wine articles

fitbloggin' 2010

2010-03-22T21:31:00.000+02:00

I attended the Fitbloggin’ 2010 conference this year, even though I didn’t get into Baltimore until mid-morning Saturday – I had an amazing time!

Bryan was so sweet and drove me all the way to baltimore from VA early Saturday morning. Lilly and Charlie also came for the ride.

We actually slept in a bit later than we wanted to, so I wasn’t able to make it there until about 11:30 – I was still able to catch the end of one session where they talked about pitching yourself to the media.

The first people I ran into were Allison and Quinn – it was so great to see some familiar faces and reunite with them again.

The fitbloggin‘ staff planned a great lunch with tons of healthy yet tasty options, I ended up with a roasted veggie panini, mushroom (?) soup, roasted veggies, and some spinach salad – it was all delicious. I actually didn’t have any room for the soup since I had such a late breakfast.

there was also a cute dessert table with raspberry jello shooter – loved it!

This is when I started meeting so many other bloggers – it was great to meet new people, I am always interested in learning & reading other blogs. A couple of the people I met during lunch were Beth from Dining and Dishing and Tess from Wellness Daily.

I also got lots of neat things in my gift bag – my favorite was this cool little device called Gruve. I already love this thing so much, I think I might write an entire separate post on it.

After the event, I met a bunch of other bloggers at McCormick & Schmick’s by the water. Aime, me, Jacquie, and Quinn…

I didn’t have any wine or appetizers, but I did order the best sparkling water I have ever tired…

A bunch of us worked up a pretty big appetite for SUSHI! This was such an amazing group of girls – I haven’t met so many great people in ages, if ever! here we have Cara, Amie, Allison, Heather, me, Quinn, Meg, Brittany, and Stephanie, and Katie.

I loved this sushi restaurant, the sushi, wine, and these hot warm towels we are given upon arriving…

I had ordered three rolls, and devoured them all =) I have no idea what they were specifically, but all that matters is that they were delish!

I felt like such an occasion called for wine…

other girls thought so too =) I loved this

Afterwards we found a place to relax, If you are a regular reader of my blog you know I don’t drink – but this is once in a while so I dont feel bad having some fun =)

Allison and I decided it was a great idea to do a shot, it was a fabulous idea!

There was some rock band at Quinn’s house that followed,

I had such an amazing time – I WILL be signing up again next year for fitbloggin 2010! thank you so much girls for a great night =)

[Via http://sweetandfit.wordpress.com]

Ozaki previews pair of cases for iPad | iLounge News

Surfing the Russian River in East Dallas at VERITAS Wine Room!

2010-03-22T15:25:00.000+02:00

Thinking about adding wireless capabilities to your home or business? Wireless networking, also called WiFi or 802.11 networking, has a lot of advantages, is easy and inexpensive to set up. Recently, we added a Linksys WAP54G Wireless G Access Point at VERITAS Wine Room on Henderson Ave. To access the Wi-Fi services you’ll need a Wi-Fi enabled device, such as a laptop or PDA and you’ll need to get the WEP key from Brooks, Bradley, Eddie or Fernando. Enjoy VERITAS’ old world, rustic decor while sitting by the fire enjoying a nice glass of Pinot and surfing the web. 2006 Anthill Farms Tina Marie Vineyard Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. Stephen Tanzer’s:“92 Points. Bright red. Vibrant, highly expressive nose offers spicy strawberry, raspberry and baking spices. Zesty and sharply focused, with medium weight and intense, pure red fruit flavors. Fine-grained tannins provide shape and extend through the long, sappy finish. An impressively fresh, elegant pinot with admirable balance and purity.”

[Via http://markcharlesgroup.wordpress.com]

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How do you pronounce that?... Wine 101 Social

2010-03-19T21:13:00.000+02:00

We will be tasting a Grüner Veltliner, Vinho Verde, Gewurztraminer, Crémant de Loire, a Texan Carignan Mourvédre Blend as well as a Tokaji. We will be talking about the grapes, the land and the tastes of all the wines, as well as providing you with Tapas pairing options. The event costs $25 and all bottles are available at retail. We will discount all case orders. See you there!

Cheers!

[Via http://creativejuicesllc.wordpress.com]

More News about Omidyar's Peer News

Wine-o Oasis in Las Vegas

2010-03-19T15:58:00.000+02:00

Finally, it’s our time- our very own wine-o wonderland has come to Sin City. Why did it take so long in coming to a city that thrives on drinking the morning, afternoon and nighty-nite-nite away? I mean, after all, the oasis has already taken root in 63 stores in 11 states.

Winning the prestigious Beverage Dynamic’s 2008 Retailer of the Year award, Total Wine & More finally trudged into Las Vegas on March 4, bringing with them 8,000 wines, including 1,100 cabaret sauvignons, 750 chardonnays, 500 merlots, 250 zinfandels and 600 pinot noir varieties- all jam-packed all in a 27,000-square-foot store in Boca Park (730 S. Rampart Blvd.).

There are even 2,000 kinds of the hard spirits (500 vodkas, 220 scotches and 230 rums, among others) and even 1,000 varieties of beer to take down and pass around.

That’s enough to keep anybody warm for many a night. Compliment the experience with one of their 200 high-end cigars and you’ll be feeling no pain.

Not a wine connoisseur? No problemo. They have three weekly wine tastings to get you in the groove: noon to 5 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

[Via http://vbablogger.com]

Fox News' Bret Baier Interrupts The President | PerezHilton.com

Dill Chicken Paillards with Tomato-Dill Relish

2010-03-19T03:40:00.000+02:00

Chicken breasts are a terrific foundation for an easy-to-make dish that’s sweet, salty, dilly, and – is this even a word? – grilly. But, I don’t have a grill, so I baked the chicken instead. It was perfect served alongside cous cous boiled in chicken stock. To drink we had Hagafen Riesling from Napa Valley, which we got on our honeymoon. My parents recently came to visit us for the weekend and I made this for dinner one night. My daddy cleaned his plate.

Recipe for Dill Chicken Paillards with Tomato-Dill Relish

[Via http://thehappygilmores.wordpress.com]

Bad News: Android 2.1 update for the Motorola Droid has been delayed

Italian-style Shrimp with Spaghetti

2010-03-17T15:52:00.000+02:00

This simple spaghetti dish is mouth-watering and the perfect every night meal.

Seafood Pasta with Cheese? On a recent Chopped episode one of the contestants was scolded by the judges for adding cheese to seafood pasta. Shortly afterwards I noted that an Iron Chef did the same thing and none of the judges commented on it. Google it and you’ll find that it’s a hot topic amongst chefs and foodies. It seems that traditionalists prefer to not add cheese whereas foodie progressives like me will add cheese.

The nice thing about this delicious meal is that the cheese can be passed at the table so you can have it anyway you want. With Cheese…Without Cheese – It’s your choice. But doesn’t it look delicious in this photo with the shaved parmesan?

Italian-style Shrimp with Spaghetti

Inspired by Sunset Magazine, OCTOBER 2002

8 ounces dried spaghetti
1 cup finely chopped yellow onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 can (14 1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes
2/3 of 6 oz can tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 pound (40 to 50 per lb.) shelled deveined shrimp
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and pepper
Shredded and shaved parmesan cheese

1. In a 4- to 5-quart pan over high heat, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender to bite, about 10 minutes. Drain and return to pan.

2. Meanwhile, in a 10- to 12-inch frying pan over high heat, stir onion and garlic in olive oil until onions are limp, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes (with juice), tomato paste, wine, oregano, red pepper flakes and basil. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes.

3. Rinse and drain shrimp; add to sauce. Stir often just until opaque but still moist-looking in center of thickest part (cut to test), 6 to 8 minutes.

4. Stir sauce into cooked pasta. Divide mixture equally among four bowls. Sprinkle with parsley; add salt, pepper, and cheese to taste.

Yield: Makes 4 servings

CALORIES 447 (11% from fat); FAT 5.5g (sat 0.9g); CHOLESTEROL 173mg; CARBOHYDRATE 59g; SODIUM 675mg; PROTEIN 33g; FIBER 4.3g

[Via http://foodmuses.wordpress.com]

Valley News Live - Local/Regional News

Vinilter carafe

2010-03-17T09:53:00.000+02:00

The Vinilter wine breather breathes your wine in an instant, and even enables you to pour ready to drink wine directly from the bottle! Simply connect the unique wine breather and the bottle, and turn around! You can either serve the wine in the elegant carafe, or turn around once more to let the well-breathed wine run back into the original bottle.

Design by: Norm architects/Peter Ørsig

Price in retail ~ 60 EUR

[Via http://istuhl.wordpress.com]

Splinter Cell: Conviction demo on Thurs News | Xbox 360 | Eurogamer

Sonoma Wineries Map: All Grown Up

2010-03-17T03:36:00.000+02:00

Here is a post that includes the Sonoma Wineries Map. I thought I would include it as a post in order to give you an idea of what it looks like in the event you have not take a look via the map page.

You will see that it is much larger than previous versions. You can move the map by clicking (hold) and drag. As always, you can click the view larger map label at the bottom of the map to go to the map page (this one is the best option).

Well here it is…

View Larger Map

[Via http://sonomawineries.wordpress.com]

Sumbit Your Questions: Fox News' Bret Baier to Interview President ...

Korean agents visit Valencia

2010-03-15T15:49:00.000+02:00

We recently got the visit from some important Korean agents at the city from Valencia, they started with a visit and wine tasting at Bodegas Gandía.

Some white “Fusta Nova”, then a Bobal red wine and to finish some sweet one …

After this visit … directly to Albufera lake … to start some “Paella cooking show” … the most famous Valencian (and Spanish) dish.

After lunch we should have made a boat trip at Albufera: the biggest lake in Spain …The group wanted to do it …

everybody were ready … but unfortnately it was raining too much …

Do you see the umbrella … yes! that is Valencia Football Club symbol … and that’s where we went … straight ahead to see MESTALLA Football Stadium … for Valencian fans: “El templo del fútbol” … see at the left the future “trainers” from the club!!

Then after a rest … we had the pleasure to visit Opera house: “Palau de les Arts” and see/listen some Opera … which was followed from an amazing flamenco show at one of the best Tablaos in Valencia: “La Buleria”… good music and great food!!

The following day started with a visit to LLADRO Museum, the also called “City of Porcelain” where people can discover how this world-famous figure are made… At the picture you can see how the group had no interest at all …

This piece is over 120.00 EUR.: picture is free!!

From this sculptures … to others … that will be burnt in a few days (well most of them) … yes! I am talking about FALLAS … we visited the “Ninot Exhibition” … where Korean travel professional got amazed with all the “ninots”.

Obama, Charles Chaplin, Gasol, David Villa and this “ideal woman” where there …

And from there … directly to the amazing “City of Arts and Sciences” (www.cac.es) We visited Palau de les Arts, Science Museum and Aquarium.

Finally, on Sunday it was time for discovering the historic City Centre:

Virgin Square with Cathedral Complex, the place where “Holly Grial” is … then we also entered at “La Lonja“, World Heritage Monument from XV century.

After this visit, we enjoyed a “Mascletà” at the City Hall square (great view from Hotel Las Arenas “Balcon”

After lunch … a SEGWAY Tour along Turia Riverbed (www.culturia.org)

See Korean agents … proud below “SAMSUNG” (Korean company):

Final stop: BIOPARC Valencia … A piece of Africa in Valencia!!

I wonder how many people still think that Valencia can be seen in half day … when 3 days are not enough!!

[Via http://vlcmiguel.wordpress.com]

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 3/14 - Arrowhead Pride

White Wine 'As Healthy As Red'

2010-03-15T09:00:00.000+02:00

It’s already been established that red wine is healthy. But a recent study says that white wine is just as good for you.

Rats given a tipple of Italian white wine with their meals suffered less heart attack damage than animals allowed only water or raw grain alcohol.

The benefits were similar to those seen in animals fed red wine, or its “wonder” grape-skin ingredient, resveratrol.

Red wine, and resveratrol, have often been cited as the cause of the “French paradox” – the fact that French people have low rates of heart disease despite eating a lot of fat.

However, white wine, made from the pulp of grapes but not the skin, contains no resveratrol. Lab tests suggested that white wine protected the mitochondria in heart cells, the rod-shaped cell structures that act as energy-generating “powerplants”.

Molecular biologist Dipak Das, from the University of Connecticut in Farmington, US, said: “The flesh of the grape can do the same job as the skin.

Reas more on sky.com

[Via http://balancewines.wordpress.com]

Reality TV News Online – Part 3 | Caffeinated Buzz !

Sunday Dinner

2010-03-15T03:51:00.000+02:00

Menu:

Slow-Cooked Pot Roast with Medley of Mushroom Gravy (Cremini, Shitake, Portabella)

Creamy Parsnips and Pear

Lemon Butter Asparagus

Strawberries and Fresh Cream

I’m excited about this meal. I’ve never worked with parsnips before. They’re delicious! I tried going for seasonal ingredients that bridge the Winter to Spring months.

Guests: Amy and Gina, Me, Mason and Sonny

Wine: Central Coast Petite Syrah- Cupcake Vineyards- 2007

YUMMMMMMM!!!!!!

[Via http://whatsinmybrainz.wordpress.com]

Small Business News March 12, 2010 | Small Business Trends

How Bordeaux wines are graded and organized

2010-03-12T15:26:00.000+02:00

This is the final part of this introduction to Bordeaux, but we have really only scratched the surface. We’ll cover more aspects of Bordeaux in the future, like one of my favorites: how Medoc is inside itself (I’ll touch on that below, and we’ll cover it in detail later). But for now, let’s just get a feel for the way Bordeaux wines are graded qualitatively.

Bordeaux grades in decreasing order of quality:

Chateau wine
Regional wine
Cru Bourgeois
Bordeaux Superieur- technically superior to straight Bordeaux by ½ of 1 degree of alcohol. Maybe slightly better, maybe slightly more reliable than straight Bordeaux.
Bordeaux – 40% of all red Bordeaux, 60% of all white. The good, the bad, and the ugly
Table Wine (Wine Lake- jug wine and wine that’s converted into industrial alcohols)

Short version:

Bordeaux = $

Bordeaux + Region = $$

Bordeaux + Region + Chateau = $$ – $$$$ depending on chateau

Seems easy, doesn’t’ it? Here’s the rub: you’ve got to be familiar with the chateau names and region names or it becomes confusing very quickly. Why? Because they use the same names for different things. As I mentioned above, The Medoc is a region on the Left Bank. The Medoc is also a region within the Medoc. Right next to Haut-Medoc. So Haut-Medoc is next to Medoc and they’re both within the Medoc. Huh? This sort of title recycling is also very common in Burgundy, and it’s simple: multiple areas of winemakers trying to cash in on the cache of a particular title. Let’s say Fort Worth makes world class wines. Let’s say Dallas makes slightly lower quality wines. So they rename their wines Dallas-Fort Worth wines. That’s how Burgundy works, but Bordeaux takes it one step further: if Fort Worth wines are world famous, all of Dallas- Fort Worth wines get renamed Fort Worth. So now Fort Worth is both the area of Fort Worth and also the entire Dallas- Fort Worth metroplex. That’s how it is with Medoc: there is a small region called Medoc, and a larger area that took that title to raise the prices of their wines too. There are other examples. Chateau Margaux is a First Growth Chateau in the region of Margaux, which is next to the little Medoc but inside the big Medoc. So Chateau Margaux in in Margaux and in Medoc, and next to Medoc. This takes a little while to get used to, but it’ll sink in over time.

That covers the highest two quality levels: ranked chateaux and specific regions. Each of the other levels has it’s quandaries too. The next highest, Cru Bourgeois has it’s own dramatic tale, which we talked about in the Classification blog entry. To sum up: the Cru Bourgeois was introduced in 1932 but not controlled. When it was ‘finalized’ in 2002-3 only about half of the 500 chateaux using the title were approved. About 80 of the rejects sued, and after a bunch of suits the whole Cru Bourgeois designation was thrown out. Some Chateaux got together and restarted the Cru Bourgeois movement as a less formal quality stamp, not a legal designation. Chateaux wishing to use the stamp will apply to a peer-review board each year. this will first be for the 2010 wines, so any Cru Bourgeois labels you see on wines between 2007 and 2010 are not really legal, but the Cru Bourgeois board left it up to individual chateaux whether to use it or not.

Now for Bordeaux Superieur. Technically slightly better, by being slightly higher in alcohol. This implies slightly riper fruit, slightly greater body. Is it actually better wine? Maybe. Is it a more reliable choice? Maybe. If a winemaker is making higher alcohol wines, they’re using riper fruit, and hopefully more quality minded. That’s a whole bunch of maybes and hopefullys. In my experience Bordeaux Superieur is not consistently better.

As for straight Bordeaux, that just means the grapes were grown in Bordeaux, somewhere, and they were approved varietals (see our grapes blog entry) and very basic quality and yield rules were followed. There are some decent basic Bordeaux wines, there are some not too decent ones. Best of luck.

Now for table wine. This is actually a problem for all of France, and they call it the Wine Lake. There’s too much junk wine. It qualifies for no quality designation, and much of it is made into industrial alcohols. The French government is paying grapegrowers to rip out crap vines to reduce the Wine Lake. It’s a problem.

Well, I hope this clarifies the basics about how Bordeaux wines are stacked qualitatively. Keep in mind the basic rule: the more specific the label, the higher the price and the quality. It starts with Bordeaux, then adds on a region (Graves, Medoc, St Emilion, Cotes du Castillon, Pomerol, etc) then adds on a Chateau. Once you get to the Chateau level, you’ve got to start learning Chateau names, which is another whole elephant to eat. As always, find a good store with a reliable wine guy/gal and try lots of wines. Cheers!

[Via http://dallaswineblog.com]

ABC News Acknowledges Mini-Mistake In Toyota Report

‘Unhealthy food and drinks’ can actually be good for you

2010-03-12T09:44:00.000+02:00

Snacks and tipple are not deemed to be the healthiest food around but indulging in some of them may do you a whole lot of good. Snacks like are popcorn, chocolate red wine and a few more.

Some of these perceived “no-no’s” can actually be good for you , and even more so when you follow a balanced diet.

Here are some examples of the perceived unhealthy foods which have some health benefits.

POPCORN

It may be the best accompaniment for movies, but popcorn also helps curb the evening snack craving. A bowl of home-made popcorn is even better as it is low on calories and high on antioxidants.

DARK CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Yes, it is indeed good news especially for people with a sweet tooth. Dark chocolate is proven to be good for the heart and if it is paired with a whole wheat brownie and some nuts, it becomes rich in fibre as well.

DARK CHOCOLATE BARS

Dark chocolate contains high amounts of antioxidants. It helps to lower the blood pressure and decrease the risk of heart disease as well, if you eat around 100 grams a day.

CRACKERS

There are many kinds of whole wheat crackers available, which can be a good and healthy evening munch without the side-effects that other junk foods cause.

BAKED SNACKS

The latest in the snack category are baked snacks. They are better than fried chips as they contain no oil. Usually made of whole wheat with a dash of spice, it not only entertains the taste buds but is also healthy for your body.

PROCESSED CHEESE

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) is found in many meat, milk and cheese products. But a recent study which concentrated specifically on processed cheese found that CLA has anti-carcinogenic properties and it is also an effective antioxidant. The study says processed cheese contains more CLA than natural cheese, such as cheddar.

DRY STOUT BEER

Experts say that one pint of this thick and creamy dark beer may be as effective as a low dose of aspirin to improve blood circulation, and hence lower the risk of blood clots and heart attacks. It’s proven to be better than aerated drinks and other types of beer.

RED WINE

Resveratrol, an ingredient in red wine, effectively decreases life-threatening inflammations. The antioxidants in red wine can help in preventing heart disease and cancer. For non-drinkers, grape juice or even red grapes can be as effective.

Source: timesofindia.com

[Via http://balancewines.wordpress.com]

L.A. TV news: mostly crime and fluff - LA Observed

Disney's California Food & Wine Festival

2010-03-12T03:56:00.000+02:00

Disney-California-food-wine-festival

From April 16 to May 31, 2010, please your “palette” with a kaleidoscope of culinary experiences at the Fifth Annual Disney’s California Food & Wine Festival. For 46 days, Disney’s California Adventure® Park and select locations at the Disneyland® Resort will host “The Art of Flavor,” one of the most anticipated events of spring! Enjoy cooking demonstrations, seminars and recipes that reflect the Golden State’s regional and culinary diversity. It’s presented by Vanity Fair® Premium Napkins and Plates.

Many Festival favorites are returning, in addition to new events and activities…including the all-new Festival Showplace! More

[Via http://tourslosangeles.info]

Helped by Olympics, 'NBC Nightly News' Has a Big February - Media ...

Orangescape Studio

2010-03-10T15:11:00.000+02:00

I have been trying for a complete switch to Linux in my laptop for a long time. Though i achieved it for my desktop in home, Every time i get a plan to switch to linux, the Engg dept comes up with a new version which makes me to wait some more.

But with WINE i had been able to make the things to work in linux. But as it happens, many a time the application fail to work even with wine. Now after close to 4 to 5 months of trying to make the new Orangescape studio work on linux, atlast it works. Even though it is a webapp still we need wine.

The latest Update of Kernel to 2.6.31-20 + a higher internet connection speed made it possible. I had installed WINE 1.1.31 long back. I had installed Silverlight 3 + Firefox 3.5.6 (windows version) on WINE. It had not been working till last weekend, when i last updated the system. (Kernel version 2.6.31-20). Plus the new changes which the Engg made over the last week. Now it is working. I did some basic validations and a straight workflow. It worked well. But i could notice the CPU usage shooting up when doing Workflow design. But nothing so great to make the system unstable or crash to firefox as how it was happening before.

Studio

Process Designer

The Browser

The Operating System

But it is not working with moonlight. Seems moonlight has a lot of catching up to do.

[Via http://nasarabna.wordpress.com]

Steam News

Superb food but not the 5 star service I expected

2010-03-10T09:11:00.000+02:00

L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon

This was my second visit to the restaurant and both visits are within about 2 months of each other. I went there the first time on a Thursday evening and the again on a Friday evening. The number of guests on the Thursday night was far fewer (at the table seating) than that of the Friday evening (also table seating) and it seems this contributed to the difference in the service level.

On my first visit, I was thoroughly thrilled to have found such an delightful fine dining venue in Hong Kong. the ambience was excellent, the service was good, the staff attentive and the the food was exquisite and because we did not go for the degustation menu that time, we did not discover the many plastic cutlery they give you.

First let’s talk about the food. both times, we had the Steak Tartare because it was that good. The quail was another dish we had both times, again because it was just too good to be missed. Both times there were dishes (entrees and with the degustation menu) with black truffle and I couldn’t help but notice that the second time around the black truffle has lost quite a bit of its flavour. I am not familiar with how these are ordered but it tasted to me like it’s past its time. Perhaps because it’s technically out of season and other good restaurants aren’t serving them anymore?

The degustation menu was good but nothing especially caught my eyes. I would suggest ordering a la carte from the menu rather than the tasting menu. Desserts are a must. Very good wine list and the starting price is very reasonable.

In general, it really was a very good experience, but there are still a few things that I couldn’t help but mention. i know I’m being very pick here but for what I paid, i expected best and I have been to places where the service was better and they charged less. So bear with me for a while.

Things that they can improve on:

- the screeching of the chair legs when the chairs are being moved is extremely annoying. Less so when it’s not busy, very much when it’s a full house. I know 3M has a great product for that. Check it out.

- Aside from the pearl spoon used for the caviar, I see no reason why the other courses required that many plastic spoon to be used. And if it’s absolutely necessary as a culinary requirement to use plastic, please would you find something that doesn’t look and feel like a child’s cutlery.

- In general the staff were wonderful but if only they could pay a little more attention to when being signalled rather than the chair in front of them, it would be perfect.

-I ordered the wine by glass, in most restaurants I’ve been to, I still get to taste it before fully committing to it., which I am pretty sure was what happened the first time, but second time, nope, they showed me the bottle and then just poured a full glass straight. Two glasses as well. I was in a conversation and did not register this fact until she walked away. Didn’t want to make scene so I let it go. But decidedly very poor service in that regard.

- Serving time between courses were not very well timed. the first few courses came out really quickly, more quickly than a good evening of dining should be and then when it got busy, it got really slow. One of the courses we had to wait for a 20 minute break and another a 15 minute break where as earlier only it was bang, bang, bang, one straight after the other. So perhaps time management in the kitchen needs to be reviewed. IMHO.

I think that’s about it. I really don’t want to come across as being too harsh but I had such high expectation after the first dinner I went and booked the second night a month and a half in advance!

[Via http://sleeepy.wordpress.com]

RealClearPolitics - California's Bad News Keeps Pouring in

Sonoma Wineries Focus: Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards and Winery

2010-03-10T03:33:00.000+02:00

Chalk Hill features some serious wine! Very interesting vintages with small yield and limited production. In fact, some of these are hard to find at this point.

For those of you that do not know, Chalk Hill appellation rests between the Russian River Valley and Alexander Valley providing a unique growing situation that produces great reds and whites. The topography introduces low, cool areas as well as warmer, higher elevations with sometimes rocky soil. Unique earth produces unique wine.

Take some time to read the website as there is a lot of information there.

Here is a link: Chalk Hill Estate Vineyards and Winery

[Via http://sonomawineries.wordpress.com]

Staged footage in ABC News Toyota “test”

Mon 8th March 2010

2010-03-08T15:29:00.000+02:00

What an exciting few weeks it’s been at the Ship! Plenty of changes including lots of lovely new faces behind the bar, a modern makeover for our washrooms and exciting new wine lists with a twist.

The weekend that just sailed by saw the introduction of our latest 4 page wine list, introducing some tasty wines supplied by Cockburn and Campbell, including a Chenin Blanc from Keate’s Drift alongside an Australian Shiraz and Semillon Sauvingnon Blanc from You, Me and the Gatepost.

After-

If you popped in yesterday you would have seen us at our busiest, making record sales and providing the Sunday entertainment that you all love. Last night saw the return of the Northern Lights duo, for more info see

www.myspace.com/alexdewofficial. You couldn’t move for people throwing shapes and shotting back the Jager! I do wonder how these people make it into work on a Monday morning!?

As I mentioned earlier, our washrooms have had an exciting facelift and customers and staff are delighted with the final result. Comments welcomed…

I shall sign off for this week, leaving you with a few unmissable events;

Irish Music – Tues at 8.30pm in the Public Bar

Quiz Night – Weds at 8.30pm in the Main Bar

Mothering Sunday live band – Almost Famous at 8.30pm in the Main Bar

For instant news, events and promotions as well as absolutely pointless tweetage, follow us on twitter @shipwandsworth

Until next week…

[Via http://shipwandsworth.wordpress.com]

Sunday News Roundup « The Confluence

Umbrian Wine Tasting in Perugia

2010-03-08T09:28:00.000+02:00

On Saturday we went into Perugia for an afternoon of Umbrian wine tasting. Eight Umbrian wineries were showing off their products in a tasting open to the public, Lungarotti (Torgiano), Roccafiore (Todi), La Spina (Marsciano), Paolo Bea (Montefalco), Antonelli San Marco (Montefalco), Fattoria Colleallodole (Bevagna), Collecapreta (Spoleto) and Palazzone (Orvieto).

Lungarotti Wines, Wine Tasting, Perugia, Umbria

It was a really pleasant event held in offices just off Perugia’s main street, the Corso Vannucci, many of the cantina owners were there and happy to talk about their wines. I have already put wines from Lungarotti, La Spina, Roccafiore and Palazzone on my blog, however, this didn’t stop me from trying them again!

Wine Tasting, Perugia, Umbria

Roccafiore must be getting very good write ups about their wine as the prices seemed to have gone up considerably since last year. I was just getting over a cold, so my tasting ability probably wasn’t up to normal, but I came away with a couple of new bottles to try, a Rosso di Montefalco Riserva from Antonelli San Marco and a 100% Sangiovese from Collecapreta, I’ll put the tasting notes on the blog when I’m over my cold and able to smell properly!

Wines from the Collecapretta Cantina

Four cantinas were offering whites made from Trebbiano Spoletino, a grape native to the area around Spoleto in southern Umbria that was once in danger of dying out. This grape has an up-front nose but is fairly constrained in the mouth, making a good aperitivo or everyday drinking wine.

Tuscany & Umbria Holiday Accommodation

You can try wines from these Umbrian producers when you holiday on the beautiful Tuscany Umbria border in central Italy. A holiday villa, farmhouse or apartment in this stunning area makes a great base to explore these famous regions.

Holiday Villa, Tuscany Umbria Border, Ca' di Bracco

Gorgacce Rentals tuscanyumbria.com have a superb selection of vacation villas, holiday farmhouses and rental apartments for self catering holidays on the Tuscany Umbria border. Look at our website for large Tuscany Villas & Umbria Farmhouses with Swimming Pools, smaller Holiday Villas To Rent In Tuscany & Umbria and Tuscany & Umbria Agritourism Apartments With Pool.

We have a selection of Tuscany and Umbria vacation accommodation to suit every budget, take a look at one of our Umbria & Tuscany Luxury Holiday Villas or beautiful but Cheap Accommodation In Tuscany. Whether you are looking for Accommodation for A Farm Holiday In Tuscany or a Tuscany Farmhouse Holiday you will find a self catering holiday villa for you on our website.

If you would like to stay in the middle of an Italian hill town we have Apartment Rental in Cortona, Tuscany and Apartment Rental In Spello, Umbria.

[Via http://tuscanyumbriavilla.wordpress.com]

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Le Serre Nuove dell'Ornellaia

2010-03-08T03:05:00.000+02:00

Tenuta dell’Ornellaia may not be one of Tuscany’s most historic wineries, but it has become one of its most respected with a formidable reputation. Le Serre Nuove is the estate’s second wine and it is a highly remarkable “Second Vin”. This is a great Bordeaux style blend expressing unique Tuscan terroir. The 2007 is composed of 40% Merlot, 40% Cabernet Sauvignon, 15% Cabernet Franc, and 5% Petit Verdot. The wine exhibited dark berry flavors, cassis, and some licorice. Very earthy with hints of minerals and good acidity. I really need to thank my friend Adam for introducing me to this lovely wine a few years ago. I went over to Joel’s house for dinner this past Saturday night. I cooked Bucatini all’Amatriciana for our first course, but we decided to save the Ornellaia for later. Joel grilled some venison sausage that was delicious and paired will with the wine. Our main course was grilled ribeye stuffed with mushrooms, herbs, and some mild blue cheese. Again, a great dish that paired well with the wine. Joel also pulled out a 2000 Jed Steele Lake County Syrah which also went well with our meal. Overall a great dinner!

[Via http://gastrovino.wordpress.com]

Bad news: HTC says the Nexus One doesn't 'go in pockets' -- Engadget

Cooking with Nick: Harvey's in Town to Eat Spare Ribs and Paella!

2010-03-05T15:49:00.000+02:00

This is a special edition of Cooking with Nick: Harvey’s In Town! Frank and Nick’s cousin, Joey (also known as Harvey for his resemblance of Harvey Milk in a family photo taken this summer) came into town from Chicago. Naturally, a chair at the Cooking with Nick table had his name written all over it. Nick and I met up early on Saturday and headed over to Clancey’s in Linden Hills. If it weren’t so far from my house, I would get all of my meat there (not to say I don’t love the Seward Co-Op’s meat but it is a little selective in comparison).

So, as we’re perusing the meat selection and discussing good options, I pull out one of my favorite gifts from Frank: The Meat Bible (it arrived from Lobel’s shop in a Styrofoam box like it was meat. Awesome). I peeled through to the Thai- Style Marinated Spare Ribs recipe, and settled on this for the appetizer. For the entree? Braised pork shoulder, shrimp, clam and scallop paella. With meat purchased and menu planned, off Nick went to braise the pork shoulder and me to marinate the spare ribs and clean the house.

The evening's wine selection

Harvey and his younger brother Ryan were the first to arrive, and so we put the spare ribs in the oven while we opened the first round of beers. The weather is just about to turn here, so it made me a little anxious we couldn’t just sit out on the porch to chat, but okay, summer is coming. I get it. When Nick, Chenny and baby Miles arrived, the ribs were just finishing up, so we made the Chile Herb Dipping Sauce that goes with. This was the first recipe out of The Meat Bible and it didn’t disappoint. I will be making those again soon, perhaps before summer as an entree with asparagus and mashed potatoes.

Onto the paella: I don’t even know where to start. Well, I do. First, you need a way bigger pan than I had if you’re going to cook for 6. Second, I loved the braised pork shoulder with the Spanish rice and seafood. It was different, in an excellent way. I’m thinking Frank’s favorite restaurant, El Meson, would have it on the menu, so we may head over there soon. So, the paella: this is Nick’s recipe, written in his own words. Take note – he’s Chef at Seven now, so you’ll want to follow the recipe exactly (yes, even I would)

1 3-4 lb smoked ham hock

1/2 lb spanish picante chorizo(natural casing)

1lb laughing bird shrimp

1 lb manila clams

1 lb bay scallops(baja or nantucket)

saffron threads

3 mugs(yes coffee mugs) spanish rice

1 yellow onion

Chicken stock( amt varies by size and shape of hock, enough to cover)

garlic

1 red bell pepper

to start, place ham hock and 2 cups mirepoix in dutch oven and cover

with stock(can vary flavor with bay leaf, veg stock, mush stock,

peppercorns) slow simmer or oven braise at 300 for 4 hours until bone

falls off and meat is shred-able. reserve braising juice, but discard

mirepoix from liquid.

rough chop onions and garlic

take largest skillet available(17 inch or more) and heat olive oil.

High heat, to smoking, add red peppers and fry. as they color, lower

heat to medium and add onions, until the start to color, then add

garlic. add diced chorizo. season with salt and pepper. at this

point, take saffron threads and lightly toast and macerate with a spoon

in a small skillet(20-30 seconds) add grapeseed oil to cover(delicate

amount, just enough to incorporate threads. set aside.

while veg is sauteing, add shredded pork( with skin and bones) to

pan, and slightly brown for texture. add stock(reserved from

braising) ratio is one mug rice to 2 cups stock. as rice begins to

cook, add seafood and cover for about 10 min. add saffron oil, stir

once, and let paella cook uncovered until rice is cooked, and it begins

to stick to the bottom of the pan. the crispy almost burned rice is a

prized treat in spain, so make sure it does not get disturbed for the

last 8-10 minutes of cooking.

pair with a nice juicy albarino from spain, rolle from provence, maybe

a nz sauv blanc or provence rose(tavol, bandol or provence)

[Via http://minneapolishunter.com]

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Issue two of re:new

2010-03-05T09:47:00.000+02:00

We’ve submitted copy for issue three of our final magazine project and will start designing it next Wednesday (hopefully). First we have to make it through issue two’s post mortem today… the joy of having your work pulled to pieces in front of 30 people…

[Via http://ribbonandrope.wordpress.com]

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Fledgling Wine: Twitter Joins Winery to Promote Literacy

2010-03-05T03:52:00.000+02:00

Speaking of the borderless opportunities before social media and internet marketing, I recently learned about an interesting initiative.

The Fledgling Wine initiative joins the efforts of Twitter, the Californian winery Crushpad, and Room to Read, a non-profit that promotes literacy for children from third-world countries.

$5 from every $20-bottle of the fledgling Crushpad wine, vintage 2009, goes towards the noble cause of Room to Read.

What makes this initiative interesting to me is that it presumably targets wine connoisseurs, who are generally expected to be more affluent than the average person (since they are used to buying wine from this same vineyards for $50 per bottle, according to the winemaker).

I believe that it’s a great idea to target wine-lovers, who often times are the intelligentsia , the more sophisticated social class, and who would spend their money not only on good wine, but also for good causes.

Still, by lowering the price of their wine and starting this “social winemaking project” in partnership with Twitter, Crushpad takes away from the elitist feel of buying vintage wine for a socially responsible cause. Crushpad makes the connoisseur experience available to everybody.

The idea of making something far-fetched and elitist (such as premium wine in the eyes of the wine-ignorant, access to the global communication flow in the eyes of the internet-unacquainted, or education and literacy in the eyes of poor kids in India) seem attainable and real, is the heart of the Fledgling Wine initiative; and a truly noble cause.

That’s why I think the Fledgling Wine is such a great project.

Cheers!

And happy National Holiday, March 3rd, to all Bulgarians living and studying abroad!

***

Read my post on the Bulgarian Day of Wine, Trifon Zarezan.

[Via http://zikata.wordpress.com]

Sony "surprise" sequel reveal this week News | PS3 | Eurogamer

Johanneshof Gewurtztraminer

2010-03-03T21:29:00.000+02:00

Marlborough – Johanneshof – Gewurtztraminer 2009

___________________________________________________________________

My take on the Wine:

Rating: 9/10

Price Guide: $25 – 30

In My own Words:

On the nose lush turkish delight aromas – with a hint of citrus. A perfectly balanced Gewurtz – sweet, light, spicy, a long finish with a hint of apricot.

Very good drinking.

Tasted March 2010

Johanneshof Gewurtztraminer

http://www.johanneshof.co.nz/

“Johanneshof Cellars Marlborough

2009 Gewürztraminer

Luscious medium style with perfumed aroma and flavour of roses,

Turkish delight and lychees.

Perfect with Asian spicy food and tasty cheeses.

Drink now or until 2014.

Gold Medal – New Zealand International Wine Show – Sept 2009

Best of Class – Other White Wines – Boutique Australian Winemakers Awards

Top Equal – Wine NZ Magazine Gewurztraminer Tasting – Spring 2009″ * Excerpt from http://www.johanneshof.co.nz/

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rating: 9/10

Price Guide: $25 – 30

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

[Via http://jonjamesharris.wordpress.com]

John Kasich's Fox News Platform May Help Campaign For Governor

High Valued Home & Auto Insurance

2010-03-03T14:59:00.000+02:00

PlatinumPro – Elite Personal Protection

Hot on the heels of being awarded Cornerstone status with Chubb Insurance Company of Canada Mitchell Sandham launches their new brand, PlatinumPro – Elite Personal Protection. This division is dedicated to servicing our high net worth individuals for their personal insurance needs. In this division we provide the following services:

- Dedicated account executive

- Expert claims service

- Insurance markets – Chubb, Chartis, Dominion and RSA

- Personal Service

- Innovative Coverages

- Insuring to value

- Appraisals for your home and assets

- Communication –email, mail, or in person (your location or ours)

We are a team of specialists providing expert advice in the niche area of personal insurance. Our service proposition is to provide a first class experience with personal service. We advise on and can arrange coverage for all types of assets including:

Fine homes
Automobiles
Yachts, speedboats and sea doos
Valuable Articles
Collections including cars, wine, antiques and art
Excess Personal Liability including home invasion and directors and officers liability for those who sit on a not-for profit board of directors
Access to private health care

If you are an individual of distinction with high valued assets and your insurance needs have outgrown mass-marketed policies, please contact us today for a review of your personal insurance.

Contact:

Ryan Mitchell, CAIB, CPIB

Direct: (416) 862-5620

[Via http://mitchellsandham.wordpress.com]

Search News from Bing, Twitter, and Google « ResourceShelf

Julie & Julia Wine Dinner

2010-03-03T03:26:00.000+02:00

Hey everybody!!!

We’re so excited at the cafe about the upcoming wine dinner that we just had to share some of it with you! Check back a few times today as we’re going to share some of the preparation that goes into making Julia Child’s famous Boeuf Bourguignon. I’m off to the market now to grab the freshest veggies possible so stay tuned for more info!

–Chef John

[Via http://johnosorio.wordpress.com]

News 'grazers' welcome: Platform ready: The Swamp

Cycling the Rail Trail

2010-03-01T21:54:00.000+02:00

Milford Sound, and in particular the road to reach it, has to be one of the most incredible sights in New Zealand. On our last visit the pouring rain only made the journey more amazing as continuous streams and 100m high waterfalls cascaded down the cliffs next to the road. Being here a few months later this time meant it was much hotter and dryer but pretty spectacular nonetheless!

Zoë had booked an early morning Kayak trip which took her over 20km up the length of the fjord to the Tasman Sea, paddling along the way with Dolphins and baby Seals! I’d opted for the sedate option and spent the morning having a guilt-free photo session down by the water, albeit a painful one due to the particularly voracious sandflies that were desperate to suck every drop of blood from my body!

Queenstown was on our route back north, one of the busiest tourist destinations in NZ. Accordingly prices for accommodation were rather higher than we were used to and the town packed so we headed out towards Glenorchy at the other end of Lake Wakitipu. Glenorchy is another pretty spectacular place and was one of the most frequently used locations for NZ based movies like Lord of the Rings and Narnia etc.. It’s also the start of several of the best multi-day walks in the country, although we didn’t try any of them out for Health and Safety reasons!

With the searing heat and the hole in the ozone layer down here, sunburn times were around 12 minutes which kept us firmly in the shade for most of the day. Once tired of sitting about reading we’d walk down to the Jetty where most of the townsfolk congregated after school and work to jump in the lake and cool down!

After a few days of this we headed back to Queenstown briefly for what we think is its star attraction! You can do pretty much any adventurous activity in Queenstown; bungy jumping, jet boating, skydiving, heli-biking/skiing, plus a bunch of watersports on the lake, but for us the luge at the top of Bob’s Peak takes the biscuit! I don’t think it’s possible to describe how much fun can be had steering a plastic tray with wheels down a concrete slope! 5 runs later we were wishing we’d bought an annual pass instead but I don’t think we’d ever leave if we had one!

East of Queenstown we were back in the Central Otago region, a sparsely populated and pretty dry and barren area full of farmland and not much else!

We were here however to finally do some exercise! The Central Otago Rail Trail is an old railway line that’s now used for walking or biking the 150km from Clyde to Middlemarch. The trail would take us 3 days on bikes, which didn’t sound too taxing as railway lines are flat aren’t they? Not around here it would seem!

We’d planned 65km for Day 1 and thankfully it was nice and cloudy so we didn’t burn to death on the exposed trail. It was certainly not flat however and after around 7 hours Zoë was beginning to think that cycling uphill through gravel to No-horse towns for 3 days was not a good idea! To add to the pain of throbbing legs, our worst fears were realised when we arrived at our hostel to find there was no TV for the start of Season 6 Lost! Naturally we consoled ourselves with a medicinal 2 litre tub of Hokey Pokey ice-cream before bed!

Day 2 was considerably hotter and began uphill again, much to the distress of Zoë’s legs and my bum-bones. As if the 150km wasn’t enough we’d decided to tag on a 30km detour to the town of Naseby in the middle of the trail. Obviously there was a good reason for this. What else do you do to escape the burning heat on the scorched plains of central Otago? You go Curling of course!

It was a strange location for a 4-lane curling rink but we couldn’t resist the chance to go and try it out. After an introductory DVD we headed down to the ice to play a couple of ends. Ladies first and with her first stone Zoë managed to get a perfect bullseye! It was a bit of a sitting duck though in the middle of the rink and so it didn’t stay there very long. After trying various techniques such as the ‘walk-and-release push’ and the ’stand-and-push push’, it wasn’t long before we were attempting the considerably more fun ‘Zero-traction-shoe lunge and glide’ method! Here I’d found my forté and happily skidded around the ice on my bare knees for the next half an hour!

We can both thoroughly recommend Curling if you ever get the chance to play. It has to be the most fun you can have with 20kg of granite – guaranteed!

Day 3 was a little easier although the downhill we were expecting still seemed pretty flat or uphill! We finished the 60km on time though and were picked up in Middlemarch for a much quicker return to the start of the trail.

The next week or so was spent doing the long drive back up to the top of the South Island via the lakes at Wanaka and Lake Tekapo, Mount Cook for a couple of walks and the north-east coast for wine and fish & chips! Our next journey would be shorter but on considerably less stable ground!

[Via http://mrandmrsmoulam.wordpress.com]

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Lent

2010-03-01T15:51:00.000+02:00

A friend of mine told me that she’s giving up wine and chocolate for Lent. For her, this is a big sacrifice, because she almost always has a glass of wine when she comes home from work to unwind the day. And I guess chocolate has a special place in her heart as well. (Who’s heart doesn’t have that for chocolate, right?) The wine seems like the harder one though. It signals for her the end of a long day and with that glass she can just relax her stress away.

It doesn’t just calm her down though, she actually really loves wine. So much so that she’s taking classes to learn about it and even knows everyone who works at her favorite wine bar. She’s passionate about it and knows different vintages, ports, bouquets, and a bunch of other things that I know nothing about. Anyone who’s ever been passionate about something knows that it’s not so easy to just shut it out.

It’s actually pretty interesting, she’s finding that just as much as it’s a religious thing it’s also a lifestyle change. We were talking about this one day and she made a very clever connection when she was wondering if giving something up for Lent gives people more conviction to stick with it, because it’s tied up with religion. I definitely think she’s on to something. It’s giving her a reason to ignore her cravings for her glass of sanity – because that’s really what it’s become. It’s become a habit for her to have that glass when she comes home more than a real desire, and had she just arbitrarily decided to give up wine she’d most likely have too many excuses as to why it’s ok to “have just one glass, just this one time”, and that time would turn into the next and the next. Instead, when she comes home now and has a craving, she dives into work, reading, a bath, or anything to distract herself. These 40 days is giving her a goal, a well-defined goal, that is helping keep her on track. It’s also making it more manageable, because there’s an end in sight.

This is so similar to giving up sweets, for example, for the sake of loosing weight. If you have little mini goals set-up to measure your success the probability of you choosing an apple over that yummy piece of cake soars. But, if you just go at it without any plan you’ll feel like a hamster on a never-ending wheel. You need to define how much you want to lose or what size you want to be, and in how many days you’re going to do it in. Otherwise, there’s nothing forcing you to stick with your plan, because there’s no incentive.

Whenever we change up our patterns we create new routines, and I have a feeling that after Lent is over she may have a glass of wine once in a while when she really wants it, but it won’t be an everyday ritual.

For this week’s goal, whether you celebrate Lent or not, decide to change something in your routine for 40 days. It’s just 40 days, but it can really change your life. I’m going to limit my night time snacking to 100 calories or less. Please share what you’re doing.

Also, have you ever given up something for the sake of Lent, health, or weight loss? How did you manage and how did it work out?

[Via http://verypersonaltraining.wordpress.com]

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Walla Walla Washington Wine

2010-02-26T15:36:00.000+02:00

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from L’Ecole.

As some of you may know, this year’s North American Wine Blogger Conference is in Walla Walla, Washington. I’m still working out the details to see if it will be a possibility for me to attend this time, but in the meantime, I’m trying out some wines from Walla Walla, this month thanks to the folks at L’Ecole. I’ve only had a few Washington State wines, and even fewer from Walla Walla, so I’m happy to be able to expand my tasting a bit and bring you something different. First up is the 2007 L’Ecole No. 41 Estate Syrah. The wine retails for $36, had a real cork closure, and clocked in at 14.8% alcohol by volume.

Big meaty pepper dark fruit wrapped in some smoke tinged with herbs. Yum. Talk about voluptuous. Meat, pepper, spice, black fruit, plums, blackberries, earth, and herbs showed on the nose for me. In the mouth plum and blackberry fought for attention with spice, pepper, leather, anise, earth, and some creamy notes rounding out the palate. At first this showed really tight for me and it needed a couple hours in the glass to really open up into it’s chewy big fruits.

[Via http://wannabewino.com]

Online VS Traditional News | Viral Eruption

Wine Tasting and Glass-Blowing Demonstration at the Diablo Glass School

2010-02-26T09:00:00.000+02:00

Flattened glass bottles on display at the Diablo Glass School in Roxbury.

About once a month — including tomorrow, Saturday, February 27 — the Diablo Glass School in Roxbury transforms into the hippest place in Boston to have a glass of wine.

The glass school, located in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, regularly opens its doors for public wine tastings. The twist is that, as guests sip their wine, they also watch professional glassblowers demonstrate how a wine glass is made.

“I jumped on it like white on rice,” said Jen Thurber from her seat in the audience at a recent event. As soon as she heard about the wine and glassblowing combination, Thurber invited Sarah Clark, a wine-loving engineer who works for a glass manufacturer. “It’s the perfect place for us to be,” Clark said.

“People come to the wine events from all over the city, from all different walks of life,” said Emily Lombardo, studio manager. “We give them something to watch, and something to drink, and a place to be social.”

Throughout the evening the audience flows back and forth from the “hot shop,” where the furnaces are located and the glassblowers perform, to the “lab,” the separate room where Josh Eaton and Susana McDonnell pour the wines.

Eaton and McDonnell are also experienced glassblowers, and they run Terroir Wines LLC, a Cambridge-based importer of French wines from small producers. Eaton introduced the concept of pairing wine tastings with glassblowing demonstrations as a way to showcase his own wines. The idea took off, and for each tasting Eaton now pairs with a local retailer to handle orders from the audience.

Eaton coordinates the evening’s wine program so the audience can shift focus from wine to glassblowing and back again. He’ll pour two samples of 2004 Lamblin & Fils 1er Cru Chablis, for example, one from Fourchaumes and the other from Beauroy, so that the audience can compare and contrast the same grape from two different localities of the same producer’s vineyard.

“We want people to learn something, and we want them to have a really good time,” Eaton said. Normally he opens between 10 and 15 wines for each event but he always ends with what he calls a show-stopper, such as a 2005 Jaboulet Vercherre Pommard. “Inevitably, he said, “when people place their orders they’ll go for these.”

Inevitably, too, people are drawn back to the hot shop and the choreography of the glassblowers. Studio manager Emily Lombardo smiles. “The wine events gives us as glass artists the chance to be rock stars for a day.”

[Via http://wgbhfoodie.wordpress.com]

Get the new KVAL News app for iPhone, iPod Touch | KVAL CBS 13 ...

I Promise...

2010-02-26T03:44:00.000+02:00

I made a promise to myself, that I would eat only good raw foods. It’s been like a roller coaster ride since September 1st, 2009 when I initially made the decision. And looking at the calendar, it’s nearing my June 2nd goal date and I’m not losing anymore weight, in fact I’ve gained.

So, now it’s down to the wire to curb my spontaneous and bad eating style. Being back in Florida, I’ve been monitoring what and how much I’m eating. My juicing is a staple two times a day and I’ve been taking my Barley Max once a day. I’m actually thinking of beefing that up to two times a day.

Since Tuesday, I’ve eaten Minestrone Soup and Salad at Olive Garden for lunch and then I made a Layered Vegetable Salad for dinner. Wednesday I had lunch with Mike and his daughter at a pizza shop and of course I had Pizza with a twist. I asked for two slices of pizza with Onion, Broccoli, Mushrooms and NO CHEESE with a Greek Salad with NO CHEESE. Dinner was at Carrabba’s Restaurant where I had an Insalata Furilluci Salad with Grilled Eggplant, Roasted Red Bell Peppers, Olives with an Oil and Vinegar Dressing. I also ordered Rigatoni Martino with no meat and cheese (Mike and I shared that!). Thursday I ate the left over Layered Vegetable Salad for lunch and then it was back to another Carrabba’s Restaurant where I had the Insalata Furilluci for dinner and we ordered Bruchetta for appetizers. I have to admit, I did indulge with four pieces of bread and both evenings I had a small carafe of wine.:(

[Via http://rawtolose40.wordpress.com]

ABC News Plans Major Job Cuts As Part Of 'Fundamental ...

Fine Wine

2010-02-24T21:50:00.000+02:00

The Misconception: Wine is a complicated elixir, full of subtle flavors only an expert can truly distinguish, and the more expensive it is, the better it tastes.

The Truth: There is little correlation between price and taste of wine, and wine experts are fooling themselves into believing they can pick up distinct flavors.

You scan the isles in the liquor store looking for a good wine.

It’s a little overwhelming – all those weird bottle shapes with illustrations of castles and vineyards and kangaroos. And all those varieties? Riesling, Shiraz, Cabernet – this is serious business.

You look to your left and see bottles for around $12; to your right you see bottles for $60. You think back to all the times you’ve seen people tasting wine in movies, holding it up to the light and commenting on tannins and barrels and soil quality – the most expensive wine has to be the better one, right?

Well, you are not so smart. But, don’t fret – neither are all those connoisseurs who swish fermented grape juice around and spit it back out.

Wine tasting is a big deal to a lot of people. It can even be a professional career. It goes back thousands of years, but the modern version with all the terminology like notes, tears, integration and connectedness goes back a few hundred.

Wine tasters will mention all sorts of things they can taste in a fine wine as if they were a human spectrograph with the ability to sense the molecular makeup of their beverage.

As you may have figured out by now, most of this is pretty much total bullshit.

In 2001, Frederic Brochet conducted two experiments at the University of Bordeaux.

In one experiment, he got 57 wine experts together and had them taste one glass of red wine and one glass of white wine. He had them describe each wine in as much detail as their expertise would allow.

What he didn’t tell them was both were the same wine. He just dyed the white one red.

In the other experiment, he asked the experts to rate two different bottles of red wine. One was very expensive, the other was cheap.

Again, he tricked them. This time he had put the cheap wine in both bottles.

So, what were the results?

The experts in the first experiment, the one with the dyed wine, described the sorts of berries and grapes and tannins they could detect in the red wine just as if it really was red. Every single one, all 57, could not tell it was white.

In the second experiment, the one with the switched labels, the experts went on and on about the cheap wine in the expensive bottle. They called it “complex” and “rounded.” They called the same wine in the cheap bottle “weak” and “flat.”

Another experiment at Cal-Tech pitted five bottles of wine against each other. They ranged in price from $5 to $90. Similarly, the experimenters put cheap wine in the expensive bottles – but this time they put the tasters in a brain scanner.

While tasting the wine, the same parts of the brain would light up in the machine every time, but with the wine the tasters thought was expensive, one particular region of the brain became more active. Studies are continuing to explore this.

Yet another study has tasters rate cheese eaten with two different wines. One they were told was from California, the other from North Dakota. The same wine was in both bottles. The tasters rated the cheese they ate with the California wine as being better quality, and they ate more of it.

What this points out is the nasty beast of expectation.

Expectation, as it turns out, is just as important as raw sensation. The build up to an experience can completely change how you interpret the information reaching your brain from your otherwise objective senses.

In psychology, true objectivity is pretty much considered to be impossible. Memories, emotions, conditioning and all sorts of other mental flotsam taint every new experience you gain.

In addition to all this, your expectations powerfully influence the final vote in your head over what you believe to be reality.

So, when tasting a wine, or watching a movie, or going on a date – some of what you experience comes from within and some comes from without.

Expensive wine is like anything else that’s expensive, the expectation that it will be taste better makes it taste better.

Restaurants depend on this. Actually, just about every retailer depends on this. Presentation, price, good marketing, great service – it all leads to an expectation of quality. The actual experience at the end of all this is less important. As long as it isn’t total crap, your experience will match up with your expectations.

Your expectations are the horse, and your experience is the cart. You get this backwards all the time because you are not so smart.

Links:

How to Taste Wines

The Wine Snob Scandal

Grape Expectations

[Via http://youarenotsosmart.wordpress.com]

Digimon MMO for Westerners in March News | MMO | Eurogamer

Mas Belle Eaux Le Coteaux Coteaux du Languedoc paired with Jalapeno Hens

2010-02-24T15:26:00.000+02:00

The Wine; Mas Belle Eaux Le Coteaux, Coteaux du Languedoc

Mas Belle Eaux Le Coteaux Coteaux du Languedoc

Tasting notes:

This refined, elegant red from the south of France has an enticing aroma of pepper and sage, with flavors of raspberry, kirsch, red cherry and hints of garrigue. The pure, minerally finish ends on a meaty note. Syrah, Grenache and Mourvèdre.

Terroir: well drained slopes made up of Villafranchian gravel.

Appellation: Languedoc Blend: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvèdre

Vinifi cation: fermentation in temperature controlled concrete and stainless steel vats. Long maceration for 30 to 40 days.

Ageing: 15 months in French oak barrels, 1 to 3 years old Winemaker’s comments: a dark, intense colour. On the palate, the wine is round, supple and full-bodied. The aromas of black fruit and spices will be a sheer lasting delight for the taste buds. It is best laid down for 2 to 10 years. It will go very well with wild fowl (duck, woodcock, pheasant, etc.), spicy dishes and cheese. My favourite: it was absolutely delicious with a fi llet of duck and pan-fried cèpes.

Recipe Pairing: Jalapeno Hens

Serves: 4; ½ hen per serving – You can ask you butcher to split the hens for you before you take them home. If you do it yourself, use kitchen shears or a sharp knife and cut through the breastbone, just off center. Then cut through the center of the backbone.

Ingredients:

2 1- to 1 ½-pound Cornish game hens, split lengthwise and skinned.

½ cup jalapeno jelly.

1 orange, cut into slices (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Rinse hens and pat dry.

In a small saucepan, heat jelly over low heat until warm.

Place hen halves, cut side down, in a single layer in a shallow roasting pan.

Spoon about half of the warm jelly over the hens.

Roast, uncovered, for 30 minutes.

Baste with jelly and cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning.

Continue roasting 15 minutes or until hens are tender and no longer pink.

To serve, spoon remaining warm jelly over roasted hens and, if desired, garnish with orange slices.

Calories 282

Protein 37 g

Carbohydrate 14 g

Cholesterol 104 mg

Sodium 99 mg

Total Fat 8 g

Saturated 2 g

Polyunsaturated 2 g

Monounsaturated 2 g

This is a very nice wine, paired with this recipe you will be sure to impress with this fantastic match. From my table to yours.

WineGuyMike

[Via http://winendinecvs.wordpress.com]

Dr. Belisa Vranich: Breaking News: Penis Size in the USA

House of the Rising Sun - Concha Y Toro

2010-02-24T03:44:00.000+02:00

Did I mention that I’ve been keeping tasting notes for several years now? Don’t get concerned; I won’t share them all here. But I thought this particular selection would be of interest to others like me looking for good values in wine. I had this quite recently, too.

Vineyard:     Sunrise (by Concha Y Toro)

Wine:           Chardonnay

Vintage:       2008

Appellation: Central Valley – Chile

Price:          $7.99

Notes:         Nice apple and lemon with a hint of grass. It was surprisingly flaccid in the mid-palate for me. Perhaps I should give it another go just to be sure I wasn’t having an off day. Not a particularly bad wine; in fact not at all offensive. Just not a very interesting wine for my taste. Of course, given the very reasonable price, you could do worse.

Important: I am not a professional sommelier or wine connoissuer. I have taste buds, however, and know what I like. Please do not consider my thoughts to be an endorsement or diminution of any particular wine. You should always judge for yourself as likes, dislikes, and taste are very subjective.

[Via http://joepeckblogarhythms.wordpress.com]

Apple job listing points to new iPhone OS devices | iLounge News

Sedona Film Festival, Wine and Sedona Adventure Tours

2010-02-22T21:08:00.000+02:00

Food and wine pairing experiences are now commonplace at all of the better restaurants in Sedona. But how about a film and wine pairing? Sedona Adventure Tours and the Caduceous Winery are doing just that to celebrate the premiere of the film Blood into Wine at the Sedona International Film Festival this week. If you ‘get into’ the film you can then get into the wine tasting room in Jerome and not get into trouble on the drive back to Sedona.

Sedona Adventure Tours comfortable vans will pick you up in red carpet style at 1pm, right at Sedona Film Festival central. You will immediately discover how nice it is to enjoy the scenery while someone else does the driving. And you get an interesting narration to boot. Funny how even old timers can learn a few new things about Sedona and the Verde Valley. Thirty minutes later you will arrive at Caduceous where some truly excellent wines await your palate. If you like, there is some time to browse around Jerome as well.

Following this leisurely afternoon repast, with you and yours in rather splendid relaxation, you will be chauffered back to Harkins, arriving about 4pm. And the whole evening is open for more films, more fun and more…

Sedona Adventures offers a whole range of interesting tours in the Verde Valley. Our Water to Wine Tour features a ‘Funyak’ float on the Verde River followed by wine tasting at Alcantara Vineyards. The Sedona Nightlife Tour offers personal chaffeur service to all of the best nightlife in town. And our full day Jerona Wine Tour visits all of the wineries in the Verde Valley, enjoyed at a leisurely pace. For more information visit, www.SedonaAdventureTours.com or call 928.204.6440.

[Via http://sedona2day.wordpress.com]

Phil Bradley's weblog: Newsmap for news visualisation

Tom's Decanter article on Barbera

2010-02-22T15:53:00.000+02:00

Barbera Meeting blog contributor Tom’s Wine Line graciously has graciously shared a PDF of his article on Barbera, published in the current issue of Decanter magazine (special Italy supplement).

Here’s an excerpt:

Relatively low tannins and high acidity distinguish Barbera, giving its sour cherry/berry fruit a bracing raciness, and making it super food-friendly. Carlo Revello, winemaker at the family firm, explains his affection for the variety: ‘Maybe it’s a generational thing. My father used to drink Dolcetto every day. My brothers and I prefer the fruitiness and acidity of Barbera.’

Click here to download the entire article.

Buona lettura!

[Via http://barbera2010.com]

Exclusive: Major Taliban Operative Captured « Liveshots

Cline's Gourmet Gals

2010-02-19T21:38:00.000+02:00

The Gourmet Gals met again yesterday. This time the group had the arduous task of deciding which of the five gourmet creations paired best with our Sonoma Zinfandel. The food pairings considered were Pork Loin Wellington, Chicken Portuguese, Stuffed Grilled Flank Steak, and Marinated Grilled Flank Steak. The hands-down winner, Chicken Provencal al la Jacqueline, was created by Gourmet Gal Jacqueline Butler.

So what do we do if we have fabulous creations that don’t match with the said wine? We pop more corks and let the sweetness or acidity of the food guide us to other Cline wines. With an ample variety of options, a good match is never too far from our grasp!

Here’s the recipe:

8 chicken thighs

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 28-oz can chopped tomatoes

2 bay leaves

1 large onion

3 cloves garlic

3 zucchini, chopped

3 cups carrots, chopped

2 cups celery, chopped

2 cups mushrooms, chopped

1 cup green olives, sliced

Bunch of parsley, chopped

1 Tbsp Herbs de Provence

1 cup Cline Sonoma Zinfandel

Salt and pepper

Remove as much fat as you can from the chicken (partially frozen makes this task easier). In a large skillet, heat olive oil and brown chicken pieces on both sides. Season with salt and pepper. Remove chicken and place in slow cooker. Pour chopped tomatoes and bay leaves over chicken. In same skillet, fry onions until golden, add chopped garlic along with all other vegetables, herbs and Cline Sonoma Zinfandel. Add salt and pepper. Toss until veggies are coated then pour entire mixture over chicken in slow cooker. Place cover on cooker and relax. Cook on high for 3 hours or on low for 6 hours. Serve with buttered pasta of your choice.

You can also bake this dish in the oven if you don’t have a slow cooker. Just follow the same directions, using a large ovenproof casserole dish. Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1-½ hours.

About the Cline Gourmet Gals

The Gourmet Gals is a group of Cline employees who have a love for wine and food. We meet periodically to share recipes and creations that pair well with our wines. The goal is to find the perfect match; our creations can be found at http://www.clinecellars.com/haveittonight.

[Via http://clinecellars.wordpress.com]

Find My iPhone now accessible from iPhone, iPod touch | iLounge News

Marvelous Mushrooms

2010-02-19T15:44:00.000+02:00

Mushrooms are amazing. They are so versatile. They are endless is variety and fantastic of flavor. The tastes can range from mild and meaty to intense and luxurious. Some mushrooms, like the truffle, are prized culinary ingredients. But mushroom can really add interesting complexity to any dish. I like to let mushrooms shine and but them in the fore front of a dish.

My standard mushroom of choice is the cremini or baby bella. These are great mushrooms to cook with or to eat raw. The hold up well to any cooking technique and and lots of flavor to soups and sauces. Although sometimes considered a base mushroom to support bigger flavors from more expensive mushrooms like porcini or morels, cremini mushrooms can also stand on their own. They are great to stuff and to marinate. While button mushrooms tend to be a little less expensive than creminis, their flavor is pretty non-existent.

One of my favorite dishes is chicken marsala. While it doesn’t give it away in the name, this is a very mushroom forward dish. The mushrooms are complemented well by the sweet, fortified wine and the richness of the butter. Actually you can make this dish with chicken, pork, beef or even tofu. You can even take the sauce and combine it with ricotta cheese and stuff ravioli with it. It’s a simple recipe, but it is so rich and satisfying.

Chicken Marsala

serves 2

2 6 oz portions of chicken

2 cups cremini mushrooms sliced

2 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic

2 tablespoons butter

1 cup marsala wine

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons heavy cream, optional

Heat a sauté pan and add in oil. Season chicken and sear in the pan. Let cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add mushrooms to the pan and let cook. Don’t move the pan. Seriously, let the mushrooms brown and without moving the pan. After a minute or so stir the mushrooms and then let cook without moving the pan for another minute. When the mushrooms are brown, add in the marsala wine and garlic. Let the wine reduce by half and add the chicken back to the pan. Cook until the chicken is cooked through. Turn off the heat and plate the chicken leaving the mushrooms in the pan. Add in the butter and swirl until the butter is incorporated into the wine sauce. If you want to add the cream, do it now. Pour over the chicken and serve.

This whole meal will take about 15 -20 minutes. Delightful! Pairs with red and white wine, but I prefer a merlot or carmenere.

Always thinking of the next meal

-Katie

[Via http://onyourplatecatering.wordpress.com]

Joe Cole to Manchester United? Maicon to Manchester City? Serbian ...

Wine Country Bistro & Bottle Shop

2010-02-19T03:53:00.000+02:00

Two weekends ago, I was asked to participate in the Shreveport-Bossier City Convention and Visitor Bureau’s Mardi Gras Media Tour. I do some Shreveport-based writing for a newer travel website called VisitSouth.com, and I was fortunate enough to have the lovely ladies from the CVB contact me to participate. I’ve got to admit, it was a really enlightening experience to see my own city from a different perspective. I toured the highlights with a group of other writers from around the country, and we broke bread at some outstanding restaurants.

Wine Country Bistro & Bottle Shop (herein known as “Wine Country,” for the sake of brevity) was one such restaurant. The atmosphere that night was festive and happy–smack dab in the middle of Mardi Gras season, we had just come from the Krewe of Centaur’s Float Loading Parade and were still a bit buzzed on cheap beer and Jell-O shots. Wine Country’s other diners that evening were feeling similarly jovial–some were celebrating birthdays with gag gifts and cake, while others were simply decked out in plastic beads, enjoying the season. It was indeed a great night to be out, and an especially great night to be a Louisianan.

Michael Brady, the executive chef at Wine Country, made a brief appearance to speak with us personally before showcasing some amuse-bouche that weren’t on the menu.

Generally speaking, an amuse-bouche is an unlisted appetizer of sorts, meant to be more of a tiny glimpse into the chef’s style than a formal course. We began with a fried pickle chip topped with herbed creme fraiche, which was followed shortly by a scallop atop bacon grits with an apple-bourbon puree. These two little bites made it pretty evident what Chef Michael’s aim is at Wine Country–to remove southern food from backwoods stereotypes and fancy it up a bit using the type of ingredients that most of us are more likely to see on the Food Network than in our local grocery stores. This is a cause I can get behind.

A fried pickle chip sports a jolly cap of creme fraiche

After much deliberation, I picked the shrimp and grits for my first course at Wine Country. A southern staple, I thought the dish would showcase what the restaurant is all about. While the shrimp themselves–large and plentiful for a first course–were a touch overcooked, the grits were outstanding, with an ultra-heady smoky hit from the andouille sausage floating happily in the dish.

Shrimp and grits...like two ships passing in the night.

My companions ordered the veal sweetbreads and fried green tomatoes (respectively) for their first courses. I had never had sweetbreads before, and was eager to try them. Sweetbreads are traditionally the thymus gland and the pancreas of a calf, and now that I’ve tried them, I only have a few key anatomical features to sample before I’ve successfully eaten an entire cow. But I digress. Served in a roasted red grape and tarragon butter emulsion, the sweetbreads were actually sweet, but not cloyingly so. The texture, I was interested to discover, is somewhere between the Indian cheese paneer and tofu. Not my favorite dish, but certainly not because it was poorly prepared. The execution was comfortable enough for a beginner like myself.

The fried green tomatoes were just that. We’ve all had them.

A breaded monument to the south.

Some people adore them, and some people merely feel apathetic towards them. I am sorry to say I fall into the latter category, but I am glad to say that the connoisseurs among me were quite pleased with them. I’ll admit, the presentation was a far cry from the Whistle Stop Cafe.

The main event finally arrived, and I was genuinely looking forward to my trout amandine. The trout itself, crispy and cooked just to finishing, was served in its natural habitat, a deep pool of butter. Enjoyable? Without a doubt. But even I, a seasoned fan of saturated fats (in moderation, contrary to the content of this blog) found that much butter to be overwhelming. I wrapped up about half of it to bring home. (Fear not–it was enjoyed thoroughly the next day.)

When dessert time finally rolled around, the crowd at Wine Country had thinned considerably–but in the name of journalism, we pressed on. Some varietal of South African white was still flowing freely through me (sorry, folks–I’m not a wine blogger, but I’m getting there), and I foolishly agreed to help my neighbor finish his dessert, a berry crumble with buttermilk ice cream. A refreshing end to a meal of Dionysian proportions, I think I was satisfied until well into the following afternoon.

Wine Country is an excellent option for date night, girls’ night, or a small party. The wine flows freely, and Chef Michael Brady has managed to strike a balance between comfortable southern cuisine and high-end ingredients that would impress any uptown girl. Dinners range from $8.50 for half portions to upwards of $30 for fresh fish.

Leave the kiddies at home and linger over a few plates at this tucked-away eatery for an unexpected weeknight date (the menu changes daily, making use of seasonal ingredients, so be sure to check their website). Don’t forget to hit the bottle shop on the way out to bring some of the magic home with you.

Wine Country Bistro & Bottle Shop

4801 Line Avenue, Suite 14 (attached to Pierremont Mall)

318-629-9463

www.winecountrynet.com

[Via http://savoringshreveport.wordpress.com]

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Marinated Skirt Steak

2010-02-17T15:49:00.000+02:00

This is a recipe I got while in Sonoma at my FAVORITE winery – Mazzocco. Great wine and great food! This was the place we got to barrel taste and go into their vineyard and get a lesson on how to prune vines. I can’t wait to go back. I bet it’s so beautiful there right now…ahhh good times!

This is so super simple (yes John it really is!)

3 parts soy

3 parts teriyaki

3 parts red wine

1 part pineapple juice

Skirt steaks

(I used one steak and 1/3c soy, teriyaki, and wine and about a 1/4c. juice)

I make it the night before and then flip it once in the morning. Cook it on the BBQ to your liking – I like Med Rare. about 6 minutes per side. That’s all so easy huh!

Here are a few side ideas:

Grilled Veggie Salad

Roasted Ranch Potatoes

You can also turn this into an appetizer by thinly slicing the meat and placing on top of sliced baguette pieces…YUM YUM.

[Via http://asweetbean.wordpress.com]

News Ticker: Lady Gaga, Halls of Fame, The Doors, Michael Jackson ...

Valentine's Day Label Contest Winners!

2010-02-17T09:23:00.000+02:00

Grand Prize Winner

Jennifer Wilson from Manchester, New Hampshire.

When asked what inspired her design, Jennifer replied, “The inspiration for my design came out of a loss of a close family member, actually. It is holidays such as Valentine’s Day that remind us most of the ones we love and who have ‘stolen’ our hearts, be they family, friends, or significant others.”

In her spare time, Jennifer designs logos and websites, but for a more steady income, she’s a bartender, where I’m sure she sees lots of labels. She enjoys many different wines but truly loves Zinfandels! She admits to trying just about anything but when buying for herself, she chooses by label design. Jennifer loves to spend time with her son, who will be 4 years old in March of this year. They like to go to the playgrounds near their home and spend time with their 1-year-old Yorkshire Terrier.

Jennifer wins our Grand Prize package of

Vintage Cellars 12-Bottle Thermo-Electric Countertop Mini Wine Cellar
12-Bottle Assortment of Windsor Vineyards wines featuring her winning custom label
Set of 6 restaurant-grade Ultima Bordeaux Glasses
Vinturi Wine Aerator
Fuchsia Laguiole Corkscrew
Eisch No-Drip Duck Decanter

1st Place Winner

Juan Gaurdino from Santa Rosa, CA.

Juan is man of few words and his label is the proof. He simply wanted to come up with a Valentine’s Day label that was fun and simple to read.

When not designing labels, Juan likes to spend time with his family and friends, drinks red wine and enjoys working on his house and on old cars.

Juan wins the 1st Prize package of

12-Bottle Assortment of Windsor Vineyards wines featuring his winning custom label
Set of 6 restaurant-grade Ultima Bordeaux Glasses
Fuchsia Laguiole Corkscrew
Taste of California Wine Education DVD set
Handpainted Vintage French Slate Art

2nd Place Winner

Audrey Martin from San Francisco.

Audrey is really excited to be a winner. Her design was inspired by the fun and kitschy aspect of Valentine’s Day—from the utterly sweet to the poignantly silly.

When she’s not designing labels, Audrey works as a psychotherapist and has a private practice in San Francisco. She likes to drink Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Sirah and enjoys going to wine bars, playgrounds, art galleries, and hanging out with her husband and fun-loving two year-old son—not necessarily in that order.

Audrey will receive our 2nd Prize package of

Windsor Vineyards 2001 North Coast Brut and Flutes Gift Set
Bacchus Champagne Bucket
Box of Artisan Chocolate Truffles
Epicurean Champagne Stopper

3rd Place Winner

Joyce Kerrigan from Chantilly, VA.

Joyce was snowed in over the weekend, watching her daughter and husband play with Valentine’s conversation hearts and she decided to create a label. She took a photo, did some research on some wine terminology and created the label as a play on words between wine terminology and the shared love of wine.

Joyce is the owner of Sharkbunny Design & Products for Marketing Communications. She loves the Windsor Vineyards Zinfandel as well as painting, illustrating, photography and hanging out with her daughter.

Joyce wins our 3rd Prize package of

Orange Laguiole Corkscrew
Set of 4 Riedel O Tumblers
Handpainted Vintage French Slate Art

Fan Favorites

Congratulations to the winners of our Valentine’s Label Design Contest. However, the contest isn’t over yet. We’re giving away a set of 6 monogrammed Ultima wine glasses for the label design that is gets the most “likes” from our fans until the end of the day this Thursday, February 18, 2010. Just click on the Facebook link on the right, go the photo album entitled, Choose Your Favorite, browse through the labels and click “Like” to vote for your favorite design. If you aren’t already a fan, you’ll need to become our fan to vote. Designers: get your family and friends in on the action and have them vote for your label.

To everyone who entered a design in our contest, we thank you. It was wonderful to see all the creative labels submitted. To everyone who commented or voted for their favorite designs, we hope you are inspired to make a label of your very own for your next wine order. Remember, the custom label is FREE with your wine order and there is no minimum order.

[Via http://carpevino.wordpress.com]

Future stands behind PC Zone and NGamer | News

Wine Uh-Oh!

2010-02-17T03:42:00.000+02:00

I was sitting on my couch reading My Life in France by Julia Child and drinking a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau when suddenly my wine spilled onto my new pink upholstered chair! Horror upon horrors! I immediately ran to the kitchen for a towel to blot, and managed to remove some of the wine. I then tried to rinse out the stain with water, but much to my dismay a rather odd green colour resulted. I then took the cushion off of the chair to read the cleaning instructions and it clearly states not to use any water based cleaners on the chair. Shit! Double shit!!! I’m calling Ethan Allen first thing tomorrow morning to explain my rather embarrassing situation. Hopefully they can recommend some kind of cleaner or service to remove my now green-tinged favorite chair.

From now on I’m drinking wine only while seated completely upright on my leather bar stool, with no upholstered/electronic items within spilling distance.

My poor chair…sigh.

[Via http://hautescience.wordpress.com]

News Of The Day

VIVA LA REVOLUTION!!!!

2010-02-15T21:33:00.000+02:00

Wine is one of the few food products where the choices are endless. There is so much to consider: Grape variety, region, price — um label design…C’mon, admit it — you’ve purchased a bottle purely based on the label…it looked expensive or familiar or was so ugly you couldn’t resist the gag…But can a label really help guide you to purchase a bottle whose wine you will really enjoy and happily drink again? Or is the wine label design for distinction only … graphics to help the wine compete with the other bottles surrounding it? How many people don’t know a thing about wine, except they love to drink it? So when planning our latest taste test, we wondered “how do those people select a bottle of wine?

Three rules we followed for our blind taste test series: 1. 20 dollar limit. 2. only label must influence purchase. 3 red wine.

Once the bottles were assembled, all participants filled out a simple questionare describing their individual reactions toward each label’s aesthetics. The bottles were then covered and 3 were randomly selected for the first blind tasting.

The bottle that I bought was called REVOLUTION (a french table red) The aesthetics reminded me of the great Julian Schnabel movie with Javier Bardem “Before Night Falls”. Imagine, me and Mr. Bourdain, drinking the Revolution with other artists who joined Castro’s rebels. We would gather and perform, make more wine, recite poetry and go to jail, all in the name of art and free expression! I just couldn’t resist. And it was 19 bucks… so it must be a sure thing. I could already taste the delicious combination of tropical dreams, sexy nightmares and rebellion.

After the reveal ..I was shocked that the wine that NO ONE (including me) liked the taste of or would buy was my sweet Revolution! I pleaded with everyone “por favor, have another taste!” I tried to seduce the group with my purchase rationale and the price point…Nada. We so wanted to like it, but sorry..The revolution will not be televised.

[Via http://theroostergroup.wordpress.com]

Columbia Journalism School Dean: Fox News Attacks 'Very Good ...

Wines, wines, wines.

2010-02-15T15:35:00.000+02:00

“…good wine is a good familiar creature if it is well used.”

Othello

“Give me a bowl of wine. In this I bury all unkindness”

Julius Caesar

“A man cannot make him laugh – but that’s no marvel; he drinks no wine”

Henry IV Part 2

Shakespeare weaves wines wonderfully, doesn’t he?

I’ve had a wine-ful couple of weeks, oh yes, I really have. The funny thing is, I was so busy, I didn’t even think (or have the energy) to jot down extensive notes. What you’re going to get here is an enthusiastic summary of some of my adventures, and adventures they always are when you have marathon wine sessions.

IsraWinExpo – an underling’s perspective

Held once every two years, this is undoubtedly the largest and most important wine event held in Israel. For three days, industry folk, journalists, and important beverage import/export reps from around the world meet Israel’s wineries. In the evenings, the general public is admitted to this massive dream of a national oenological “fashion show.”

In other words — it’s important, it’s intense, and it’s really fun.

Day 1 - I worked the afternoon-to-night shift at the Galil Mountain Winery “booth,” if you can call it that. Wineries spend a lot of money on their setup design, like a mini movie set or theatre design. The first day is open to industry only — and I can tell you, it’s a lot more fun to work with this crowd. No annoying folks with no wine knowledge looking to get drunk (“hey, you got some red wine?”).

We served 11 out of Galil’s 14-wine collection, including the 3 flagship wines – a really wide and generous variety. The 2006 Yiron, the well-known flagship of flagships, was understandably a favorite. Every year the winemaker tweaks the percentages – the 2006 is 58% Cabernet Sauvignon, 37% Merlot, and 5% Syrah – aged 16 months in new French oak barrels. The newbie of the bunch bunch got rave reviews — the 2006 Meron — 78% Syrah, 11% Cab, 11% Petit Verdot, and also aged 16 months in new French oak. If people demanded the Yiron, I almost always got them to agree to taste the Meron as well. I predict that within a year or two it will be as well regarded and popular.

The other Galil wine I’d like to tell you about is the 2009 Rose. Not many are made in Israel, and of those that are, I think many are semi-dry (at least the ones I’ve fallen upon). Ours is very very dry. Exceptionally aromatic, flowery, inviting, it’s crisp, fresh, and has a well-balanced acidity. I’m not a real expert here, but I love that I can identify and enjoy what I sense is a strawberry flavor. I’m always interested in how wines are made, and granted that making rose is not as clear cut as making a straight white or red wine, a while ago I looked into how this is done. If memory serves, there are three main rose methods:

The first (and the least legitimate/accepted) is blending a red and white wine together.
When using a red varietal, leaving the skins in for a short while during fermentation (as little as a few hours), then removing them entirely. You get some rosy color, and then the wine usually continues fermenting/aging in the method of a white wine.
As a byproduct of making a red wine – fermentation of red varietals begins, and a little ways into the process, some of the liquid is drained out, pinkish in color, of course, to be used as rose. The rest continues normally to create a red wine.

Galil’s Rose is interesting (or maybe not, as I’m not too well-versed in world roses). Made with Sangiovese (the bulk, around two-thirds), Barbera, and Pinot Noir — only the Barbera and Pinot Noir give the wine its color. The Sangiovese grapes are crushed immediately, separated from the skins, and fermented in the method of a white wine. The Barbera and Pinot are bled (saignee), and a small bit drained from the bulk of what is destined to become red wine. The white Sangiovese and the pink Barbera and Pinot are fermented separately. I’m wondering how common this method is. Will have to look into it at a later time. What I do know is that Galil does not put out a Sangiovese. All they grow must go into the Rose.

The Golan Heights Winery, my other winery, pulled out all the stops. Such a beautiful display — they mounted dozens of barrels, lay down a granite brick flooring, and hung three antique chandeliers. I was so busy I didn’t have a lot of time to hang there — but I was smuggled some 2001 Yarden Cabernet Sauvignon and one of my favorites — a 2003 Katzrin Chardonnay. I do love my oaky buttery barrel aged whites. The older the better.

Golan Heights Winery booth from behind

Day 2 – I had an even more hectic and more exciting day helping out with private tastings. The international sales reps and PR folk of Golan Heights Winery and the Galil Moutain Winery (its daughter winery) had round the clock individual meetings with distributors and journalists. My task was to keep track of more than 20-30 different kinds of wine, make sure they weren’t corked or spoiled, have them at the correct temperatures, and present them in order during the meetings. This was more than a bit of a roller coaster ride for me. Highlights/lowlights include:

Having less than a half our to chill 5 premium white wines, dessert wines, and our best sparkling wine — including the time it took me to locate ice!
Dealing with a couple potentially very very slightly off bottles — had to defer to head vintner to make the decision b/c I was unsure — scary! — but it turned out I was correct, so I don’t feel so bad.
Rushing around assisting two different people in simultaneous interviews — one organized and very demanding (12+ wines for a 40 minute session), one very scattered and hence had to try to mind-read.
Being flirted with by slightly creepy older American southerners – heads of beverage companies, mind you — and having to keep a straight and professional and even pleasant demeanor.
Getting to taste each and every Galil Yiron from the first vintage to the present. Getting to taste every wine that I wanted from the dozens I had ready and available, actually.
Taking some prominent people through the entire flight during my free time. Just because.
Meeting and speaking with really interesting and accomplished wine writers (!), including Blake Gray, who was really nice and a pleasure to kibbitz with.
Having 5 bottles stolen from my huge lot of 6+ cases while I was running around — a miracle/disappointment for me that I even noticed, as I had just packed the boxes up at the end of the day, and was hence able to recognize gaps where there were none before. Felt horrible, but the winery told me it wasn’t my fault, it was a microscopic drop in the bucket, and not to worry about it. Makes you angry at humanity for a moment, though.
Not knowing what to do with the remainder of what I know are exceptionally expensive bottles (for Israel) that were only 15-40% drunk. I finally told a girl who worked with the sponsoring body — the Israel Export Department (or something) — that there was a whole case of half-drunk bottles, and to place take and distribute to the workers as she wanted. She thankfully jumped at the opportunity, and hence my heart was happy.

And I think I’ll stop here. This has turned into a mega-post, and I congratulate all of you who have kept up with me. I hope you were able to attend the Expo, and for those who didn’t, keep your calendar open for 2012. It’s such a fun time. I’d love to hear about your impressions, too, so drop a line.

[Via http://irenesharonhodes.wordpress.com]

AP News in Brief | San Francisco Examiner

valentines day 2010...

2010-02-15T03:53:00.000+02:00

Well, to start it off I could barely breath this morning I was so stuffed up and congested. The Theraflu worked pretty well though and as the day progressed I got a little better. We had to go grocery shopping today which is one of my least favorite things to do because we usually go to wally-world. The place is always packed and is a bitch to move around it – even the super sized ones. So today – I decided we would go to publix. It was a much nicer, slower paced store. The people were friendly and the help was…believe it or not…helpful. I think we will be making more trips there and less to the big blue building with cranky folks.

Anyway, I have been wanting some fish for a while – but Jo is NOT a fish eater. At all. But for me, for valentine’s day she made me some salmon. It was so good There was even a swirl of fresh crabmeat in it…like a pinwheel. My only contribution to dinner was some fresh squash which I put olive oil over, sprinkled some garlic powder on it and topped it with a little parmesan cheese. Pretty good if I do say so myself! We accompanied this with some wild mushroom rice and voila’…a romantic dinner

We also bought some organic granola bars and granola pieces for our yogurt. We are really trying to break out of our comfort food box and try new things…yay us! We paired this lovely meal with a bottle of white wine…a pinot grigio. Let me just say we know crap about wine which is why when we got the bottle home and had no opener – we went full lesbo on that cork and used a power tool. Oh yeah, that’s how we roll. Here is a pic lol!

Even though I felt like death warmed over today – she still found a way to make me feel sexy – even though I KNOW I wasn’t. We didn’t buy gifts for each other – we just spent the day together talking about the wedding and cooking and just enjoying each other. It was wonderful…and isn’t THAT really what the day is all about.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY EVERYONE

[Via http://fruitlooped.wordpress.com]

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Rare wine cellar in the middle of Vienna

2010-02-12T15:29:00.000+02:00

You would expect something like this anywhere in France or in Italy, but in Austria?

I have heard about the outstanding collection of wines from all over the world from many people living in Vienna before, but I always dismissed it thinking - yeah, we have heard this, everything what is in my city is the best, as I caught myself in stereotypes.

It is useful to study a psychology sometimes and a lecture from social psychology made me to realise, that stereotypes are just blocking from experiencing something new and even constrain our personal freedom. So I went to see this “unbelievable cellar” as one wine loving taxi driver said on my way from the airport.

The wine cellar at Palais Coburg is a must see for every wine enthusiast or even for a curiosity seeker.

I have made a short video there so have a look. I am sure after seeing this you will pack your suitcase in a minute and head for a weekend in this charming Austrian capital.

[Via http://winebeing.com]

Stabroek News - Marketing and small business

Abruption

2010-02-12T09:47:00.000+02:00

I began as just a pupil and now I consider myself an ignoramus in relation to anything that has to do with matters of the soul, of the heart, of emotions,of the human condition, of relationships, of love. I have experienced an abruption that made me wish I was an aborted child that never was, and worst of all, I knew all along that the abruption was bound to happen, and yet it came as abrupt as ever.

There is some weird uncanny feeling that is always attached to the inexorable incidents that happen to us. It is as if they have been prophesized by someone playing a lyre, enchanting us with a voice so sweet it lulls our reason, yet awakens our mind to some future event, which we know about, and yet only perceive as part of reality when it happens. Like the knowledge of death. Such feeling of abrupt loss does not go unparalleled with a feeling of missing or yearning or nostalgia. Even now as I write this I can still remember and force myself to smell the fuming smoke of cigarettes, the sour sliced lemon peels; I can force myself to taste sour red wine, the stale nuts, the dryness of the air; I can force myself to hear the clangour of glasses, the background muzak (was it a lyre that was playing?), the gossip from the table next to me, the laughter from the table in front of me; I can force myself to visualize tequila glasses with salt icing on their tips, drunken people all around, some of them looking happy, others looking sad, the bartender washing shot glasses in a hurry and pouring more tequila into them, and in the middle of the pub, a girl in white who just came in, looking around with a lost look on her face, trying to radar any friends of hers; In that moment of bedazzlement, I can still feel the bottomless pit I created for her to fill.

But what good is nostalgia for me now? It does not help at all. It makes me remember what happened and what did not happen. It makes me a slave to my past memories which stand entrenched inside every cavern of my brain like a strong unmoving boulder. So I want to embellish my memories with fantasies and dreams. I want to confuse reality with desire. I wear my knight’s armour, arm myself with my pen and ink, and quixotically begin to alter my reality. I stride the many hills of my memory and intoxicatingly begin to draw colours upon the now-jaded memories. Will the alteration of the past, albeit just in my mind, change my present? Or my future?

Could she love me again? Will she hate me? Did she call me my name?

Yes, I remember now. She called my name and I turned my head. She wasn’t calling for me, of course, but it was my name, so I turned, I waved, she smiled awkwardly, but she approached me. Her friend did not come, but I was there, I had a seat next to me, she sat with me on the table. It was a long night of wine and intoxication and it passed so quickly. Ah, how I loved her.

What happens now? Where does my quixotic journey of love take me after a night of intoxication which I cannot remember? Where does Dionysus promise to take me as I follow him, drink after drink, gulp after gulp. What happens next after I’m drunk on his red wine? Did I kiss her lips, divine? I know.

He takes me to orderly Apollo, his arch enemy, his nemesis. Apollo drains the wine out of me while playing on his golden gay lyre, prophesising my orderly death. My wine flows and the thunder in my mind rages, neither in hatred nor in grief; a rage of a more profound spectre upon the soul. The rage of abruption. Abruption leaves you silent with no clues, no knowledge of what happened or what went wrong. Abruption is someone slitting your throat, abruption is a cyanide pill. Dionysus ruined my Apollonian memories and I am left with nothing but fake embellishments which leave me castrated, stoned and rotted with yellow mould like an ancient, forgotten, originally-white marble statue. I am a petrified statue aiming at a confessional mime which I shall never be able to utter or communicate.

…all this while, I thought was describing the hell of a writer.

[Via http://ziaddallal.wordpress.com]

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Party time! What wines do you get?

2010-02-12T03:39:00.000+02:00

View This Poll

poll Having a party at home and want to offer good wine without breaking the bank? It’s easy. You most certainly have a few options, you can get the huge 1.5 liter bottles or the large box wines, or you can impress and get easy drinking, compatible wines that even your most wine loving guests can appreciate.

When shopping for a wine to serve at a party, I am looking for good flavor that works with most foods, something readily available, good value and something that appeals to the majority of my attendees and I don’t want to spend more than $10 a bottle! I think Cabernets from California’s Central Coast fit this bill. While there are quite a few out there, I think the Cupcake Cabernet Sauvignon offers the right balance. It’s fruity, yet earthy, with a touch of vanilla and mocha and a silky smooth finish making it very easy to drink. Not only that, it tastes elegant with cheese, filet mignon, right up to honey based desserts! And for those drinkers who stick to wine all night, they are in for a real treat.

Since not everyone appreciates reds, you may also want to offer a nice white that proposes similar style. I like Ruffino’s Lumina Pinot Grigio. It’s a lively, medium body white wine that presents citrus and pear flavor and even a slight bubbly feel on the palette. Again, this makes it very easy to pair well with almost any type of food from light to heavy and is sure to appeal to any white wine lover. My guess is that with the growing popularity of these two wines, they won’t stay around the $10 price point for too long, so you may want to take this opportunity to host your next event with these fine wine options

. Happy Drinking!

[Via http://winesbyanj.wordpress.com]

Activision Blizzard financials "better-than-expected" | News

Wine Wednesday, On Demand Edition: 3 Italian wines at Trader Joe's

2010-02-10T15:00:00.000+02:00

When Econo Man and I moved to Boston, he was delighted to discover that we were within walking distance (OK, it’s a long walk, but still) of a Trader Joe’s that sells alcohol. I was less excited. I’m a fan of Trader Joe’s foodstuffs, but I had never lived near a Trader Joe’s that sold alcohol, and my only experience with wines at Trader Joe’s was an acquaintance at Cambridge who was so obsessed with Charles Shaw Cabernet (aka Two-Buck Chuck) that he brought a bunch of bottles back to England with him after visiting his family at Christmas, insisting that this wine tasted like a $50 Cabernet. For the record, it does not.

But the wine selection at our Trader Joe’s has consistently impressed me. I had been under the mistaken impression that Trader Joe’s only sold its own brands of wine, but our Trader Joe’s stocks some of my favorite labels, like Hogue Fumé Blanc, Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc, and Cono Sur Carmenere, at absolutely fantastic prices. And, Two-Buck Chuck aside, I have to admit that some of the bargain-priced labels at Trader Joe’s deliver great bang for your buck. Here are three Italian wines from Trader Joe’s that Econo Man and I have really enjoyed.

Zonin Prosecco

We served this on New Year’s Eve, and our friends absolutely adored it. We did too. Like most Proseccos, it’s a gentle, refreshing, citrusy sparkling wine, one that will appeal to people who don’t usually like champagne. But it’s also chock-full of flavor and not watery or boring like a few other Proseccos I’ve had. For $6, this wine earns two huge thumbs up.

Il Valore Sangiovese

I’ve written in the past about how much I enjoy carafe wines, simple reds that are food-friendly and will go with almost any meal. Italian Sangiovese is one of my favorite carafe wines, and I was delighted to find a $4 Sangiovese on the shelf at Trader Joe’s.

This wine has one drawback: it’s quite “hot,” which is wine-speak for “wow, you can really taste the alcohol!” This one benefits a lot from some breathing in the glass or being poured through a wine aerator. But once it’s had some time to breathe, it’s a good everyday carafe wine, not overly sweet or fruity like many inexpensive wines.

Archeo Nero d’Avolo

People. I cannot believe this wine costs $5. This smooth, gently fruity, beautifully structured red wine is sippable, approachable, and simply yummy. I’ve had bottles four times this price that weren’t nearly as enjoyable. If you see this at your Trader Joe’s, buy it immediately.

[Via http://petitechablis.wordpress.com]

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Winemaking Glossary

2010-02-10T09:26:00.000+02:00

Winemaking Glossary – from A to Z A

Acetic Acid

All wines contain acetic acid, or vinegar, but usually the amount is quite small–from 0.03 percent to 0.06 percent–and not perceptible to smell or taste. Once table wines reach 0.07 percent or above, a sweet-sour vinegary smell and taste becomes evident. At low levels, acetic acid can enhance the character of a wine, but at higher levels (over 0.1 percent), it can become the dominant flavor and is considered a major flaw. A related substance, ethyl acetate, contributes a nail polish-like smell.

Acid

A compound present in all grapes and an essential component of wine that preserves it, enlivens and shapes its flavors and helps prolong its aftertaste. There are four major kinds of acids — tartaric, malic, lactic and citric–found in wine. Acid is identifiable by the crisp, sharp character it imparts to a wine.

Aftertaste

The flavor that stays in the mouth after swallowing wine. Also known as a wine’s finish, this flavor can be buttery, oaky, spicy, tart, bitter, etc.

Alcohol

Ethyl alcohol, a chemical compound formed by the action of natural or added yeast on the sugar content of grapes during fermentation.

Appearance

Refers to a wine’s clarity, not color.

Balance

A well-balanced wine is a primary goal of the wine maker. Such a wine blends all of its components gracefully: the fruit, tannin, acid, and sugar. A wine’s balance may only be realized after some aging.

Body

The impression of weight or fullness on the palate; usually the result of a combination of glycerin, alcohol and sugar. Commonly expressed as full-bodied, medium-bodied or medium-weight, or light-bodied.

Bottle

Glass bottles are the most common containers for storing wine. Glass is ideal because it does not affect the wine in any way, even during extended periods.

Bottle Sickness

A temporary condition characterized by muted or disjointed fruit flavors. It often occurs immediately after bottling or when wines (usually fragile wines) are shaken in travel. Also called bottle shock. A few days of rest is the cure.

Bouquet

A French term for the aroma of a wine. The bouquet is often the first indicator of a wine’s quality during wine tasting. Aromas may include fruit, spice, and other smells associated with a particular grape variety, region, or condition of the wine. The bouquet of a Merlot, for example, will often contain aromas of raspberry and cassis (black currant).

Breathing

Allowing a wine to mix with the air. Aeration occurs by pouring the wine into a larger container, such as a decanter or large wineglass. Breathing can be beneficial for many red wines and also for some young white wines. Chemically, breathing enables oxygen to mix with the wine, which hastens the aging process. If a wine stands open for more than 12 hours, it will begin to turn to vinegar as the oxygen continues to work. Whether to let a wine breathe before serving depends on the wine. Contrary to popular belief, it is not always beneficial to let older wines breathe prior to drinking, as this can cause them to “turn” – or go bad – before dinner is over.

Brilliant

A clear and bright – as opposed to cloudy – appearance.

Capsule

The protective metal or plastic sheath over the cork and neck of a wine bottle. The capsule keeps the cork from drying out and admitting air into the bottle.

Cellar

A storage area for wine, not necessarily underground. A cellar is the best area to keep wines for aging. Ideal conditions are darkness, controlled cool temperature, and high humidity. Bottles should be stored on their sides to keep the corks from drying out.

Character

That which makes a wine distinctive. A region’s winemaking tradition, soils, and grape varieties combine to produce a wine’s character.

Clarification

The process of removing cloudiness in the wine by filtration and/or fining.

Cloudy

The opposite of clear or brilliant. Possibly the result of sediment being stirred up during transportation.

Cloying

Overly sweet, and lacking the correct amount of acidity to give the wine balance.

Cold Stabilization

A clarification technique in which a wine’s temperature is lowered to 32° F, causing the tartrates and other insoluble solids to precipitate.

Cork

Corks are produced from the bark of cork trees, which are grown mainly in Spain and Portugal. Corks are airtight and have for years been the best way to seal wine bottles.

Corked

An expression meaning the wine has gone bad. Implies an unpleasant, musty, moldy smell imparted by a flawed cork. Cork can contain bacteria that will cause “off” flavors in the wine. Quality cork manufacturers bleach and process corks to minimize the chance of a bottle being “corked.” Unfortunately, almost one out of twelve bottles will have some off, corky flavors. It is for this reason that alternative wine bottle closures have been tested in recent years, but the use of non-cork closures has been resisted by traditionalists. Any closure that seals the bottle airtight is a perfect one for wine. Contrary to popular belief, cork does not – or should not – let air into a wine bottle over time. It is intended to create an airtight seal.

Decanting

A process for separating the sediment from a wine before drinking. Accomplished by slowly and carefully pouring the wine from its bottle into another container.

Dosage

In bottle-fermented sparkling wines, a small amount of wine (usually sweet) that is added back to the bottle once the yeast sediment that collects in the neck of the bottle is removed.

Dry

Having no perceptible taste of sugar. Most wine tasters begin to perceive sugar at levels of 0.5 percent to 0.7 percent.

Enology

The science and study of winemaking. Also spelled oenology.

Ethyl Acetate

A sweet, vinegary smell that often accompanies acetic acid. It exists to some extent in all wines and in small doses can be a plus. When it is strong and smells like nail polish, it’s a defect.

Fermentation

The process by which yeast converts sugar into alcohol and carbon dioxide; turns grape juice into wine.

Filtering

The process of removing particles from wine after fermentation. Most wines unless otherwise labeled are filtered for both clarity and stability.

Fining

A technique for clarifying wine using agents such as bentonite (powdered clay), gelatin or egg whites, which combine with sediment particles and cause them to settle to the bottom, where they can be easily removed.

Finish

The key to judging a wine’s quality is finish, also called aftertaste–a measure of the taste or flavors that linger in the mouth after the wine is tasted. Great wines have rich, long, complex finishes.

Fragrant

A fragrant wine is very aromatic and flowery. Common wine fragrances are floral, spice, and fruit aromas such as pineapple, blackberry, peach, apricot, and apple. The variety of the grape is primarily responsible for a wine’s fruit fragrances.

Fruity

A fruity wine is one in which fruit flavors dominate the aroma and taste. Often these wines are easy-drinking and light.

Hazy

Used to describe a wine that has small amounts of visible matter. A good quality if a wine is unfined and unfiltered.

Herbaceous

Describes a wine that smells or tastes grassy or green. Often a characteristic of wines made from Sauvignon Blanc and Sémillon grapes. Can also be found in very young wines that will change flavor as they age. Primarily a function of the grape variety, not soil or climate.

Lees

The deposits which gather at the bottom of the carboy during winemaking (also known as trub).

Legs

The viscous droplets that form and ease down the sides of the glass when the wine is swirled.

Length

The amount of time the sensations of taste and aroma persist after swallowing. The longer the better.

Light

A term used to describe the body or color of a wine. A light wine is usually easy to drink and not high in alcohol. Muscadet is a light white wine. Beaujolais is an example of a light red wine.

Mature

Ready to drink.

Mead

A wine, common in medieval Europe, made by fermenting honey and water. Recently mead has enjoyed new popularity. Wine makers now make flavored mead.

Méthode Champenoise

French term for the method used to make champagne, which is fermented in the bottle. French champagnes and many other sparkling wines are produced using this traditional French technique. The monk Dom Pérignon is credited with inventing this method.

Mulled Wine

Red wine that has been mixed with sugar, lemon, and spices, usually including cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Served hot.

Must

The unfermented juice of grapes extracted by crushing or pressing; grape juice in the cask or vat before it is converted into wine.

Nose

The character of a wine as determined by the olfactory sense. Also called aroma; includes bouquet.

Oak

The most popular wood for constructing barrels. Oak imparts flavors and tannin to wines during the barrel aging process; home winemakers can also accomplish this by using oak chips or powder.

Oxidized

Describes wine that has been exposed too long to air and taken on a brownish color, losing its freshness and perhaps beginning to smell and taste like Sherry or old apples. Oxidized wines are also called maderized or sherrified.

Peak

The time when a wine tastes its best–very subjective.

pH

A chemical measurement of acidity or alkalinity; the higher the pH the weaker the acid. Used by some wineries as a measurement of ripeness in relation to acidity. Low pH wines taste tart and crisp; higher pH wines are more susceptible to bacterial growth. A range of 3.0 to 3.4 is desirable for white wines, while 3.3 to 3.6 is best for reds.

Racking

The practice of moving wine by hose from one container to another, leaving sediment behind. For aeration or clarification.

Residual Sugar

Unfermented grape sugar in a finished wine.

Tannin

Substances in must that give wine a tart taste. Occurs naturally in stems, skins, and pips of grapes.

Tartaric acid

The principal acid in wine.

Tartrates

Harmless crystals of potassium bitartrate that may form in cask or bottle (often on the cork) from the tartaric acid naturally present in wine.

Trub

See Lees, above.

Viniculture

The science or study of grape production for wine and the making of wine.

Yeast

Micro-organisms that produce the enzymes which convert sugar to alcohol. Necessary for the fermentation of grape juice into wine.

Glossary of winemaking terms from grapestomper.com

[Via http://wallawine.wordpress.com]

News Ticker: MGMT, Graham Nash, Kanye West, Megadeth : Rolling ...

Encore! Encore!

2010-02-10T03:22:00.000+02:00

Bach, Bali & Bordeaux is Back!

This very special evening will see wines from five premier Chateaux of Bordeaux, as presented by Peter Althaus, our host and pioneering sommelier & vintner. He will lead us on a journey of education and entertainment, enlightening us with stories from the past as well as the present – on all things Bordeaux.

Further adding to this sensory escape will be Australian violinist Peter Tanfield, who will provide accompaniment with his own inspired interpretations of works by Johan Sebastian Bach.

And your sense of taste will be satisfied with a five course dinner from the elegant surrounds of ‘di Mare’ restaurant. If anyone has been to one of our Art Series events, you know you will not leave thirsty and most certainly will be entertained!

Five Chateaux, Five Courses, Five Senses – US$185++ per person on 27th Feb 2010.

For queries or reservations, contact us directly:

T: +62 (361) 848 2200 | F: +62 (361) 848 2244 | E: sales@karmaresorts.com

www.karmakandara.com

[Via http://karmaresorts.wordpress.com]

NBC's Todd: Fox News Trying To 'Undermine' MSM | NewsBusters.org

Open Studio and Art Sale

2010-02-08T21:13:00.000+02:00

Jennifer Celio’s Open Studio and Art Sale was wildly successful! Thank you to everyone who participated in every way. Both Jen and I are extremely grateful for your attendance, your assistance, your purchases and your support. There were about 60 people in attendance and Jen sold 30 pieces during the open studio and then lost a final one during a poker game later in the night!

Mixx D'meanor

Janz Planz provided (among other things) the spread of delectable delights for this event. The menu was:

Hummus and Pita Wedges

Butterfly Dip with Tortilla Chips

Cheese Platter with Fruit, Nuts, and Crackers

Jicama Sticks with Lemon and Seasonings

Wasabi Peas

Kourambiedes (Greek Almond Shortbread Cookies)

Rrrrosa’s Pancito

Athenian Bruschetta

We also had 5 kinds of beer, a syrah, a shiraz and two chardonnays available along with an assortment of sodas and coffee and water.

The Artist

[Via http://janzplanz.com]

Poker News in Brief Feb. 1-7, 2010

Wine & Wisdom with Bon Vivant Savant

2010-02-08T15:48:00.000+02:00

Bon Vivant Savant, Louisville’s premiere dining and events club, has partnered with La Catalana to bring you an fabulous evening of food, fun and flamenco.

The purpose of the Wine & Wisdom is to elevate the traditional wine dinner to the next level and create a full cultural and/or educational experience where the food and drink are more of an enhancement versus the focus of the overall event.

WHEN: Friday, February 12 6:30pm

WHERE: La Catalana Restaurant, next door to Havana Rumba

COST: $35 + tip for BVS members, $45 + tip for non-members*

*if you join that evening, the $10 event fee will be applied toward your membership fee

Call Jo @ BVS – 502.287.2772 or email for RSVP You may also purchase through the button below which will include a small service charge. BVS members should contact me directly.

Our evening starts with a conversation with Domino, the owner of La Catalana and will cover the dining traditions of northern Spain. At 7:00, we’ll take over the front of the restaurant for a VIP view of the flamenco performance all while enjoying a delicious dinner of tapas, paella, sangria and more. If you speak Spanish, or have been wanting to practice, this is the evening for you as most of our delightful hosts are all native speakers!

Tapas:

Huevos rellenos (stuffed eggs with tuna)

Tortilla de Patatas (Potato tortilla/omlette)

Mejillones Tigres (Tiger Mussels)

Berejena a la Parmesana (eggplant parmesan – some of the best I’ve ever had and I’m not a huge eggplant lover!)

Main Course:

Traditional Paella

Black Rice with seafood

Dessert:

Peras al Vino (Pears in Wine)

Pitchers of Sangria and non alcoholic drinks included

Additional wines and cocktails available with special pricing for our event

[Via http://lacatalana.wordpress.com]

Lazy Saturday News and Views: Snowpocalypse! « The Confluence

Visiting the cellars of the Chianti region and Tuscany

2010-02-08T09:27:00.000+02:00

Many people when they drink a bottle of Chianti, or another Tuscan wine, do not know the story behind that glass. Very often you can read some information on the label, but this informations are limited.

For this reason the best way to know a wine is to visit the winery that produce it. In Tuscany and in Chianti many wineries offer to wine lovers or tourists, the opportunity to make a wine tasting at the winery and the tour of the cellars.

This type of visit and tasting allows the customer who buys the wine to speak directly with the owner, knowing the history and compare their own tastes with the decisions of the winemaker

Often, a wine tasting in Chianti is accompanied by some snacks with typical products of Tuscany.

Wine in Tuscany is not only a product of the vine, but the result of our history, a culture that has been handed down for centuries and especially the passion of many men and women who do this work.

[Via http://mytuscany.wordpress.com]

Apps & Games News section added, comments appreciated | iLounge News

Day 1: Dubai

2010-02-05T21:31:00.000+02:00

As I type the beginning of this post, I’m sitting at a table overlooking the pool in my uncle’s Jumeira garden, with Max (The Best Dog In The World) at my feet and the UAE’s annual allowance of rainfall hanging overhead in the form of dense, black clouds.

This, the first leg of my journey to New Zealand, is the furthest I’ve travelled alone since a trip to Newquay in 2004. The journey, all told, could have been much worse. Part of me had anticipated that Anita and my parents would have to physically drag me from my room where I’d been holed up for a couple of days pretending to pack while indulging in some ill-timed nesting activity.

Though driving to airports is always a stressful exercise for the Kenny / Berry family, this part of the journey went smoothly. My parents were even thoughtful enough to make our parting at the security gate as unheart-wrenching as possible. Mum, for example, insisted on answering most of the security check-in questions for me. Dad did his bit to alleviate the agony of farewell by telephoning me during my traditional Customs frisking and bag search to enquire (at a level audible both from the tinny telephone receiver and from beyond the security barrier 50 metres away) what kind of gear I was smuggling this time.

Duty-free was a rush for flip-flops and earplugs and so the only chance I got to panic properly was in the toilets at the departure gate before boarding. The litre of Gordons in my hand luggage suddenly seemed very tempting: it was lucky for its intended recipients that I didn’t have a straw (I’m not entirely without class). Once on the plane, my escape options were even more limited. Admitting I was scared and asking to disembark was out of the question. Too embarrassing. Claiming to be wearing explosive pants might have helped me save face, but would ultimately have ended in jail, or at least some pretty searching questions from men with guns. I was stuck with travel and adventure.

Despite having flown quite a few times before, I still get excited by plane trips. The take-off is always pretty hideous (just what is it that keeps a plane, you know, up?) and I do like to have a window seat, to keep an eye on the wing and its enduring partnership with the plane. But once they turn the seatbelt sign off and start handing out the tiny, tiny biscuits, long-haul flights become a glorious excuse to sit back and do nothing for a while without feeling guilty. I’m also very much in favour of taking advantage of the full range of ‘complimentary’ beverages on offer. (In case you were wondering, the inverted commas indicate the extremely non-complimentary nature of said beverages in the greater context of the enormously expensive air fare). Nothing soothes the nerves better than two or three mini bottles of wine – which,by the way, you can also use to pretend you’re a giant. Impress your friends by drinking halves of beer to achieve the same effect.

The absolute best part of flying is the in-flight entertainment. As well as the capering of air stewards, most airlines now provide touch-sensitive computer monitors in the back of each seat that allow you to watch films as and when you like. My plane also had video cameras displaying views from the cockpit and of the landscape below, so that in the unlikely event of a crash, you can observe the details of your impending death in full colour. All my flights are with Emirates, who have an impressive selection of films, television programmes, games and music – check out the link and let me know your recommendations for my next flight on Monday, a twenty-hour marathon to Auckland.

I ended up watched Julie and Julia, which I loved, without really being able to explain why. Meryl Streep’s shimmering exuberance coupled with her character’s silly voice probably had something to do with it, as did the extensive and entirely luscious food pornography. I also watched Up (for the second time) and cried like a child throughout (again). If you haven’t seen it, do so now. It’s life-affirming without being sugary, fanciful without being ridiculous, and hilarious while remaining terribly, truthfully poignant. Go.

What else? The meal was chicken. It was ok. There was a madman sitting behind me and several air stewardesses on board who deserve medals for their restraint with cutlery. So much for travelling. The plane landed in Dubai just after midnight and I was was greeted by my uncle and his wife, and at their home by Gina (a twenty-something dog; like Boggins, terribly sweet but suffering from many ailments of the bottom), Binti (a traumatised desert dog who spends much of her time pretending not to exist), and Max.

I’m finishing this post after dinner and a neighbourhood drinks party at which I broke a statue belonging to the host, sitting in the living room with Max. It’s hard to express just how amazing Max is. He’s always pleased to see you, even if you did knock something over that can probably never be mended or replaced. He’s actually always pleased to see pretty much anyone, including people who spit on him in the street. He senses when people are unhappy and capers for their amusement. He becomes positively hysterical at the sight of round objects, and earlier today charged and head-butted a parked car because he believed the ball to be in its vicinity. (It was. I threw it there by mistake.) He likes to jump into the swimming pool with all four legs splayed out, and then uses the ladder to get out. He once broke his tail by wagging it too hard.

His head on my left foot, Max is lying in an anatomically improbable splay designed to afford his testicles maximum contact with the cool tiles of the floor. My foot is becoming decidedly moist. Max, at this moment, is behaving singularly unattractively, but I wouldn’t be anywhere else in the world. Max is The Best Dog In The World and a more than adequate incentive to begin my travels.

[Via http://dalrympleblog.wordpress.com]

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Back in the DCV

2010-02-05T15:45:00.000+02:00

*Disclaimer: I received this wine as a sample from the PR folks for Quivira Winery.

The Dry Creek Valley that is. Whenever I open a wine from one of the wineries we visited on our honeymoon, it makes me very happy. Especially when that wine is consistently one I love. Quivira has been one of my favorite wineries since our first visit back in 2006. We’ve been club members since 2006 too, so we’re always enjoying Quivira wines. Tonight we opened the 2007 Quivira Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel. It clocked in at 14.9% alcohol by volume, had a real cork closure, and retails for $20 from the winery.

On the nose I found chocolate, black cherry, plums, spice, pepper, cranberry, vanilla, and cream. I loved the nose on this one. Yum. In the mouth I got cranberry, black cherry, spice, pepper, plums, and berries. I found the wine to be quite dark with a smooth finish. I think this would have been great with the herbed parmesan rack of lamb I made a couple weeks ago…

[Via http://wannabewino.com]

ABC News Jumps On Hulu Bandwagon

Software recommendations - WINE

2010-02-05T09:04:00.000+02:00

Running EXE applications on Xandros Presto? No problem!

WINE is an applicatin that creates compability layer to execute Windows applications on systems from Linux family.

Many users of Ubuntu, Fedora and other linuxes use it to create Windows-like environment “inside” their system.

The idea of WINE is to “emulate” (since Wine Is Not an Emulator) crucial parts of Windows needed to use apps from that system directly in linux.

So, when You right-click on .exe file and select “Open with Wine Program Loader” it’s opened just like it was Windows (the only difference is that You can not harm Your system when You open a file containing a virus )

WINE is evolving fast and if an application is not fully compatibile with it, developers try to find workaround.

And it is worth using…the trick is that WINE gives You only those part of Windows that are needed to run apps. So, when You run .exe file under WINE (in most cases) it works with better performance! One of the best exaples is Adobe Photoshop family. You can open more files in the same time, filters work faster and the program is more stable. I use Photoshop 7 on WINE only – the difference is huge (20 photos opened simultaneously under Windows and 80 (!) under WINE). According to WINE WIKI “Photoshop 5 through CS2 and CS4 install and work pretty well on wine. Photoshop CS3 has some issues but most things work.”

You can find WINE in the “Desktop Enhancements” category in the Xandros Presto Application Store.

[Via http://prestopc.wordpress.com]

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Wine Ratings::Ratings in General

2010-02-03T15:42:00.000+02:00

This post comes from our old blog (check it out here) from Cory, a well-read if not exactly optimistic soul, posted in June 2008.

I recently read a book entitled “The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives” by Leonard Mlodinow, who was co-author with Stephen Hawking on one of his many books about the great cosmos. The title refers to a pattern that molecules follow when they’re bouncing around and how despite it’s erratic look, it’s actually a fairly predictable movement when you take into account all the natural laws and mathematics that govern supposedly random behaviours. The basic gist of the book was this: ability and talent are pretty much irrelevancies-successes and failures in any arena follow a simple probability. Life is pretty much a coin flip either way and the outcome is pretty much unknown. It could be heads or tails. a film could bomb or be a huge hit. stock X could make you a ton of money or bankrupt you. There’s no way to truly know. But the way people are wired to assess means we *think* that these things are predictable and that there are reasons beyond randomness for the success of Energy Drink “a” over Energy Drink “B”, for instance. What really works in these trials isn’t as mentioned above necessarily talent or ability but simple perseverance. Keep trying and you’ll succeed. The simple law of probability guarantees it.

Leonard Mlodinow, author of "The Drunkard's Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives"

So what does this have to do with wine ratings? well, Leonard Mlodinow, besides being a mathematician, is also a wine geek and he devotes one of the chapters in the book to the example of wine ratings. He discusses the creation of the 100 point scale that virtually every wine publication now employs to judge its wines and how inherently flawed that sytem is, based on one really simple fact: your tastes are different from anyone else’s. Your opinion of any wine is just as valid as any magazine’s. He cites a nice example of how one magazine named Wine X (i forget the actual wine) their absolute best wine of the year and and awarded it a 100 point score but a rival publication named Wine X one of their absolute WORST wines of that year, awarded a mere 32 points or so (which is an abyssmal score, BTW). Same wine, same year, same everything, ASIDE from the panel of people assessing the wine’s supposed quality. If it truly was an “exceptional” wine, then the scores SHOULD have been the exact same across the board (in every wine magazine that rated it.) But there were tremendous disparities.

The sad part of this is that as a society of consumers, we need those ratings to feel like we’re making the “right” choice. I see this so many times. People are afraid to buy something that isn’t well-reviewed, or are really afraid that there’s a huge difference in quality between a chardonnay that scored 90 points and one that got, say, only an 88. But there isn’t. I used to think that way as well. If someone tells you something is good, you’re more inclined to think that way as well. Simple psychology, simple human communication. But we need to throw that way of thinking away. It’s defeatist. YOU know what YOU like better than anyone else. We can’t be afraid to try new things. It’s hit and miss, like tossing a coin. sometimes you’ll like the weird $8 wine that catches your eye, sometimes you’ll despise it. You might end up pouring out the $85 bottle you bought and going with a $10 “backup” that you had on the rack ( i’ve done this myself!) When i help people with wines these days i always try to impart the fact that tastes are radically different and unique, and that a wine that i love may be a wine that you end up hating, and vice versa. I try to make people aware of that and hopefully to have a little more confidence in just trying something to try it. Reinforcement of YOUR opinion isn’t really all that important, because it’s YOUR opinion.

don’t be afraid. the magazines and the ratings aren’t the law. they’re almost nonexistent.

heads or tails. yes or no.

[Via http://chiconesliquor.wordpress.com]

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A Poet and Her Wine

2010-02-03T09:41:00.000+02:00

Thanks Mary Ann! Two poems that made us laugh today in the High School Library from Wendy Cope’s poetry collection Two Cures for Love:

Loss

The day he moved out was terrible -

That evening she went through hell.

His absence wasn’t a problem

But the corkscrew had gone as well.

Haiku

A perfect white wine

is sharp, sweet and cold as this:

birdsong in winter.

[Via http://theuncommonreader.wordpress.com]

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Heaven and Earth

2010-02-03T03:30:00.000+02:00

What is it about AMAZING cheese and sublime wine that makes me want to roll around on the floor giggling like a schoolgirl? This weekend I had my sister (a sommelier and my brother in law… a “bama” fan) in town. Yes they spent some time at the rose bowl guzzling beer and yelling insults at the longhorns, but we also had some killer food and even a special bottle of wine from just down the road. Prior to having them over for dinner we had to take them to the Beverly Hills Cheese Store, which is not only my favorite store in the world, but a disseminator of all things heavenly. Beverly Hills is not the place to head for any sort of soul growth by any means, but this store saves the entire zip code. As the door cracks open the hit of funk is horrible for the uneducated, but warming and safe for me. Layers of cheese are holding you back from the counter and the well versed mongers stationed behind. A hint at your curdled goal will lead you down a path that will crisscross countries, ages, textures, tastes and terroir and end up with a hole in your wallet, but a full belly and a big smile. They are well versed not just in cheeses but cured meats, wines, and other epicurian delights like truffle salt. After about an hour of tasting and talking we wandered out the door with some beautiful cheeses and some Bellota Pata Negra. If you have never given your dominant arm for a taste of Pata Negra, please do. Imagine the finest acorn fed cured ham in the universe and then multiply it by 100000000000. The softness of the mouth feel is only surpassed by the fat that sticks to your lips…but that is where the high priced flavor is! The bag in my hand was heavy with La Tur, Epoisses, midnight moon, romano coated in rosemary amongst others. Epoisses is my all time favorite cheese. The stink can drive some people off, but I flock to it like no other.

These cheeses and a super bottle of 2003 Beaune 1er Cru Les Vignes Franches from Domaine Rebourgeon-Mure, a pinot that just made the cheeses sing, got the juices flowing and the conversation jovial. Dinner was some thick juicy pork chops that i brined all day and finished with a mustard cream sauce, pureed carrots with thyme and butter, roasted sun chokes and crispy kale chips. This was super yummy, but the local vino was amazing. A 2005 Moraga estates red, that comes from right here in Bel Aire (more on Moraga later).

Regardless of the sublime food and drink, it is the people that share it with you that make the meal. Having family come West is always a treat, and I am lucky to have one full of people who love food.

[Via http://apinchoffash.wordpress.com]

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Twin Islands Pinot Noir

2010-02-01T21:49:00.000+02:00

Marlborough Twin Islands Pinot Noir 2007

_____________________________________________

My Take on the Wine:

Rating: 6/10

Price Guide: $15 – $20

In My Own Words:

A very easy to drink Pinot Noir. Soft on the palate, with very fine velvet tannins. A strong raspberry and plum taste yet delicate enough to announce a subtle oak flavour.

Not outstanding, but an easy to drink Pinot.

Tasted Feb 2010

Twin Islands Pinot Noir

http://www.twinislandswine.com/

Marlborough Twin Islands Pinot Noir 2007

First released in 1992, Twin Islands Marlborough Pinot Noir offers excellent

full flavoured wines at great value. Fruit is sourced from selected vineyards

in the Marlborough region which enjoy excellent ripening conditions for

flavour-development in Pinot Noir.

Twin Islands Marlborough Pinot Noir 2007 is bright ruby in colour with a vibrant aroma of

raspberry and spicy plums. The palate is medium bodied with soft tannins and a subtle oak

influence. This wine is ready to drink now but can be expected to gain more complexity over

the next 12-18 months.

This wine is great drinking now or over the next two years.

Winemaking/Viticulture

This wine is produced from 100% Marlborough Pinot Noir fruit, grown on selected vineyard

sites in the Wairau Valley. All the fruit was processed in our specialised Pinot Noir winery

using principles of minimal handling and gravity flow. A period of cold soak prior to

fermentation allowed extraction of only the soft water soluble tannins. After fermentation

the wine underwent a period of oak maturation prior to blending. This wine is made with the

Twin Islands philosophy of producing fruitful, ready to drink wines with immediate appeal

and impeccable pedigree.

Technical Information

Vintage : 2007

Region : Marlborough

Winemaker: Clive Jones

Alc/vol : 13.5%

Titratable acidity : 6.8

________________________________________________________________________

Rating: 6/10

Price Guide: $15 – $20

[Via http://jonjamesharris.wordpress.com]

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2007 Mas de Boislauzon Châteauneuf-du-Pape

2010-02-01T15:14:00.000+02:00

What can I say? I just love the wines coming out of Châteauneuf-du-Pape! The 2007 vintage will last for a very long time in the bottle, but they are very approachable now. I invited my friend Geoff over for dinner to get his opinion on this incredible wine. It was decanted for an hour. We ate steak au buerre rouge (A.Bourdain’s recipe) cooked in a cast iron pan. I also cooked porcini mushroom risotto. The combination released some very interesting flavors. Lots of dark berry flavor, black pepper spice, some licorice on the finish, and hints of herbs.

[Via http://crossfitaddict.wordpress.com]

News flash - Charlie's Diary

Wine of the Month - January

2010-02-01T03:42:00.000+02:00

We received our 2 bottles on Friday! Sorry no pic this time but here’s the info:

Red: EastDell Estates 2006 Merlot Reserve

Winemaker’s tasting notes: A deep purple in colour, this wine exhibits a raspberry and plum nose with bell pepper, rosemary and cedar aromas pushing through in the background. Nicely complex with layers of black cherry, tobacco and tart cranberries and blueberries competing for a full finish. Very approachable now, but given time in the cellar the upfront tannins will soften and this wine will continue to mature.

White: Cave Spring Cellars 2008 Gewürztraminer

Winemaker’s tasting notes: An intensely aromatic nose with scents of ginger, lychee, rosewater, orange blossom and a hint of comb honey; the front-palate is luscious, and just off dry, rolling in the middle into rich, expansive spice and marmalade flavours that carry into a lingering, cleanly balanced finish of orange peel, clove and ginger.

We already opened the red. It was just OK…we’re still dreaming about the 2006 Merlot from Ravine and when we attend the “Days of wine and chocolate” in NOTL in February, we’re considering picking up a case…

I’m looking forward to the white – it sounds wonderful!

[Via http://valcitygal.wordpress.com]

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Angel Hair Pasta Tossed with Aromatic Slow-Roasted Tomato Sauce (with Springs Greens and Baked Garlic Croutons)

2010-01-29T15:50:00.000+02:00

If you’ve been paying attention, then you know that The Two Guys just took three pounds of plum tomatoes and transformed them into (less than one pound of) aromatic oven-roasted tomatoes. Well . . . confession time: The Two Guys roasted those tomatoes with the specific intention of making the sauce and pasta that you will see below. Think about it – earthy, sweet, rich, meaty, sublime roasted tomato sauce tossed over angel hair pasta, with Spring greens tossed in lemon juice and olive oil, and a side of homemade garlic croutons. Oh, yeah. They were that good.

So first, you need to

grab the tomatoes that we made last time:

Getting Ready for the Sauce

Toss them into a food processor:

Get Ready to Puree

Puree:

All Pureed

Saute four cloves of minced garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil:

Saute the Garlic

Before the garlic turns brown, pour in about 1/4 cup really good Cabernet:

Three Dog Also Works

We used the 2003 Neal Family Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon.

Burn off the alcohol and most of the wine, then whisk in the tomato mixture:

Whisking

Add about one cup of water. Then whisk until the mixture boils, and then reduce the heat and simmer for about thirty minutes until the mixture reduces to a thick sauce:

Waiting . . .

Meanwhile, make the croutons and the salad.

To make the croutons, pour a few tablespoons of olive oil onto a small baking pan; then place slices of Pugliese Bread on it; then turn so that the other side of the bread gets coated with oil; then top with just a dusting of garlic salt and grated Parmesan; then bake at 500 degrees for a few minutes, until slightly brown. After it cools, chop up into small squares. (Sorry - no photos here. The Two Guys got distracted by the amazing aroma of the tomato sauce slowly filling the house.)

To make the salad, whisk together the juice of half of lemon, a tablespoon of olive oil, ground black pepper and crushed basil:

You Could Substitute Lime for the Lemon

Throw in a bunch of Spring greens:

Available at Costco

Toss:

You Could Use Salad Tongs -- But We Find Hands Work Just as Well

Plate up:

Enjoy!

The Two Guys guarantee you that this will disappear. Even kids devoured this and . . . came back for more.

We can’t wait to hear how yours turns out.

Until next time . . .

[Via http://twoguyswithanappetite.com]

openSUSE News » Wanted: Linux Community Manager

install wine di ubuntu

2010-01-29T09:20:00.000+02:00

Wine merupakan program aplikasi di operasi sistem linux yang berfungsi untuk menjalankan program berbasis windows di sistem berbasis unix. Ini adalah proyek GNU (dibaca guh-noo). Menurut developernya:

“wine enables Linux, Mac, FreeBSD, and Solaris users to run Windows applications without a copy of Microsoft Windows”

klo artikel sebelumnya kopete hukumnya makruh, nah sekarang wine justru lebih parah lagi, hukumnya haram. heheheh

untuk install langsung dari linux, caranya cukup mudah.

ketik : sudo apt-get install wine

Mudah sekali bukan, Klo begitu selamat mencoba aplikasi windows di linux

[Via http://koecingoptek.wordpress.com]

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Girls night

2010-01-29T03:33:00.000+02:00

Gahhhhh!

So, yeah I did not do any crunches last night which means that in order to hit 1000 by the deadline of midnight, I have to do at least 190 crunches right now!

Blah…okay, I’m going to do it. In just a minute…

I had a great girls night tonight – ran four miles with my buddy Kate and her two German Shepherds, Sierra and Luna.

We took a break from the rugged trails of Eagle Creek and hit the Monon, a nice paved road that stretches across about 15 miles of Indianapolis. Usually that trail is packed with runners and bikers and dog walkers, but this evening we were the only ones out there. Weirdy. Might have something to do with the fact that it was 10°F outside…

Then we shared bottle of wine and a pizza at Bazbeaux – which really is the BEST pizza in all of Indy – and gossiped for a couple hours.

Good times!

And now I’m off to get those crunches out of the way and then hop into bed. Tomorrow’s my last day of work – new job starts next Wednesday! I was able to swing a couple days off between gigs and this weekend we’re heading down south to a place called Perfect North to do a little skiing/snowboarding – woot, woot!

Life is good.

[Via http://cheaperthantherapyblog.com]

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Possibilities: Hunt Cellars

2010-01-27T15:15:00.000+02:00

When hubby and I first visited SLO county, we went along Hwy 46 to start wine tasting. We didn’t even make it to the other side of the 101 freeway because we stopped at so many places! One of our favorite places was Hunt Cellars, who caught our interest with descriptions of fabulous wines and ports. We were sold! Their tasting room is beautiful and the wine was good. The port? I salivate just thinking of it! One of our favorites in the region.

Some of our favorite wines at Hunt Cellars were the Zinfandel Port, Rhapsody in Red, and a few of the Duet blends.

Hunt Cellars offers a memorable wine tasting experience in a beautiful tasting room just off Hwy 46. Perfect for picnics or just to relax and sip a delicious glass of wine, Hunt Cellars will surely impress you and your palate.

Photo courtesy of Hunt Cellars.

[Via http://liveslo.wordpress.com]

Google News Blog: Google News Comes Back For More

The Zinfandel I Grew Up With Was Red

2010-01-27T09:35:00.000+02:00

I grew up with Zinfandel. When I was a kid, my dad Charlie and his friends would hunt almost every weekend; duck hunting, pig hunting, deer hunting. Our freezer was always full of meat. I grew up thinking that everyone was Italian, and that everyone hunted. My folks never took me to see Bambi.

My dad was part of a group of about 20 guys who went in together to lease large pieces of property to hunt. Their hunting clubs were scattered all over Mendocino and Sonoma Counties. For a long time, we hunted the 12,500 acre Rockpile Ranch straddling both Mendocino and Sonoma Counties, being the largest piece of property in either county. I remember my dad taking me for weekends to the club. I would ride in a jeep or truck during the day as the men looked for a large pig, or buck. Lunches would invariably be Salumi and Cheddar on hard French bread rolls. Any game taken would be field dressed, then cleaned and hung back in camp at the end of the day. After cleaning up after the day’s hunt, the men would cook a big dinner. Polenta, meats, Italian sauces, pasta, vegetables, salad, Zinfandel.

Growing up, all the Italian men I knew drank Zinfandel. It came in jugs, it wasn’t complex, it was good and it was cheap. It went into the food, and into coffee cups and high ball glasses, styrofoam cups and complimentary collector jelly glasses from the gas station – free with an 8 gallon purchase.

I crushed Zinfandel grapes when I was my son Charlie’s age, just 12 years old, and the juice was made into wine that I was allowed to taste with food.

Zinfandel has been my first wine love, my longest loved wine, my favorite wine for most of my life.

Years ago, I attended the ZAP (Zinfandel Advocates and producers) tasting, a tasting of Zinfandels put on at Fort Mason in San Francisco in January. Hundreds of Zinfandels to taste. Thousands of people tasting. A perfect day spent tasting some iconic Zinfandels, like Carol Shelton’s Rockpile Zin, and discovering new stars.

ZAP is marking the 19th Zinfandel festival this year with the theme Zin in Paradise, and it isn’t just the incredible Saturday Grand Zinfandel Tasting, but three days of events. Tickets are still available for most of the events.

http://www.zinfandel.org/

The festival kicks off Thursday evening with the Good Eats & Zinfandel Pairing at Fort Mason’s Herbst Pavillion. Celebrity chef Beverly Gannon will be serving up Hawaiian Regional Cuisine with Zinfandels, along with 49 other chefs and wineries. As I read the list of wineries, restaurants, and dishes being served, I kicked myself for asking for a press pass to this event. I will definitely plan to make it to this event. The list is too long to print here, but go to the event page and look at the amazing bounty of food, and the participating wineries, and get yourself to this event!

On Friday, I am going to sit down with a group of about 150 people at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco for Flights, a showcase of Zinfandel.

The panelists will discuss blending, Zinfandel’s uniqueness, preferred blending varietals, and each panelist will bring a proprietary blended Zinfandel to pour and discuss.

The wineries, panelists and Zinfandels include:

Ridge Vineyards, winemaker Eric Baugher, 2007 Zinfandel Paso Robles and the 2007 Geyserville
Three Wine Company, winemaker and proprietor Matt Cline, 2007 Old Vine Zinfandel, California and 2007 Old Vines, California (Field Blend)
JC Cellars, founder and winemaker Jeff Cohn, 2007 Imposter Blend and 2007 Sweetwater Zinfandel
Robert Biale Vineyards, winemaker Steve Hall, 2007 Aldo’s Vineyard Zinfandel and 2007 Stagecoach Zinfandel
Bedrock Wine Company, winemaker and proprietor Morgan Twain Peterson, 2007 Heirloom Wine, Sonoma Valley and 2007 Ravenswood, Bedrock Vineyard Zinfandel, Sonoma Valley

Friday Evening, also at the Mark Hopkins, is an Evening with the Winemakers, Benefit Live Auction and Dinner, where Chef Beverly Gannon will prepare:

Asian Duck Tostada
Blackened Ahi with Sweet Thai Chili Sauce, Wasabi Micro Greens, Tobiko, Mashed Potato in Filo Cup
Smoked Salmon Pinwhhels with Chipotle-Chili Fresh Fruit Salsa
Kalua Pork and Goat Cheese Won Tons with Mango Chili Sauce
Terrine of Foie Gras, BBQ Eel, Potato Pineapple Compote, Vanilla Syrup and Spicy Micro Greens
Lamb Shank Canneloni with a Poached Fig Demi-Glaze Double Cut Lamb Chop, Lavendar Honey Glazed Baby Carrots
Chocolate Macadamia Nut Tart

In addition to the incredible sit down mind blowing meal, there will be Zinfandels poured to pair with each course and 25 or so one of a kind Zinfandel themed live auction lots.

ZAP’s Zinfandel Festival culminates Saturday with the epically huge Grand Zinfandel Tasting in both the Herbst and Festival pavilions at Fort Mason in San Francisco from 2 p.m. – 5 p.m., ZAP members get an hour start on the general public and can taste from 1 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Over the years, ZAP’s Zinfandel festival has grown, more than doubling in size. The number of Zinfandels poured couldn’t be tasted by any one person, be they veteran wine reviewer or liver compromised bum.

Plastic lined garbage cans are provided throughout the festival and serve as giant wine spittoons. I hate spitting out perfectly good wine, but it is the only way to go as an attempt to taste as many Zinfandels as possible before my palate is completely blown out by the plethora of high alcohol hugely bodied monster Zinfandels.

I am thrilled to be attending this years Grand Zinfandel Tasting, and getting an early 10 a.m. start as part of the media tasting. I will have my red wine notebook and pen with me.

It almost goes without saying, but eat before, during and after the event, be safe, and consider public transportation.

DISCLOSURE: ZAP is covering my attendance to events with a press pass. I love this event and would have gushed about the event if I was paying out of pocket to attend. I will be writing a couple of articles after the event. One will focus on the events generally, the other will include tasting notes for Zinfandels tasted over the weekend. Full disclosure requires that I think Julie Ann Kodmur is an angel.

[Via http://johncesano.wordpress.com]

News Ticker: AC/DC, Justin Timberlake, Jack White, Paul Weller ...

Kitchen Guest Star's Chicken Dish

2010-01-27T03:33:00.000+02:00

The chicken in its final state

Our house guest was graciously “allowed” to make dinner in my kitchen, and I’m glad that I let him. This turned out amazing. The chicken breasts were sauted in olive oil and white wine – which tastes good for drinking with the meal too – with rosemary, salt and pepper, as well as some minced garlic.

He let me help him out in the kitchen making the rice. We added oregano, thyme, rosemary and parsley. The parsley was fresh, so it brought out the flavors of the other spices.

The chicken as it was cooking, right after adding a smidge more wine.

Once the chicken got done with its crispy glazing process, he sauted spinach in the pan with the drippings until it was just wilted and slightly crispy on the thin pieces. Not enough to be crunchy, just enough for a change in texture. He told me I could feel free to experiment with his recipe, but I really don’t feel the need to. The only thing that I might have added (not changed) is some balsamic vinegar to the bottom of the chicken pan prior to adding the spinach for some mild sweetness/tanginess.

All in all, incredibly tasty

[Via http://lacucinadijenn.wordpress.com]

Google launches Google Voice web app for iPhone OS | iLounge News

Wine-cubes?

2010-01-25T15:34:00.000+02:00

If you’re like me, there’s rarely anything in your house called ‘left-over’ wine. We open a bottle, we finish the bottle. And that’s pretty much it. Unless we’ve already finished a couple in one night, then I might have to call it quits! That only happens on party nights, that’s not an every night kind of thing. I’m not a TOTAL wino!

A few years ago, my husband and I were kind of having a bit of a competition. Who could find the cheapest wine that was actually drinkable. It was fun trying different wines. Unfortunately, we can’t get 2buck Chuck here, but we found some that were really close. Some that we found were decent, others, make me gag just thinking of them. I found one, in a box, and honestly, I felt like my teeth had grown a fur coat after the first glass!

Wine in a box was a brilliant idea if you ask me. It’s much more economical and it doesn’t spoil. My problem with it is that it’s too easy to over-indulge because it’s there. So I must exercise self-control, and that’s fine.

Have you ever opened a bottle of wine to discover it’s what they call corked? that means the cork has gone bad, or dried out, and allowed bacteria into the bottle and the wine has turned into vinegar, or worse. There’s nothing worse than a fizzy glass of wine. Fizzy in the bad way. We had a wine party last year and a friend had been given a bottle of Beaujolais. I love Beaujolais, but this bottle they’d been given was corked and terrible. My friend had never had it before and needless to say, she was underwhelmed by it. I explained to her that it really wasn’t supposed to taste that way and she felt better about it.

So what do you do with wine like that? The wine that’s either corked or just awful to begin with? Make wine-cubes! If you pour this offensive and offending wine into an ice cube tray and freeze it, you’ve got wine for cooking. Each cube is about one tablespoon and is handy for soups, stews, and sauces. You can just put it in a freezer bag, or container, and keep it in the freezer to use anytime. I love having it around. So, next time you’ve got some funky wine, make wine cubes, by all means don’t waste it!

[Via http://1domesticgoddess.wordpress.com]

World Bank waives Haiti debt payments - Yahoo! News

Wine tasting of Ravni Kotari wines

2010-01-22T21:30:00.000+02:00

As you have all probably figured out by now, I am VERY patriotic when it comes to Dalmatia, Croatia in general and Zadar area in particular. I love the city, history, culture, food… and cannot stop promoting. But I (still) don’t like the wines.

So, when I heard that the Zadar county is organizing the first ever bottled wine tasting I was quite interested in tasting some local wines. This is actually 13th wine tasting of Ravni Kotari region but the event usually takes place in Stankovci and I was always a bit skeptical about those events and how everything is organized and the audience itself.

But, the bottled wines served in Zadar – I had to be there!

Award winning Trebianno Toscano by Kaštelanac from Polača

Usual crowd gathered: a mix of politicians, local authorities, few friends of the exhibitors and lots of press… The speeches given by the Mayor and the rest were too long and boring, as expected, but with a nice point – support this event and these wine makers, so we finally start working on producing quality wines in this region.

Of all regions in Croatia, Ravni Kotari si one of the most fertile and with great Mediterranean climate but that means nothing in wine growing…

And I was supportive.

Tasting Figurica wines

The procedure was as usual, for 10 Kn one gets a commemorative glass and circles around tables tasting, talking, nibbling on some almonds, home made bread, cheese…

I started at the table that looked the best. I never heard of them but they obviously invested in packaging, marketing, promotion. “Figurica wines” are a small wine cellar from Smilčić – the heart of Ravni Kotari – and they are producing syrah, cuvee, cabernet sauvignon, crljenak and white maraština. I sampled syrah and cabernet sauvignon and the quality was satisfying.

Figurica flyer

Figurica wines need a lot of work but they are fairly affordable (I purchased Syrah at 45 Kn or 9$ to samle it with some “real” food”.

I am usually not a person of crowds and wine tasting like this event but I prefer a nice atmosphere and good small company when sampling something new.

Next stop – Vrsaljko Wines from Nadin

Vina Vrsaljko table

This wine cellar exhibited only one wine and it was their Nadinska rana. This cuvee of grenach and syrah was a bit muddy and not a real pleasure to drink. The young, 2009 Nadinska rana was much smoother but still needs a lot of work!

I tasted few more reds not willing to get drunk although the girls serving didn’t spare anything when serving and people were usually getting full glasses! One of the reasons why I left early before the accidents and traffic accidents start happening!

Overall: Mladen Anić from Smilčića with Figurica wines, Denis Rako from Pag with Merlot, Vranac and Cabernet Sauvignon, Šime Škaulj from Nadina with Tomislav and Cabernet Sauvignon, Željko Vrsaljko from Nadin with Nadinska rana, Zlatko Kaštelanac from Polače with Trebbiano Toscano and Krešimir Dražina from Pristeg with Krešimir were the exhibitors this year with great hopes that next year more people will show up!

Šime Škaulj table

Overall, the wines are not something to write home about and, although very authentic, the entire event needs a bit more class. Education, education and education – the only way to make it in this tough business. But I have to give credit to people who are entering this world breaking boundaries and opinions of the past.

I have seen a lot of their own children and that is promising. Unlike Bibich, who is light years ahead with his wines and philosophy itself, most of the people exhibiting are farmers and need years of education, help… We will probably never have spectacular wines from Zadar hinterland but having a couple of decent bottles will definitely be a big success!

Connect to us on Facebook and Twitter!

[Via http://secretdalmatia.wordpress.com]

Shakesville: This is Very Bad News.

What wine do you like?

2010-01-22T15:06:00.000+02:00

There is far too much snobbery about wine as well as fear of the unknown. The best way to learn about wine is to taste it; be adventurous and look for different wines when you shop or when you’re in a restaurant or bar.

Enomatic in the red wine room

A number of good wine shops have enomatic wine dispensing machines, such as Bottle Apostle, Selfridges and The Old Bridge Hotel, Huntingdon, where you can try tasting samples of wine kept in excellent condition.

If a restaurant has an interesting wine list it will offer a small selection of wines by the glass, like we did at Webber’s Wine Bar in Billericay. You can buy a glass of wine rather than committing to a bottle of wine; you never know you may fall in love with a wine you’d never heard of previously!

To give you an idea of what wine you might prefer you should test yourself with the Budometer. In the form of a short questionnair, developed in cooperation with Tim Hanni MW, it is a fascinating means to try to explain what your wine tastes are likely to be.

Tim Hanni MW

In the 1990s I went to a couple of seminars presented by Tim Hanni when he was working with Beringer Estates. Ostensibly they were about food and wine matching but in fact were a lot more to do with one’s perception of wine. I learnt a great deal particularly as Tim is such an excellent, enthusiastic presenter.

He suggests that there are three categories of wine taster:

Tolerant tasters – who tend to favour dry, high-intensity, assertive wines.
Sensitive tasters – the median group with a rather broad range of preferences.
Hyper-sensitive tastes – who tend to have an aversion to bitterness and favor delicacy over intensity. They often prefer some degree of sweetness in their wines.

In fact Tim and the organisers of the Lodi International Wine Competition, in California, are testing the judges, many of them amateurs, to ensure that there is a mix of these categories on each jury.

Try this taste bud test which will give you an idea of your sensory sensitivity.

To test your taste buds, you need some blue food colouring, a piece of paper with a 7mm-wide hole punched through it, and a magnifying glass.
Swab some of the food colouring onto the tip of your tongue. The tongue will take up the dye, but the papillae, tiny structures that house the taste buds, will stay pink.
Put the piece of paper on the front part of the tongue and, using the magnifying glass, count how many pink dots are inside the hole.
Fewer than 15 papillae mean you are an insensitive “non-taster”, between 15 and 35 indicates an average “taster” and over 35 papillae then you are a “super-taster”.

So now you know what sort of taster you are and which wines could be your preference, go out and try all sorts and styles of wine – and enjoy yourself and don’t be put off like Michael McIntyre at the Appollo.

[Via http://brettthewinemaestro.wordpress.com]

Development kit launches for Kindle | News

...Barrel Oak Winery

2010-01-22T03:20:00.000+02:00

The Virginia Wine industry has grown by leaps and bounds in the last 15 years. Today we have more than 140 wineries, and only California, New York, Oregon and Washington can claim more (in the U.S.).

Chances are, you have visited quite a few of our local wineries. When I was living in the Shenandoah Valley, I was lucky enough to be only a 30 minutes drive to many wonderful vineyards– you really can make an entire day trip out of it.

A little over a year ago, Jason and I discovered one of our very favorites- Barrel Oak Winery in Faquier County. It was actually a brand-new winery– they had just opened in May of 2008 and it was October of that year when we went there. Many vineyards close their doors at 5 or 6pm on the weekends, but not Barrel Oak- on that Friday night, we were hanging out in their upstairs loft, in a cozy “theater” made of big leather couches and a very large flat screen. I believe it was actually Halloween, and we were in for a night of Young Frankenstein and the Rocky Horror Picture Show, fresh smores, popcorn, and of course great wine.

Most of the wineries I had been to were not open late on the weekends, so I thought it was such a great idea to be open later. The owners, Sharon and Brian, were so incredibly welcoming; I felt as if I were a guest in their very own home. They truly opened their winery to the community, hosting charitable events, bringing in musicians, had movie nights, among other events. It’s the perfect place to bring a picnic lunch or dinner, and even to bring along a board game. They want you to stay as long as you want! Don’t just taste and leave- make a day out of it! So, needless to say, Jason and I became quite the regulars at Barrel Oak and introduced many out-of-town friends to it.

Barrel Oak Winery's Tasting Room

We watched Barrel Oak become incredibly popular. Being situated between DC and the Valley, in was a perfect destination, just off of 66. Come summertime, they added on to their outdoor seating area (which I thought was already very large and even had fire bowls for cool nights under the stars) and built an outdoor tasting bar. The last time we went there, it was so crowded you could hardly find a seat!

Another reason for their popularity (besides the wines- which I will get to next) can be found in their initials– BOW. They LOVE dogs and have 2 Golden Retrievers (Barley, and Justice the Wonderpuppy) and welcome their guests’ dogs with open arms.

Original outdoor area- they've since added to it!

So now– the wines! They have a large tasting menu that does change often, depending on their availability and season. One of my very favorites is the Chocolate Lab. One of their dessert wines, it is a red wine that is infused with essences drawn from coco beans. It’s sweet, but not syrupy sweet like a lot of dessert wines.

Now, I do tend to like the sweeter/lighter wines. So for me, my next favorite is their BOW-Haus White, which is actually their best-seller. It’s reminiscent of a Reisling (one of my general favorite varietals). Theirs is actually a blend of Vidal Blanc and Savignon Blanc. Nice, crisp, perfect wine for all preferences.

Honestly, all of their wines are great, so I can’t possibly review them all here. So why not take a trip up there yourself, and tell them that Jenny sent ya

Visit online at www.barreloakwinery.com

[Via http://jennyrecommends.wordpress.com]

News Ticker: Amy Winehouse, Kate McGarrigle, Charlie Daniels ...

Posto Pubblico, Elgin St

2010-01-20T15:08:00.000+02:00

Hello hello!

So we went to see the 2 apartments tonight and now we are in limbo second guessing ourselves… hmmppff!! Oh well, I’m viewing more on Friday and hopefully tomorrow if another agent gets back to me.

After we saw the apartments I really wanted a glass of wine and some dinner. I had some pretzels before I left the house but they weren’t going to cut it. We strolled to Elgin St which is one of the most popular and busy streets on Hong Kong Island (along with Staunton Street). There are restaurants everywhere. Posto Pubblico is a relatively new place that has opened since Adam was here last year. It’s an Italian/American theme and I must say, really swish inside. I loved it! The service was also fantastic!

It also had a nice vibe with lots of people dining or having drinks after work and you can sit up at the bar. We got a booth.

Bread was brought to the table imminently. I had 2 of the ciabatta sticks which were super thin and holey and 1 piece of focaccia.

There was focaccia and ciabatta (I think). All bread is baked on premises and they also make fresh mozzarella too.

Specials board and the view to the kitchen.

So I perved on some other peoples dishes and this struck my eye on many tables! It was a caprese salad – one of my favourite salads! I had to get it. We shared everything tonight.

The fresh mozzarella was awesome. So chewy and flavoursome and there were red, yellow and green tomatoes.

Next up we had the tuna fagioli which was tuna with white beans and onion.

So tasty.

We also got the last serve of veal meatballs. Lucky we did because they were incredible! Super cheesy and the sauce was thick and tomatoey. We each had a meatball.

Lastly we got the “Stray and Hay” pasta with peas and pancetta. This was spinach and egg homemade pasta. So chewy and almost like noodles. My only complaint was that the sauce was very creamy which I didn’t realise when we ordered. It was still delicious, I just had a bit less of it than the other dishes.

Each dish was “tapas” style sizing, but I am the perfect fullness now. Not stuffed, not hungry. I also had 2 glasses of a Gavi de Gavi white wine from Italy (can’t remember the name of it though!).

We’ll definitely be back, the food is delish and it’s fantastic service.

[Via http://whatisforbreakfast.wordpress.com]

Google Maps: Now Adding Reviews from News Sites, Hyperlocal Blogs ...

About Me

2010-01-20T09:09:00.000+02:00

So why should you read this blog, won’t it be just other boring, self-centred have a look at me affair. Well I don’t think so. So in order for you to make up your own mind if you should bookmark these pages I have a quick overview planned of what this blog will be about.

But 1st a bit about me. I have a huge passion for all things related to food. What do I mean – well eating is not just about the food but the drink that goes with it as well as the atmosphere. It does not stop there either. There is a whole lifestyle that has evolved around the food culture. We now have 4 (even though 2 are time shift) dedicated TV channels, countless magazine’s and even 100’s phone applications all geared to what is now termed lifestyle. So what do I bring to the table (pun intended).

Beside my passion, I also have experience. I was an apprentice chef and worked as a baker for 10 years with a German Artisan Master baker. I have run a coffee shop and never stop exploring all facets of the culinary world. Now (over 10 years) I work in the world of IT which allows me to also comment on the new and exiting world of technology relating to food.

So what will this blog do

Food reviews (be that ingredients or finished products)
Book reviews ( I buy many books each month)
Recipes (even stuff that goes completely wrong)
Gadgets (I’m a kitchen gadgets tragic)
Food related tech
I will be looking at doing a video blog down the track
Wine/drinks review and comment (my wine fridges are always full with new wines)
Restaurant reviews

Let the fun begin

[Via http://jwicher.wordpress.com]

Games are "poison" says Venezuelan president // News

Crashing & burning

2010-01-20T03:27:00.000+02:00

9:13 pm:

Crashing and burning. Zombie mode commencing…now.

Lucas is still watching Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince. BOring…I left after 30 minutes or so. Good choice, as I then taught myself to subscribe to and download podcasts to my Ipod! Por fin! (Finally!)

Food:

Pre-dinner: 6 dried Cali figs and a glass of red wine

Dinner: Big salad and Happy Rice

Dessert: Chocolate

Fitness:

Gym workout.

Warm up: walk to gym

15 minutes sretching/abs

15 minutes arms

25 minutes legs

5 minutes stretching

Cool down: walk back to work

My new Shape magazine came in the mail today. Katherine McPhee is on the cover—what the hell is she thinking with that terrible blonde bob?!?!? Blech.

Awfully critical tonight, aren’t I?

[Via http://bluetreegreenheart.com]

Glenn Beck Producer Leaves Fox News For MSNBC

What's the deal with Merlot?

2010-01-18T21:01:00.000+02:00

Last night Renee and I watched ‘Sideways’. As I sure it does with most people, it made us want to drink wine. But not Merlot. No, the vile detest that Paul Giamatti’s character, Miles, has when discussing Merlot makes you think it’s the worst wine ever!

Now I’m sure that is 100% not the case. Renee and I have tried a few Merlot’s (most notably Yellow Tail). However, each time I find them too dry and/or harsh for my palate.

Are there any Merlot’s out there for the newbies that is: tasty yet inexpensive (under $20 a bottle), readily available in wine stores in southern New Jersey and is rather sweet?

[Via http://ourfavoritegrapes.wordpress.com]

Food Processors | Computer Technology News

Top Value Banquet Wines - by John Szabo

2010-01-18T15:11:00.000+02:00

John Szabo

Recently I tasted through about 70 100% VQA wines from across Canada in search of the country’s best value wines. The purpose was to select the top VQA examples that would be worthy of showcasing at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa for banquets and intermissions.

Since celebrity Chef Michael Blackie took over in the kitchen early last year, the NAC has seen significant changes on all levels and is on its way to becoming a premier dining destination in the nations’ capital. No longer is it an old-fashioned meat-and potatoes menu for quick, pre-theatre sustenance. Blackie has elevated the sophistication of the food to top standards with a very ambitious menu indeed. The wine program, evidently, needed significant revamping and updating to say the least, and I have been working with Chef Blackie and dining room manager Tegan Schioler to bring the beverage side of the operation, including service, to the same level. There is still much to be done, but I’m happy to report that it is going very well. If you haven’t been in a while, be sure to drop in, no theatre tickets required!

Having participated for the last 5 years as a judge in the Wine Access Canadian Wine Awards, The country’s best wines are certainly familiar to me. But what was most satisfying was the overall level of high quality and drinkability, knowing that these were all very reasonably priced. VQA wines are often knocked for their poor quality/price ratio relative to international stage, but this tasting belied that belief once again.

In order to select these wines, I sent out a call to tender to Canadian wineries, from which I pre-selected 70 or so samples to be tasted. It was hardly a comprehensive look at all of Canada, and many of the wines I would have liked to see were missing from the lineup, but it was still representative nonetheless. The wines were set up in flights and tasted blind, that is, I knew the style/varietal category and the wines that had been submitted, but not the order in which they were served. Not surprisingly, many of the classic good value Canadian producers emerged, along with a few unexpected surprises. In the end, a dozen whites and ten reds made the cut. Virtually all are under $15/bottles (licencee price), and many are even under $10. In the end it will be the banquet guests and intermission wine drinkers who win; you can bank on a good glass of wine at the NAC. Here are my top picks. Some are available at the LCBO, others are winery direct. If you’re looking for good ‘house wine’, this is a reliable list to start with.

White

2007 Riesling Off-Dry, Rosehall Run, VQA Ontario

2008 Chardonnay Unoaked, Palatine Hills, Niagara

2008 Chardonnay, Vineland Estates, Niagara

2007 Dry Riesling, Vineland Estates, Niagara

2008 Semi-Dry Riesling, Vineland Estates, Niagara

2008 Riesling Dry, Cave Spring, Niagara

2007 Chardonnay, Cave Spring, Niagara

2008 Sullyzwicker White, Rosehall Run, Prince Edward County

2008 Pinot Grigio ‘Ogopogo’s Lair, Prospect Winery, Okanagan Valley

2008 Sauvignon Blanc ‘Spotted Lake’, Prospect Winery, Okanagan Valley

2007 Sauvignon Blanc, Vineland Estates, Niagara

2007 Chardonnay Estate Bottled, Château des Charmes, Niagara

Rosé

2008 Huff Estates South bay Vineyards Rosé, Prince Edward County

Red

2008 Lakeshore Red, Palatine Hills, Niagara Lakeshore

2007 ‘Noirs’ (Pinot & Gamay), 13th Street, Niagara

2007 Gamay Noir, Estate Bottled, Château des Charmes, Niagara

2007 Cabernet Franc Varietal Series, Inniskillin, Niagara

2008 Pinot Noir Reserve, Pelee Island, VQA Ontario

2007 Pinot Noir Five Vineyards, Mission Hill, Okanagan Valley

2007 Cabernet-Shiraz, Dan Aykroyd, Niagara

2007 Rosewood Estate Renaceau Vineyard Merlot, Beamsville Bench

2008 Cabernet-Merlot, Pilliteri

2007 Cabernet- Merlot Five Vineyards, Mission Hill, Okanagan Valley

[Via http://blog.winealign.com]

ABC News/Washington Post Poll: 53 Percent Approve of Obama's Job ...

Glee Makes Miso Happy

2010-01-18T03:37:00.000+02:00

Hi there!

How’d your weekend round out? Mine was A-OK Jealous of everyone who has tomorrow off, though

After I left you this morning, my plans pretty much changed right away. My friend and I cancelled on each other, yet again, deciding next Sunday would be better for trying on bridesmaids dresses. I still can’t wait to see how it looks She got them from J Crew, and they’re about knee length, sleeveless, and plum-colored. Adorable.

So instead, I worked a little more on a project, and then had the hubski be my victim guinea pig, and then had him take pictures/shoot a video of me doing one of my favorite strength-moves for Janetha’s mini guest post.

I made the BEST juice ever from our Jack La Lane juicer.

The suspects:

I shook things up a little this morning. Usually I just do carrot + grapefruit. Today celery and beety came to play!

Turned out magnificently! Although the beet was rather…stainy, it produced the deepest red shade of juice ever.

Lunch was a mix of some new veggies I purchased over the weekend, and I knew I wouldn’t have time to make during the week before they went bad.

Radicchio pizza + Steamed Bok Choy:

For the pizza, I simply toasted an Ezekiel tortilla (which toast up superbly, by the way – so crispy!) in the oven, and then topped with sliced raddicchio w/ some olive oil and s&p.

Looks pretty fancy, doesn’t it? Well it tasted like feet! The recipe was from The Kind Diet, and it looked super good on the page, but I wasn’t a fan.

Apparently I don’t like radicchio. Who knew? It’s way too bitter for me. I did, however, omit an ingredient since I didn’t have it on hand, so perhaps that had something to do with it.

The steamed bok choy, however, had a different story to tell!

It was delicious! I dipped each bit in a wee bit of miso paste I made from this miso:

with a little tahini and lemon juice. SO good. I’ve never tried miso before, either, so I was super pumped to find that I liked it.

Some of you have commented that I’ve been trying out lots of new things lately. Well, yes, yes I have. I don’t really have an explanation for it. Sometimes I just get bored, and need a little variety in mah life! I’m sure we all can relate

I also finally got around to giving Niko a bath today. She’s getting groomed later this week, but I felt it just couldn’t wait.

She got in a little floor-rubbing-action before I took a blow dryer to her rat face

I had been having a weird feeling of anxiety all day (happens when I’m working on something important…or sometimes for no reason at all) but didn’t feel like working anymore, so when Hubski suggested cocktail hour and Wii bowling, I was so down.

Bloody Mary for the him.

Two-handed OJ for the her.

Watered down OJ (can’t stand the full taste,) rum, amaretto.

He totally killed it in bowling. All four games. Did about 20 strike dances. Hmph!

Right after he kicked my ass for the fourth game we finished our fourth game, my parents arrived!

We had plans to do a little shopping and get some good grub.

Oh, btw, Niko is crazy obsessed with my dad.

And I think the feeling is likewise

We stopped by Von Maur, where I got a cute shirt, and two doubly cute mugs for some holidays coming up!

I diee!! How cute are these mugs?! I couldn’t help it. Shane gets made because I’m such a mug collector. So to compromise I threw out two neglected Ikea ones

Dinner was at the Olive Garden. We hadn’t been there in forever, but it’s our usual dining spot when the parental unit visits.

I forgot my camera, so behold some crappy iPhone pics:

Pinot and H2O.

Ravioli di Portabello…+ 1 bread…aaand now I’m stuffed.

Now it’s time to continue watching the Golden Globes. Glee just won best comedy/musical!! Hooray!!! I’m probably 80% watching just for Glee.

Are you watching the Golden Globes? What’s your favorite part of awards shows? The fashion, the bloopers, the presenters, the awards? I love seeing all the amazing fashion, but I typically only watch when I’m really, really rooting for someone/some group (Glee, case in point.)

Have a wonderful end to your weekend and a great Monday morning. I just made my first batch of overnight oats for tomorrow morning. I haven’t hopped on the cold oats train, so I’ll let you know how that goes over tomorrow!

[Via http://runningaroundnormal.com]

a7x_slashness: [NEWS] New Album.

Durham Local Wine Stops: Wine Authorities

2010-01-15T21:36:00.000+02:00

Wine Authorities: this place is in an odd place but is an odd shop itself. It’s located across the street from Q-Shack on University Drive next door to a Rent-a-center and Thai Cafe. It’s by far one of the most odd locations to see a wine shop but if you have time check them out. Look through there online catalog and they have the uncanny ability to search for wines if you bring them old labels or bottles and save them to an account under your registration info such as name, email address, and physical address.

I’ve been there only two times and enjoyed both visits although they did not have any wine I was looking for at the time but that’s because I asked for the wrong brand names but later found it on their website and saved it to my favorites list .

Check them out!

Durham, NC Wine Stop: Wine Authorities

[Via http://btariqg.wordpress.com]

Unauthorized iPhone news readers raise eyebrows -- Engadget

LifeSpace Daily Topic: Hosting a Wine Tasting Party

2010-01-15T15:26:00.000+02:00

LifeSpace Daily Topic: Hosting a Wine Tasting Party (January 15, 2010)

The LifeSpace Community thinks that wine tasting parties are a great way for friends to get together, so we want to help you host one of your very own. We have included a template with tips for hosting your own wine tasting, and we have also highlighted articles with advice on hosting a wine tasting, how to taste wine like a professional, and great wine and cheese pairings. Enjoy!

Recommended Goal Templates:

Fun

Host a Wine Tasting Party (Basic)

Hosting a wine tasting party is easy with this template! Enter in the date of your party – preferably two weeks away, and we will take the rest from there! Our step by step instructions and articles we have provided will help you decide the type of wine tasting you wish to have, as well as all the necessary supplies. Enjoy!

Ideas, Articles and Resources:

Wine Tasting Party–Types of Tastings, How Much Wine to Buy, Home Set Up and Scoring the Wine

Hosting a wine tasting party at home is fun and easy to plan. Learn about different types of wine tastings, like horizontal, vertical and blind tastings, how to set up your home and how much wine to buy.

How to Taste Wine Like a Pro

The most important aspect of tasting wine is smelling it. Most of “tasting” something is experiencing its aroma.

Guide to Wine and Cheese Pairings

Classic wine and cheese pairings with basic guidelines and tips for having a great wine tasting experience.

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The Cable News Patrol: Rounding Up the Usual Suspects and Subjects ...

Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Nominated as Event Site of the Year

2010-01-15T03:33:00.000+02:00

The Statue of Liberty Crown reopened July 4th, 2009 after being closed for nearly a decade.

As previously reported, last year Evelyn Hill took over the concessions for the Statute of Liberty and Ellis Island. It appears that the benefits of Evelyn Hill’s new management are already paying off! According to Event Solutions Magazine, Evelyn Hill Inc. has secured the nomination as a finalist for the “Event Site of the Year” in the 2010 Spotlight Awards contest. To vote please go to www.eventsolutions.com! Voting ends Jan 31st so hurry and cast your ballots!!

Event Planner’s Snapshot

Evelyn Hill provides catering services at the newly opened Conference Center on Ellis Island. The center can accommodate 100 guests for cocktails and 80 for a sit-down dinner party. Given its historic location, this venue affords magnificent views of downtown Manhattan and of course, The Statue of Liberty!

Evelyn Hill also manages events at the Statue of Liberty, providing a 12-acre outdoor setting within one of the most recognized harbors around. This larger than life venue, can accommodate anywhere from 50-3000 guests. Courtesy of Evelyn Hill, event planners are offered exclusive use of the museum during the course of the event.

Contact info for Events at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island:

Patti Golden

Evenlyn Hill Events

email: pgolden@thestatueofliberty.com

Liberty Island

New York, NY 10004

Tel: 212.344.0996

Fax: 212.344.0219

Eric Wasnick

Website Content Developer

Eric@GreatPlacesDirectory.com

[Via http://greatplacesdirectory.wordpress.com]

iTunes ranks behind Amazon, eBay in customer experience | iLounge News

Sorrel & Laphroaig - a legend in the making

2010-01-13T21:42:00.000+02:00

It looks like spinach but tastes NOTHING like it. A sour, delicate leaf, perfect in soups and stews as it has a remarkable thickening quality while retaining its vibrant taste. Spinach cannot compare. I don’t know why the whole world isn’t cuckoo for sorrel. In fact, I’m hoping to start a trend here. People, if you haven’t tried it, take my word for it, you simply must. Period.

Today, after a rather frustrating morning of heavy work, I boarded the bus to Jerusalem, on a whim. One of my favorite friends, the lovely queendeb, resides there on the border of Baka and Talpiot (although she only admits to Talpiot). We don’t get together as often as we should, and as two creative food-minded people, we decided on a cooking project. I brought the sorrel and a bottle of Israeli-Champagne (GHW’s Gamla Brut). In her quirky kosher kitchen (with her little brother in NYC on video-Skype the entire time), we proceeded in what felt like an adventurous cooking show. Here’s what became of our evening:

olive oil
1 onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small celery root, chopped
1 yam, chopped
500 g chicken wings
1 bunch sorrel, 1/2 chopped, 1/2 left whole
handful of cilantro stems, chopped
3-4 small celery stalks with leaves, chopped
1/2 white cabbage, cut into large in-tact wedges
juice of 1 lemon
zest of 1 lemon, 1/2 finely chopped, 1/2 in strips
2 cups water
1 tbs yellow mustard
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 shot Laphroaig Whisky
chipotle pepper to taste
pepper, garlic powder, chili, etc to taste

In a large soup pot over high heat, drizzle olive oil, then brown the chicken wings. Remove.
Whisk together the mustard and soy sauce.
With the fat of the chicken left behind, add the onion, garlic, celery root, and yams (in that order – waiting a minute between additions). Cook at medium heat until sweating/softened. Add mustard/soy sauce.
Layer the chicken wings evenly over the vegetables. Then sprinkle the chopped sorrel, chopped celery & celery leaves, and cilantro stems evenly over the chicken.
Sprinkle chipotle pepper over the surface.
Create a layer with the whole sorrel leaves spread flat. Place the cabbage wedges over the sorrel evenly.
Pour the whisky over the contents of the entire pot. Allow to cook for a few minutes to let the alcohol evaporate.
Sprinkle all the lemon zest, and pour lemon juice over the contents of the pot.
Without stirring, slowly and carefully pour two glasses of water into the pot.
Bring to a boil, reduce flame to lowest possible, cover and let simmer for 30-60 minutes. Do not stir, but checking to ensure the bottom layer isn’t burning is fine. Add pepper, spices, etc at the end, to taste.
Serve over couscous or rice.

The resulting stew-y casserole was pure heaven. Rich, smoky, sour, spiced. The smoky qualities of both the Laphroaig and the chipotle pepper, combined with the tartness of the sorrel and the lemon components, were so complementary, it was wild! All the veg fell apart, becoming almost caramel-like. The sorrel indeed thickened things up, and oh me, oh my, the lemon zest was a joy in and of itself! The layering method came about organically, in that we thought it would be interesting to allow the leafier veg to steam in the lovely saucy broth of the layers beneath it. And what can I say of the chicken? It fell off the bone. So tender. So moist. So perfect.

The best part was, even though we didn’t know where we’d end up, we always knew we could do it. Two savvy seasoned cooks with random well-loved ingredients having a ball. The bubbly went great with the meal, and I’m so glad we drank it. This meal was a shining beacon in the middle of a drab work week. So, it’s a yes to letting loose! A yes to drinking your best wine for no reason but to enjoy it in the here and now! And a resounding yes to sorrel! To single malt scotches everywhere! To lemon rinds! To chipotle! L’chaim, l’chaim to life!

And I’ve driven myself into the cheesy corner. But it really felt like that. A meal as a celebration. Even with just a couple lonesome American-Israeli friends. Especially because.

[Via http://irenesharonhodes.wordpress.com]

#GoogleCN News Roundup | Center for Future Civic Media

AMP 150 – An Unforgettable First Anniversary Treat!

2010-01-13T15:47:00.000+02:00

Could we have just discovered the newest, hottest restaurant in Cleveland? This is what my husband and I asked ourselves after leaving AMP 150, the Cleveland Airport Marriott’s completely new restaurant, on New Year’s Eve (and our first wedding anniversary).

The restaurants bio is right there in its name – an acronym that stands for American Modern Palette that is conveniently located off of I-71 on West 150th Street. So really, what is it? Contemporary American food that focuses on seasonal and locally-grown and made items offered on an ever-changing menu. The restaurant is the creation of celeb chef Dean James Max and is operated by executive chef Ellis Cooley. It’s located in the a completely remodeled Marriott with chic, contemporary design elements that are both sophisticated and sexy – a definite recommendation for those looking for a hot Valentine’s Day dinner destination.

Our five-course journey was prix fixe and (unfortunately for my husband and I) started with oysters layered with caviar. While we’re both big fans of adventurous dining, we’d been down the “caviar road” once before and weren’t real interested in a return trip. Thankfully, the uber-sweet staff at AMP 150 obliged and we were each served up a piping hot bowl of mussels in a spicy and tangy broth.

Next up came a bold arugula salad sweetened with orange slices and candied nuts. This was followed by gigantic seared scallops served with pureed parsnips and side of Ohio-made honey – a completely unique taste combination that both left us saying, “Mmmmm.” We were then served the main dish, which was a thick, perfectly cooked filet served with AMP 150’s version of creamed spinach (swiss chard chopped with fresh cream). It left our tastebuds thoroughly impressed.

In between each dish, we picked our way through the restaurant’s extensive wine list, often switching (gasp) between both reds and whites throughout the evening. Heck, it was New Year’s Eve! Why not splurge?! We also enjoyed the camaraderie with the servers who, dressed in casual, not-too-stuffy attire, were intimately familiar with the menu items and could recommend corresponding wine and beverages.

But the evening wasn’t complete without the meal’s finishing touch – a dessert featuring warm valrona chocolate cake (you and I might call that “lava cake”) and chocolate ice cream infused with peppermint. Quite honestly, it was the most phenomenal ending to a wonderful meal. Kudos to Chef Cooley and an amazing, friendly and knowledgeable staff! Our completely cleaned plates were evidence of our merriment. But our pocketbooks said more. What makes AMP 150 even more interesting is that most menu items range in price from $3 – $20. So, go ahead and leave your “arm and a leg” at home! –Submitted by LRH

[Via http://fleetothecleve.wordpress.com]

The Big Picture » Blog Archive » All news is good news for stocks

Mom-made

2010-01-13T03:08:00.000+02:00

Not too long after I posted earlier, I dragged myself to bed for a nap. Of course, I learned how to nap properly from Maggie, so I was out for 3+ hours. Worth it. I was able to get up and work for several hours on GRE stuff.

Tonight was my last dinner at Mom’s for a while and she decided to cook pasta. I sipped some wine while she cooked- it always works better that way

Dinner was spaghettie with meat balls and salad.

And a soft doughy roll

Bird’s eye view:

And Maggie doing her best Sphinx

I felt like I carb-loaded tonight so tomorrow’s workout should be good. Nite!

[Via http://seek8live.wordpress.com]

Google News Drops AP

A Vertical Tasting of Swanson Vineyards Salon Chardonnay, Vintages 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008

2010-01-11T15:32:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time I was ready to give up on New World Chardonnay. More than anything though it was really California Chardonnay I’d grown weary of. So many of the wines I tasted were overburdened with oak to the point of blunting the fruit. The litany of jokes made in tasting rooms and elsewhere about these wines could easily fill a book. I’m not sure anyone is printing joke books these days. If they were though there’s lots of material. It got to the point where I found it tiresome to even try new Chardonnays. Many of them, were high scored, and well regarded, yet there was a seeming avalanche of sawdust in my mouth. So I drank mostly Chablis, when I had the chance, and when I felt adventurous I’d try one from California.

Then one incredibly fateful day I made my first visit to Swanson Vineyards Salon in Napa Valley. While I liked the first wine they poured Rosato, I was dubious when then Salonnier Shawn Larue said the next wine was Chardonnay. I must have made a face because Shawn assured me that what I was about to taste was not a typical over oaked wine that was in fashion for many years. I thanked him for mentioning it but inside I thought “we’ll see about that.” From the first sip the Swanson Chardonnay was nothing short of a revelation. The fruit starred gloriously and there was complexity to spare. “That’s amazing,” were the first words I recall uttering after the very first sips I ever took of Swanson Chardonnay. More than anything it reminded me of a fine Chablis. I Joined their wine club soon after in large part so I could have guaranteed access to the Chardonnay. It’s only made in small quantities and if there’s any left after the wine club gets their allotment you can get some through the Salon. I wasn’t taking that chance. I’ve come to love the Swanson portfolio of wines in general. The Chardonnay though, for my money, there isn’t a finer one in Napa Valley.

I was recently going through my cellar and realized I had four vintages of the Chardonnay on hand. It was obvious that the only thing to do was invite some friends over for a vertical tasting. What follows are some of my impressions about these wines and how they’re currently tasting.

The Swanson Chardonnay is available through the Salon in Rutherford. The suggested retail price for the current vintage (2008) is $36.

Swanson Vineyards 2005 Salon Chardonnay – This wine has changed remarkably in the time since it was released. Much of the fruit has dropped off at this point. The spice and mineral elements which were always present have pushed to the fore front. This now lean, mineral laden wine turned out to be the favorite of most during the vertical tasting. A nice showcase for the potential longevity of well made, balanced, white wines.

Swanson Vineyards 2006 Salon Chardonnay – This wine is definitely transitioning at this time. The mineral component is present as are hints of minerals. However they’re not as prominent as on the 2005. There is more fruit present right now. I’ll be curious to see how it develops further over the next year and if it gets to the second life the 2005 is currently enjoying.

Swanson Vineyards 2007 Salon Chardonnay – Of the four vintages this is probably the one drinking at closest to its peak efficacy right now. It’s all about personal taste of course but the 2007 still now has all the glorious fruit this Chardonnay features in its youth. There’s plenty of complexity as well with spice, mineral notes and the great length this wine traditionally features. An excellent vintage of a very consistent wine in its peak drinking window.

Swanson Vineyards 2008 Salon Chardonnay – This is the current vintage of this wine, released this past August. Not surprisingly this vintage currently has the biggest fruit of the bunch. Gentle hints of butter are present along with the classic spice elements. Mineral notes are just starting to eek out of this wine and I suspect they’ll become much more prominent over time. While it’s delicious now, history tells me that to my taste I’m going to like this wine even more in about 5-6 months.

Vertical tastings can be fascinating and instructive. This one was no different. While everyone had their favorites, for a variety of reasons, there was some consensus. Regardless of how much the older vintages have evolved, the house style, we agreed was evident throughout. While age and of course vintage variation play a strong role, the consistent quality of the Swanson Salon Chardonnay from year to year was on display.

So the moral of the story here is two-fold. First of all if you like a varietal, don’t give up on it if you run across some examples you don’t like. You may eventually find one you love. The tide may also shift as it has with California Chardonnay. Of course the oak laden butter bombs are still out there. Thankfully though there are less then of them than before. The other part of the story? If you like excellent Chardonnay, that has fruit, complexity, and a good bit of longevity, do what you have to and get your hands on a bottle of Swanson Salon Chardonnay.

Please take a moment to vote for my blog.

[Via http://gabesview.com]

Biggest news at CES: 152-inch Panasonic plasma | DVICE

60 seconds - The Average decision making time to order restaurant wine

2010-01-11T08:57:00.000+02:00

A recent study found that the average consumer takes 60 seconds with a restaurant wine list before making a selection. This particular statistic speaks volumes. It means that we reach for what is familiar, that we are intimidated by the unfamiliar and that we don’t want to think too much when confronted with a wine list.

Tip: When ordering wine at a restaurant remember that some restaurateurs bank on your insecurity when it comes to navigating a wine list. Most amateurs play it safe by choosing the second cheapest wine on the list. These wines are normally the wines which has the biggest mark-up, so beware.

Source: cityweekly.net

[Via http://douglasgreen.wordpress.com]

Media Watchdogs Call Out Planted "News" Story in the Washington ...

Adirondack Winery's "Spice Up Your Winter" FREE Wine Tasting Event

2010-01-11T03:31:00.000+02:00

YOU’RE INVITED!! Adirondack Winery’s “Spice up Your Winter” FREE Wine Tasting Event When: Sat., Jan. 16 11:30am – 5:30pm AND Sun., Jan. 17 11:30am – 3:30pm Where: Adirondack Winery & Tasting Room, 285 Canada Street, Lake George, NY

Catch a break from the bitter cold of the New Year by enjoying this FREE wine tasting event at Adirondack Winery! For this event, we’re going to prepare some of our wines with mulling spices. These delightful concoctions will give you that “warm & fuzzy” feeling we all crave during winter! Let the aromas and flavors of our wines mixed with spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, brown sugar, and more warm you up inside. To top it off, we’ll also have a number of home-baked treats that make excellent pairings for the mulled wines. (See Details Below)

Mulled Merlot Paired with Chocolate Chip Cookies Mulled Pinot Grigio Paired with Sugar Spice Cookies Mulled Zinfandel Paired with Almonds and Raisins Mulled Viognier Paired with Gingersnaps

Become a Fan and See this Event on Facebook: See this event on Eventful Check Out our Blog: Follow Adirondack Winery on Twitter:

Adirondack Winery & Tasting Room / 285 Canada Street, Lake George, NY 12845

(518) 668-WINE / www.AdirondackWinery.com / http://store.adirondackwinery.com

[Via http://adirondackwinery.wordpress.com]

FOX NEWS's $700 Million Man

Day 62 (1/7/10): The Birds

2010-01-08T21:47:00.000+02:00

I left out one very important detail about the sixth. In that hour Christine was late, I met somebody else. You figure with all the people shuffling in and out and around Grand Central, this isn’t much of an accomplishment, but I managed to meet somebody who spends a third of their day in this building. No I didn’t pick up a mid-life train conductor, or a lovely janitor. I met a book shop girl while perusing the fictions. I was basically standing there reading Juliet Naked before she chimed in that it was a book store, not a library. I told her that at least Barnes & Noble has comfortable chairs…before looking around and noticing that there were, in fact, no chairs in this busy book emporium. She just smiled at me with her horn-rimmed glasses and messy pony tail. I told her I’d give in and buy the book, if she’d go out with me. She just shook her head at me, grabbed the book and walked it to the register ringing it up. I was overjoyed that that dubious method actually worked, but then when she was done taking my credit card, and having me sign it I was still 7 digits away from my goal. As I was about to ask her what about the date, she interrupted me and said, “Have a good day Mr. Dillinger, pleasant reading”.

Dejected I walked around to wait for Christine. And then when I got home I opened the book up, pulled out the complimentary book mark, and noticed the phone number on it. In an age of texting and number exchanges there was something refreshingly charming about a girl who took the effort to write her number down. I think the little scraps of paper with numbers on them, while easy to lose, are a touch that is long since vanished in this world. And I don’t think this is for the better. Theres something to be said for physical proof of an accomplishment. You can have that number as a keepsake, and a trophy. It isn’t just another in a long list of phone contacts that you play russian roulette with while drunk dialing.

So I called Mia and we set up plans for the next evening. I scanned Time Out and was lucky enough to find a poetry reading going on that night. We arrived early, scanned the place for a table and ordered a bottle of wine. Off the bat she asked me one of the strangest/best first date questions, “Name Your Top Three Cereals”

In the following order I listed them. Cocoa Puffs, Corn Flakes, Fruit Loops.

She told me I must have a thing for birds. I immediately corrected her that I actually hated/feared them.

Why?

Hitchcock.

Oh come on you can’t be afraid of something from a Hitchcock movie.

Birds, spies, guys named Norman, parties where the host is dead in the center of the room, showering alone, seaside towns, strangers on a train, beds & breakfasts.

B&bs?

I’m pretty sure I’m going to brutally murdered in a quaint little bed and breakfast at some point in my life…but the birds I’m most petrified of. To this day I still won’t go into the Enchanted Tiki Room.

Even though they have great taste in cereal?

Even so, that bird is literally crazy over that cereal. I figure we can share a common interest if they get intelligent enough to start offing mankind. I eat the cereal with him, we bond. And then I find a toucan and we share a Guinness.

What about women?

Those kinds of birds are the most likely to peck me to death.

She couldn’t help but laugh at my neurosis. The wine helped I’m sure. And then I got her answer which was abysmally average. She hit me with Apple Jacks. Apple Jacks and me don’t get along, but me and Mia certain did. We had some wine, listened to semi-okay poetry. I may be well read, but I’ve never been one to get remotely into poetry. She seemed to enjoy it though. She shared glances with me, the Merlot, and the poet…while I was off in my head thinking about cereal, stouts, and other birds.

[Via http://100girls100days.com]

Afghanistan Dominated TV Foreign News in 2009 by Jim Lobe ...

Michael's New York's Winter Wines By the Glass Program

2010-01-08T15:26:00.000+02:00

We are so excited to be able to offer you this amazing selection of wines by the glass. Our sommelier Seth hand-picked each selection to complement our winter menu perfectly, and shares his tasting notes here.

MICHAEL’S NEW YORK WINTER WINE BY THE GLASS PROGRAM 2010

BUBBLES

PROSECCO, VALLIS MARENI, UMBRA, EXTRA DRY NV $10/gl. The nose is fruity-intense, yet elegant. Clear scents of golden apples come through a floral background. It is a dry wine, fresh and lean, soft and rounded, with good length and a pleasantly fruity finish.

DEUTZ, BRUT, NV, Äy $20/ gl. Deep golden hue with very fine bubbles. On the nose, floral aromas, toasted bread, almond paste, ripe grapefruit, and a touch of lemon peel. “On the palate one finds the freshness of the Chardonnay grape, the unctuous power of Pinot Noir and the suppleness of Pinot Meunier, brought together in an elegant ensemble” – Wine Spectator. It is dry, with clean, fresh acidity going right through to the finish. A really top-notch glass of sparkles, great for beginnings, shellfish, gravlax, salads.

TAITTINGER ROSE NV $24/gl. 30% Chardonnay, 70% Pinot Noir. This is a very subtle, delicate, and intense wine showing bright red fruits (crushed wild raspberries, cherries, and blackcurrants) on the palate, with a very long, intense, dry finish. A stunning aperitif.

WHITES

RIESLING, HEXAMER, SPATLESE, NAHE 2003 $12/gl. This beautiful Riesling is off-dry with big peach, pear, and fresh apples on the nose, followed by a ripe fruit palate with firm acidity. Round notes give way to a leanish finish with mouthwatering appeal.

CHARDONNAY, PETIT CHAPEAU, MACON – VILLAGES 2007 $13/gl. “Little Hat” has aromas of lemon zest, pear skin, and green apple, complemented by a touch of spice. Focused citrus and orchard fruit flavors, juicy and fresh, with tangy acidity and minerality.

SAUVIGNON BLANC, DOMAINE GIRARD, SANCERRE, LOIRE 2008 $15/gl. This wine is everything one hopes for when thinking about Sancerre. It is bright, lively, pleasantly aromatic, with a focus tending towards grapefruit, lime, and herbs with zippy acidity but low astringency. It is a wonderful food wine that is as versatile as it is easy to drink.

ARNEIS, PALMINA, SANTA YNEZ VALLEY, 2008 $14/gl. Medium-bodied, golden-green in color, with bright citrus on the nose leaning towards an almost key lime pie note. Pears, lemongrass, and baking spice mix with lively acidity on the palate. Long finish with a touch of almonds. Great with fish, beets, salads.

PINOT GRIGIO, ZANOTELLI, TRENTINO 2007 $14/gl. This small-production wine is not your everyday Pinot Grigio. SBig and bold with bright acidity, pears, and fruit. Full bodied, dry, and crisp. Great with most things.

CHARDONNAY, MER SOLEIL, MONTEREY 2007 $20/gl. A classic California Chardonnay. Big, rich nose, with light notes of honeysuckle, truffle, and buttery oak. Full, layered flavors of tropical fruit are balanced by a bright acidity of sweet citrus, and linger though the long, creamy finish.

REDS

PINOT NOIR, THE MALIBU VINEYARD, RAMBLA PACIFICO, MALIBU 2006 $20/gl. From the vineyard that surrounds Michael McCarty’s Malibu hillside home overlooking the Pacific, this unique California Pinot Noir combines the best of the state’s classic Pinot Noir characteristics with the best of Oregon style. The nose is a mixture of just-ripening strawberries, cherries, and hints of soft cola, with a touch of earthiness. On the palate, the cherries come forward first in their freshness, then mix with and give way to the strawberry notes, which progress from fresh to preserves. The 2006 vintage has softness in the mouth, with a nice medium body. The finish is mouthwatering, making this wine pair exceptionally well with gamier poultry such as quail and duck, as well as with our burger, steak, and lamb.

BAROLO, CAVALOTTO, BRICCO BOSCHIS, 2000 $20/gl. The 2000 vintage produced Barolos of great ripeness and exuberance. It is a real treat to be able to offer this outstanding wine by the glass. A balsamic nose of spices, menthol, and licorice, followed by deep layers of dark fruit and tar. Soft and deep, with fully balanced acid makes this a rock star of a wine.

SYRAH, BOX CAR, SONOMA COAST 2007 $14/gl . Deep purple in color, this Syrah has a great, rich mouthfeel with decent acidity and surprisingly smooth tannins for such a young wine. A nose of Rainier cherries, Earl Grey tea, black fruit, and white pepper with undertones of herb-scented lamb. On the palate, you get the same fruit and pepper with a nice spice to the finish.

CABERNET SAUVIGNON, DUNHAM CELLARS, THREE LEGGED RED, COLUMBIA VALLEY 2007 $16/gl. Beautiful full-bodied wines are coming out of Washington State, and this blend of 80% Cabernet with a little Merlot and Syrah is one of them. Big, soft red/black fruits up front, with a touch of jamminess on the finish. Medium/full body.

MERLOT, CODE NOIR, RATTLESNAKE HILLS 2007 $15/gl. Another Washington State standout made by the sommelier from The French Laundry. Blending 90% Merlot, softened and filled out with Petit Verdot and Malbec. Bits of olives and black fruit on the nose. A touch spicy with jam. Full body, good tannins and acidity. A great food wine.

NEGROMARO, TORMARESCA, MASSERIA MAIME SALENTO , APULIA 2000 $14/gl. Made by the famous Antinori family, this wine is earthy with spice. Prune and black fruit on the palate. Long finish ends with menthol and minerals. Great with meats and big cheeses

Our reds available by the glass.

[Via http://michaelsrestaurants.wordpress.com]

Bookninja » Blog Archive » News tids

0296, apt 1106.

2010-01-08T03:42:00.000+02:00

Liz stopped by to pick up a reading she couldn’t get at school and I am pretty much stoked because, regarding my entry from 2 hours ago, her visit helped a lot. We sat for about an hour and half over a glass of red (that I didn’t drink earlier because, as much as I try to convince myself to enjoy a glass of red alone, I never do) and talked about everything under the sun. She was glad she came over and I obviously am, considering the way I felt and how discouraged my soul was. It’s funny how things are happening in my life these days. I have constructed a positive framework for myself and even in my low or lowest moments, something counteracts the negativity habouring me and pulls me out of it so quickly I can barely blink. This isn’t the first incident of this sort but it’s something that I will now categorize (via this blog) under neat things that happen in life. If you don’t think this can happen to you, let’s do lunch!

(Do I sound like an infomercial?)

I feel so much better, so much more positive, and so much more buzzed than I did two hours ago. Now onwards and upwards to King Solomon’s Mines – a book I have to read and respond on for Wednesday. I have 0 of 176 pages read.

[Via http://stasisindarkness.wordpress.com]

Mouth Of The Potomac - NY Daily News

Golan Heights Winery - a northern adventure

2010-01-06T21:22:00.000+02:00

On January 1, 2010, after less than 4 (and in some cases less than 3 or 2) hours of sleep, my father, mother, sister, her best friend, and I hopped in a rented compact car at 7 am and proceeded to drive from Tel Aviv to the Golan Heights Winery…in the Golan Heights.

This is our story.

(cue Gilligan’s Island theme song)

A few bitchy fights, cramped snoozing, radio station surfing (we never did find one the entire drive), and a generally cranky 2.5 foggy hours later, we reached the region of our final destination — a full hour and a half early.

After I took the blame (and the beating) from everyone for depriving them of an extra hour’s sleep, we had a nice breakfast at a roadside cafe in the old town of Rosh Pina – a picturesque place (so I’m told – it really was super-foggy) just next to the historic, kabbalistically-famous city of Tzfat (aka Safed). It was really far north. We really did make amazing time.

At a bit after ten we proceeded to drive the remaining twenty minutes from Rosh Pina (just about directly north of the Sea of Galilee – what we call the Kineret - a place that generally marks a border between the Galil region and the Golan region) to Katzrin, the tiny town (the largest town in the region) that is the home of the Golan Heights Winery.

Collectively owned by 4 kibbutzim (collective farms) and 4 moshavim (cooperative farms), the Golan Heights Winery began the Israeli wine revolution in 1983. Quite frankly, they make the best wine in Israel, consistently winning international awards and accolades. They introduced many of the modern grape varieties to Israel, and produce more than 30 labels under three series (Yarden, Gamla, and Golan).

Aside: I work for them leading wine tastings, albeit on a very part-time basis. I love working for them. I am more than a bit biased. But being a wine lover first and foremost, every trip I take to Katzrin to visit GHW is an exceptional treat. You’re treated like family — and this is a state-of-the-art facility.

The main visitors’ center is closed for renovation the next 6 months, so a makeshift (if you can even call it that) center was rigged in the main administration building. Despite Fridays being quite popular visitation days, it was quite empty there. I’m used to seeing throngs of tourists, both domestic and otherwise. Perhaps it was the winter, or the fact that many were probably nursing hangovers in their warm beds (which is where we half-halfheartedly wished to be). Because of this fact, we had an almost private tour (with one quiet young couple tagging along).

After a brief history of wine, winemaking in the region, and the Golan Heights Winery itself, the tour guide (lovely woman named Ela) took us to the “wine cellar” — really the largest barrel storage building in the country, housing more than 7,000 gorgeous French oak vessels.

The tour ended with a wine tasting. Perhaps because the visitors’ center was closed, or perhaps because there were so few people – we were shown to the private tasting room besides the vaults (or maybe a better word for it is ‘archive’) of wines that are kept just for the winemakers (and I expect, VIPs). It was really fun, and the wines we were given really showed off the vast range they produce – starting with a very young Chardonnay (Golan 2008) – leading to a very hefty Syrah (Yarden 2005) – ending with such a treat, the Heightswine (Yarden 2007; play on words – made in the same fashion as Ice Wine).

My parents being my lovely parents bought me another bottle of the Single Vineyard Yarden Syrah (2004 – Ortal Vineyard) – my absolute favorite – at the gift shop, and we stocked up on a few other gems (Dad’s taking home another Syrah Ortal, a Cabernet Sauvignon Single Vineyard El-Rom 2004, and a Noble Semillion Botrytis, amongst other things).

The Hodes family being the Hodes family, the ride home was just as memorable, one squabble inevitably leading to another more colorful and more complex than the one before. We stopped at an artists’ village, took a quick (15 minute) hike in a nature preserve to see a local waterfall, and then hit the road, unfortunately choosing the scenic route, back to city-dom. We took a wrong turn twice, my father progressively became more and more ill (stuffed up sinuses from lack of sleep), and we took a very, very long detour in order to visit a Druze village (Dalyiat El-Carmel) to drink a quick coffee and stock up on hummus, tahini, salads, and pita — because the very wise Hodes clan had extended an invitation for dinner at our place to the rest of the family for that very evening — and there was no way we had the time, nor were we in the condition to cook.

We returned to Tel Aviv ten hours to the minute after we left. The adventure wouldn’t end for several hours more. And it would take the rest of the weekend to recover. A three hour tour, indeed. Talk about almost 7 hours in a car for a 1 hour tour. That takes passion. Or madness. Or both.

I say, well worth the visit to Israel’s greatest winery.

Great businessweek article on the revolution in Israeli wine production

[Via http://irenesharonhodes.wordpress.com]

Stocks in the News: Kraft Foods, Cadbury, Google, Ford - DailyFinance

It's Warm Inside the Bistro

2010-01-06T15:38:00.000+02:00

Wow!!!

Floridians are not used to this type of weather. When I arrived at the Bistro yesterday morning it was less than 50 degrees inside. I pumped up the thermostat to no avail…the heater wasn’t starting. I’m smart enough to check the pilot but it turns out this furnace doesn’t have a gas pilot light.

Luckily, I have some considerate HVAC friends that came to my rescue. Bill Hogle from Hogle’s Heating and Air (click for more info), arrived at the Bistro in no time. Quite a testament due to the amount of calls they have received since the cold weather moved into Florida and everyone realizing that their heaters were not working. Bill located the problem and replaced the thermostat. Bingo was his name-o!!!

We have HEAT and it’s a beautiful thing!!!

No matter how cold it is outside the Bistro is toasty and it’s nice to have friends in strategic positions.

BTW…Do you someone that can work on dishwashers?

Cheers!!!!

[Via http://mariosbistro.wordpress.com]

Reflections of a Newsosaur: News-stock surge: Boom or dead-cat bounce?

These wines take the cake: Jim Rawe, The Sun Herald

2010-01-04T21:42:00.000+02:00

Layer Cake Wines are 100 Percent Pure

Layer Cake Wines would like to thank Jim Rawe for his write up of Layer Cake Wines for the SunHerald online.

“In vino veratis” is a well-traveled Latin saying that translates to “in wine there is truth.” This phrase originated during Roman times because public officials believed that if they drank wine during meetings it would be easier to discern if someone was untruthful. Today I would say that the truth can usually be found in the bottle.

Layer Cake makes several wines that taste quite nicely, but it is hard to guess the price.

Layer Cake Wines are unique for several reasons, least of which is that they are produced in four of the top wine-growing regions in the world: Napa Valley, Calif.; McLaren Vale, Australia; Mendoza, Argentina; and Puglia, Italy. Layer Cake’s founder and winemaker, Jayson Woodbridge, named the wines from something his grandfather used to tell him: “The wine, if properly made, was like a great layer cake, fruit, mocha, chocolate, and hints of spice — and rich, always rich.”

Layer Cake wines are also unique in that each of the different wines is produced using 100 percent of the same type of grape. The idea behind Layer Cake was to produce wines that tasted like they were in the $60 range, but retail between $15 and $25 a bottle.

The 2008 Layer Cake Shiraz looks very deep and dark in color, with a nice aroma of plum. This powerful Shiraz contains a lot of black fruit, and I could taste a significant amount of cherry, all the way to a smooth finish. This wine is produced in the McLaren Vale region of South Australia, an area renowned for Shiraz.

Jayson Woodbridge, winemaker, Layer Cake Primitivo aka Zinfandel

The 2007 Layer Cake Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon contains aromas of black currant, and tasted quite creamy and soft with flavors of dark fruit and mocha. Although I didn’t taste this wine with food, it was obvious that it would be excellent alongside a grilled steak. This Cabernet is priced at the upper end of the range.

The 2007 Layer Cake Primitivo that hails from Italy required some time to open up, but once it did, it tasted of ripe plums and white pepper. These flavors should not come as much of a surprise, as the Primitivo grape is identical to the Zinfandel.

I thought the 2007 Layer Cake Malbec proved to be elegant, with copious flavors of black fruits and a long, spicy finish.

This is a wine that would complement just about any roasted meats. The grapes used to make this wine were grown in Mendoza, Argentina — an area that produces some of the best Malbec anywhere in the world.

In closing out the year, I offer a toast using words attributed to John Wayne: “Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It’s perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. “It hopes we’ve learned something from yesterday.” Salut!!

Jim Rawe, a family attorney in Bradenton, Fla., is an avid collector of fine wines. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at jimrawe@gmail.com.

[Via http://layercakewine.wordpress.com]

Confused by the news? Understanding all this climate change talk ...

Dinner for my Parents--they deserve it!

2010-01-04T15:51:00.000+02:00

Recently, I decided that my parents might enjoy a night of dinner-for-two, since we don’t have a wide variety of restaurants nearby and they don’t get to enjoy each other’s company in their often busy home environment. So, I decided to set them up at a table in our newly finished lounge area and lavish them with a four course meal, complete with wine pairings.

They accepted my offer, so last night, I cooked them a nice meal and put on some good music–date night! I wanted to start them off with a signature cocktail and “bar snacks,” so when they first went up to the lounge, I greeted them with brown butter-vanilla-sage and chestnut honey cocktails, bottarga popcorn, and white pizza flatbread. I thought the woodsiness of the drink wood go well with the tarragon in the pizza crust and that the infused brown butter in the vodka would go well with the butter in the popcorn.

After they had some time to relax and enjoy their happy hour, I brought up their first course: individual ratatouilles with seared baby octopus on top. I layered sliced zucchini, squash, eggplant, tomatoes, and onions in our small earthenware dishes baked them, covered, so that the herbs (tarragon, thyme, parsley, and lavender) as well as the garlic, would permeate the vegetables. I had marinated the baby octopus in saffron, sherry vinegar, and tomato, and when I seared it, it curled up nicely to sit on top of the fragrant vegetables. To go with the “clear” saffron flavor and fresh vegetables, I chose a Robert Mondavi Fume Blanc, which had nice acidity and brightness.

Later, when they had finished their ratatouille, I brought them their salad course, which was kale and roasted root vegetables (parsnips, beets, and sunchokes) with lemon and olive oil and parmigiano regiano. Since the root vegetables were earthy and the parsnips were almost smokey, I paired the salad with Watermark Merlot from the Napa Valley, a light but dry and smokier wine. Normally, I would have started with the salad, but because it went better with the red wine and offered a break in heavy food, I thought it was a good idea to serve it second.

My next course was the heartiest one: braised lamb shoulder blade chops with chocolate and porcini ravioli paired with Green Meadow Pinot Noir. I thought that the nice marbling in the chops would lend well to braising, so I simmered the chops in wine and stock for a couple hours. I made a chocolate pasta dough and filled it with ricotta into which I had mixed porcini powder. To serve, I reduced the braising liquid, added some currants, and then finished with a little dark chocolate. I thought the warm fruit flavors from the wine would go well with lamb, and by adding currants to the sauce I bridged that idea. Also, the chocolate in the sauce and pasta went well with the fruit flavors and rich lamb. The porcini echoed the earthy and slightly gamey (not in a bad way) lamb flavor, and so the dish was very harmonious.

Before the grand finale, I sent out a refreshing bite–the first sweet dish. I made a sweet sake-miso reduction to go under a quennele of beer ice cream, and then I finished it with chopped salted nuts. It was the quintessential bar food turned dessert, and I knew it would be good for my mom, who doesn’t quite care for sweet things.

Finally–the finish–puffy eggnog. What is puffy eggnog?, you ask. Well, I basically made eggnog and turned it into a cloud-like mousse by aerating it in a cream charger. Even though it had the strength of a good nightcap, it was at once a voluptuous cloud. My parents truly loved it. And so did I.

[Via http://getinmebelly.wordpress.com]

Low favorables: Dems rip Rasmussen - Alex Isenstadt - POLITICO.com

How things led me to cooking again

2010-01-04T09:44:00.000+02:00

During all this time (school, uni, first years as a professional) I cooked once in a while. My favourite dishes to prepare were cebiche (raw fish marinated in lime juice with onions, chillies, sweet potato, and corn) and pasta. I baked desserts once in a while, too.

As mentioned before, I had a new friend called gastritis, who magically appeared around the time when I started traveling for work. Whoever thinks that traveling as part of your job is cool has obviously never done it or has a job that doesn’t involve programming software in the client’s office. Anyway, I had a few trips over the world, I really enjoyed having the opportunity of visiting places like Hong Kong, but I hated the stress and long hours that were involved in almost all of my trips.

On June 2005 I was in Mexico City, programming an accounting software and wondering what should I do with my life. As I left the office at lunch time and went to this cool restaurant in which you built your own salad with really yummy ingredients, it stroke me like lightning. I knew I wanted to cook for a living.

I stayed a few weeks in Mexico and after getting home I started getting quotes from all cooking schools I knew of. Le Cordon Bleu was my first choice but it was really expensive and classes were only at daytime (meaning I would have had to quit my job and lose the money income I needed for the tuition fee). Most options were unviable because of the starting times but there was this school just a block away from my office with a one-year program in which classes started at 6:30 pm. That sounded perfect, so I started studying on September 2005. I told my boss that I wouldn’t be able to travel anymore during the next year because I had enrolled in a course (I didn’t mention what kind, but he eventually found out).

I was very short of time at that moment but still managed to train, work, study, be in a band, and have a boyfriend. Soon after starting the program I began preparing desserts and selling them at my office and my sister’s office. So my typical day was something like this:

6 am: Wake up

7 am: Taekwondo or weights

8 am: Take a shower and go to the office

6:30 pm: Get out of the office, walk 100 meters, wait until being able to cross safely the Javier Prado avenue, enter the cooking school, change my clothes and go into the classroom/kitchen

Anywhere between 9:30 and 11:50 pm: Go home. Three days a week prepare desserts and package them.

Go to sleep.

I had lunch with Alvaro (my current husband) on Wednesdays and spent more time with him on weekends. On Saturdays, after going to the gym, I met him in his kung fu class and then we went to his house. On Sundays I played tennis, had lunch and went to rehearse with the band. Alvaro went with me and read a book or something while we rehearsed.

This went on for a while until my energy was completely depleted. First I stopped playing tennis, then I started skipping training days. I gained weight as a consequence of cooking and tasting food every day, but I tried to adhere to my eating and training plans outside from the classes. Later I quit the band.

I noticed a few things changing within me during that year (besides my body fat, of course). One is that I became increasingly interested in nutrition. I began to think that maybe that was another career path I should think about (I still think that, but haven’t done anything about it yet).

The other thing is that my palate evolved very quickly as a response to constant exposure to prime quality ingredients and dishes prepared by top chefs. While it was true that my interest for highly processed foods decreased as a result of my healthy eating awareness, my tastebuds started to demand better prepared food. This is what anyone would from cookery students, but I was surprised to see that the vast majority in my class chose KFC for group lunches and fried super fresh salmon and sole sashimi as soon as the Japanese Cuisisine teacher left the kitchen.

I began to truly appreciate all dimensions of food and wine: smell, texture, taste, depth, contrast, temperature, harmony, layout, colour, etc. Naturally, I started to expend more money, both when eating out and when buying groceries for cooking at home. My family and Alvaro got some side effects too: yummy food and body fat increase.

[Via http://lateraleating.wordpress.com]

Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 1/1 - Arrowhead Pride

The era of ABC, Anything But Chardonnay, is well over.

2010-01-01T21:51:00.000+02:00

About a decade ago, there was a very active ABC movement among the wine community. ABC stands for Anything But Chardonnay.

The country was awash in rivers of Chardonnay, it was being ordered in bars and restaurants by the glass and bottle in amazing volumes.

The Chardonnay grape produces a juice that, when fermented, yields wine notes of crisp green apple and possible tropical notes like pineapple if cold fermented. Wine made from Chardonnay can seem sour in its tartness.

A secondary fermentation, malolactic fermentation, can transform malic acid notes of tart green apple to lactic acid notes of butter and cream.

Another winemaking method of changing Chardonnay’s flavors is to age the wine in oak barrels instead of holding the juice in stainless steel tanks. The oak barrel can impart notes of oak, toast, clove, caramel, butterscotch, and vanilla on the Chardonnay. Additional, more intense oak flavors are achieved when the Chardonnay is fermented, not just aged, in oak.

I think Kendall-Jackson is largely responsible for the enormous increase in Chardonnay’s popularity.

Kendall-Jackson sourced Chardonnay grapes from all over California, and ran all of the juice through malolactic and held the wine in oak barrels. The result was a buttery wine of oak, toast, cream and vanilla. Kendall-Jackson sold so much wine that other wineries were making Kendal-Jackson Chardonnay through custom crush relationships, as much as 250,000 cases of a label at a time.

People came to expect all Chardonnays to taste of butter, toast, cream, and vanilla. Soon, other wineries were hiding the varietal character of Chardonnay, the unique fruit notes, by increasing their use of malolactic fermentation and oak aging.

There was a time when all Chardonnays were boringly the same. Bottles of oak and butter, the fruit nearly gone.

It was said that if you put a rock through malolactic fermentation, held it in oak, and slapped a Kendall-Jackson label on it, it would taste of oak, toast, cream, and vanilla, with very little fruit, and someone would put it in their mouth to find out.

Thus was born the ABC crowd. Anything But Chardonnay, give me something that tastes like grape, varietally correct, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Chenin Blanc, Marsanne, Riesling, Gewurtztraminer, Viognier, Pinot Gris, anything still held in stainless, anything with fruit notes please.

If you have seen the incredible wine movie Sideways, you heard Miles, the main character, pronounce, “If anyone orders Merlot, I’m leaving. I am not drinking any fucking Merlot.”

Like Chardonnay, Merlot is often boring, bland, uninteresting, yet easy to drink with very little varietal character getting in the way. Miles could just as easily have declared, “I am not drinking any fucking Chardonnay,” but it wouldn’t make much sense for Miles to visit Santa Barbara, a big grower of Chardonnay, and complain about the varietal.

Does this mean that I never drink Chardonnay, or that I recommend that you don’t?

No.

The great news is that in the last decade, wineries have decided that malolactic fermentation and oak aging are winemaker tools, but they don’t have to be used fully, or at all, with every Chardonnay.

Chardonnay, which was nearly uniformly boring as everyone chased Kendall-Jackson’s style because of Kendal-Jackson’s sales, is now an exciting wine to taste.

There are now wineries choosing to forego malolactic fermentation with their Chardonnay, and have clear tart green apple notes in their releases. Other wineries are choosing to put only a portion of their Chardonnay juice through malolactic and blending it with juice that hasn’t been put through this secondary fermentation.

Similarly, some wineries are holding their fruit in stainless steel tanks instead of oak barrels and allowing the fruit free rein. Other wineries hold some of their juice in stainless and some in oak and blend the juices to have notes of fruit and oak.

With blends possible ranging from no malolactic or oak to 100% malolactic and oak, the possible winemaking choices are nearly infinite. The great news is that winemakers are using these tools in different percentages and making wines that are unique, even exciting.

Now you can visit a tasting room and taste a Chardonnay where one third of the juice was fermented in oak, two thirds in stainless. Of the two thirds fermented in stainless; one third was aged in new french oak, one third was held in new american oak, one sixth in one year old American oak, and the remaining sixth was aged in stainless. Sixty percent of the juice underwent malolactic fermentation. Complex. Unique.

Chardonnay, once boring, predictable, is now a fun wine to taste. With winemakers using the tools I’ve talked about, and many others, differently, the finished wine is often a surprise. To me that makes wine tasting Chardonnays much more enjoyable.

[Via http://johncesano.wordpress.com]

AMERICAblog News: Most Americans optimistic about 2010

Best Spanish Sherries

2010-01-01T15:10:00.000+02:00

For your Spanish travels to the wine region of Jerez here are some popular ones to try, voted for at a tasting session hosted by The Sherry Institute of Spain at the Spanish Embasssy in London the top ten Sherries were:

John Harvey & Sons Ltd, V.O.R.S 30 Year Old Rich Old Oloroso
Bodegas Hidalgo – La Gitana, Triana, Pedro Ximenez
Gonzales Byass, Del Duque, Amontillado Muy Viejo
Bodegas Sanchez Romate, NPU Amontillado
Fernando di Castilla, Antique Oloroso
Bodegas Perez Marin, La Guita, Manzanilla
Bodegas Lustau, Puerto Fino
Bodegas Valdivia, Sacromonte, Pedro Ximenez
Sandeman, Royal Corregidor, Rich Old Oloroso
Williams and Humbert, Dos Cortados, V.O.S. 20 Year Old Pal Cortado

For more information and tasting notes see Decanter.com

[Via http://luxuryspaintravel.wordpress.com]

Strong iPhone sales continue in France | iLounge News

New Year's Eve Feast

2010-01-01T09:19:00.000+02:00

I managed to spend most of yesterday cooking for last night’s dining experience and in the melee of ‘plating up’ (ahem) managed to completely forget the photos. Which is a pity as the food looked pretty fab, even if I do say so myself. Anyway, dinner consisted of:

Prawn Soup

Braised Beef with pot-roasted vegetables

Poached Pear with Chocolate Sauce, Pear Syrup and Ice Cream

I also did a veggie main of open ravioli with butternut squash, spinach and mushrooms.

Finally, there was a goodly portion of wine and whisky. Happy New Year.

[Via http://andrewrichley.wordpress.com]

The Jets Stream - NY Daily News

Last Singles eMag for 2009 - read it here...

2009-12-30T15:42:00.000+02:00

Once again it’s the end of the year – time to reflect on everything we have done and everything we would like to do in 2010 whether you’re Single or not!

For all you guys and girls who haven’t as yet had the opportunity to read the SHI Symbol eMag -this is our very last one for 2009. Please enjoy the features on travel, relationships, finance, beauty, wine and much much more. And of course, we’d love your feedback too.

SHI Symbol International eMag Dec-front-cover300

And to subscribe to the SHI Symbol FREE monthly emag go to www.shisymbol.com/newsletter.php – You won’t be disappointed.

[Via http://shisymbolinternational.wordpress.com]

The Jawa Report: Good News: Two Hamas Members Dead