Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Would you like a Gold or Silver with that Red or White?
Guest blogger�and wine judge �Stacie Hunt offers some insight into being a judge at the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition.�Stacie is a�commentator on wine for National Public Radio, a Certified Sommelier (AIS), an international wine judge, educator, journalist and blogger. Everyone has his or her own idea of spring.� In the city, the [...]
Friday, April 6, 2012
Romantic environment for only Two to taste Italian preparations ? only at Solo Per Du
Romance, romance and romance! This is what Italy is made of. So undoubtedly, the restaurants in this country must also reflect a similar interior atmosphere. In this land of romance nestles the world?s smallest restaurant, Solo Per Due, which is located in a small town, Vacone near Rome. This eating house offers a dining area [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/FdtuwzbyXQc/
?Virgin boy eggs? from China: impossible food-wine pairing?
Ah, spring is in the air. And people around the world are thinking about eggs. Here, we have bunnies who lay colored and chocolate eggs. In China, it turns out, the springtime air in Dongyang fills with the smell of hot urine and the gastronome’s mind in that city then turns to…eggs. Let’s hear the [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/6_aAfhMFyus/
Wine of the Month
The idea of a wine of the month has different meanings to different people. For my dad, that’s probably whatever box wine Costco has on sale. That’s fine, but not really my cup of tea if you know what I mean, no matter how much I like Bronco Wine Company or Franzia. For my wife [...]
Source: http://winewithmark.info/archives/673
Anna Paquin AnnaLynne McCord Anne Marie Kortright April Scott
Do wine writers write only for the one percent?
Gawker ran a piece recently that rips into the idea that the “one percent” don’t have enough money to live on. What provoked it was a Canadian one percenter who wrote in Toronto Life about his plight, and details his living expenses and several others posed for the magazine and detailed their expenses. One line [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/HHD8Q8UY990/
55? PrestigeHD television from Stuart Hughes at $2.26 million
For the wealthy section of the society, Stuart Hughes is not a new brand which is always there to enhance the opulence of a home with its creativity and exclusivity. This time, this brand has revealed its creativity and exclusivity through a very common household item and that is a television. It has designed this [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/pg7Ba_B64Ug/
TMiW 2 ? The Tastes They Are A-Changin?
Jeff Lefevere and I return to review the top wine stories of the past month including tongue-twisting wine names, a disturbing wine manifesto, trends in wine marketing, the stellar 2009 Bordeaux vintage and much more. Hosts: Tim Elliott and Jeff Lefevere Topics If the wine is hard to pronounce, is it worth more? Has wine [...]
TMiW 2 – The Tastes They Are A-Changin’ originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/iEGpZ5My1aY/
Bordeaux: the biggest joke in the wine world?
Something about the 2011 campaign told me that the Mea Culpas would come out this year – and I have a feeling I might be right. ‘We were arrogant,’ says Chateau Lafite MD Christophe Salin of last year’s wine pricing (and ‘timing’ – for which read ‘handling’). And I think we can expect more of [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/DxEIGs3ffr8/
Details Revealed for Cochon 555 Boston 2012
Here's an event report I wrote up last year to give you a feel for what to expect at Cochon 555
And here's more information on this year's event:
WHAT: Cochon 555 ? five chefs, five pigs, five winemakers ? is a one-of-a-kind traveling culinary competition and tasting event to promote sustainable farming of heritage breed pigs. Cochon 555 Boston, presented by Infiniti and media partner Boston Magazine, will challenge five local chefs to prepare a menu created from heritage breed pigs, nose-to-tail, for an audience of pork-loving epicureans.
WHO: 2012 Boston competing chefs include Jamie Bissonette of Coppa and Toro, Tim Cushman of O Ya, Barbara Lynch of Menton, Barry Maiden of Hungry Mother, and Steve "Nookie" Postal of Fenway Park.
DETAILS: Guests will be treated to a epic pork feast of five whole heritage pigs prepared by five chefs and wines from five family wineries, including Buty Winery, Elk Cove Vineyards, Syncline Wines, Sokol Blosser, Chehalem Wines, and K Vintners. The evening will also include wines by SALDO, an interactive tasting contest with Matt Jennings of Farmstead and Le Creuset, Anchor Brew, tastings of ChinacoTequila and the "Perfect Manhattan" Cochon 555 Bar with Daniel Hyatt of Alembic featuring five craft American spirits, and Domaine Serene of Oregon paired with Iberico De Bellota by Fermin. Joshua Smith from TICO will host a Heritage BBQ whole hog family meal after the completion of the voting. The night will conclude with a special 25th anniversary champagne toast to the James Beard Foundation, sponsored by Laurent-Perrier Champagne, now celebrating its 200th year; and dessert samples of exclusive chocolate bar flavors from Xocolatl de David, paired with cold-brew Safari Cup Coffee.
At the end of the night, attendees and local judges will select the Prince or Princess of Porc. The winning chef will go on to compete against other regional winners at the finale Grand Cochon event at the FOOD & WINE Classic in Aspen, June 17, 2012.
WHEN: Sunday, March 25th
4 pm VIP opening; 5 pm general admission
WHERE: Mandarin Oriental Boston
776 Boylston Street
Boston
TICKETS: $125 per person for general admission; $200 for VIP, which includes one hour early access to sample dishes from three of the competing chef stations, welcome cocktails from The King's Ginger, artisan cheeses from Formaggio Kitchen and Murray'sCheese, and Island Creek Oysters.
For more information and to purchase tickets:
Nichelini Winery ? 121 Consecutive Harvests
This little hidden winery in the Napa Valley may perhaps be best described as the ?The Little Winery That Could.? Through the prohibition this winery kept chugging and chugging making wines. Continue reading
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/nichelini-winery-%e2%80%93-121-consecutive-harvests/
If It's Not Natural Wine, It's Fake Wine
At the risk of beating on a horse that is live and well, I'm compelled to remake a few points about the Natural Wine Movement that very much need to be driven home. The movement, which some will say does...
Alert: Obscure But Important Wine Law Info
ALERT! Unless you have an unusually deep interest in the alcohol legal theory, the constitutional foundations of the Three-Tier System or wine politics, then you should probably maneuver away from this blog post. In my most recent post on Health...
The Goblet Project: A Program of Wine History
You just don't see much of it any more. Drive up and down the roads of America's wine regions and new vineyards are rarely being planted and trained in a head prunned or "Goblet" fashion. That wasn't always the case....
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Competition Winners Announced
The winners of the 70th annual Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition were announced today and the list is an impressive one! A box wine, a Scotch whisky, repeat winners (Armida Winery and baseball legend Tommy Lasorda) and so much more! Take a look at the winners here then check out the buzz on [...]
Source: http://blogs.fairplex.com/blog/wine/?p=78
Emma Watson Emmanuelle Chriqui Emmanuelle Vaugier Emmy Rossum
A Spitacular Competition!
For three days, our judges swirled, sniffed and spit their way through more than 3,500 wines from around the globe. Today they wrapped up by choosing the best of the best in each category. Results will be available next month, so stay tuned. In the meantime, enjoy this compilation of expert spitters:
No one wants to watch wine movies
Ok, so I got your attention. I’m sure some of you came racing over here to tell me I’m wrong. Sideways, Mondovino, A Good Year, French Kiss, and more … so many good, and not so good, films that speak of wine. I’m not here to debate the quality and accuracy of the films, but [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/HF9GUQWJLkk/
Ceja Vineyard ? Cute vineyard, great Pinot, inspiring story
In this season of Los Carneros, Amelia Ceja likes to sit outside instead of the comfortable tasting room the family has inside the house. Continue reading
Source: http://www.winecountrygetaways.com/napablog/ceja-vineyard-cute-vineyard-great-pinot-inspiring-story/
Visit and Tasting Report: Vaughn Duffy Wines
As I was looking at potential wineries to visit I was like a kid in a candy store. There are so many tremendous Pinot Noir producers to visit in Sonoma. Of all the wineries I visited, the one I'm most excited to write about is this one: Vaughn Duffy Wines
The name comes from a young couple that relocated to Sonoma from San Francisco: Matt Duffy & Sara Vaughn. I met with Matt at Vinify Wine Services - a custom crush facility for emerging winemakers where he works as a Cellar Master - to taste the two wines he produces: A Pinot Noir and a ros�,
I first heard of Vaughn Duffy from @tgutting on Twitter. He seems to always be drinking wines from California Pinot Noir producers I enjoy - like Siduri, Zepaltas, and Joseph Swan. I pinged him to ask what he thought were some up and coming producers I should check out. Vaughn Duffy was his recommendation.
The wines I tasted were just the second produced by Vaughn Duffy Wines so we're definitely getting in on the ground floor here.
Matt, as earnest and enthusiastic and kind as you can imagine, worked as an intern at Siduri so he follows a similar lineage as Ryan Zepaltas in that respect. While tasting his two current release wines - a 2010 Pinot Noir and a 2011 Ros� - I asked about his winemaking philosophy. Although he enjoys leaner Pinot Noir for personal consumption he wants to make wines his family and friends will enjoy. That they'll love.
And enjoy them I did.
The prior vintage of Vaughn Duffy ros� landed on the San Francisco Chronicle's Top 100 list of 2011. Quite an accomplishment for the first wines ever released under this label. Matt makes this wine from juice bled from premium Pinot Noir grapes from clients he works with at Vinify. To pay their generosity forward he donates $1 from every bottle sold to Sonoma charities. No two vintages are exactly the same - Matt says the 2011 vintage took longer for fermentation to begin - but many of the same crowd pleasing characteristics found in the 2010 ros� are also found in the 2011.
All of the winemakers I spoke with agreed that 2010 was a tough vintage for Pinot Noir. The growing season was extremely cool and grapes were slow to ripen. To assist ripening, leaves were removed late in the season. Then a rogue heat spike late in the season with temperatures well over 100F came along and fried exposed grapes.
When I hear that a vintage is "challenging" I tend to treat that as an indicator I should buy selectively. I asked each of the winemakers I spoke with about this and they said that good producers won't put out bad wines. If the grapes were truly fried they wouldn't have been picked. So what we'll see with 2010 Pinot Noir is reduced yields but good wines from good producers.
Although the 2010 Vaughn Duffy Pinot Noir is labeled "just" Russian River Valley, it could technically be labeled as a single vineyard wine. The grape source for the prior vintage was the Suacci vineyard (where Zepaltas and others have produced single vineyard Pinot Noirs in the past). However, in 2010 a fire near the Suacci vineyard imparted smoke taint on the Vaughn Duffy rows within the vineyard. As if the challenging overall weather conditions weren't enough!
So Matt sourced grapes from the Desmond vineyard which is Southwest of Windsor in the Russian River Valley. This is traditionally a warmer site so Matt thought the cooler growing season would be a good one for Pinot Noir. Based on what I tasted in the bottle, I think he was right.
Here are my notes on the wines:
2011 Vaughn Duffy Pinot Noir Ros�
14.1% Alcohol
$16
259 Cases Produced
The innocent light peach color did little to prepare me for how electric this wine is. Made using the Saign�e method - juice bled from pressed Pinot Noir. Peaches, watermelon, and floral aromatics. Slight residual sugar is balanced wonderfully with sharp acidity. It's hard to imagine this bottle of wine at a deck party going unfinished. Terrific.
92/100 WWP: Outstanding
2010 Vaughn Duffy Pinot Noir
13.7% Alcohol
$39
99 Cases Produced
For my palate, this is a delicious wine. Ripe strawberries, cherries, and a round voluptuous personality. Fresh. Pure. Friendly. Hard to stop tasting. Just the second vintage from Vaughn Duffy. I like the style here.
92/100 WWP: Outstanding
Next Steps:
- Visit VaughnDuffyWines.com and sign up for their mailing list.
- If you're a New England friend and would like to go in on a mixed case with me drop me an email (wellesleywinepress@gmail.com) and let me know. I'd prefer to amortize shipping costs across a larger order.
The Goblet Project: A Program of Wine History
You just don't see much of it any more. Drive up and down the roads of America's wine regions and new vineyards are rarely being planted and trained in a head prunned or "Goblet" fashion. That wasn't always the case....
Berlin Tasting in Copenhagen
Berlin Tasting in Copenhagen" might sound a little confusing? However the Berlin Tasting is a reference to a famous tasting held in Berlin the January 23. 2004. It was held by the Chilean wine producer Eduardo Chadwick from Errazuriz and he had invited 66 wine journalists from all over Europe to taste the best Chadwick wines from Chile against the supernames from Bordeaux and Tuscany. 16 wines were tasted from the vintages 2000 and 2001, among them 2000 Chateau Latour, 2000 Chateau Lafite and 2000 Chateau Margaux.
Source: http://www.wine4freaks.com/37/berlin-tasting-in-copenhagen/
Elk Cove Wine Dinner at Sprigs Restaurant in Acton, MA
Sprigs Restaurant in Acton, MA is offering what appears to be a fantastic dinner featuring wines from Elk Cove Vineyard. $63 per person gets you a 5 course meal paired with wines from Elk Cove, many of which we don't see available at retail in Massachusetts.
I've found Elk Cove to be a reliable producer, vintage after vintage, of reasonably priced delicious Oregon Pinot Noir. Their wines always seem to deliver ample fruit while respectfully reflecting where they come from.
Click the menu image below to visit the Sprigs website and learn more.
Thanks to friend and reader A.L. for the heads up.
I've found Elk Cove to be a reliable producer, vintage after vintage, of reasonably priced delicious Oregon Pinot Noir. Their wines always seem to deliver ample fruit while respectfully reflecting where they come from.
Click the menu image below to visit the Sprigs website and learn more.
Thanks to friend and reader A.L. for the heads up.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/zt1sXE5RXfg/elk-cove-wine-dinner-at-sprigs.html
Do wine writers write only for the one percent?
Gawker ran a piece recently that rips into the idea that the “one percent” don’t have enough money to live on. What provoked it was a Canadian one percenter who wrote in Toronto Life about his plight, and details his living expenses and several others posed for the magazine and detailed their expenses. One line [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/HHD8Q8UY990/
Engage or Get Out ? Don?t waste your time with Social Media
So you have a Facebook page? Great! And a twitter account? Bravo! Even posted a couple of photos, maybe uploaded a video? Good for you. What?? You say you even have a blog? You’ve posted an article or two and have comments enabled? Wow, great job! You’re on your way. Now just stick in there [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/ZDp26wYakG4/
Bytox Hangover Prevention Remedy: Might this thing actually work?
Not wanting to risk a raging hangover myself, and not wanting to share my tales of overconsumption, I reached out to my friend George Kaplan who agreed to test the Bytox patch in a controlled experiment and share his thoughts for our collective consideration. He happens to be an excellent drinker. And as you'll find below, an equally excellent writer.
Bytoxification
I must admit, I was more than a bit skeptical when a friend of mine approached me with the opportunity to test the latest hangover remedy, bytox?. I am usually leery of these remedies, but with a full slate of holiday parties looming on my calendar, I decided I could use any help I could get.
The Setup
Before setting out for the evening, I thoroughly read the bytox? directions, and chose to ignore the warning to ?Stay well hydrated?. Sound advice, yes, but a bit of a cheat, as anyone who stays well hydrated is unlikely to end up with a hangover anyway.
My evening?s consumption began at 7:00 with a solid meal at my favorite haunt, and ended at midnight. Per my custom, I mixed and matched and stuck to no pre-set pattern; the final tally was four Old Fashioneds (Old Overholt), three Gin & Tonics (Beefeater), and two bottles of Lone Star.
The Results
As you all can imagine, I wasn?t exactly at my best the next morning. I did get up around five o?clock to have a glass of water and gobble down 800 mg of ibuprofen, but that?s my usual morning-after-a-debacle procedure, and I wanted to stick to it. You know, this being scientific and all.
The bytox ? did nothing at all to mitigate the day after lethargy, and I really fell off a cliff after two o?clock or so. But, skeptical though I was heading into this experiment, I must admit that the patch did help to alleviate some of the other, traditional ?hangover? symptoms. The horrible metallic taste in my mouth was absent, as was the stabbing pain behind my eyes and the hollow feeling that one sometimes gets the morning after drinking too much whisky. I had only a small headache, and the day-after hangover fogginess was noticeably diminished.
The Recommendation
I would definitely use bytox ? again. I don?t want to oversell this, of course; I was still banged up the next day, but I was able to function productively, rather than slumping senseless in a chair all day. What I did was excessive. If someone were to use this product because they usually have a little hangover after drinking a bottle of red wine the evening before, I?d hazard a guess that this handy patch would overcome the hangover altogether.
So there you have it. An impartial review of the Bytox Hangover Remedy.
For more information, and to request a sample Bytox patch for free ($1.50 shipping) visit:
http://bytox.com
Question of the Day: What do you think of the idea of a hangover prevention patch? What are some of your favorite hangover prevention tips?
Cork and dagger: Should wines served in the White House be disclosed?
Remember the state dinner when the White House served green curry shrimp with a 15.6% alcohol grenache for the Indian premier? (and the typos!) Or a “Carlos Santana” brut sparkling wine with dessert for the Mexican president? Oh how we howled at those selections wondering if the White House wine steward was trying to derail [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/OM-mYt3hGl4/
Alert: Obscure But Important Wine Law Info
ALERT! Unless you have an unusually deep interest in the alcohol legal theory, the constitutional foundations of the Three-Tier System or wine politics, then you should probably maneuver away from this blog post. In my most recent post on Health...
Bridget Moynahan Britney Spears Brittany Daniel Brittany Lee
Last minute holiday gift ideas for wine lovers
From what I am reading, this week will make or break the year for retailers. So I don’t think it’s too late to post some gift ideas for wine lovers. We are a difficult bunch to buy for with the most obvious gift — wine — somewhat intimidating for our friends and family to gift. [...]
Last minute holiday gift ideas for wine lovers originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Winecast/~3/i7Eie-0IpsY/
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Authentic Japanese cuisine served at Basara since 2002
Cuddling between the twin Summitmas Towers, authentic Japanese restaurant Basara welcomes its guests to relish a Japanese taste while exploring the beauty of the region. It is one among the top dining areas in the city about which a diner can experience and feel as the red colored single door of the entrance opens to [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/vagablond/ysSN/~3/VecARJHbWng/
ChloÎ Sevigny Christina Aguilera Christina Applegate Christina DaRe
Good News Spreads Fast
Word on the winners of the Los Angeles International Wine & Spirits Competition is spreading like wild fire! A preview tasting for the media last week in Beverly Hills has generated a lot of buzz that we are really excited about! Take a look at some more posts: http://gastronomy-101.blogspot.com/2009/06/event-la-wine-competition-preview-and.html http://thirstyinla.com/2009/06/19/2009-la-wine-spirits-competition/ http://lablips.dailyradar.com/story/los_angeles_international_wine_and_spirits_2009/ http://www.womenwine.com/posts/journals/18487-winners-of-the-2009-la-international-wine-competition
Alan Kerr?s Vintage?s March 31st Release ? Tasting Notes
It has been a while since I was able to venture to London to sample some of the liquid goods soon to arrive at your local vintages store, but the wine gods were with me and I was able, and willing to sip a few of the wines slotted for release on the 31st of [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/z_YhYaqy4nc/alan-kerrs-vintages-march-31
Moncuit, Roagna, Cascina della Rose, Arnot-Roberts ? Polaner highlights
It’s the time of year when distributors and/or importers have annual (or semi-annual) portfolio tastings. These are opportunities for breadth, not depth, as hundreds of current release wines (and occasionally some older ones) are put out on tables, often with the winemaker pouring. Yesterday was the Polaner Selections tasting and I dropped by for a [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/GuSC/~3/9obo5QblQEg/
Academy of Wine Communications-FLX: February Meeting this Thursday, 2/25/10
Update: February meeting canceled due to winter storm warning for the region.� We’re working on setting up our next meeting for Thursday, 3/18/10.� Watch here for more details. February’s meeting of the Finger Lakes Chapter of the Academy of Wine Communications will be held on Thursday, February 25, 2010 at Three Brothers Wineries & Estates [...]
Source: http://familylovewine.wordpress.com/2010/02/22/awc-meeting-this-thursday-22510/
Social Connections are still about people not stats
Small world story; as I walked towards my local coffee and sandwich shop, St. Davids in Forest Hill, I got an email to say my Foursquare mayorship had been lost to another user. I didn’t know this lady, but I have to admit I felt slightly affronted than I should lose this title, despite it [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheWineConversation/~3/6a0cnyMjPEM/
March 22 ? 2012 ? Florida Jim Cowan?s 2012 Tasting Notes Archive
The 2012 archive is presented by date the notes were compiled and submitted. Prior year?s tasting notes may be found here. It has been awhile since I have had a wine like this and, of course, these days I can?t afford them. But yesterday, an old friend brought over a bottle that carried me away: [...]
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/gangofpour/uncZ/~3/nUQeMMr7YtY/jim-cowan%e2%80%99s-2012-tasting-notes
Christina DaRe Christina Milian Christina Ricci Chyler Leigh
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