{CLOSED} Wine your Dad or Adult Grad with our California Wine Club Review and Giveaway! Ends 06/30

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This giveaway is now CLOSED. Thanks so much to our wonderful sponsor California Wine Club! We look forward to working with you again! The winner has been notified and upon confirmation, follower name will be posted both here and on our homepage. Remember: There are great giveaways active on the upper right hand side of the page!

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Ascending Butterfly's Annual Dads N Grads Buying Guide Giveaway, brought to you by:

Dads N Grads Month has been a whirlwind this time around and seems to be moving along so quickly! Today is the first day of summer, the summer equinox, the longest day of sun of the year! A perfect day to be outdoors enjoying the sunlight and a perfect day to chill a nice bottle of wine!

Is your Dad a 'Oenophile'? (No folks it is NOT spelled 'Wino-Phile')

Are you celebrating an adult Grad, either College, Grad School, Med School or Law School and looking for a unique way to say 'Congratulations' and wish them well on their road ahead?

Not that the California Wine Club is exclusive to Dads or Grads, it's a great anytime gift for the wine connoisseur, wine novice, or someone like me who is somewhere in between the two!

The California Wine Club

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - World's BEST Job Ever!  - Since 1990, club owners Bruce and Pam Boring have traveled California’s wine country searching for limited-production wines from small, family-owned wineries dedicated to the art of making fine wine. Whether for yourself or a gift, California Wine Club membership is an adventure in wine tasting that will not be experienced anywhere else. They journey not only to Napa and Sonoma, but to less-explored wine regions like Santa Barbara, Monterey, the Sierra Foothills and beyond. When I visited the New York Wine Festival, this is one of the things I loved, getting the chance to sample wines that weren't always readily available everywhere, but when I went to try to find some of them I couldn't. Now with the California Wine Club I get the best of that experience right to my door! And I don't know about you but I want to be Pam when I grow up. (Whenever that is!) That has to be the best job ever! (or maybe I should marry a Vintner?)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Be The Show Off In Your Circle - More than three-quarters of California’s 2,100+ wineries are small, boutique, mom-and-pop operations whose wines never travel beyond their local markets and private customer lists. You will definitely be the one in the know in your wine circle with California Wine Club. Let your friends think you just came back from a Vineyard trip without the price of the airfare (and sans the airport pat down or loss of privacy scanner!)

 Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Membership costs nothing, you can cancel anytime, and every wine is 100% guaranteed. - Like a good mobile carrier, there is nothing better than no contracts and no commitments!

Here's what I tried:

I tried: I had the chance to try out the 2007 Bixler Union Island Red Table Wine which is a blend of Merlot, Syrah and Petite. This versatile wine shows very rich, ripe, forward fruit, with flavors of ripe plums, cherries, blackberries and a hint of toasty oak.

Food Pairing Suggestions: Crafted to be both approachable and versatile, pairing nicely with most any grilled red meat, sausages, stews, hearty soups, pizza, pasta and hamburgers. Being nicely balanced and silky smooth, this wine also works well as a cocktail - by the fireplace, at picnics or at your next party!

I tried: I had the chance to try out the 2008 Bixler Vineyards Union Island White Table Wine shows of citrus, with rich, ripe fruit and flavors of grapefruit and a hint of banana. No oak was used during aging, allowing the ripe fruit to be fully expressed in the finished wine.

Food Pairing Suggestions: Created to be very approachable and will compliment grilled chicken, pasta with pesto or white sauce, many fish dishes and will also make a great patio sipper or cocktail wine out on the boat or at the beach. (Please follow all local beach regulations, and be sure to drink responsibly, a drunk butterfly is NOT cute! :-)

My Take

I have a very weird palate and in terms of preference it's (extra dry) Champagne first, then White Wine with Reds coming in third. I have a taste for dry champagne and my favorite is actually one that is not the  most expensive, but I find it the superior choice for MY palate. When I collaborated with California Wine Club they took the time to get a sense of my tastes and what I like and don't like flavor wise. And when the Bixler wines arrived at my door, I approached them with a sense of adventure, I had no idea what I was in for. I will admit I went straight for my comfort zone and tried out the white first.

It almost didn't make it as a pairing with the meal I was making, it was THAT good. I like to make Beurre Blanc sauce with my fish, and so I opened it to use in my sauce, before cooking with it, I knew I should taste it and make sure I was happy with the flavor, I was literally blown away when I took my first sip and found that it tasted exactly like my favorite brut cava extra dry champagne! It tasted just like it without the bubbles. I had to remind myself that some was going into my beurre blanc and the rest was supposed to be for dinner! I'll share my personal pics of it with the meal I prepared very soon. It is recommended to use this wine within a year of shipment, and I see why, it's bursting with flavor, and I'd be surprised if anyone could let this just sit for even a year nevertheless going past the year mark!

I was so astonished with how much I sincerely enjoyed the white that I couldn't wait to crack open the red! The red was a surprise also! I've tried less red than white, so I'm not going to pretend I have the biggest base of comparison, but I found it refreshing, and what I don't like about many reds is this strong tang that comes after the sip, I don't particularly find that strong tang pleasing to my palate. When I've gone to restaurants I've fallen in love with a few House reds, but they are never for sale (ahem, cough cough Cipriani's), at least now I can have my own 'House' Red! Delivered right to my door, does it get better? So there, Cipriani's with your delicious House Red that I cannot have, TAKE THAT! :)

I'm not going to say that I'll ever reach Sommelier level of expertise, but I really do enjoy Bixler Wines and very highly recommend them, and very highly recommend California Wine Club, their personalized service made this at home 'tasting' an absolute pleasant surprise and a total pleasure.

DEAL FOR YOU: Try out a shipment with no obligation to continue, you can choose the standard shipment of one red and one white or you can choose 2 bottles red or white. Enter promo code: ascending

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - WIN IT! - Ascending Butterfly and our new friends at California Wine Club have a very special surprise for 1 lucky winner! 1 winner will get to try out the California Wine Club and experience at home delivery of one red wine and one white wine. (Winner will receive the vineyard being featured at the time of the win, they may or may not receive the same wines I tried).

Don't you just ♥ California Wine Club? I know I do!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - How to Win: (1) You must be a PUBLIC follower of Ascending Butterfly to be eligible for this and all giveaways. Indicate in your entry that you follow (if your 'comment name/user id' differs from your profile id, please let me know what name you follow under) and (2)MANDATORY entry-  (A) You must preface your entry by stating 'I am 21 years of age' (B) Visit the Member Benefits Page and share one thing you learned about California Wine Club Serivce and Member Benefits here. (3) You must also leave your email address somewhere in your comment. (You can format it this way for security, example: ascendingbutterfly AT mail host DOT com). (If your email is clearly visible in your profile, you can just say so, that's OK!) Please follow the easy 1, 2, 3 steps to winning (or in this case, the A,B,C’s of winning!) This giveaway is open to USA residents who are 21 years of age or older. No PO Boxes. One entry per Household, see Ascending Butterfly Giveaway Rules and Disclosure Policy HERE.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Please follow directions or you will be disqualified! All comments are moderated, they may not appear on the site right away (comments like "I want this" or "I want to win" will not be entered). You have from Tuesday, June 21, 2011 until Thursday, June 30, 2011 at 03:00 PM (EST) to comment and be entered for a chance to win. You will have 48 hours to confirm if we do not hear from you we will be forced to move on to an alternate. (We only notify winners DIRECTLY via email, so if your profile or your comment does not have an email your entry will not be processed)

EXTRA CREDIT:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Rock the VOTE - it's super easy and a ONE time only, Please vote for me, Tracy Iglesias, (in red jacket)  - http://www.yourbestpose.com/competition/?id=1#6

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - You know how much I love finding us both win/wins right? Here's another one: Visit the Degree Women MotionSENSE App on Facebook and enter GetMoving031 in 'Enter Codes' HERE (you'll get an extra 5 MotionSENSE Miles which you can trade in for great prizes including trips!) Enter, share on your wall, and let me know you entered by linking me to where you shared it on your wall, by the way sharing also buys you extra MotionSENSE miles, win/win right? :)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Blog about this giveaway, linking to this giveaway post. Leave the URL in a comment. (If your blog post contains more than just a pic and link you'll get 5 extra credit entries! Leave five entries.)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - In the spirit of Father's Day Fun share with us your favorite advice that your dad has given you! (and yes, if you were not raised by your dad, you can share with us the best wisdom received by the person who did raise you! Uncles and Grandpas count too!) Or you can share if you are giving these to lucky guy in your life or keeping them for yourself! And since this is also Grads month, you can also share the best advice you've given a grad too!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Grab our NEW Button and put it on your Blog. Leave the URL where we can see it in a comment (if you have our old one, please swap it out, our URL address has changed!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow @Tracy_Iglesias on Twitter (this is ascendingbutterfly’s editor) and give me your twitter ID in a comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow @cawineclub on Twitter

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow @Ascending1 on Twitter (this is Ascending Butterfly's new account, we will soon be hosting twitter parties which necessitates having a second account so we can make updates throughout the entire party!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ -Tweet this:

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ @Ascending1 + @cawineclub California Wine Club Review and #Giveaway! Ends 06/30 http://tinyurl.com/42ejemm

(Leave a comment with the tweet’s url so you can get a valid entry (click on the time your tweet was sent to get the direct URL and then copy and paste it here). You can Tweet TWICE per DAY. If you Tweet more than that, that entry will be disqualified.)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Digg about this giveaway and leave your digg username in your comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Fave this blog on Technorati and leave your Technorati user name in your comment

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow Ascending Butterfly on Facebook HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow California Wine Club and tell them Ascending Butterfly Sent You (I'm sure they'd love for you to tell them who you'd give this to and why also!) on Facebook HERE (Please post the link to your facebook comment, you can get that link the same way you get your link to your tweets!)

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Follow Ascending Butterfly on Networked Blogs HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Join Ascending Butterfly's NEW Community/Real Time Chat, Group HERE

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - One time only, NOT a daily: Vote for Ascending Butterfly on: Fuel My Blog

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Have you entered another active giveaway on Ascending Butterfly? Let me know which one and you’ll get more extra credit!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Have you commented on a non-giveaway entry? Let me know which one here and you’ll get more extra credit!

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ - Press the button below and join, you get an extra entry for this giveaway and a shot at more great prizes, lets win together! (one time extra credit, will be verified before entry can be accepted)

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FTC Disclosure Info for this Giveaway: This is not a paid insertion. This is a non-compensated post and all opinions regarding the product and the sponsor are my own experiences. I was provided product to facilitate the review and giveaway. The sponsors are fulfilling directly to prize winner(s), this in no way influenced my opinion of the products. Once a winner is selected and their information has been forwarded to the sponsor, the responsibility of prize fulfillment rests with the sponsor.