Nothing But The Best

Sometimes even the gourmet, foodie, culinary enthusiast – whatever name you want to call them – that person we all know (or in some cases are ourselves), the one with the ever prepared kitchen ready to launch into a meal at a moments notice, sometimes even that person just plain runs out of stuff. A situation all the more complicated when the “stuff” we are out of happens to be, well, something to drink after a hard day’s work.

Such was the situation tonight, I realized, as I stood holding the door of my liquor cabinet open contemplating the near empty shelves with barely even a palatable mixer in evidence. Kirchwasser? Not on your life. An amaretto sour wouldn’t be out of the question, except the only brand in hand at the moment cost a whopping $8.99 / bottle leading me to believe that, for one reason or another, it was best partaken of in the company of more, let’s say, appetizing ingredients. Most frustrating of all was the entire shelf lined with bottles of Maker’s Mark. FULL bottles of Maker’s Mark. Collectibles every one. Three comprise the Triple Crown series – all autographed – honoring Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed. Others were issued in remembrance of individuals and achievements in University of Kentucky basketball history. I have two sealed in white wax with a ribbon dated 1996 over the seal – the next to last year UK won the NCAA men’s basketball championship. I’m holding onto them with the vow to open one of the bottles the next time UK hoists the trophy. No chance of touching one of those now before Coach Calipari plays his first game. After giving serious consideration to whether I really need a bottle commemorating Coach Joe B. Hall, I realize bourbon is just not in the equation tonight.

The state of the cellar at Chez Honaker wasn’t much better. The lone unfallen solider among the empties – apparently I keep them for decoration – was a bottle of House Wine. Yep, that was what it was called. I had received it as a gift one night from friends who came over for a dinner party. We laughed at the time, it was an interesting bottle to keep sitting around. Truthfully I never thought I would open it, not unless it was really late at night, a group of friends were over and more than a few bottles had preceded it. As it was, the time was shortly past dinner. Besides the cat there was no one else around, and I hadn’t had a glass in well over a week. The bottle had accumulated a nice layer of dust. I wiped it off and turned it over to read the label. “The Magnificent Wine Company” the label proclaimed. Oh no, I said to myself. This is going to be even worse than I thought. Should I put it in a paper bag before I start to pour? I was almost afraid to keep reading, but forced myself to do so. “2004 Columbia Valley”. Great, it’s OLD house wine. I decided to bite the bullet, or in this case, pop the cork, poured a glass and took a sip. It was… not bad. Decent fruit, some tannins, not too much oak. Overall, not half bad. I picked up the bottle and discovered it was a blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon, 25% Merlot and 5% Syrah. Intrigued, I headed upstairs to my office, googled “Magnificent Wine Company” and dug a little deeper.

Founded in 2004, the Magnificent Wine Company (click here for their website) was the brainchild of former rock band manager Charles Smith, who Food and Wine Magazine recently named 2009 Winemaker of the Year. House Wine and it’s sibling, Table Wine (I’m not making this up), were created by Smith to bring affordable, good wine to the masses (his K Vinters label actually markets a wine called “K Syrah”…). None other an authority than Wine Spectator named the 2006 House Wine Red a “best value” and scored it a respectable 86 points (the House Wine White scored an 89). Retail price is approx. $10-12. Frankly, I’m a little embarrassed I didn’t take the wine more seriously before now. Suffice to say, next time you are over for dinner and find yourself being served a glass of House Wine, or even Table Wine, please understand it’s not because I don’t like you or am in any way less than thrilled about enjoying your company. It’s just that everything good in life doesn’t have to come with a fancy label. And sometimes, the brown paper bag can be a good thing.

This post is dedicated to my dear friends Natalie and Brian – for the years of good times at dinner and the occasional bottle of House Wine.

In Vino Veritas

Photo Credit: Jawcey

“in vino veritas” (in wine, truth)
-Latin proverb

The Ancient Greeks and Romans drank wine with every meal. This doesn’t mean that they were drunk all the time–actually, they frowned upon drunkenness, which is where the myths of those fiendish satyrs come in. The ancients watered-down their wine considerably; it was the satyrs, they said, who drank unwatered wine. If they drank wine at every meal, they must have known that it was healthy and good, yes?
Most people have heard of the benefits of wine as far as heart health, and some doctors even recommend drinking a glass of red wine every night. Recent studies have shown that one of the components of wine which gives it healthful qualities is resveratrol. Studies on animals show that resveratrol can lengthen life expectancy and prevent cancer. Though at this point studies on humans are apparently inconclusive, there are definitely people out there who claim that it has great benefits.

I’ve been taking resveratrol capsules for quite awhile now, whenever I can afford them. Perhaps it is just a placebo-effect, but I feel that they increase my stamina. I need less sleep when I take them. One effect which is definitely noticeable after only a week of taking them is that my skin quite literally glows. When I take resveratrol my friends always remark (with great surprise!) that my skin is glowing and looks so youthful. So based on that alone, I would recommend it!

Of course, you could just drink wine (yum!), but resveratrol capsules are highly concentrated and so in theory they produce a stronger effect than a glass–or even a bottle–of wine would every night.

Shizuoka Wine receives national recognition!: Naka Izu Winery

After 10 years of existence, Naka Izu Winery Chateau T.S. has finally recevied the accolade of wine lovers in Japan!

Naka Izu Winery & Hotel

The winery entered 10 varieties of wines in the Japan Wine Challenge Concours 09.
Its Shida Noujyo Nagano Chardonnay 2008 won the Gold Medal in the New World White Wine Wine Section, and its Shida Noujyo Nagano Chardonnay 2007 won another one at the National Homegrown Wines Contest.

Both wines made use of a Chardonnay grape strain originally developped in Nagano Prefecture, our northern neighbours.

On the other hand, another white wine made from Chardonnay grape strain developped in Izu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, called Shida Chardonnay won a silver medals in both contests.

Riesling strain grown at Naka Izu Winery.

The winery grows all its grapes and the wine is aged either in their own stainless tanks or wooden casks depending on the variety, making a real local winery.
Actually, until 1958 wine was produced in many parts of Shizuoka Prefecture, especially near Numazu City and in the Izu Peninsula, but disappeared when the government decided to support sake instead with very substantial subsidies.
Naka Izu Winery is still the only winery in existence in Shizuoka Prefecture.

About time to interview the winery and taste its wines!

Naka Izu Winery Chateau T.S.
410-2501, Shizuoka Prefecture, Izu Shi, Shimoshiraiwa, 1433-27
Tel.: 0120-818-517
Office hours: 09:30~17:00
HOMEPAGE (Japanese)

RECOMMENDED RELATED WEBSITES:
-Sake: Tokyo Through The Drinking Glass, Tokyo Foodcast, Urban Sake, Sake World
-Wine: Palate To Pen
-Beer: Good Beer & Country Boys, Another Pint, Please!, Warren Bobrow, Tokyo Terrace
-Japanese Pottery to enjoy your favourite drinks: Yellin Yakimono Gallery

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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Apple picking

It is my belief that if your boyfriend ever suggests something outdoorsy and potentially romantic, you should always take him up on it. Which is how I found myself in upstate New York this week at Warwick Valley Winery and Orchard. Truth be told I think it was more the wine tasting than the apple picking that piqued his interest, but I still got my outdoorsy fix. We did it in the correct order, starting things off with a tasting 6 wines and the most delicious hard cider ever made, and even a sip of grappa, and then stumbled our way through the orchard. It was probably the last warm day of the year, and a great way to spend it.

The last  few days I have been trying to figure out what in the world to do with all the apples we got. I have a feeling using up the wine won’t be much of a problem.

Wine...

Wine is many things.    Boring is not one of them, generally.

I might go so far as to say that wine is the opposite of water.

An entire profession is built around growing the grapes.  Another around making the wine.   It’s this almost mystical skill to pair the right wine with the right food.  There are critics and magazines dedicated to this one little drink.   Entire books are written about it.  Bottles go for thousands, and tens of thousands, and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Can you imagine this much of a to-do around water?  “Hello, I’m the water critic for the L.A. times…”  “Would you recomend the Poland Springs be paired with the Salmon, or the Evian?”  “We’re putting a new water cellar in the basement.  It’ll keep the water chilled to the ideal temperature and monitor the humidity.”

In a film, the guy holding the wine glass is the one who enjoys all the best things out of life.  

And this isn’t all just perception: I am quite the opposite of educated in areas around wine.  But I tell you something: when I’m drinking a glass of reasonably good stuff, there is nothing quite like it.  It seems to do different things to different parts of my tongue.   It’s like there’s so much going on, even though it’s just one thing (and a liquid at  that) it’s like a medley: a bite of good salad, or a forkfull of stir fry.  It takes the edge off my day.   

Having said all that, I do wish to clarify a few things: Lots of evil has resulted from alchohol.  Drunkness is not a good thing.  I am not advocating that anybody get drunk, nor am I suggesting that everybody should drink wine.  These warnings aside, what I’m really trying to say is that wine is the opposite of water.

And if water is a metaphor for what our lives are at their worst, then wine, I’d submit, is a metaphor for what our lives are at their best.

Mariah Carey - Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel review.

Finally, it’s here (unless, like me you live in the UK in which case you are expected to wait until NOVEMBER 16TH!!!!  I will be buying the import collector’s version on Amazon, which drops on Tuesday.) – Mariah Carey’s new album, Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel.  Preceded by the lead single “Obsessed”, which has done very well but not shot to number one (leading certain people to brand it a ‘flop’ all the same), several questions were being asked of this CD: “Is Mariah’s voice really shot?” (No.) “Is it better than Whitney’s album?” (Yes.) “Does the fact that The-Dream and Tricky Stewart produced the whole album make it a bit monotonous?” (No… not really.  A couple of the songs are somewhat repetitive and reminiscent of other The-Dream tracks, but Mariah’s input and The-Dream’s variety are pleasantly surprising.) “Why did Mariah push her CD back? Was she running scared?” (No; she was making a cohesive R&B album and taking the time to make it perfect.)  Listening to the finished product makes this clear – where The Emancipation of Mimi (Mariah’s “comeback” “classic” album, which is possibly her least cohesive effort and contains some fantastic tracks surrounded by the most filler in any of her albums this decade) and E=MC² were literally a collection of songs, Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel takes you on a unified journey the way that Mariah’s best 90s efforts, the seminal Butterfly and Rainbow, and yes, even 2003’s Charmbracelet did.

Mariah’s vocals are stronger now than they were on Charmbracelet, though she often employs her whisper voice in place of full belting.  As it did on Butterfly, this gives the songs an intimate feel which brings out the intricate emotions inherent in her lyrics.  Standout “H.A.T.E.U.”, which means “Having A Typical Emotional Upset”, at first sounds like an angry-woman-scorned missive thematically similar to other songs on the album, but it is emotionally vulnerable as Mariah finds herself in a place where she misses her lover, but doesn’t know what to do with herself other than “change her number” and “move away” in an attempt to get over him and begin to move on.  The emotional limbo echoes in the production, which employs a hard-hitting slow beat and a baby’s cries along with Mariah’s whistle register.  Her high-pitched wails are a massive feature of this album, and are present on many of the songs – according to various tweets, Mariah wanted to explore using her upper range as a texture in homage to Minnie Riperton.  Just as on Rainbow’s “Bliss”, on tracks such as “H.A.T.E.U.”, “Ribbon” and “Angel (Prelude)”, Mariah’s stratospheric notes come across less as an opportunity to showboat than as a genuine part of the song’s instrumentation and setting the mood.  At the album’s climax, a tasteful cover of Foreigner’s “I Want To Know What Love Is”, Mariah lets loose with gospel melisma and ecstatic squeaking to emphasise her joy and rapture in finally finding true love and encountering happiness after the ups and downs and broken relationships explored throughout the course of the album.  The only criticism of this song is that it ends far too quickly, robbing the listener of the climax – as soon as the vocal and musical apex is reached, the track is fading out!!! Here’s hoping that a longer edit of the song will surface.  But the point is that Mariah Carey is using all the ranges of her impressive voice for legitimate reasons – to serve the song and its mood, musical instrumentation, lyrical punctuation and emotional expression.  If there is any proof required that Mariah has grown as a singer, this album is it – even if she doesn’t belt as happily as she used to, her voice serves the songs more.

Having said that, Mariah also embraces radio trends on some of the more uptempo numbers.  Lead single “Obsessed” is one of a few tracks to use auto-tune.  Another question: “Why does someone with Mariah Carey’s voice need to use auto-tune?”  This is a somewhat valid question, but I think that Mariah is just trying to stay current and have fun.  Although some of the album’s slower material is more weighty and emotionally deep, songs like “Obsessed”, “Up Out My Face” and “More Than Just Friends” (which contains some fantastic lyrics such as “Secretly I know you wanna hit it like the lotto / And after that we can ketchup like tomato / We can make love in Italy in the grotto / Fresh off the jet at the Met they screamin’ bravo”) are designed to keep the BPMs up, keep things light and moving briskly, and create songs which have sharper lyrics and fun, bouncy melodies.  The marching band “reprise” of “Up Out My Face” is a fantastic, creative interlude that really knocks, and would have been great as an extended song – it harks back to one of Mariah’s performances of “Shake It Off” (perhaps the Thanksgiving Parade performance? I don’t remember… if anyone knows, feel free to comment!).  ”Standing O” is another hard-hitting uptempo track that gathers its intensity as Mariah applauds an ex-lover for breaking her heart – “All you did was pound on it”.  The beats accumulate towards the end of the song, as Mariah’s voice gets more insistent and an almost operatic soprano punctuates her despair.  Although it had to grow on me somewhat, I am really enjoying the track.

There are a couple of tracks where I differ from what I understand to be the general consensus, according to other forum and blog comments, as well as video reviews of the album I’ve seen on Youtube.  ”Ribbon” has been garnering comments such as being ‘overproduced’ with its distorted hooks forming part of the music, and more of a crunk beat than other tracks, really hitting hard.  From what I understand, people are saying the track is a bit overcooked and Mariah gets lost in it – I disagree! I love the song, its music is dark and percussive, but Mariah’s syrupy vocals and lyrics “Wrapped up, wrapped up, ribbon with a bow on it” sit on top of all that like the icing on a cake.  It’s actually one of my favourite tracks on the album, and although it is a typical The-Dream track that could have easily fit on his Love vs. Money album, I don’t think that it suffers for that – there’s not another track like it on the album, so it stands out.

Whereas my only weak track, which other people seem to love, is “It’s A Wrap”.  Mariah pours wine at the beginning of the track, so I guess we are supposed to relax into it, but the doo-wop beat and sparse piano forces the song to melt away and become unmemorable.  The lyrics are somewhat lackluster compared to the zingers on other songs such as “Up Out My Face” (”If we were two Lego blocks, even the Harvard University Graduating Class of 2010 couldn’t put us back together again” !!!!!!) and “More Than Just Friends”, or to the emotional heft of ballads such as “H.A.T.E.U.”, “The Impossible” and “Angels Cry”.  The only line that “It’s A Wrap” has going for it, IMO, is “It’s going down like a denominator” – and you have to wait for the end of the song to get to that bit.  Just a bit lackluster for me – but other people love it, so you may love it too and we’ll agree to disagree.

Earlier I compared Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel to classic Mariah albums Butterfly and Rainbow.  This becomes apparent during the album’s closing stretch – though on “Candy Bling” and “Inseparable” Mariah offers a relaxed yet absorbing throwback vibe (to former Mariah tracks “Yours” and “We Belong Together”, respectively), and on opening ‘prologue’ “Betcha Gon’ Know” Mariah masterfully weaves an absorbing tale of heartbreak and infidelity just as she wrote spellbinding descriptive lyrics on classic “The Roof” – it’s not until “The Impossible” that we really seem to penetrate into Mariah’s heart.  The sexy R&B feel gives nods to Jodeci and provides a classic texture that once more exemplifies just how much is missing from 2009-typical R&B. Hopefully this is a sign that older R&B values are coming back around – although Mariah popularised the trend of female singers working with rappers, Memoirs does not boast a single collaboration and is all the better for it.  ”Angels Cry” is a heartfelt ode to love lost that sounds like classic Mariah, and of course there is the closer “I Want To Know What Love Is”.  These last two tracks really ratchet up the emotional impact of Mariah’s album, where other tracks are lighter and more fun, or restrained slower material – and make sure that it goes out on a high.

Okay, so I am a big Mariah Carey fan, and I am bound to say that I love the album.  For me, it’s a real album that flows (hence the various reprises and little flourishes that help the songs segue together sonically as well as thematically) rather than just a collection of songs.  The lyrics and vocals work together to compliment each song’s mood, content and impact.  And apart from “It’s A Wrap”, I really enjoy every track on the album.  So for me, taking the songs individually, they are winners, but the album as a whole is elevated beyond the sum of its parts to something quite special.  In my opinion, this is why it stands head and shoulders above Whitney Houston’s I Look To You (certainly not an album which has a cohesive feel, and I only like half of the songs anyway) as well as nearly every other album I’ve heard released in 2009.  This is where Mariah Carey is not only a gifted singer and vocalist, but an artist who keeps working at and developing her craft as a writer, producer and someone who envisions how her project should sound from start to finish.  Check the credits: Mariah Carey is Executive Producer, Album Producer, and a producer and writer on every single song (apart from the cover version).  As a singer, a songwriter and an artist, she is what I aspire to be, and Memoirs Of An Imperfect Angel is, like Butterfly and Rainbow, an example of her at her very best.

Sangria Saturday

"The recession is no excuse to drink bad wine"

That’s why we made sangria out of 3 for £10 bottles of Chardonnay and Merlot from Tesco!

The majority of the Marist flat contingent is out and about traveling (boys in Amsterdam, girls and a couple in Paris), so the Vassar kids are holding down the fort along with Aly, Trisha, and Alana from Marist.  Besides the obvious bonuses of reducing the amount of people in the flat to a mildly reasonable level, the highlight must be the kitchen availability.  We seized the opportunity and decided to make a batch of red (with apples, pears, and kiwis) and a batch of white (with peach schnapps and pineapple) sangria last night before going out in preparation for Sangria Saturday.  There have been talks of such an event since arrival, and it’s nice to have it finally come to fruition.  Needless to say, it’s going to be a delicious day!

I knew staying in London on the weekends would have its perks

Top 10 restaurant wines

For 2008, the top 10 wines (by volume) sold in American restaurants, as reported by Restaurant Wine News, were:

1. Kendall-Jackson Chardonnay, Vintner’s Reserve, CA
2. Cavit Pinot Grigio, Italy
3. Beringer Vineyards White Zinfande, CA
4. Sutter Home White Zinfandel, CA
5. Inglenook Chablis, CA
6. Ecco Domani Pinot Grigio, Italy
7. Mezzacorona Pinot Grigio, Italy
8. Copper Ridge Vineyards, Chardonnay, CA
9. Yellow Tail Chardonnay, Australia
10. Franzia Winetaps, White Zinfandel, Vintner Select, CA

No Pinot Noirs and not even a single red wine. So much for the Sideways effect.

And the top 10 brands by volume were:

1. Kendall Jackson
2. Sutter Home
3. Beringer Vineyards
4. Franzia Winetaps
5. Inglenook
6. Yellow Tail
7. Copper Ridget
8. Cavit
9. Woodbridge
10. Salmon Creek

Read the press release here.

Foxy ladies...

Hunt Country's Foxy Lady Blush is made with Catawba grapes

     One of my favorite moments this year at a Finger Lakes winery occurred at Hunt Country Vineyardson Keuka Lake. After a tasting, three women wandered into the gift shop and exclaimed about one of Hunt Country’s popular wine series, “Oooh, Foxy Lady! Gotta get some of that!”
     After doing extensive research on the grapes and winery processes used in the Finger Lakes, I now know why that series name is so clever.
The first wine grapes used in the Finger Lakes, the so-called “native” Vitis labrusca,are also known as fox grapes. They are distinguished by their strong grapey taste. Varieties include Niagara, Catawba, Delaware, Diamond, Isabella and Concord grapes. These varieties tend to produce sweeter wines, and they were all the rage back in the late 1970s and early 1980s (Remember Lake Niagara and Pink Catawba?)
     Winemakers who wanted to make European-style wines, with a broader range of sweetness from dry to dessert, spurned the fox grapes and instead focused on French-American hybrids and Vitis vinifera, grapes such as Chardonnay, Riesling, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, etc.
     Some Finger Lakes winemakers feel it’s important to keep the native grapes for their historical value. I agree. Having grown up visiting Keuka Lake wineries, I believe there is a place for the foxy grapes among all the others on a winemaker’s palate. I had two great FLX foxy wines this year, a nice dry Delaware and cool refreshing Diamond.
     While foxy wines might not get the prestige of hybrids and viniferas, they’re part of Finger Lakes winemaking history.

Re: Judging the National Beef Cook-Off made me appreciate restaurant food

 

Looks like Michael Bauer went to a surprise food tasting. I learned something from wine tasting (only works at some tastings) that should work for food also. Find someone who likes to try all the wines an trail him or her. I just let them try every wine till a good one comes up and I try it. That saves trying 200 wines which some people look forward to anyway. Remember most of these wines are young and not ready to drink (not that they may have flaws and be terrible also). The same should work for food. My comment for his blog post comes at bottom.

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I judge restaurant food every night, but rarely turn my tastebuds to the home cook. I got my chance earlier this week as one of the five judges for the 28th National Beef Cook-Off in Sonoma.

Read Post http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/mbauer/detail?blogid=26&entry_id=48282

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cushsf9/25/2009 10:54:27 AM
Next time send an intern or junior staff in your place as a SPECIALIST to judge this kind of events.

The Weekend

Yes its Friday again and I’ve had an enjoyable session learning how to whip my widgets into shape. I have a fab tag cloud  developing now as well. There are so many things to play with- I could get addicted.

Today I heard  that Boz Scaggs and Michael Mcdonald are coming to  Leeuwin in Feb. I can’t wait ; it should be a good concert. I love going to Margaret River for a weekend of music, wine and good food.

Boozy Sunday

I have a pretty small family.  When you put all of us together in a room at, say, Thanksgiving, there’s only 15 people there.  And that’s counting significant others.  We try to make the most of our small number though, and we are one of the few families that celebrate literally everyone’s birthday with a full-on, cake-and-ice cream, cards-and-presents party.  I don’t just mean the children – aunts, uncles, grandparents…everyone gets a party.  So we’re pretty close.

The kids are pretty close in age, too.  On my mom’s side, they’re closer to my younger brother’s age, and on my dad’s side, closer to my age.  Growing up, my cousins and I didn’t have a boatload of stuff in common: they danced, sang, and did theater, while I am literally tonedeaf and cannot sing a note.  They played softball (which I quit because, frankly, I sucked) and soccer (which I never played because, as I once told my father “it was too much running” – I’m still eating those words after consequently deciding to play field hockey for nine years), and I got my black belt in

karate.  And then we all went away to college, in three different states, and only saw each other a few times a year.  And then I graduated.  And my cousin came to my graduation.  And met my friends, who told her every embarrassing story she could ever hope to hear about her “perfect” cousin, who now seemed none too perfect.

It was probably one of the best things that could’ve happened, because while she’d always been my cousin, after that graduation weekend, she also became one of my best friends.  I have her to thank for meeting Boyfriend (at her Memorial Day party last year), and for letting me into her circle of friends so that I’m not tragic and bored now that he’s moved away.  She never fails me when I call her at all hours of the day, bored, demanding entertainment, and she has allowed me (and, occasionally, Boyfriend) to drunkenly crash on her spare bed more times than I could ever possibly count.  In short, she’s a keeper.

Also, she knows me too damn well: two months ago, she asked me to go to a wine festival with her and I said yes immediately, knowing not one detail.  I didn’t have any idea where it was, who was going, what time of the day it was, or how much the ticket was.  She didn’t either, but she knew I’d say yes without any of that other information.  And, of course, she was right.

So yesterday, the big day, we took some folding chairs and our $14 tickets down to Valenzano Winery in Shamong, NJ.  Do not ask me where Shamong is.  I don’t know, still.  I didn’t drive and didn’t honestly care.  All I can tell you is that it was south.  I’m not even honestly sure I can pronounce the name of the town correctly.

Anyway, apparently, $14 got us a seat in one of the VIP (yes, we are very important) tents and unlimited wine of all varieties.  There was a blueberry champagne, a cranberry champagne, reds, whites, and the bottle I wound up purchasing – cranberry red.  Delish.  Needless to say, we skipped the wine tasting portion and went straight to the wine drinking portion.  In the sun.  In the middle of the day.  Outside.  Man – it was the life.

And really, as I sat there with Cousin in the unseasonably hot weather, sipping my wine and munching on cheese cubes, with Boyfriend sending me periodic football updates (In case anyone’s wondering, my fantasy team is 1-1.  And no, Maurice Jones-Drew is decidedly not helping me win.  Admittedly, he’s doing more than Wes Welker, however.), there was honestly no place I would rather be.

30 in 20 Exhibit

A few months back I was approached by Zach Kellum of Dundas West Gallery space The DepARTment to participate in an utterly fascinating project. I had met Zach previously whilst presenting wines for one of the Charlie’s Burgers dinner parties and he seemed like a thoroughly nice fellow. His proposition was to host a series of events based around the photographs and artifacts of a certain Mr Toni Harting and his wife Ria.

Photograph by Rick O'Brien

In the Summer of 1973, after coming into a modest inheritance,  Toni (then 46) and Ria (Then 30) decided to rent a VW Camper van and travel around some of the finest restaurants in France… “collecting” 30 Michelin stars in 20 days… hence the title of the exhibit. Toni, being a photographer, travelled with his camera and managed to take some of the most remarkable pictures throughout the trip.

Ria Harting having lunch at L'Oasis

One has to remember that things were so very far removed from today when it is commonplace in restaurants to see bloggers and others taking digital photos of their food and the like. Saying that, even today I would imagine that it would still be seen as being rather gauche to take photos in the grandest of French Michelin 3-Star restaurants? Many of Toni’s photographs look as if they have been taken covertly… no mean feat when one considers the size of a 35mm camera back in 1973. But it’s not only the pictures taken inside these hallowed houses of gastronomy that shine. It is also the many pictures that Toni took of their travels across France, living simply from the back of the VW Camper… it is the juxtaposition of these images with the restaurant ones that really makes the exhibit for me. There is a certain humility that comes through in so many of the shots that I simply adore.

One of my favourite pictures in the exhibit.

Alongside the photographs are all of the restaurant menus that the Hartings collected from their travels. When Zach first showed these to me I remember sitting there in sheer wonderment as I pored over the menus of Maxim’s, Paul Bocuse, La Pyramide, and L’Oasis. It was around these menus that we decided to plan a series of 4 events, where local Chefs would replicate many of the dishes from these menus and I would select a suitable wine to accompany. Zach had assembled a dream team to put together these events: Arlene “Force Of Nature” Stein from Hart House, Malcolm Jolley of Good Food Media, the illustious Greg Bolton of Pantry and my bad self. Along with Chefs Jamie Kennnedy, Eric Walker (Pantry), Bertrand Alépée and Jason Inniss (Amuse Bouche), Tawfik Shehata (Vertical) and John Lee (Chippy`s), and Donna Dooher (Mildred`s Temple Kitchen) we presented a selection of hors d’oeuvres-size replications of a multitude of 1973 menu items to an enraptured audience… saying that, there is one more to go tomorrow! Donna’s evening is completely sold out and I am very much looking forward to being there later to say congratulations to everyone involved.

Photograph by Rick O'Brien

I have quite a few more pictures from the events in a Flickr set here.

Celebrating sport victories with champagne – Where did it start?

Bring out the Champagne because South Africa is having a great sports year as we conquered the British and Irish Lions, the Tri-Nations and the Cricket Aussies Down Under. Have you ever wondered where celebrating sport victories with wine started? Back in the ancient Olympics. Serious .

Celebrating an athletic or sport victory with wine or Champagne is not a recent phenomenon. Legend has it that as far back as the ancient Olympiads, Calabrian athletes celebrated victories by drinking Ciro wine, making Ciro wine one of the oldest existing wines.

Source: corksavvy.com

Salami Platter

This is going to be my last post before I go away for 2 weeks to Japan. Yeah I’m planning to take lots of food photo there but that’s latter.   This time it is about salami. I am thinking of creating a salami platter. One of the tricks that I learned about shooting meat slices is that to fold the slices  so that it has some form and height  (instead of just lying dead flat on the plate).    So there you go, I send my wife off to a salami discovery mission. She knows of a place in a little suburb called Summer Hills called Il Villagio that sells really good salami. I mean you can get “OK” salami easily but this one is delicacy. She brought home three different types of salami for me to experiment on. Boy she knows what I want.   Then I start folding the slices. They are quite delicate to handle because some of the slices are so thin that it “collapse” when you fold it and becomes flat. Not a good shape for shooting. I mostly fold the slices into half so it resemble a semi circle shape. But once I did that for all the slices and try to arrange them on the board, I found them to be a bit boring. I want to make something different – something that “pops”. What else can I do with the slice of meat? Ideas: cut in half, put the folded slices on top of each other and punch a tooth pick through them so they can stay in shape, roll them into a cylinder, etc. The “rolling” seems like a good idea at that time so I went for it.   I also planned to arrange to rolled slices into some unusual arrangement. But it proof to be more difficult than I thought. The rolled slices flattened when I put other rolled slices on top of each other, simply because they are too thin. You know what? Let’s stick a small dried olive inside each of the roll. Viola, the rolled slices become as solid as a wood log. Another trick I that I picked up along the way.  

Salami Platter

All I need now is some props. I just use what I had at hand, bit of olive, crackers and cheese cubes.   Lighting This time I put the soft light at 10 o’clock direction and really low. Almost at the subject level. You can see the highlight it created on the left group of salami. I also want to light up the red bit of the olive a bit, like I did in my olive post. Mirror to fill light from the top, another mirror on the 4 o’clock and 2 o’clock to fill in shadow. The 2 o’clock mirror is useful to brighten the rolled salami and bring it to life.   Camera Setting I use my 100mm macro this time at F4 1/20 ISO100. As you can see the camera angle are pretty low, to bring the arrangement of hte rolled salami slices out more. I set to focus on one of the surface of the standing rolled salami and leave everything else out of focus.   Opinion Now some people might find this kind of arrangement really unusual. I mean, traditionally, salami platter is set on some wooden board, serve with bread and wine etc. They are folded or laid flat on the board – ie they are never arranged in the way I did above. Well, I leave it up to you to judge – feed backs are always welcome! I do agree though I probably should have some bread in the shot. Well, I just need toanother excuse to go to Il Villagio…

Trueblood in the castle!

It has been a long time since I’ve invited a guest into my Chateau. However, TRUEBLOOD™ has been so popular, that I thought it could entertain me as well.

Oh boy, TRUEBLOOD™ was fantastic and I enjoyed it tremendously. I had quite a great time!

Although, TRUEBLOOD™ is not as powerful as I am, I have to agree that it is quite charming and intense. Thus, I would like to share with you the joyful experience I had when TRUEBLOOD™ came over to party at my Chateau Du Vampire®.

This week I suggest you enjoy 3 bottles of TRUEBLOOD™ Napa Syrah 2004 plus 3 bottles of Chateau Du Vampire® 2005. These two wines complement each other just like fangs & necks.

Get 3 bottles of TRUEBLOOD™ Napa Syrah 2004 plus 3 bottles of Chateau Du Vampire® 2005 for ONLY $159.95 with Vampire delivery included.

Eternally yours,

Florence Estate Winery Begins Harvest

 

Winemaker Steven Kett is also involved in another winery locally in Norfolk County, Ont., Florence Estate Winery owned and operated by Terry & Margaret Marshall. We are expecting to start harvesting Lucy Kuhlman and process it into a Rose’ wine which has had great reviews from our customers at Florence Estate Winery. Florence Estate Winery is also one of the wineries which is being involved in our filming of “The Vines that Bind”, we will be documenting the harvest, the cellar processes right through to bottling!

Monday Night Football

It’s Monday Night Football!!

As you may know, it is football season and a Thai restaurant is not the most popular place to watch the Monday night game.  So Jack, our Monday night bartender (who happens to be a big football fan) is all alone while his friends are probably at a sports bar watching the game.

I can’t stand to hear a grown man whine, so I asked him to come up with some specials, only at the bar on Monday nights, to encourage customers to hang out with him. So, on Monday nights only, our fabulous hot chicken wings are $3.00 a dozen and Miller Light beer, $2.00 a bottle; I have also told Jack that he can have a Jack’s secret special that you will have to ask him about when you arrive.

I am shamelessly trying everything I can to keep Jack from whining, so any suggestions from you would be appreciated.

- Deirdre Pain

Speaking of Whine

Malee’s is still offering their half-price wine nights on Sunday and Monday.  So Beer and Hot Wings not your thing?  Try a Green Basil Curry with Grilled Beef and a Bottle of Gewurztraminer.  Oh, you are a classy football fan aren’t you? – Tyler (Bar Manager)

Labouré-Roi 2004 Puligny-Montrachet

Ahhh…..Burgundy, for me, is the most magical place for grape growing in the World.  And Montrachet, while definitely not your bargain white, is well worth the expense for the elated feeling you get from each sip.  Of course you have to be careful with Burgundy because there is a lot of crapolla out there, and nothing’s worse than spending your hard earned cash for crap.  I have found there can be some reliable producers and négociants out there, (The larger old-style négociant- Labouré-Roi being one of them) that won’t cost you a mortgage payment for a single bottle.  And while the 2004 vintage wasn’t a standout, the whites faired far better than the reds, especially in the ares of Meursault, Puligny and Chassagne.

Here’s my tasting notes on the Labouré-Roi 04 Puligny-Montrachet (Burgundy, France) $36.99: 

French buttered, slighty poached, spiced pears with a vanilla custard sauce scattered with toasted sliced almonds on the nose.  Medium to Full bodied with a coating of zesty custard in the mouth. The balanced acidity pops up mid palate and starts bouncing off the tongue in all different angles. The long finish feels and tastes like creme anglaise sauced and toasted pebbles.  CLOUD 9!!!  There is nothing in the World like a good White Burgundy……

Parings: 

This beauty paired extremely well with the French Chanterelles

Bibou’s Chanterelles

 in a Madeira cream sauce and the Vivaneau: Seared Snapper with crisp polenta, creamy leek fondue, and lemongrass scented chicken jus at bibou BYOB (1009 South 8th St. Phladelphia, PA 19147)

 

 

What's the Deal with Sulfites and Wine, Part II

In Part I of this series, I provided a definition of sulfites or sulfur dioxide (a chemical compound present to some degree during the winemaking process which acts as a preservative) and also discussed the potential health problems that some people may experience as a result of drinking wines with high levels of sulfites, including allergic reactions, headaches and respiratory problems, to name a few. As a result, some people wonder if there is such a thing as a sulfite free wine which will allow them to continue to enjoy drinking wine without suffering health related side effects.

Sulfite free (or organic) wines are a bit of a misnomer; no wine can ever be considered 100% sulfite free because minimal levels of sulfites occur naturally during the process of wine fermentation. However, current FDA regulations require that both domestic and imported wines that contain more than 10 ppm (parts per million) of sulfur dioxide must contain the statement “Contains Sulfites” on the label. This disclosure requirement was designed to protect individuals that may be allergic to sulfites (an estimated 1% of the population); people with asthma are most at risk. Most wines contain sulfite levels of about 125 ppm; the legal U.S. maximum is 350 ppm. Wines without chemical additives (with naturally occuring levels of sulfites) will generally weigh in at around 10-20 ppm.

For those who want to limit their sulfite levels, organic wines are probably their best bet because, by definition, organic wines are produced from organically grown grapes without the addition of chemical additives. So if you are searching for wines with the lowest sulfite levels, choose a dry red wine like a Zinfandel, Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon followed by dry white wines such as Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc or Chenin Blanc as a middle ground choice. On the other hand, sweet white dessert wines have the highest sulfite levels followed closely by blush wines and semi-sweet white wines.

Here’s to hoping that your wine drinking experience will be enhanced by the information I have provided in this blog.

Cheers!!!

Diane Aksten

Howell at the moon

Recently, I was invited to participate in a tasting of all Howell Mountain wines here in San Francisco.  This rare opportunity to taste such a selection was presented by Howell Mountain Vintners & Growers, and featured over 25 producers from this gem in Napa Valley, pouring primarily Cabernet Sauvignon and Zinfandel, with a few other treats as well.

The Howell Mountain appellation is located due east of St. Helena, and is in the heart of the Vaca Mountain range.  Anything that is grown above the 1400 ft elevation mark is considered Howell Mountain, and this elevation is what gives it it’s distinct style.  the appellation boundary is formed where the marine layer fog) rises up from the valley floor, while the mountain top is poking above the fog.  When the fog rolls off the ocean and into Napa, the weather up on teh mountain is cool.  Due to teh altitude, the temperatures are warmer in the evening, and cooler in teh day – teh exact opposite of the valley.  There arent’ as many heat spikes, and it gets twice as much rainfall as the valley floor.

There are two distinct soil types on the mountain and rocky, porous soil allows the water to drain, and warm summer nights produce fruit that has a great balance of acidity and sugar.  The first consists of decomposed volcanic ash, called “tufa”, and the second is red clay that is high in iron. Because both soil types have poor nutrients, they stress the vines, producing intense wines from small clusters and berries.

I tasted through some interesting wines, and the overall dominant flavor in the Cabs was graphite and vegetal.  this doesn’t tend to be my favorite flavor profile, but there were some stand out winners.  Here are some highlights.

Atlas Peak – 2005 Howell Mtn Cabernet Sauvignon is aged in 50% new French oak for 20 months.  A 98%, 2% Petite Verdot, i tasted black fruit, smooth, big & juicy.  It was a very purple wine, tasting and in color.  It had a slightly tannic finish with dark earth.

Blue Hall - 2005 Camiana Cabernet Sauvignon.  BEST OF SET (CAB)  With only 160 cases produced, this tiny winery practices sustainable and organic farming techniques.  This 100% Cab was planted in 2000, and is aged 2 years in all new French Oak.  2 separate blocks – one of clone 7 and one of clone 337, were blended in to this wine tasting of blackberry juice, baking species and earth.  It was complex and smooth and one of my faves.

Howell at the Moon – 2005 Howell Mtn Cabernet Sauvignon  Chocolate, blackberries, smoke, deep & rich, firm structure, blueberries, dark fruit.

La Jota - 2004 Howell Mountain Selection Cabernet Sauvignon – Rich and dusty fruit, bright sweet berries.  chocolate, blackberry, very fruit forward with cherries, strawberries.  Soft and lush.

Neal Family Vineyards – 2005 Howell Mountain Estate Cabernet Sauvignon – Coffee, smoke, brambly blue and black fruit.  Fresh and lush with red and blue berries.  Logan berry, blueberry, sweet plums.

Go out and explore Howell Mountain!

The Great Wine Lies: Peaking

“I have this great bottle of wine, and I don’t know if it’s ready.  I think I’ll just hold onto it for a couple of years, because I read that good Cabernet Sauvignons really peak after about 10 years.  So that’s what I plan to do, and then we’ll open it for some very special occasion.”

Sigh.

This is how a lot of people feel about wine, and I can’t blame them.  A lot of wine geeks have bullied them into feeling this way.  And there are not a lot of voices on the other side of the fence.

Maybe we should start with what is true.

TRUTHS

1)    World-class wines, those typically costing over $100 per bottle, are so expensive in part because they are among the rare wines that are made to age well over a long period of time.  And once they have some significant age on them, I am told they are magnificent, and unlike anything most of us consider to be good wine.

2)    Some wines that are not world-class wine are brought to market very young, and can benefit from additional time in the bottle.  This extra time of six months to two years may make the wine more enjoyable to some.

3)    The majority of wines produced today, including fine wines, are made to drink young.

THE BIG LIE is suggesting that wine should be laid down until it reaches its peak.

First and foremost is the problem with the very notion of peaking.  It implies that there is one moment in time when the wine is at its best.  And the fear that has been drilled into people is, “What a shame that you opened that lovely bottle of wine, and never got to taste how lovely it could have been.”

The only way to truly know how a wine develops is to buy a case of it, or multiple cases, and drink the wine with some regularity.  Perhaps a bottle a year.  Maybe a bottle every six months.

Then you can taste the variations of time on that individual bottling you selected.  For argument’s sake, let’s say the wine gets better and better every time you try it.  At some point you may be tempted to suggest it is at its best, and that it cannot get any better.  But perhaps on the next go around, the wine tastes better still.

It is only when the taste of the wine starts to slip that you can definitively say that it has peaked.  But by then, it’s too late.  The peak has passed.

This is the nature of the beast.

Even if you were to keep abreast of vintage charts to try and gauge the perfect moment to drink a certain special bottle of wine, the guidelines may not apply to YOUR bottle of wine.  The primary factor that affects the aging speed of wine is the conditions under which it is kept.  A consistently cool and dark environment is preferred for lengthy aging of fine wines.

But let’s say you kept your bottle in ideal conditions.  This still does not mean the charts apply to your bottle.  The truck it was carried on may not have been climate controlled, which could make a huge difference if the wine was trucked out of California in the summer.  The retailer may have had the bottle standing up under bright lights for over a year.  If the cork dried out or otherwise flawed, more air could have gotten into the bottle and sped up the aging process.

The only way to know what a bottle of wine tastes like is by opening it and pouring yourself a glass.

Now let’s say you actually have held onto a bottle for a long time.  And now you have a significant time commitment sunk into the project of drinking a perfect wine.  Your plan was to open the bottle on a special occasion.  The problem now is that no occasion ever seems special enough.

So the bottle waits.  And waits.  And 10 years turns into 12 years, or maybe much much longer.  The new question is, “Will this wine be any good at all?”

This is why we now have Open That Bottle Night.  Mark your calendars.  And maybe, in the future, you will do a better job about getting yourself into this predicament in the first place.

Executive Chef. Gianfranco Chiarini

Executive & Corporate Celebrity Chef. Gianfranco Chiarini, Multi Continental Cuisine, Culinary & Scientific research for new gastronomic trends, Molecular analysis, Classic Michelin cuisine, Food analysis, Design/Development of exciting new culinary concepts, Close networking with worldwide consultancy chefs.

Lived in South America where the bug of Culinary Arts hit his heart. He joined the Instituto de Alta Gastronomia de Caracas in the early 90’s and graduated as an International Chef. Later he returned to the United States and graduated with a master’s degree from the Pittsburgh Culinary Institute. In Paris, France he attended the Cordon Bleu, earning his Master Culinary Chef’s degree.

Worked under Masters like Gianfranco Vissani and Igles Corelli. Later in Germany he worked in Michelin restaurants such as Il Cuneo, Ristorante Roma, In Italy for La Pergola & Antichi Sapori. He also assisted in the management and opening of restaurants in U.S.A. Venezuela, Caribbean, England, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Lebanon, Qatar, Dubai, Jordan, Egypt, and Indonesia.

In 2005 began broadening his experience into Arabic culinary specialties, assisting and consulting in hotel restaurants such as Oman’s Shangri La, Qatar’s La Cigale and Dubai’s Intercontinental Festival City. He was also in charge of Stagione, the signature restaurant of the 6-star hotel Addis Sheraton in Ethiopia. After this he worked in Kuwait as Corporate Executive Consultant for the Al Fadheela Company, a chain of restaurants all over the Middle East, setting international consistency standards for franchises and branches as well as culinary training and menu development. Recently worked also for the extra deluxe & only 7 star resort Rixos Belek Premium located on the medıterranean Riviera of Turkey, as Italian and European Specialties Executive Chef the Cuisine.

Chef. Chiarini has recently made a major career move and dıversıfıcatıon by having an interesting job offer. Engaging with the mega giant & international food ingredients company, National Starch Food Innovation. On this new appointment he will serve as NSFI’s Europe, Africa & Middle East Culinary Development Leader.

He speaks 7 languages, and is finalizing his first cookbook, Neuro/Culinary™, a compilation that collects wonderful Culinary master pieces created by the Chef, mixing the Food Technology ingredients with Fusion Culinary masterpieces, replacing negative ingredients without compromising indulgence attributes and how Food Texture influence our perception and enjoyment of food in a Neuro/sensory way.

Recently returned from the Festival Gourmet International at Puerto Vallarta/Mexico, where participated as Guest Chef exposing his trademark. Renaissance Cuisine.

Specialties

Multi Continental Cuisine, Culinary & Scientific research for new gastronomic trends, Molecular and Classic Michelin Cuisine, Design/Development of exciting new culinary concepts, Close networking with worldwide consultancy chefs, Build close strategic relationships with key customers and retailers, Absolute management of the European Culinary Center i.e. customer visits, recipes, concept preparations, presentations, etc. Carry out internal and external training sessions, Lead external culinary seminars.

For more info about the chef, please click on the following links.

www.foodinnovation.com
http://tinyurl.com/brc9vz
http://executivechefgianfrancochiarini.blogspot.com/
http://twitter.com/CulinaryLeader
http://tinyurl.com/cfhdjw
https://www.xing.com/net/chefs
http://www.xing.com/profile/GIANFRANCO_CHIARINI
http://tinyurl.com/dmtuc2

Cacio e Pepe

The last leg of our honeymoon a couple summers ago was spent in Rome, where I ordered cacio e pepe—pasta mixed with pecorino and cracked black pepper—every chance I got. It’s a Roman classic, and the superlative example is served at Ditirambo, near the Campo de Fiore. But it is also also a blasphemous version in that it uses goat cheese instead of the traditional pecorino. Ditirambo serves its cacio e pepe with tonnarelli pasta, sort of like a square spaghetti, which I’ve had trouble finding back here so in a pinch I’ll substitute a fat linguine. While the tanginess of the goat cheese is inspired in this dish, I still love the saltiness of pecorino, so I’ve split the difference and have arrived at the following.

The Foodinista’s Cacio e Pepe

Serves 4 as a main course

17.5 ounces tonnarelli or linguini pasta

1 1/2 cups grated pecorino (or more to taste)

2 ounces goat cheese

3/4 cup reserved pasta water

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salt the hell out of boiling water, add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain pasta, reserving 3/4 cup water. Return to pot and add pecorino, goat cheese, 1/2 cup reserved pasta water, and cracked black pepper to taste. (Add additional water if mixture seems dry.) Toss well to melt cheese. Serve with a dry white Italian wine, such as orvieto. I love the 2007 Salviano Orvieto, available at K&L in Hollywood for $12.99.

Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG, Casale Triocco

Sagrantino – Red Wine From Umbria, Italy

I called in to see Patrick at the Enoteca Wine Club in Umbertide this afternoon and came away with a bottle of Sagrantino di Montefalco made by Casale Triocco. I have tried a couple of Sagrantino di Montefalco wines costing less than €15 and on both occasions have come away thinking that you are better off spending your money on a similarly priced Montefalco Rosso. However, Patrick reassured me that this was a seriously good wine and well worth the €13 price tag. He explained that the six growers involved in Casale Triocco wines are part of the Spoleto Ducale co-operative, but, believing they could make better wine by keeping their grapes separate, they have come to a deal where they rent the storage and wine making equipment to make their own wine. As a result, they can keep their production costs down and release quality wine at a very competitive price. 

The minimum barrel ageing for a Sagrantino di Montefalco is 12 months and it cannot be released before 36 months (soon to be 40 months) onto the market. Many producers will barrel age the wines for far longer, in some cases 30 months, this results in powerful wines that should really be aged for a long time before drinking. Casale Triocco have gone in the other direction, ageing the Sagrantino for the minimum 12 months in large barrels and allowing the wine more time in the bottle. Costs can be kept lower and the wine can be drunk younger.

Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG 2004, Casale Triocco, Umbrian Wine

 

 

Sagrantino di Montefalco DOCG 2004, Produced by Casale Triocco

Cost €13, abv 13.5%, bought at Enoteca Wine Club, Umbertide, Umbria

The label tells you that the wine is made from 100% Sagrantino grapes, aged for at least 12 months in botte (large barrels) and in the bottle for at least 6 months. Ruby red in colour, tending towards garnet. Intense aromas, spices with blackberries. Full in taste, light in tannin, great with game, red meat and mature cheese. Open an hour before serving and serve at 18ºC. 

Before reading the label I had decided that the aromas were of sweet spices and fruit, in particular cinnamon and ripe blackberry, so we are in agreement there! Whilst intense and of good quality, the width of aromas was fairly narrow. In the mouth the fruit and spice flavours were complemented by soft, yet notable tannins and a good level of acidity at the finish. The wine had a lovely long finish in the mouth.

Verdict: Excellent price / quality match, I would buy again. Whilst less “full on” than many Sagrantino wines, this wine can be drunk younger and also costs considerably less.

Tuscany Villas, Tuscany Agritourism

 

You can try this Sagrantino di Montefalco when you holiday on the Tuscany Umbria border. Gorgacce Rentals have a selection of self catering holiday accommodation in this beautiful part of central Italy, visit their web site http://www.tuscanyumbria.com/ for Large Tuscany Villas, Small Tuscany Villas, Tuscany Farmhouses, Tuscany Agritourism and Tuscany Bed and Breakfast apartments, all with swimming pools. Also, look at our Cortona Apartment, Tuscany and Spello Apartments, Umbria. Whether you are looking for a Luxury Tuscany Villa or budget Tuscany Agritourism Apartments you will find suitable accommodation for your vacation in Tuscany and Umbria. 

 

Gorgacce Rentals: Tuscany Villas, Tuscany Agritourism, Tuscany Farmhouse Accommodation

A Bottle of Red, A Bottle of White

18 September, Friday.

Today might have been one of my favorite days of school EVER. Yes, I said it. It started normally enough, with me lugging my laptop, again, to Tiber. Brit Lit was in our old classroom again (we’ve been bouncing around) and we talked about Mary Seacole, whose piece I actually loved, for most of the time and Newman, whose piece was dry and tedious, only a little. Then, I had my lunch over my computer and worked on outlining my paper. Success! In the process, I ran into Katie and learned about Katrina and Thuy’s trip to Siena, which I decided to join. Mystics was cancelled again, so the next class was Italian. Since today was the make-up day for the Thanksgiving Thursday we have off, Stefania Maggini (our teacher) decided to do something fun. Instead of a normal class today, we met at Good Café for a wine tasting with a professional sommelier, an expert on wine.

His name was Christian, he was from Denmark, and he spoke beautiful Italian. We sat down at the table, the ND kids crowding one end (today just me, Katie, Caitlin G., Vince, and Sarah) and three girls from class (Jill, Kayla, and one whose name escapes me because my memory is terrible) next to us, with Stefania Maggini. We were provided with little sandwiches, bruschetta, and glasses for our first wine. Christian poured us a Sauvignon Blanc and taught us how to detect certain odors in the wine (in this, freshly baked bread and fresh-cut grass), how to look for clarity in the color, and how to swirl it to decant, though none of us could swirl it as expertly as he could without sloshing it all over.

The Sauvignon was a little sweet for my taste, but the next, a Chardonnay, was smoother and sharper, with scents of leather and hay and a good finish. Christian told us about the history of wine, its inception in Iraq, how different wines slide down the glass at different speeds depending on their body, how to pair wines with food, how to become a sommelier, how to choose a wine, and much more. We learned that 2003 was a hot year for Italian wines and most of those wines are cooked and undrinkable, and that if we desire drinking a Brunello from Tuscany, we must wait five years from the harvesting of the grapes for it to be ready. We learned that Zinfandel in America comes from primitive grapes in Puglia, that the American vines helped save the European sort from a wine insect, and that California wines are greasier to pair with spicy Mexican food.

With our new expertise, we finished off with a Barbera d’Alba, an Italian wine with a dry finish, a spicy flavor, and scents of leather. Vince, Caitlin, and I were the only ones who preferred it. With that, Christian took his leave and so did the three other girls. Stefania Maggini gave us the rest of her wine, and we had all the glasses left over from the other girls, so between the five of us, we finished off the rest of the selections–Vince and I mostly took care of the reds, and Sarah took three quarters of a bottle of Chardonnay with her. Finishing all that wine may not have been the brightest idea, since we were all a little giddy on the way home.

We all sat in the kitchen and talked while Genie prepared us a traditional Venezuelan meal of arepas, rice, beans, fried plantains, shredded steak, and ketchup (her family’s addition). Arepas are sort of biscuits made out of corn meal into which you shove all the other ingredients, and they were absolutely delicious. I gorged myself on Venezuelan food and had some more wine, which Vince had brought. After dinner, we cleared up and Cindy and I booked our Siena tickets. Genie’s friend from home, Sam, stopped over quickly before they all headed out to Gilda’s, the dance club. I had been planning on going, but was so tired at this point, and fearful of waking up so early, that I stayed in. Now, I’ll be going to bed soon, since it’s three in the morning and I probably could have gone to Gilda’s at that rate. Tomorrow, the beautiful town of Siena!

And for today, or yesterday, to be technical, a very special happy birthday to someone very dear to me.

Cioppino Vino

Tonight was… Interesting. For a moment, it was all out war over a steak. It began as such…

Things really heated up for my station in the middle of service. Keeping in mind the size our restaurant (less than 40 people) I had tickets for seven ciopinno, 6 steaks, 2 chicken and 2 salmon and a porchetta (stuffed pork loin). Each entree had multiple garnishes and sides, many of which have to be made on the fly. All burners were occupied.

As the end was in sight, our final ticket had three steaks. Problem was… there was only one left.

This is not a cool thing to happen – for everyone involved. Servers need to be notified and then they have to endure the horror of going back to the table and telling the customers that two of them cannot have a steak and the behavioral consequences depending on the nightmare-level of the customer (we all have that friend or relative who is a total jerk to a waiter or busboy).

What we decided to do instead was offer to subsitute the sirloin for the skirt steak we use for lunch, which I happened to have at my station. The server claims to have notified the customer but that is still pending investigation… particularly, after a “favor” I was asked for by him but I won’t totally rat him out. I kinda want to hook up with him and don’t want to ruin any chance of a drunken mistake (fingers crossed).

Two sirloins and one skirt went out and after a minute, one of the sirloins came back. Apparently one of the steaks ended up being a mistake and one of the customers already started eating the skirt, leaving a fuller sirloin as a leftover. Seconds after that, there was a complaint over the size of the steak. Why did we not offer the sirloin that was returned to the customer? That answer we will never know but it resulted in a total battle between the front and back of the house that ended up involving the executive chef and the GM. Silent treatment and cold stares followed for about an hour. We all eventually got over it. One person apologized and everyone else caved as well, including myself and the GM bought us all chinese food at the end of the night. Free food can end any dispute.

Prior to that, something interesting happened to me. I took a liberty with one of the chef’s recipes and he noticed it. Depending on the chef, this could escalate into something really bad.

We were running a Cioppino special and the chef let me have pretty free range with the execution. He told me what ingredients to use and some basic preparation guides but for the most part, he let me make it my own – and the response has been very good – both from the customers and the staff. A few of the servers made a special effort to tell him that the feedback on the floor was really positive, which was a huge solid for me.

Tonight however I question going a little too far when he told me originally to use white wine as I built the broth and I went with red. I believed that the red wine gave the broth a deeper color and taste.

He happened to catch this as I was in the early stage of prepping it and while he didn’t say anything to me about it, I could have SWORN that I saw him raise one of his forearms in a WTF manner.

I built the Cioppino as follows:

I sweat onions and shallots then added Bonito (smoked, dried and shaved fish) and red pepper flakes. I did this to develop a spicy and broth with a noticable pronounced taste.

I then added red wine and allowed it to reduce for a bit before adding clam juice – more reduction and then pureed tomato. I allowed it to reduce often to concentrate flavor and would occasionally thin it out with a fish stock (that I took the initiative to make with the bones of one of our fish entrees… am I tooting my own horn?) and adjusted seasoning throughout service and as more stock was added. I must have had about three bowls on increments of tablesppons here and there.

When an order was fired, I steamed clams in white wine and clam juice. While waiting for them to open, I seared diced swordfish and shrimp. Seared the swordfish just enough to color the ouside and then allowed them to continue cooking with the tomato broth and clams then seared the shrimp until they turned began to turn pink and then finished them in the broth as well.

While waiting for the shrimp to cook. I grilled calarmari just enough to mark them and finished those as well.

I took these steps in an effort not to overcook the seafood, recognizing that they each had different cook temperatures – professional cooks, in case you are thinking it – no, my clams did not overcook. I realize it sounds like the opened clams were on high heat for a long time.

I then plated by adding an exaggerated piece of toasted bread with a saffron rouille to wide bowl, then added the large shrimp then spooning the remaing seafood, then adding enough broth to envelop the cluster of seafood, topping it with more Bonito, which kind of danced in the breeze and fresh parsley.

A total pain in the ass to make but worth it. There was a gasp by someone almost every time I plated one, which totally thrilled me. I also delighted in noticing that at any point I looked up looked up or over someone was watching me.

It was a great moment and feeling, which is probably why I didn’t thow a tantrum when I got an order. I do worry about the chef’s feelings on the wine but probably will not mention it if he doesn’t but I assure you that I do know my place.

Lafite 2008 Continues its Ascent

From Decanter:

Carruades de Lafite set to overtake first growths?

September 17, 2009

by Jane Anson in Bordeaux

Lafite 2008 is currently trading at around 3,800 pounds per case, rising in price by around 90 pounds per week, even though it is not due to bottled until next year.

Margaux 2008, in contrast, is trading at just over £2000.

Carruades 2008 is still at around £1,000, but it is predicted to keep climbing closer to the other first growths once in bottle.

Gary Boom, managing director of Bordeaux Index, told decanter.com, ‘Today a case of Carruades 2004 would set you back £1800, which is considerably more than the 1650 pounds you would pay for a case of Mouton 2004.

‘And this for a wine that cost around 280 pounds at initial release. The 2008 may not climb as high as the firsts, but it is likely to go higher than Cos and the other Super Seconds.’

The September Liv-ex report also looks at the phenomenon of the ’seemingly unstoppable Brand Lafite’, reporting that Carraudes has bucked the trend of price drops during the financial crisis, and that on average, recent vintages are now 22% more expensive than they were at the peak of the market in June last year.

‘Asia has made up its mind on this brand,’ said Boom, ‘and completely ignores either vintage effect, or Parker scores.’

The other second wines are trading at a third to a quarter of the price of Carruades, and even the other Firsts, apart from Lafite, are very much score-led in terms of the price.

‘And I’m not sure this will slow down – before the wine is bottled, trading takes place in Europe, but once in bottle, it heads over to Asia, and then goes out of circulation, so pushing the price even higher.’

The huge cachet of the Lafite – and Rothschild – brands is one of the reasons for the success of the wine. Added to that, the label of Carruades is so similar to that of the first wine as to be indistinguishable, especially to an Asian audience.

Boom added that ‘Mouton will be next [to conquer the Asian market], as it also has the Rothschild name attached.’

I’d like to point out though, sadly, the investor rarely – if ever – sees 100% of the gains. It is divided up amongst the various middlemen, say the broker, the auction house, or if through private sale, the retailer/client. Still, it’s exciting to see the gross return triple in the lifespan of the investment. And while its ascent may not be as thrilling as that of certain stocks (think LVS from its $1 nadir in March to its current value of near $20), it is definitely less of a heart-stopping ride.

Last Dance

——————————– She promised a dance and a candle light dinner a date was made at the edge of the river   He came dressed like a King and imagined her as the queen with flowers as a gift and wine to keep them warm     He sat on the bench Brimming with hope Moon looked over him and stars gave him company   Then she came dressed like a queen his heart leaped and thoughts froze   She kissed him on the cheeks and asked how he was before he could answer she said she had to go   Her prince charming was waiting Down the river He just smiled And gave her the flowers                

Keith Floyd - A pioneer TV chef and a true original

Keith Floyd was a pioneer in TV cooking and from the mid eighties he was one of the most entertaining TV chefs. He loved his wine with a meal and he really had a knack for presenting food preparation and travel as a TV combo.

The biggest names in TV cooking have paid tribute to the pioneer of the modern show, Keith Floyd, who has died after a heart attack at the age of 65.

Jamie Oliver said Floyd had been “not just one of the best, he was the best television chef”, and Nigel Slater said his shows had been “a joy to watch”.

Floyd found fame in the 1980s, hosting shows filmed around the world with wine-glass in hand and huge enthusiasm.

He enjoyed a last meal of oysters, shrimp and partridge, with champagne.

Heston Blumenthal said he had forever “changed the path” of food programmes.

His eccentric, often shambolic style of presentation endeared him to millions of viewers worldwide.

“Keith Floyd was responsible for helping to break down many of the barriers of cooking,” said Slater.

“His freeform, somewhat casual style at the stove made cooking look easy, and encouraged people to have a go.”

Floyd was born in Somerset and opened his first restaurant, Floyd’s Bistro, in Bristol, at the age of 22.

Years later, it was while running another establishment near the BBC studios in the city that Floyd was discovered by television producer David Pritchard.

Their 1985 series, Floyd on Fish, was an instant hit, and subsequent series took the chef all over the world.

The programmes were ground-breaking at the time for taking the cooking out of a studio, but it was Floyd’s wine-fuelled flamboyance that viewers loved.

Floyd wrote more than 20 books, many of them best-sellers. His autobiography, Stirred But Not Shaken, is due to be published next month.

Co-author James Steen said: “He was a very generous man, he was very kind and extremely sharp and witty.

“He knew how to eat well and he was able to convey that. He was a genius at what he did.”

Gordon Ramsay called Floyd “a true original, a natural performer and a superb cook”.

Source: BBC

Day Trip from Charlotte

Did you know that Charlotte is just a short drive from some of the best wineries on the east coast of the United States? The 1.4 million-acre Yadkin Valley is home to a wide variety of wines. From small family-owned to corporate wineries, most offer tastings and winery tours. A great way to spend a Saturday afternoon. Charlotte sounds better and better doesn’t it?

For more info check out these links:

Yadkin Valley Wineries

All American Wineries

Yadkin Wines

Things you see at the bottom of your wine glass

After a recent party, Mandi ended up with an extra tetra pak of wine (20 Bees) intended as a gift from on guest to another. Eventually the forgotten wine ended up at my place and then ultimately in our tummies.

Upon emptying the box we noticed it was rattling as if it were full of sand. Dumping this sand out, it appeared to be sand made out of crushed glass. Not sharp, but hard and clear and seemingly non soluble in liquid. In fact we couldn’t see how it could be anything other than glass. Perhaps it had been in the grapes and had been ground down in the grape crushing process. Curious, Mandi sent the winery this letter:

“Dear 20 Bees,

My partner and I were finishing off a tetra of your 2005 Grower’s red, and were a bit concerned to hear the empty carton rattling. After some inverted shaking we discovered a clear, hard, granular, glass-like substance coming out of the carton.

Is this normal, or do we have future careers as glass eaters at a circus?

Eagerly awaiting your reply, as the circus is leaving town soon, and we need to know if we should go with them.

Thanks, Mandi”

Their reply was interesting:

“Thanks for you email….with regards to you question; what you found is not glass. The crystal like substance that you have found is a known as Tartrate Crystals or Wine Diamonds. The are caused by unstable tartaric acid and malic acid (natural acidity found in grapes and wines) that precipitate over time. As this is a cosmetic issue, all wineries attempt to force the unstable precipitation of these acids in our tanks prior to bottling. This process can take up to 3 to 5 weeks, and is done by chilling the wine down to – 4 C. Once the precipitation is completed, we filter and then bottle or in this case, package the product. Now over time, especially in med to full bodied reds, the precipitation of tannins during the aging of the wine will alter the pH and other parameters in the wine, which may cause further unstable precipitation of acids, and this is what you are experiencing. According to wine writers such as Tony Aspler, wine diamonds are an indication of a good wine.

We will continue to strive to improve our quality control and hope that this has not deterred you from our products in the future.

20 Bees Winery Retail“

Who knew? Probably a lot of wine connoisseurs. Myself, I was dubious about the vinters’ claim so I checked the internet and found wine diamonds are indeed a real thing and not a ridiculous cover up. They actually give Germans who go by Weinstien (wine stone) their name. Who knew? Probably the Germans.

Mandi replied:

“20 Bees,“

Thank you for your reply. That’s very interesting. Wine diamonds, fancy. I am not deterred from future purchases of your product, but I am little disappointed to learn that I will not have a career with the circus.

Thanks again, Mandi

I’m kind of sad we’re not joining the circus as well.

CleanFutures secures funding for biosensor

Kristin: We have been successful in securing funding for CleanFutures AquaSens to finalise prototypes and complete testing of a biosensor technology that is set to revolutionise the testing of water, wine and food throughout the world. CleanFutures AquaSens, was formed by Bridge8 and Australian CleanTech specifically to develop the AquaSens biosensor.The technology is a rapid, highly sensitive sensor probe for the detection of nitrates and phosphates in water, and sulfites in wine and food products.

The technology was developed by Monash University in Victoria and had started its commercialisation process through a Victorian State Government body, Nanotechnology Victoria. Bio Innovation SA recognised its potential and has provided funding through its Business Development Initiative(BDI) grant to allow the final testing to be completed. The funding will enable CleanFutures AquaSens to design and manufacture industrial prototypes of the biosensor and to then conduct customer trials. One of these trials will be completed with the Australian Water Quality Centre, SA Water’s testing laboratory.

The technology allows for tests to be completed immediately and in the field rather than taking samples for further analysis in a laboratory. Results are within minutes rather than having to wait a week or more. Increased phosphates and nitrate levels are key indicators of the likelihood of blue-green algae forming. The use of this biosensor could provide early warning of problems in water bodies such as the River Murray.

The issue of sulfite in wine is currently a major problem for the industry: as it is hard to detect and it is estimated that 1% of the population are sulfite-sensitive. With South Australia’s position as a leader in wine production, the development of the sulfite biosensor here is a natural fit. CleanFutures has arranged for the technology’s inventor, Professor Sam Adeloju from Monash, to work with both Flinders University and The Australian Wine Research Institute (AWRI) to finalise the required research for the sulfite application of the AquaSens technology.

FURTHER INFORMATION: www.cleanfutures.com.au

So

I just fucked A.

This has happened a few times in the past; first time when he broke up with his long term gf and the 3 times since while he’s been back together with her.

He’s moving out of his flat (5 doors up the road from me) very soon, and his parting words tonight…. “I’ll always come back to you”.

He tried to fuck me up the arse tonight – I gave him my permission to, but the KY jelly serum thing that he used fucking burned when he did it, so he stopped. I almost wanted him to hold my hands down and pull my hair and make me take it; there’s an unwritten rule that all girls enjoy the idea of being raped as long as they consent to it – but he was too pissed to do that so it ended up with him shooting inside me and me coming home as it was so easy to walk out.

This all started because I went on a blind date tonight from one of those dating websites and the guy I met was very nice but a bit wet and geeky, so I left early and came back to the pub, where A was sitting with his housemate.

To be honest, I just want cock. That’s what it comes down to, and that’s what I generally get, apart from when I try to make it more than that and date someone. For fuck’s sake.

Bedtime. Too much wine.

2006 Pargua II versus 2005 Maquis Lien

He and she said:

We picked thse two wines up at, where else, Cork and Bottle, and thought it would be educational to try them side-by-side. It could be alleged that this is just a good excuse to open two bottles at the same. We might have to plead guilty to that one.

The wines are very similar. Both are from the same country, about the same price, and they both use many of the classic Bordeaux blending grapes (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, and Petit Verdot) with some interesting additions.

The vitals on our two contenders:

2005 Pargua II

Chile

Maipo Valley

Cab Sauvignon/ Carmenere/ Syrah/ Merlot/ Cab Franc/ Petit Verdot

14.9% Alcohol

$19.99

2005 Maquis Lien

Chile

Valle de Colchagua

Syrah/ Carmenere/ Cabernet Franc/ Petit Verdot/ Malbec

14.5% alcohol

$18.99

We tasted them blind, and were very quickly able to guess which was which, based on the label descriptions.  The Maquis Lien (or Lizard Wine, as we call it) has much more Syrah, and we could pick up the black pepper on the nose. Also, the Cabernet Franc really stood out, giving this bottle a pronounced tartness on the front. We suspect the Carmenere, a grape missing in the Pargua, might have something to do with this as well.

In contrast, the Syrah was much more restrained in the Pargua. The black pepper was replaced by the classic vanilla notes we frequently find in Merlot. We found that the Merlot rounded off the tartness of the Cab Franc in the Pargua, resulting in a wine we preferred.

The unanimous winner by TKO: The Pargua II.

Both wines are very nice, but the Pargua is hard to beat at $19.99. Maybe that’s why we have so many bottles of it.

Incendio burns the house down at Roxyann last Saturday Night

A beautiful night for a bottle of wine and music

The evening started out calm enough. The building thunder clouds which gently let loose with  a few quarter sized drops didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits at all, with most present staying completely dry under the ample tent awnings. The gentle cooling breeze was a welcome relief from the late summer heat. The atmosphere was relaxed. Little did we know how hot it would soon get.

Delightful reflection

My wife and I were privileged to be among the fortunate souls treated to an awesome evening of  percussion and guitar music.  Flying fingers and musical passion filled the air with Nuevo Flamenco music fused with Latin jazz and even a classical piece that held the crowd in an emotional swell of delight.

The evening darkens as the emotional atmosphere starts to heat up

At first the guests were rather subdued, soon however the sights and  sounds of guitar and drum, accompanied by the infectious energy of the musical artists washed over us in delightful  waves.  With outstanding wine  soothing our souls and intoxicating sounds lifting our spirits,  toes began to tap, hands  to clap and hips  to sway.

Jim Stubblefield & J.P. Durand light the fires of Incendio at Roxyann

Fireworks from enchanted fingers is all I can express to describe the guitar rhythms that carried us all, spellbound, to places far beyond the vineyard where we were. Music ruled the night, our hearts, our minds.

Bassist Liza Carbe' thrills the audience with her amazing musical talent

The fire and fury of the first several numbers rose in intensity and  we were  not prepared  for the wonderful gift of a tender and moving classical piece.  As it  pulled us back from the precipice of ecstatic abandonment to a place of quiet solitude  I saw in the  faces of  the audience that I was not alone. They too were touched by this extraordinary juxtaposition of styles.

A quiet and sentimental moment during the concert

By the end of the evening dancing was in full swing as subdued guests became party going participants in a merry tangle of joyful exuberance.  The musicians were more than happy to keep the fever pitch lit and threw on more resonating fuel to fan the fun.

Incendio plays at a dizzying pitch to the delight and admiration of the crowd at Roxyann

And what would the perfect ending to a perfect evening of entertainment be without a  Conga line!

Happy staff and guests participate in a Conga line to wrap up a perfect night of wine and music at Roxyann in Medford last Saturday night

Incendio has a website, for those of you who missed this extraordinary event at Roxyann, where you can listen  to a sampling of their talent.

Roxyann winery has a  website and you can also follow them on Twitter

Faces From The First Week of School

My friend lives with the mantra that “Life’s too short to have unflattering blackmail photos of yourself floating around.”

I suppose she’s right.

But when a 3 year old is taking the pictures, what’s a mom to do?

The bus came as scheduled last Tuesday and whisked two of my favorite little humans off to begin a new school year.  It’s always a bittersweet time for me; I’m excited that our kids have the opportunity to learn at a fantastic school with teachers who are absolutely committed to their craft–and to their students.  Yet the pangs that often come along with sentimentality stabbed at me as I watched them mount the bus stairs, turn to wave, and then drive off into the late summer haze.  I started crying!  Luckily my neighbors are in the same boat and we hugged and blotted our tears without shame.  Kleenex should consider pre-packaging a going-back-to-school kit for moms that includes tissues, new mascara, and a bottle of wine [for later, of course].  You’re on your own with all the old photo albums and size 18 month clothes that you dig up later to relive the memories, still crying, and uncorking the wine in the living room with your old VHS of Beaches playing in a loop in the background.

Anyway.  Blackmail.

So as I recuperated in the kitchen with my 3 year old and the dog, M suggested that I make funny faces for the camera which he was holding a frightening 6 inches from my face. Now I understand why all the female TV anchors have their panties in a bunch over HD digital television!  You practically have to be Barbie herself–or perhaps Kim Kardashian–to not look like the “before” photo in a midnight skincare infomercial.

With camera in hand, M proceeded to give me directions, and I think that, despite being terrifying, the pictures really capture my feelings for the day.  Take a look, and appreciate my willingness to forego conventional wisdom and actually post these on the *world* wide web.

Exhibit A:  Mom, how do you feel about J & A leaving for school and growing up so fast?

I'll be scheduling my neck-lift as soon as we get our tax refund...

Exhibit B:  Mom, demonstrate your emotions surrounding the issue of your youngest child preparing for preschool–which starts NEXT WEEK.  Are you feeling old yet?

Note the young photographer's interesting use of scale and angle. Now if we could do something about that face...

After our photo shoot, M and I had a fun day together visiting our local children’s museum and playing outside.  Even though it’s always a bit of an adjustment for me to get used to a quieter home, a different schedule, fewer mouths at the lunch table, it has been a blessing to bond with my special little man.

Moms out there– leave a comment and tell me how you’re adjusting to your kids being back at school!

The Cinque Terre...sans flip-flops

My family has a now infamous photograph of me, around age 14, hiking Utah’s Bryce Canyon in flip-flops. I still get plenty of flak for my persistent avoidance of tennis shoes, but I admit that not even I could hike the trails of the Italian Riviera without proper footwear.

This weekend, my roommate Ali and I took our first excursion out of Rome to the area of Italy known as the Cinque Terre. The “Five Cities” along the coast are connected by winding mountain trails, which Ali and I were determined to conquer. I guess in the interest of full disclosure I should note that this was really my ambitious goal, and Ali, who is not exactly the hike-for-fun type, begrudgingly agreed to go with me.

So bright and early (don’t overestimate us…it was actually closer to 10 a.m.), we began our seven-hour, sweat-pooling, jaw-dropping, almost asthma attack-inducing adventure.

Riomaggiore to Manarola: Via dell’Amore

Armed with the Cinque Terre Card, a pass that allows you to access all the area trails and local trains, we located the trailhead. The path from Riomaggiore to Manarola is known as Via dell’Amore, or the “lover’s trail.” Obviously, the following photograph was necessary:

Please note how the trail here is beautifully flat and stable. For this reason, later in the hike Ali and I decided to rename Via dell’Amore The Path of False Hope. This 20-minute jaunt was by far the easiest stretch, luring us into undeserved confidence in our “hiking” abilities.

Regardless, this stretch has some unique and interesting history behind it. For instance, it’s a tradition to walk this section with your lover and lock a padlock together somewhere along the trail. Cheesy, I know, but think of the relationship stability! I mean, it would be pretty hard to break up with your boyfriend back in the States if you knew you had a painted lock halfway across the world symbolizing your eternal commitment for thousands of tourists to see. I guess it’s a testament to my cynicism that I found myself wondering how many ex-couples are regretting their stroll on Via dell’Amore.

A "love-lock" hot-spot.

My personal favorite part of walking to Manarola was the tunnel of graffiti created by years of visitors to the trail. Most of it was typical bathroom stall fare — “Mario! Ti amo!” “John + Jess, 7/9/05″ — but there was also some incredible art to be found on the walls. Unfortunately, since the only writing utensil on my person was a mechanical pencil, there’s no evidence of our stroll.

Manarola to Corniglia

We breezed through Manarola and were rewarded with amazing view of the town. It did cause us to wonder, however, why the hell anyone thought it would be a good idea to attempt building on the rocky coast of the Riviera.

It was also during this leg that Ali discovered I may have been less than truthful about the difficulty of the hike. The flat, paved path of Via dell’Amore was replaced with increasing slopes, and it was finally completely replaced with trails such as this:

An increasingly skeptical Ali leads the way to Corniglia.

About 45 minutes of medium-difficulty hiking, we arrived at the base of Corniglia to find a cheerful, “You Are Here” sign.

Yup, the little red dot at the bottom of this picture was us. And those triangles? Those are the 360 stairs up to the town. Now, in all fairness there is a shuttle bus that takes weary hikers from the bottom to the top. But not wanting to cheat, Ali and I dutifully scaled those stairs.

After discovering how out of shape we really were, Ali and I did the only logical thing – reward ourselves with gelato. I also discovered the place I’m going to plant myself the day I retire:

At exactly age 65, this is where you'll find me. That is, if social security isn't completely in a shambles.

Corniglia to Vernazza

Maybe it was the gelato. Maybe it was the fact that we think we may have accidently taken a wrong trail. But this path was a grueling stretch that somehow pulled off the amazing physics feat of being uphill both ways. Not that the rare downhill stretches were any better…

Luckily, we pressed on and were rewarded with some of the most amazing views on the entire trail.

Our next destination - Vernazza!

Vernazza to Monterosso

Truth be told, we were a little worried about this section of the trail. We’d heard that the last stretch was by far the most difficult and had just spent the last two hours out of breath and being bowled over by intense German tourists with hiking sticks. The man checking our passes didn’t help matters either.

“So, this path is hard, huh?” we asked.

“Yes, quite difficult,” he responded in his distinct Italian accent. “Are you absolutely sure you have enough water?”

We looked down at our half-full bottles, our enthusiasm waning as we realized we were smack dab in the middle of the hottest part of the day.

“Well…thanks for your help!” we said with as little worry in our voices as possible.

But when we finally panted our way up to the highest point, we were glad we had pursued the trail.

Beautiful panoramic views that awaited us on the last leg of the trail.

And when we finally made it to Monterosso, a friendly, middle-aged American couple we kept running into on the trail was more than happy to take a photo of us striking the victory pose (we returned the favor).

Success!

So goes the saga of Ali and Sarah, two non-athletic twin souls, hiking the Cinque Terre. No worries, we rewarded ourselves with yet another piccolo cono of gelato and an amazing glass of Sciacchetrà, a specialty dessert wine of the region. Cheers!

Top Tools for the Home Bartender

Savvy at-home bartending begs for some well-selected basic ingredients.

The right ice trays

Having the right ice is important to have proper dilution in cocktails. If you go to any bartender’s home bar, they’ve got stacks of different types of ice—small, large, crushed.

Boston shaker and separate strainer

A lot of people get decorative shakers [with a built-in strainer and cap], and they’re not really that functional. Have you ever tried to open one of those after you’ve shaken it? It’s next to impossible.

Jiggers

If you don’t know how to make a drink, you need to be exact. The smallest amount can really throw a drink off.

A hand juicer

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone into a liquor store and someone says, ‘Which margarita mix do you think is the best one? I say, ‘Put that away, grab yourself some Cointreau, grab yourself some limes, you’ll be fine.’ Pre-packaged cocktails are a joke.

The right ingredients

You should have a little bit of everything—except for vodka. If you have vodka, it’s great for tinctures and for cleaning your equipment. But other than that, I don’t really have vodka.

A recipe book—for yourself

Not just a cocktail book, but a recipe book that you write recipes in. That way you can bring the drink you had at a bar back home.

Individuality

You want things that make it your own bar.

As always, if you are interested in adding wine or wine accessories to your cellar, please feel free to email me or order directly from my web site.

Tasting: Pride Moutain Vineyards

I read the information and got sidetracked from wine tasting. “Return their hospitality” is a good phrase. It is one of those things one cannot understand unless you are in the business. The general meaning has no value in such cases. Wine (agricultural) people can be very cool people not because they try to wine and dine you on occasion but because they can be very gracious people. That is a big change from the many suits lurking around you daily selling wine and what not. This tasting is important to me in the sense that wine has its own culture. Terroir in Old World terminology also refers to people. Being close to the Earth can have a unique effect on the individuals. I am sure the wines are good. Sometimes the people make all the difference. I have to make a mental note to myself before I forget this: Wine culture has a people dimension, that is tremondous in effect, but not about eating, drinking or business. I guess it is about people who got absorbed by the life of the wine and somehow got lost in that dimension. They can be very cool people compared to the rest of us. I don’t know the people of this tasting. My musings are general comments but am sure them and the wines are swell.

—————————————————————————-

Pride Mountain Vineyards

With Steve Pride and Stuart Bryan

Host:

Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant

Type:

Party – Bar Night

Network:

Global

Price:

$38

Date:

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Time:

4:30pm – 7:30pm

Location:

Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant

Street:

One Ferry Building, Shop 23

City/Town:

San Francisco, CA

Join us Wednesday, September 16th, from 4:30-7:30pm, when we welcome Steve Pride, General Manager and Co-Owner, and Stuart Bryan, Family Member to our Wine Bar. It is Pride family night at Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant. Carolyn Pride is the matriarch of this historic Napa Valley wine family, Steve is her son and Stuart is her son-in-law. Agriculture is in the Pride family’s blood. The Prides purchased the historic Summit Ranch in 1989. Quality has been the hallmark of this landmark winery on top of Spring Mountain on the boundary of Napa and Sonoma Counties. It’s a long and winding road up Spring Mountain, and the Prides have always made sure it was worth the trip once you arrive. The views are spectacular, the setting is sublime, the facility is top notch, the wines are terrific, but it is the genuine warmth and friendliness you feel as you walk through the door that sets them apart.

Join us to help welcome Steve Pride and Stuart Bryan to Ferry Plaza Wine Merchant as we attempt to return their great hospitality. You can hear from Steve’s own words their lovely family history working with the land, speak to Stuart about their visitor friendly tasting room, and ask them just about any question that pops in your mind. You can do all this with several glasses of fabulous Pride Mountain wines sitting in front of you, including their rare Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon.

****AS A SPECIAL FEATURE MOST WINES SERVED ON PRODUCER FLIGHT NIGHT WILL BE ON SALE FOR THAT NIGHT ONLY AT A 15% DISCOUNT TO THOSE WHO PURCHASE A FLIGHT!!! THE ONLY EXCEPTION IS THE VERY RARE PRIDE RESERVE CABERNET SAUVIGNON.

The featured wines are served as two ounce glasses. If you would like a full glass just ask your bartender. The wines will also be available for retail purchase while supplies last.

The cost of the flight will be $38 and will feature the following wines:

2008 Pride Mountain Viognier, Sonoma County

Retail $42, 5oz. glass $13.75

2007 Pride Mountain Cabernet Franc, Sonoma County

Retail $60, 5oz. glass $18.25

2006 Pride Mountain Syrah, Sonoma County

Retail $60, 5oz. glass $18.25

2006 Pride Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon, 70% Napa /30% Sonoma

Retail $66, 5oz. glass $19.75

2005 Pride Mountain Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley

Retail $125, 5oz. glass $34.50