to the side, sketched and painted away, half filled chalices sat on a small side table mostly half empty.

There was one man however, that caught my eye, he was as handsome as the devil. Dark long hair that touched just below his shoulders, and curtain bangs that somewhat covered his striking grayish-blue eyes. His handsome face settled into a bored expression, slowly he moved from one woman to the next, but none of them struck his interest. That was until his gaze fell upon me, I froze like a deer in headlights, his eye brow lifted. Curiosity sparked in his eyes, his large hand reached for his drink, and swirled the honey colored liquor around.

“Drew! My friend, it’s been a while since we’ve seen you. How was France?” Benedict chirped up, he gently put a hand on my shoulder, and brought me forward. He placed me in front of him like a prize, Drew’s gaze lingered on me as he talked, and the way his eyes shamelessly slid down my body made my face heat up.

I’ve never had a man look at me in such a manner, when he stood from his stool I was surprised by his stature. Benedict, who already towered over me, somehow made him and I look the same height. This man was large. “Well you know, the usual, vineyards…” He trailed off, he took his time walking from around his easel, and closing the distance between us. “Plenty of women I suppose, then there’s the mind numbing duties of a Duke, I’ll watch paint dry if it keeps me from going to court.” He said tiredly.

‘Duke? What the hell is a man of his title doing here?’ I was gagged to say the least, my words caught in my throat, I looked over to Benedict who apparently found my current state of shock amusing. Our “relationship” was so casual, and relaxed it had become increasingly difficult to remember my manners.

“None of the pretty ladies kept you entertained?” Benedict asked teasingly, a sly smirk on his lips, some of the other painters had peaked up in interest, but no one said anything.

“What good is a pretty lady if that’s all she knows how to be?” He paused for a moment, I still haven't found my words, and as I mentally stumbled he turned his attention back to me. “And what of this one? Does she know how to speak?” His eyes cut to me sharply, I wanted to shrink, but I swallowed my discomfort.

“Her name is Fleece Waterton, and she prefers to not be regarded in such a way.” I said curtly, I forced my smile, my hands were clasped together at my waist. Usually when I bite at the men in court they quickly become discouraged, and leave me alone, not this one. No, the Duke seems to like playing with his meal.

“Then in what way would you like to be regarded?” His tone was unbelievably sweet, and his voice hushed. His gaze pierced me right through to my core, disrupting the butterflies in the pit of my stomach. I parted my lips to speak, but I found it difficult to form the words once more. He lifted one of his dark eyebrows expectedly, but I couldn’t deliver on what he was waiting for.

He decided to change topics, “Fleece, who named you such a thing?” He had not bothered to put space between us since he stepped to me. I looked over to Benedict for help, but he had abandoned me to flirt with a curly, golden haired man with paint stained hands.

“It’s actually short for Felicity, it’s just that I prefer to go by Fleece.” I explained shortly, curiosity struck in his beautiful eyes, my simple explanation had not fed his appetite for information like I hoped.

His hand reached out to stroke my hair, “why? Why not go by your given name, that’s quite improper isn’t it?” It wasn’t a ridicule, but rather a genuine question. Though I can’t help but feel like he was testing me as so many men of his stature do, all men really. Well, except Benedict.

“A childhood nickname, a play on the meaning of my actual name. Fleece is the soft undercoat of Sheep’s wool, growing up a family friend of ours owned a little far, and I would love to go sneak off to see the animals with my boy cousins. I loved the horses, but the Sheep were easier to deal with because they never got tired of me petting them. It got to a point where every time we visited I didn't have to sneak off, but instead just spent time with them whenever I pleased. My father started to call me Fleece as a joke, but it stuck.” I was lost in the memory of my childhood, the yearning for that time eating me alive all over again.

It wasn't until Drew spoke out loud again did I realize how long our conversation had been going. The models had changed, and so did the artist. “That’s it, that’s what I’ve been looking for!” Suddenly he brightened up, his eyes dancing with excitement, and when his lips pulled back into a grin his dimples became more prominent. ‘Heavens, where does the attractiveness end?’

“Is our lovely sheep your new muse Drew?” Benedict spoke up, he crossed the room to meet Drew and I where we stood, I stood in the middle looking between them. To say I was confused was an understatement, Benedict more than likely told me on the ride here what the plans were, but there’s not a doubt in my mind I stopped paying attention once he opened his mouth.

“Excuse me? Muse?” I asked, my eyebrows pinching together, and my heart pounding. Drew waved his hand signaling to a younger looking man who I assumed was his page, he ran over to the Dukes side to which Drew then gestured towards his painting tools. The young man nodded his head, and carried out his orders. I blinked once, then twice, but even when I blinked the third time it didn’t help to clear my confusion.

Benedict sighed, perplexed he said, “I explained this whole thing on the way over, and you didn’t even bother to listen?” His voice stressed as he leaned down to meet me at eye level, I could feel the way my face twisted into a disgruntled expression.

“I’m sorry, you were talking so much I couldn’t keep up.”

Tags: @slutfortheeclaymore @wwechristina87 @cardierreh15

#drew mcintyre oneshot #drew mcintyre fic #drew mcintyre x oc #wwe fanfiction #black!oc #bridgerton fic #—tokio wips #writing wip

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bakedbakermom · 1 year ago

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Heatwave

Rated X // 2500 words // Read on A03

Some shameless office smut with praise kink thrown in for fun.

tagging @today-in-fic @ao3feed-msr

It’s hotter than hell in Washington, D.C., and Fox Mulder is wrestling with temptation.

Resisting was easier before , back when they could still toe the line of that tremulous boundary they kept drawing and erasing and drawing again—leaning too close, staring too long at each other’s mouths, brushing bodies as they navigated narrow hallways and cramped elevators. Those little moments that before would have just made their hearts thrum a little faster, their breath come a little more ragged; but because it was before , they would back away from each other, crack a joke, find some way to relieve the tension and burst that little bubble of wet heat that bloomed around them in those beautiful, dangerous moments, like the rumbling of a storm just beyond the horizon.

But that was before . Before he had mapped the supple flesh of her breasts with his tongue, before he had felt the whimper in her throat as he kissed his way down her taut little body, before he knew the sweet, slick heat of her—clenching around his fingers, pooling like honey on his tongue, shuddering around him as she came with a gasp that would haunt him to his deathbed.

He’d thought the desperation for her would fade with familiarity, but they’ve been sleeping together for two months now and if anything, it’s getting worse. They’re ravenous for each other, for the lush, wet slide of skin on skin; they keep pulling each other into alcoves and closets and places they know they shouldn’t be to do things they absolutely shouldn’t do. And of course that only makes it better—the secrecy, the need to keep quiet when you want so badly to be loud, the scramble to make themselves decent afterward instead of tearing their clothes off and going again.

Though sometimes, they do that anyway.

How the hell can a man be expected to make it through the workday in a cramped and humid office when the sun is shining outside and the air conditioner is, perhaps inevitably, on the fritz, now that it’s after and he is so hard he wonders how his cock isn’t knocking against the underside of the desk with every thump of his heart.

It’s a conspiracy, he’s sure of it.

Scully has not one but two buttons undone on that sheer little blouse of hers, the one that shows the ghost of her lacy black bra beneath. The one he can’t even look at without experiencing a vivid sense memory of the sweet pinch of her nipples between his fingertips. He thinks she’s doing it on purpose; her jacket had been the first thing to go, hung on the rack beside the door almost as soon as she’d come in that morning, already sweating.

No, he corrected himself, glowing. One of the more proper girls on the vineyard had always corrected him about that whenever he would comment on the sweltering heat that sometimes rolled through in late August. “I’m sweating,” he’d say, “aren’t you?” and Jessica McIntyre would cluck her tongue and say, “No, Fox , ladies do not sweat. Horses sweat, and men perspire, but ladies glow .”

Scully has been glowing for nearly seven hours now. In fact, there is a delicious trickle of “glow” creeping its way down her right breast, of which he can see quite a generous amount given that, again, she is at least two buttons past propriety. She may have slipped a third loose while he was imagining following that trickle with his tongue and, perhaps, had blacked out for a second.

Christ.

She’d removed her nylons a few hours ago, as well; shed them like snake skins and stuffed them into the bottom of her purse, and he is thanking whatever god of textiles crafted the skirt that is clinging to damp lines of her legs, her ass, so tightly he’s beginning to wonder if she has any underwear on beneath it. He hears the wet peal of her thighs parting each time she crosses and re-crosses her legs.

Fuck.

So when she walks behind the desk to grab a file that had somehow found its way into the stack growing beside his keyboard, when she stretches her torso directly into his line of sight as she reaches across the desk and—he would swear to this in court—when her soft breast brushes oh so innocently against his shoulder—

Well, the poor man was already out of his mind.

He has his tongue in her mouth and his hand down her shirt before he is even aware of moving. Her skin is cool and damp under his fingers and he finds her nipple with a muscle memory born of fanaticism. His other arm loops around her waist to press her body against his; she gasps as his erection pushes against her stomach. He lifts her so her pert little ass is perched on the edge of the desk, spreads her legs with his knee, and snakes his hand up the sweat-slick velvet of her inner thigh.

She’s already moaning into his mouth, nails scratching through his hair and hips bucking against his hand, every bit as desperate for this as he is. He’s not even disappointed when he brushes up against the barrier of her panties. After all, a man’s reach should always exceed his grasp. He thumbs the fabric aside and sinks two fingers into her wet heat as she whimpers and shakes.

“Mulder,” she gasps, “what if—ohh—what if someone comes in?”

He grins into the skin of her neck and suckles the spot just below her ear, the one that makes her clench around his fingers. “Don’t be coy, Scully,” he growls. “I saw you lock the door ten minutes ago.” The blush that floods her cheeks may be the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen, and he knows he’ll never be able to sit at this desk again without seeing her this way: lips kiss-stung and swollen, shirt unbuttoned and breasts spilling over the lacy top of her bra, skirt hiked up to her hips, panties askew and her wet, glistening pussy on shameless display as she opens her thighs wide for him, leaving a dark spot on the blotter.

His fingers pump in and out of her, his thumb finding the hard nub of her clit and stroking in firm circles. He bends his head to her breasts, sucking at her skin and biting hard enough that he leaves a trail of red marks up one creamy slope and down the other. Her back arches, thrusting her breasts into his face, and he leans her backwards until her shoulders touch the desk. He pulls one rosie nipple into his mouth, tugging at it with his teeth, and pinches the other tightly between his fingers.

Scully moans loudly, rolling her hips as his hand between her legs begins to work harder, faster. He loves seeing her this way, pupils blown out and lips parted as she gasps his name. He loves to see her undone. He curls his fingers inside her, pressing on that slippery, spongy spot until her thighs tremble and her breath hitches; a few more strokes of his thumb across her clit and she explodes with a breathy, wordless cry, pulsing around his fingers and dripping hot into his palm.

His movements slow as she comes down, eyes glassy and the muscles in her thighs twitching and quivering as her breathing evens out. Finally she reaches down and takes hold of his wrist; he can’t resist the self-satisfied smirk that blooms on his face as she makes a visible effort to focus on him, as if her eyes want nothing more than to roll back into her head.

Something hungry flickers in those eyes; she sits up suddenly and pushes him back hard enough that he stumbles backwards into his chair. She practically purrs as she palms the bulge of his cock through his pants. He thinks she’s about to straddle him, but instead she drops wordlessly, bonelessly, to the floor between his parted legs, beneath the desk. It’s a position he’s imagined her in so many times, but as he’s beginning to learn when it comes to all things Scully, the reality is even better than the fantasy. She looks up at him with performative innocence—her blue eyes huge beneath her dark lashes, cheeks flushed and hair wild—and runs her wicked tongue around the wet circle of her mouth.

He slides his fingers into her hair, not sure if he’s trying to encourage her or pull her away; he’s still trying to make up his mind as she undoes his fly, as she pulls out the stiff and swollen length of him to swirl her tongue around the purple tip of his cock. His head falls back and he moans as she takes him into her mouth, and it’s all he can do not to come at the first wet rush of heat. She sucks him slowly, languidly, and when he gets enough control of himself to look down at her, he sees she’s staring straight at him, a satisfied smile in her eyes.

“You look so good with my cock in your mouth.”

She pauses, shudders, and his racing heart skids like someone slammed on the breaks when he realizes he said it out loud. He’s about to apologize, possibly offer gifts and baked goods and swear himself to eternal celibacy, when she moans around his cock and he sees her hand slip beneath her skirt. The shadow between her pale thighs is dark enough to hide what she’s doing from his sight, but he can hear the slick, wet sounds of her touching herself.

“Oh God, Scully,” he groans, inching toward the brink again. He gulps for breath and squeezes the armrests of his chair so hard they creak. Her head bobs up and down in his lap, taking him deep on each downstroke and swiping her tongue across the weeping tip each time she comes up for air.

“Do you like it when I talk to you, Scully?” he asks when he can breathe again. “You like when I tell you how good it feels?”

She doesn’t speak, doesn’t release him from the sultry heat of her mouth; she only flattens that smart, sharp, sassy tongue of hers against the underside of his cock and hums her agreement. The sound reverberates through his pubic bone and he thrusts without meaning to, bumping against the back of her throat. It surprises them both, but before he can apologize, he feels her throat relaxing, taking him deeper. It’s not the first time she’s swallowed him like this, but it has always been brief, a quick plunge or two before she resumes the shallower—but equally pleasurable—sucks and licks and slurps she knows drive him wild. Now she takes him so deep and for so long that she has to take breaks to gasp for air before gulping him greedily down again.

“That’s amazing, Scully,” he moans, threading his hands back into her hair—not to guide or control, but to deepen the intimacy, to show his appreciation. She holds him deeply as long as she can, longer than he would have thought she could, moving up and down to fuck him with her throat; she looks up at him, cheeks pink and eyes watering, and he hears the hand between her legs pick up the pace. The other hand, he realizes, is resting on the chair next to his thigh. She has her fist clenched around her thumb, a trick he recognizes, a trick she taught him as he struggled through one of their early autopsies; it helps suppress the gag reflex.

The next time she comes up for air, a thick rope of saliva stringing between her mouth and the leaking head of his cock, she releases a whimper that he knows means she’s close. He wishes he could see her touch herself, wishes she would hike up her skirt a little more so he could watch as her fingers glide through the wet folds of her beautiful pussy until she comes on her own hand, but he wouldn’t move her out from under the desk for anything.

He tightens his fist in her hair, stopping her just before she closes her mouth around him again. “Wait,” he pants, fumbling for words through the thick haze of lust clouding his mind. It’s a long moment before she can focus enough to look up at him, pupils huge, eyebrows drawn together in question. He strokes his thumb across her hot, red cheek. “God, Scully, I want you to come, I want you to come with my cock in your mouth, and I want you to look at me while you do.”

She swallows hard, breath coming in ragged gasps in time with the obscene sounds coming from between her legs, and nods briefly. She meets his eyes and opens her mouth wide, one auburn brow raised in invitation. Mulder takes his cock in his own hand and guides it onto her waiting tongue, and slowly begins to thrust.

Her eyelids flutter, eyes rolling occasionally to white as she fights to do what he’s asked—what he’s told her to do. He takes control of own movements now, gently cupping the back of her head as his cock moves in and out of her mouth, letting her focus on her own pleasure. He bumps against her throat again, and her moan as she swallows him vibrates through his entire body; his gut clenches and heat pools at the base of his spine.

“Fuck, Scully, I’m gonna come,” he pants, watching his cock vanish into her mouth and then reappear like a magic trick. “Can I... Oh, I want to come in your mouth.”

She nods around him, her body trembling. Her eyes roll, drift closed as she loses herself in pleasure, then snap open as she fights to obey him. “So good,” he murmurs over and over, “so good for me. Just like that.” His hand fists in her hair, tugging at the base of her skull where he knows she likes it; he thrusts faster, deeper, as she moans and whimpers around him, both of them racing toward release.

She comes first, her wail of pleasure muffled by his cock, buried to the hilt so that her lips are flush with his pubic bone, and he tumbles over the edge right after, spurting hot down her throat.

He slumps to the floor beside her, into the cool dark beneath the desk, and for a while they simply rest together, fizzing with post-orgasmic bliss. Eventually he reaches up, fumbling blindly overhead until his hand finds a bottle of water and a bag of sunflower seeds. He passes her the bottle, which she takes with a grateful hum, and cracks a seed between his teeth.

“That was amazing, Scully. You been sitting on that trick for long?”

She blushes and kicks his leg with her little bare foot. “I had a theory,” she says, her voice raspy, and takes a sip of water.

He cups her cheek and leans in to place a tender kiss on her mouth. “If you’ve got any more theories like that you’d like to test, I will be your guinea pig any day.”

#my writing #my fanfic #msr #msr fanfic #x files fanfic #fox mulder #dana scully #the x files #txf #xf fanfic #heatwave

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gacmediadaily · 1 year ago

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Actress Susie Abromeit (A Hot Cocoa Christmas, Love in Bloom, Snow Bride) shared some lovely pictures from the set of her new Great American Family Christmas movie, and I couldn't resist sharing them with you!

In the photos, you'll also see/meet Susie's co-star, Liam McIntyre, who you may recognize from the Great American Family rom-com movie, This Little Love of Mine.

It appears the two are dressed up for an elegant Christmas party, in the images Susie shared with us...

images credit: Susie Abromeit

Susie shared some fun details about this Christmas movie project in an interview with Bill Abbott (CEO of Great American Media) back in May, giving us a little synopsis of what the movie is about...

Designing Christmas (working title) is an upcoming Christmas movie project for Great American Family starring Susie Abromeit, who will be working with the same creative team behind her movie Romance in the Vineyard (A.K.A. Love by the Glass). In this new Christmas film, Susie will portray a woman who will take on the task of designing a home left to her by her late grandmother.

Speaking of Susie's other movie, Romance at the Vineyard, we're anticipating that film to premiere sometime this Summer or early Fall on Great American Family. You can see the trailer below. (By the way, if you don't want any spoilers, I suggest skipping the trailer or fast-forwarding through it!) Susie has another handsome co-star in this movie, Tim Ross from Hearts Down Under.

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Looks like lots of fun things are happening behind-the-scenes for Great American Family!

#susie abromeit #great american christmas #great american family #Youtube

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k1reynolds · 3 years ago

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Our Wine of the Week: McIntyre Pinot Noir 2018

As the world slowly reopens, our commitment to support local is stronger than ever. Many of our local restaurants remained open for take-out and delivery, and helped sustain us throughout lockdown. One of our favorite locally-owned, independent restaurants is RANGE Kitchen & Tap. We wrote about RANGE back in 2018, not long after they opened, and the quality, service, and hospitality has only…

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whewtaewoon · 2 years ago

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2022 book recs

note: these are books which i read this year, not books which were published this year. i mainly read mysteries (be them conventional, cozy or ya) and i will try to remember any relevant trigger warnings but i may forget something. also, not all triggers i mention are going to be explicit in the book, i just want you to stay safe

the psychic cat mystery series by sm reine

quick & easy to read books adorable changling polyamory tws: none i can think of

the sloan krause mystery series by ellie alexander

sloan restarts her life and career after finding her husband cheating solves murders and the mystery of her own past tws: this story is about a brewer & beer/alcohol is pretty central just a heads up

this poison heart & this wicked fate by kalynn bayron

adoptee queer black women mythology & magic supportive & loving family tws: parental death

blue ridge library mystery series by victoria gilbert

cozy mystery about a murder solving librarian no body shaming or fatphobia fun story with fun & interesting characters queer characters who aren't caricatures of queerness tws: none i can remember

dana mcintyre must die series by sm reine

queer women (of various species!) absolutely unhinged characters /pos fairly short stories tws: alcohol use & maybe gore? i think there was one scene that kinda described a gross murder

blood vines by erica spindler

why is alexandra having weird visions? how is her mother connected to a body found buried on a vineyard? tws: sexual assault, child death, suicide

the silence of bones by jun hur

historical fiction set in joseon era a young woman has been tasked with helping the police solve the murder of a noblewoman emotional smart, capable, multidimensional main character tws: death, murder

the forest of stolen girls by june hur

why does june want me to cry so bad? historical ya novel set in the joseon era a touch of romance dads suck sometimes tws: murder

dragon pearl by yoon ha lee

ya scifi set in the future gumiho & other non human / occasionally human characters the main character sets off to find her brother who joined the military and then vanished tws: death

wicked fox & vicious spirits by kat cho

gumiho, dokkaebi, and gwishin, oh my! set in modern day kr & features several different creatures from korean folklore tws: murder, death, child abandonment, child endangerment

a good girl's guide to murder trilogy by holly jackson

a girl starts a podcast about a murder that happened in her hometown which in turn leads to unexpected revelations character development is phenomenal tws: death, murder, sexual assault, drug use, abduction

the graceling series by kristin cashore

great characters queer characters the story of several kingdoms and countries, their leaders and their people tws: death, murder, child abuse, sexual assault, suicide, alcohol abuse, animal cruelty

one of us is lying by karen mcmanus

savvy students solving murders latina main characters tws: death, suicide, drug & alcohol use, blackmail

a magic steeped in poison by judy i lin

a competition may provide ning with the chance to save her younger sister, shu, from the poison which already killed their mother MAGIC! TEA MAGIC! tws: death, parental death, violence

the death of innocents by helen prejean

an eyewitness account of the execution of 3 innocent men extremely eye opening and also incredibly heartbreaking tws: descriptions of execution by lethal injections

don't kill in our names by rachel king

the families of murder victims sharing their stories and their work against the death penalty tws: descriptions of murder and sexual assault

dead man walking by helen prejean

eyewitness account of executions ppl in this book are guilty but prejean is an example of radical love and friendship to people who desperately need both tws: descriptions of murder, execution, and sexual assault

cinderella is dead by kalynn bayron

cinderella was real & now her story dictated the future of all girls in her kingdom mc is a queer black teen an amazing retelling. sits at the same table as cinderella (1997) tws: misogyny, murder, forced marriages

#books #bookblr #reading #book recs

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myvinespot · 4 years ago

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McIntyre Vineyards 2016 Kimberly Merlot: McIntyre Vineyards is a small-production producer known for sustainable winegrowing in the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation. Their SLH Pinot Noir and Chardonnay are top-notch-I’ve enjoyed these wines on numerous past occasions. The Merlot fruit comes from Kimberly vineyard in Arroyo Seco appellation just to the south. It pours a deep, gorgeous purple color with a core of layered and ripe dark-skinned berry fruit flecked by cherry pit, cedar, and fennel. In the mouth, it's medium-bodied with balanced acidity and mid-palate tannic grip that melts into a medium-long textured finish. A lovely addition to any table that’s sure to please the most discerning palate. This bottling may even put old Miles on team Merlot (#lol). 🍷👍🏽 ➡️Learn more at mcintyrevineyards.com. #PinkSociety #Merlot #MerLove #wine #winelover #ArroyoSeco #MontereyWine #myvinespot https://www.instagram.com/p/CIjmvNVnru7/?igshid=1iz4om3gr2ir4

#lol #pinksociety #merlot #merlove #wine #winelover #arroyoseco #montereywine #myvinespot

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thedesotos · 3 years ago

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Sunday, April 10th (Wahine Day), Paul & Stuart from the band is playing with @theagmNZ @ Coopers Creek Vineyard from 1pm. The band includes Paul Gurney on guitar & vocals (The DeSotos), Stuart McIntyre on bass (The DeSotos), Richard Adams from Nairobi Trio on violin/fiddle and Paul Crowther ex Split Enz on drums. It's a ticketed event and no limit on audience size (outdoors!), no V Pass so no excuses. Ticket details and other info below. ✨ (at Coopers Creek Vineyard) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb1q7MwsDeY/?utm_medium=tumblr

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wine-porn · 2 years ago

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Dry Creek Merlot

A favorite–though rather obscure–Merlot producer of mine, drawing from the incredible Arroyo Seco AVA: something far more known for Chardonnay… but think about it… take all the time you need… Great chard regions = great Merlot regions. Carneros ring a bell? And I just learned this winery is in Santa Rosa… I always just assumed they were in MontCo somewhere, or maybe Carmel Valley or something.…

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#Merlotme #2011 #Arroyo Seco #Central Coast #Kimberly Vineyard #Mcintyre vineyard #Mcintyre Vineyards #merlot #Monterey County #Monterey County wines #Organic #Santa Lucia Highlands #SIP certified wines #Soif Wine Blog #Stephen McConnell Wine Blog #Steve McConnell Wine Blog #wine1percent

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perfectirishgifts · 4 years ago

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A Conflicted Land Produces Consistently High-Quality Wine

New Post has been published on https://perfectirishgifts.com/a-conflicted-land-produces-consistently-high-quality-wine-2/

A Conflicted Land Produces Consistently High-Quality Wine

Santa Lucia Highlands is “America’s Salad Bowl”

Nestled between Northern California’s Santa Lucia Mountain Range and coastal Big Sur sits a conflicted land. The warm Pacific sun and maritime climate ushers abundance into the quiet farming community. Yet, each afternoon merciless winds driven by the powerful ocean, disrupt the landscape’s serenity. This is the Santa Lucia Highlands.

Native son John Steinbeck pinned in a 1933 letter to George Albee, “I think I would like to write the story of this whole valley, of all the little towns and all the farms and the ranches in the wilder hills. I can see how I would like to do it so that it would be the valley of the world.”

Although the region has yet to achieve “valley of the world” status, it’s abundant agricultural production dating back to the 1800’s earned it the name: “America’s Salad Bowl.”

In Santa Lucia Highlands, vineyards dot the undulating benchlands and mesas, rising above the … [] surrounding arroyos like fingers.

Today, vineyards join small family agricultural farms in this untamed coastal region, with many families engaged in both enterprises. Adam Lee, owner and winemaker of Clarice Wine Company, sees topographical similarities between the highlands and Burgundy. And yet, it is the highland’s topography that prevents its commercial growth. Vineyards dot the undulating bench lands and mesas, rising above the surrounding arroyos like fingers.

Earning American Viticulture Appellation status in 1991, this small region of 50 individually owned vineyards, comprising 5.900 acres, is heralded for Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah. “Santa Lucia Highlands is underrated. It is not as much a wine community as it is a farming community, and I like this aspect of it,” shares Lee.

Talbott Vineyards opened a tasting room earlier this year in Carmel-By-The-Sea. Make a reservation … [] to enjoy a flight of their Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, or a mix of both.

Adding to the region’s conflict is the fact there are limited wine tasting venues and accommodations. “What I love about the region is almost it’s Achilles heel,” explains Kerith Overstreet, owner and winemaker of Bruliam Wines. “It’s lack of hospitality makes it an authentic ag/grape-growing region.”

In an effort to reach visiting consumers, some wineries have opened tasting rooms in neighboring Monterey and Carmel-By-The-Sea. While this solution offers access to tasting the wines, the beauty of Santa Lucia Highlands remains inaccessible for many consumers in a first-hand experience.

Overstreet was attracted to the region many years ago through a bottle of Miner Family Wines Gary’s Vineyard Pinot Noir. Upon tasting she exclaimed, “This is delicious. I love this!” Four year’s later, when deciding to make her first barrel of wine, based on the bottle of Miner, she made Pinot Noir from the Santa Lucia Highlands. “The Pinot stole my heart and I’ve been with it ever since.”

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean seen from the Nacimiento-Fergusson road through the Santa Lucia Range … [] in California

The conflict between nurturing sun and wrathful wind add distinction to the highland’s wines. In this coastal region, the winds, driven by the icy cold Monterey Bay, start ramping up between 1:30 – 2:00 pm each afternoon.

Steve McIntyre, owner and winemaker of McIntyre Vineyards believes the wind is key because it pulls in cool maritime air, drying out the area and modulating high temperatures. “Wind, fog and temperature are our terroir,” he explains. “I have never been to a wine region where the warmest time of the day is at one o’clock in the afternoon,” laughs Lee.

Furthermore, afternoon winds regulate the grape’s sugar accumulation while also maximizing hang time, allowing the natural acidity to reach its full potential. “Santa Lucia Highlands creates intellectual wines. The Pinot Noir is savory, plush, and layered, with broad shoulders,” explains Overstreet.

As the former owner and winemaker of Siduri Vineyards, Adam Lee has crafted Pinot Noir from vineyards up and down the west coast. After selling Siduri, Lee could have chosen any region to launch his next chapter. He chose Santa Lucia Highlands.

Consistency and value are two reasons Lee believes the highlands should be on consumer’s radar. It is not as well known as Sonoma’s Russian River Valley or Santa Barbara’s Santa Rita Hills, both cool climate region—Santa Lucia Highlands is a hidden gem.

The true secret weapon of the highlands, and why Lee chose it for his next project, is the people. Lee’s multi-decade relationship with Gary Pisoni, and his son Mark, who manages the vineyards, and Gary Franscioni, and their Gary’s Vineyard and Rosella’s Vineyard, respectively, is a “friendship built on trust. I have great faith in what they area doing.”

Santa Lucia Highlands is best known for its high-quality Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Syrah.

2017 Bruliam Soberanes Vineyard Pinot Noir ($55) demonstrates thoughtful complexity. Opening with dark berries, Rooibos chia tea, Luxardo syrup, and dried savory herbs. The palate is lean and focused – smooth with depth, elegance, and lively acidity.

2017 Cattleya Wines ‘The Initiation’ Syrah is a brooding wine with a nod to Northern Rhone. Notes of dark fruit, cassis, cured bacon, smoke, olive tapenade and crushed violets make the mouth water, while each sip fulfills the expectation of a bold, rich wine with a crushed velvet mouth-feel and a long, voluptuous finish.

2018 Clarice Wine Company Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir ($85) opens with ample dark fruit, warm baking spice, and crushed roses, with elements of forest floor and a hint of venison jerky. Balance is the key here – structure, tannins, complexity, and acidity. Smooth yet bold, lively yet restrained, depth yet lifted. Pleasing all around.

2016 Hahn SLH ‘Orchestral’ Pinot Noir ($90) delivers tart red fruit, holiday potpourri, pomegranate tea, and damp underbrush dazzle the senses. The palate is vibrant, layered, complex, and structured with a long finish.

2018 Lucia Vineyards Soberanes Chardonnay opens with a bounty of fruit leaping from the glass, quickly joined by preserved oranges, toasted graham cracker, and warm spices. Tension exists on the palate between its richness and crushed stone minerality. A complex and elegant wine that delivers across the board.

2017 McIntyre Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir ($48) is sustainably farmed and made in a low-intervention style. It opens with fresh blue and red fruit, baking spice, white tea, and violets. Taffeta mouth-feel with balanced acidity and a long, elegant finish.

2017 Miner Family Wines Gary’s Vineyard Pinot Noir represents the bolder side of the region. Dark berries, holiday spice box, dried black tea take the lead. The palate offers a crushed velvet mouth-feel with a rich, long finish.

2019 Morgan Double L Vineyard Riesling ($24) is crafted in a German Kabinett style. Citrus, melon, stone fruit and honey suckle leap from the glass. The palate offers a kiss of sweetness with a balanced, dry finish.

2018 Roar Rosella’s Vineyard Pinot Noir ($62) quintessential highland’s Pinot Noir in that it walks a line between light and fruity juxtaposed with deep and earthy. Layers of complexity create a thought-provoking wine.

2017 Scheid Vineyards Reserve Escolle Road Vineyard Chardonnay ($45) offers tension between freshness and creamy elegance. Orchard fruit and floral notes lift off the palate while restrained oak treatment and lees stirring adds depth and texture.

2017 Talbott Vineyard Sleepy Hollow Chardonnay ($42) offers layers of orchard and stone fruit, white flowers, and butterscotch in a creamy, texture with a mid-palate mineral-driven lift and long finish.

2017 Wrath KW Ranch Syrah ($39) is bold, rich, powerful. Dark fruit, smoked charcuterie, worn leather and black pepper envelope the senses. Texturally smooth and elegant with a long finish.

From Food & Drink in Perfectirishgifts

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The Best Eco Friendly Wedding Planners Across America

Every year, weddings seem to grow "bigger and more elaborate". It seems almost to the point of excess with couples spending more money with every year. Today, the typical cost of a wedding is approximately $30,000. The wedding market loves this, but our planet does not. It is also hurting the future of young couples that already drowning in student loans. The new generation of couples are seeing more clearly about the excess and overconsumption that is hurting our future.

With the typical wedding producing 400lbs of trash and 14.5 tons of CO2 yet the average person puts out 12 tons per year, making this the event-winner for environmental concerns.

The good news, there is a growing number of wedding event planners, shoppers and stylist who are actively trying to lower the wedding industry negative impact, and assist their customers in a more sustainable direction, while showing the world how gorgeous, more touching, and even more impactful a wedding could be for the couple, the guests, the community and the world!

Today we're putting a spotlight on some of the very best eco-friendly wedding planners, wedding shoppers and wedding stylists across the U.S.

EK Events

North Carolina and Virginia

North Carolina Wedding and Event Planner. Planning custom weddings across NC and VA. Specializing in Geek Chic and Low-Waste. Sometimes, having a wedding can seem unnecessarily eccentric and wasteful. The average American wedding produces 400-600 pounds of trash- that’s about a billion tons of waste each year. .

Ashville Wedding Collective

North Carolina

Take the stress out of saying “yes!” with our free wedding planner. Featuring local, loving and sustainable vendors. Asheville Wedding Collective provides a curated platform to unique parties in a collaborative & sustainable environment with a thoughtful voice, helping them feel inspired and supported.

Sustainable Brides

Savannah & East Coast

Based in Savannah not planners, but stylist and curators. Stylist consortium along the east coast, focused on helping couples find the perfect sustainable dress, décor and venue. From sustainable-style boarding to fittings and samples, they plan for the intersection of style, sustainability, and self-esteem. Sustainable resellers like Sharethelovely pay for the service when you buy a dress or wedding décor through their marketplace or just a small fee makes this a great idea for a couples who wants to save a lot and help the environment without sacrificing style or experience.

Zero Waste Co.

Zero Waste Co provides Resources Recovery and Recycling Services to minimize the environmental impact of any celebration, conference, festival, trade show, or special event. During the planning phase of the project Zero Waste Co. minimizes waste by customizing a comprehensive plan that will help you meet your sustainability goals. On average, they help our clients divert about 80% of their waste from the landfill.

Keen Events

Oregon

The average wedding produces 400- 600 lbs of garbage. Is that alarming to you? It was to me. I coordinated a wedding where guests left their trash and plastic water bottles all over the place. Green Certified Green Wedding Planner

Pearl Wedding Events

New York, Connecticut, Boston, Rhode Island

Wedding Planning & Design boutique manifested through Passion, Intention & a Love for Life.

We access our wisdom & expertise to plan & design beautifully exquisite weddings & events that represent you.

KG Events & Style

Massachusetts

KG Occasions & Design is a Martha's Vineyard based store planning and style firm specializing in private, corporate and location occasions throughout the Northeast & offered around the world. The group provides a fresh and ingenious point of view that allows them to produce unforgettable occasions each showing its own special sense of style and charm. Certified Green wedding professional.

The Lost Forty

Michigan

Owner Kayla of The Lost Forty has actually taken a special technique to planning, focusing specifically on smaller sized, intimate events for her clients, in order to leave the tiniest eco-footprint possible when it concerns weddings.

Greater Good Occasions

New Jersey

Greater Good Events is a store women-run occasions company with a focus on sustainability. They work from their hearts and develop enduring relationships with customers and suppliers alike. Greater Good focuses on wedding events, business gatherings, and non-profit events.

Charleston Wedding Planner

South Carolina

Charleston Wedding Planner is a full service wedding planning and design company that thinks every celebration must tell an excellent love story, while showing a couple's personality. Owner Mike Winship shares his 15 years experience preparation weddings and occasions in Charleston.

Paige Occasions

California

Happy individuals, happy world.

This is the main focus at Paige Occasions. After witnessing very first hand the huge quantities of waste produced at many large scale occasions, owner Paige McQuillan chose to create a business that respects the earth the method she also respects each of her clients.

JoAnn Moore Weddings

Colorado

With over thirty years of experience as a wedding event, occasions and honeymoon organizer, JoAnn Moore Weddings has cultivated genuine relationships with a few of the industry's top experts and suppliers, which is terrific news for couples! With access to some of the country's most desirable locations, they dedicate to providing clients with an unparalleled experience. Qualified Green Wedding Coordinator (CGWP)

Green Certified Wedding Professionals from https://Greenweddingprofessionals.com:

Ashley Vancil-Savage

All Things Imagined Events

Corona, CA

760-809-5049