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Thank you to the judges Andrew at Spittoon, Susan at Food Blogga and food photographer Lou Manna. From all the fabulous photos you contributed to LiveSTRONG With A Taste Of Yellow they selected Helene at Tartelette as the winner. Congratulations Helene you will be receiving a copy of Lou's book Digital Food Photography. Thank you to Lou and his Publishing Company for their kind donation.
Kumala wines in South Africa is offering two free wine charms to anyone of legal drinking age who takes their survey and signs up for their newsletter. The offer is only valid in the United States. Here's their website: http://www.kumalausa.com/fun/quiz-b.php
Martinborough, New Zealand. 13.5%. Screwcap. Approx $A65.
The back label of the bottle states: The superb 2006 vintage has delivered a dream wine. Meanwhile, Bob Campbell MW writes*: This is probably the best Ata Rangi pinot that I have tasted. He finishes his note with the words Kiwi Musigny.
This really is a beautiful wine. Prettier and more refined than the previous vintage, though the descriptors and traits may be similar. Flowing, shapely and full of life, it is seamless, complex and utterly compelling. Succulent and pert, this is classically formed and enduring.
Excellent. 95. Now - 2016.
* Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine April/May 2008.
Well it has been a few weeks since my last entry and although I could tell you all about the Rhône and Burgundy en primeur campaigns, the New Wave Spanish wines I've been trying, or the South African Reds to match the last entry of South African Whites that my father has been religiously clicking on to, only to discover nothing of what his daughter has been up to in the Big Smoke, I won't.
I am very tempted to tell you about having to pay an Australian, let's say friend, in wine for a lost - no, thoroughly thrashed - bet over the Ashes (this was his first return to England since that sorry episode). A fairly painful experience for both wallet and liver BUT let's move on to the future.
Wine Relief is upon us www.rednoseday.com/partners/wine-relief/ and there are several different bottles widely available to buy from which retailers are donating some of the profit to Comic Relief. How easy is it to open a bottle of wine and make a difference?
For my part I have been enthusiastically working my way through the offerings and on March 3rd, this Saturday in fact, I will be a guest panellist on the Virtual Wine online tasting of the 6 best on offer. The team at Virtual Wine have also studiously tasted and deliberated to come up with the finalists which will be tasted by a select (!) panel live from 7.30 pm.
The idea is that you at home can order the taster packs of 6 wines from Virtual Wine (10% still going to Comic Relief) or buy them from the various retailers, and taste the wines at the same time. You can then send belligerent, loving or simply drunken messages to us via email and your concerns will be addressed immediately. What a laugh...
So get some friends round, you must have some, put on some nibbles and sharpen your tongues. Take a look here www.virtualwine.co.uk to download instructions and tasting notes.
These people like wine and have a laugh with it, their contribution to the cork vs screwcap debate was to race bottles down river to see which was fastest, the loser then wrestled the winner to the ground in an unscripted, but thrilling, finale.
Christina Rowan of Washington DC thought quickly and calmly when a gunman crashed a backyard barbecue and held a gun to a 14-year-old girl's head. Moments later, the gunman left with a glass of wine and a smile. Read the whole story. From an AP newswire published on MSNBC WASHINGTON - Police on Capitol Hill are baffled by an attempted robbery that began with a handgun put to the head of a teenager and ended in a group hug. It started about midnight on June 16 when a group of friends was finishing a dinner of marinated steaks and jumbo...
FishEye Merlot caught my eye at the supermarket yesterday when trying to find a good cheap wine to pair with my pasta and chicken dinner.
Nice and fruity, I think the strongest aroma was plum. This wine was a good match to my dinner, and a good value for $5.89. I’d like to try their Cab one of these days.
MAN, out of Stellenbosch, produces my quick intelligent value weekender vino.I?ve always fallen easily for a wine with an underlying story.You can read all about the guys here, since I won?t pull off the usual wine blogger thing and claim that I?m writing original content that was subsequently re-hashed from producer?s websites.Oh and yes, I publish boring tasting notes which are only meant as a rough guide/tool for people to assess how much they?d probably like the wine?so deal with it and try the wines for yourself.
At any rate, the MAN 2005 Pinotage, sourced from Perdeberg Hills (Coastal), is a very pleasant surprise. I remember being in London last year, trying many of the paltry £4,99 South African wines available in major supermarkets. Small clarification?I?ve had very nice supermarket selections there, though I wasn?t lucky enough to stumble upon wines like these?unexpectedly balanced and satisfying for the price-point ($5.99).If you must buy a wine this inexpensive, you?d always hope for a comparable standard.Unlike some of the other cheaper reds which gratuitously used terms such as ?barrel-aged? on the back-labels, MAN openly discloses their use of oak staves for maturing part of the wine, in addition to fining and filtering.As I mentioned before, you can read the technical sheets on their website.Now, for the sake of consistency, if I can just get my hands on the other wines in their line?wouldn?t it be something if the other varieties were quaffable at $5.99?
Visual/Aromatic Profile:Medium ruby with translucent edges in the glass.The nose is clean, with pronounced intensity of the predominant red fruit (red cherry & plum), soft earth, spice and minerality.
Texture and Finish:Dry, with medium acidity, medium tannin and high body.Bold plum and red cherry sweetness are accompanied by pepper, spice and stony minerality.The spices, minerality and soft earth lead into the interesting medium finish.
How many times have you bought a wine based on a promotional price? Or bought multiple wines you didn’t really want because of a three for two type offer? We may be all falling for “artificial promotions” that are anything but a good deal.
There are some good quotes in the article from wine industry insiders confirming that what have long been speculated to be dubious “offers” are exactly that and give no real value to the wine drinker at all.
Uptown Prime delivers steakhouse quality steaks and Kobe beef direct to you on the day you choose! FREE weekday standard overnight shipping with any order!
Argentine wines are not as well-known in North America as those of Chile, but the areas just below the Andes Mountains, such as Mendoza and San Juan, produce excellent, red wines, including Syrah, Pinot Noir, and Malbec, a red wine grape that is at its best when grown in Argentine soil. Learn more about the wines of Argentina in this video from Geobeats.
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Mussels on the half shell are as exotic and flavorful as they are inexpensive.
(serves 6)
6 basil leaves 2 T fresh thyme, remove and discard stems before measuring 2 T fresh tarragon, remove and discard stems before measuring 3 garlic cloves, minced 1 shallot(s), minced 3 lemons, 1 * zested, 1 /2*juiced, 1 - 1/2* cut into wedges and reserved for garnish 1/4 cup fresh Italian parsley sprigs, remove and discard stems before measuring 1/2 t celery salt 1/4 t freshly ground black pepper 3 T butter at room temperature 1 lb. cultured blue mussels, rinsed, and debearded with a quick tug
1. . Mix all ingredients except the butter and mussels in a small food processor or blender or dice finely and mix by hand in a small bowl.
2. . If using a processor or blender add the butter. Otherwise, add the butter to the mixture in the bowl and blend thoroughly with a spoon.
3. . Place a vegetable steamer in a large pot and add 1 inch of water Bring water to a boil. Add the mussels, cover and steam for approximately 40 to 60 seconds, or just long enough for the shells to open (this is the sole object of the exercise). Remove opened shells and continue steaming any closed shells for I minute. Discard any mussels that have not opened by this time.
4. . Allow the mussels to cool. Remove the top shell.
5. . Set the mussels on a baking sheet (facing up) and spoon 1/4 teaspoon of the butter/herb mixture over each.
6. . Place the pan under the broiler on the level closest to the element or flame. Broil for about 2-1/2 minutes, or until butter is melted and the mussels just begin to brown.
7. . Serve on the half shell.
le secret. .Do not oversteam or overbroil mussels.
the adventure club . .Add a few droplets of Pernod (a licorice-flavored liqueur) to each mussel just before cooking.
garnish . .Lemon wedges.
suggested accompaniment . .A martini.
alternatives . .i) Butter may be replaced with an equal amount of olive oil. ii) This recipe also works with oysters, but you will have to pray for a pearl in order to finance the difference in price.
notes . .Buy the mussels from a reputable fishmonger on the day of the dinner. Select only mussels that are closed. ii) Keep mussels refrigerated. iii) Mussels are best washed and cleaned just before using. They begin to dry out once the beard is removed. iv) Don't worry if you are missing any one of the herbs. v) If you open a mussel and it looks questionable, give it the smell test.
guest assignment . .Mussel debearder.
hints for advance prep . .The butter mixture may be prepared days in advance and refrigerated or frozen.
cooking apparatus . .A baking sheet, a large pot, and a vegetable steamer.
serving apparatus . .A large serving plate, a plate for the empty shells and cocktail napkins.
Errol at Washington Winemaker in Bellevue, Washington relates the story of three women winemakers being threatened by the U.S. Olympic Committee for daring to use the name 'Olympic Cellars' for their winery, which is located on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State'. Gee fellas, I think the Olympic Mountain range has been around longer than your trademark. The mountain range name was made official in 1864 and was in common and published use before that.
Tuscan Wine Tours offers day tours of Italy's region of Tuscany. In this video, the group visits two small wineries and enjoys a relaxing lunch al fresco, a typical tour. Take a look:
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In terms of export trends, it seem as though higher-end Argentine Malbec/Cab types of blends imported to the North American and UK markets have garnered better consumer reception than single varieties.Don?t get me wrong, I have enjoyed many of these and will continue to do so, though recently I must confess that I?ve been feeling a bit bored.This is precisely when I need to turn to a winemaker who can think outside the box and take me somewhere different than the usual Cab/Malbec blends.Who could I turn to?
Susana helped me think outside the box?Susana Balbo, that is.One of Argentina?s premier winemakers, her Syrah-Bonarda blend is one of various compelling examples of her brilliance.It?s an intelligent value steal and as a bonus, it is meant to be consumed more or less young.Argentine Syrah as a whole doesn?t get all of the credit that it deserves?combined with the second most planted red, Bonarda, you get this beauty, with meaty tannins and lots of dark fruit/red fruit complexity.My favorite aspect of this one revolved around the irresistible, concentrated plum, cherry and black raspberry flavors, with the Bonarda contributing the nice red berry acidity.The oak and warm spices are a great, subtle backbone that won?t overwhelm with one of those cheap death-by-vanilla finishes.As with a great deal of grapes harvested from the Andean foothills (elev. about 2300ft), both components of this 50/50 blend were hand-harvested from vines in Mendoza?s Rivadavia department that are on average, 40 years old.
What a wonderful blend to try with grilled meats now that the weather is improving.Yet another excellent example that shows what finesse Mendoza blends can have without Malbec involvement.
Susana Balbo?s Crios wines are made available by Vine Connections, the premier boutique Argentine wine importer out of San Francisco.If you?re having trouble finding it in your area, try Wine-Searcher or the importers themselves.
For those of you who aren't aware, the blogger Jeff Stai (El Bloggo Torcido) also runs a winery. And the Twisted Oak wine is excellent. I've had a lot of their stuff at different wine events and the Twisted Philly event they setup for us, and it's all been good. Not ...
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Kahlua, the number one coffee liqueur in the world, today announced the addition of Kahlua Mocha to its family of premium coffee liqueurs. Available June 2008, Kahlua Mocha will join original Kahlua, Kahlua Especial, Kahlua French Vanilla and Kahlua Hazelnut in retail and on-premise locations in the United States.
Made with a rich blend of 100% Arabica coffee, natural vanilla and real dark chocolate, Kahlua Mocha offers consumers a new way to enjoy their favorite coffee liqueur and retailers the opportunity to enhance category profitability. Kahlua Mocha can be enjoyed over ice, in contemporary cocktails or as a twist on classic Kahlua drinks.
Pinot Gris is a grape varietal that is a mutation of the Pinot Noir grape. The Pinot Gris vine appears similar to the Pinot Noir, but it produces a grape that is coppery gray instead of the dark violet of Pinot Noir. In fact, the only certain method of differentiating the vines is by the fruit that they produce. Researchers have found that the DNA structure of Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir are virtually identical.
The Pinot Gris grape produces a delicious white wine with a rosy platinum color. This wine captures a perfect balance of acidity, fruit flavor and sweetness.
My addiction started innocently enough, through a college job waiting tables at a Japanese restaurant. That's when I had my first sushi buzz. I'm not sure if it was the gorgeous presentation, the sinus-clearing rush of the green horseradish or the sublime flavor of raw fish that sucked me in. Whatever it was, I was hooked.
My obsession didn't stop with this one restaurant. I worked at three more sushi bars after college, while in pursuit of the perfect fix. But even that wasn't enough. I had to learn how to make my own sushi, ending my dependence on Japanese restaurant chefs forever!
I began my sushi-making quest by picking up a bamboo rolling mat and an assortment of sushi fixin's at a Japanese market in San Francisco. Finding a recipe for sushi rice was a bit challenging, but I eventually managed to dig one up in a Japanese cookbook. Over the next year or so I tried making sushi exactly twice -- with disastrous results. Suffice it to say, my sushi wouldn't have looked much different if I'd made it with my foot.
I decided it was time for professional help. Not in the form of a shrink, but rather a two-hour sushi workshop offered by a nearby cooking school.
I happily forked over 70 bucks for the class, certain I'd learn some secret technique that would transform my homemade sushi creations from frumpy fish wads to exquisite culinary works of art. The workshop was held in a smallish room above an upscale kitchen store, outfitted with professional cooking equipment and mirrors above the food prep counter for easy viewing. I took a seat at one of the large round tables scattered around the room and eyed the magical sushi implements set on a plastic cafeteria lunch tray before me: a bamboo rolling mat, sheets of dried seaweed of various sizes, and plastic ramekins filled with crab and pickled ginger. In the center of the table, a communal plate of sliced avocados, Japanese radishes and cucumbers beckoned. Soon, I'd be able to make sushi at home whenever the urge struck -- I could sit in front of the TV nightly, munching tekka maki like it was popcorn!
My fantasy was soon interrupted when the instructor appeared to reveal the secrets of proper ricemaking and sushi assembly. After about an hour of cooking-show-style demonstration, she set a plate of raw fish and a large bowl of rice on each table. Elbow to elbow with my fellow students, I set to work trying to emulate the beautifully prepared sushi on the sample dish at the front of the room.
Fat chance, brother.
Despite my best artistic efforts, my sushi came out looking like some kid had run it over with his bike. The rolls practically exploded as I cut them; my unagi lay flacidly on its bed of rice like a lopsided toupee; my futomaki spilled its guts onto the table like a disgraced samurai committing hara kiri.
After trying in vain to detach the sticky sushi rice from my forearms, shoulders and face, I surveyed the room. To my great relief I was not the only aspiring home sushi chef with mutilated maguro. Some people's sushi looked even worse than mine!
SO WHERE DID WE GO WRONG?
Leafing through my workshop handout sheets I found the answer: 10 years. In Japan, that's how long an apprentice sushi master is required to train before becoming a full-fledged chef. This information made me realize that expecting to make beautiful California rolls after a two-hour sushi workshop is the culinary equivalent of trying to dance the lead in Swan Lake after one ballet lesson. Chances are you're going to fall on your face.
Even if I didn't learn any double-secret sushimaking techniques in class, the workshop did teach me one very important lesson: $50 is a small price to pay for a gorgeous plate of sushi made by real chefs who actually know what the hell they're doing. Get thee to a sushi bar!
WINE WITH SUSHI: Sacrilege or a Perfect Pairing?
There are people out there who'd say that drinking wine with sushi instead of downing Japanese beer or sake is nothing short of blasphemous. Of course, none of those people is me.
Sure, beer and sake are obvious choices at Japanese restaurants, where wine lists are often notoriously lame or nonexistent. But what to drink when at home? For me, that's where the wine and sushi combo makes the most sense. I just order myself a mess of sushi from my favorite raw fish emporium and open up a bottle of whatever I've got lying around the house.
On such occasions I've discovered that wine is actually a better match for sushi than beer or sake. That's because wine has the power to enhance sushi's flavor, while beer and sake simply stand back and let the sushi take center stage. Wine's complexity and inherent compatibility with food take the pairing concept to a higher level.
Although finding a wine to match the combination of delicate raw fish, sweet sushi rice, spicy wasabi and salty soy sauce may seem tricky, it's actually easier than you'd think.
RED OR WHITE?
When choosing the ultimate sushi wine, the old "red wine with red meat, white wine with fish" rule still holds true. Although reds can be wonderful with grilled fish, they tend to overpower the delicate flavor of the raw variety. (If you must have red wine, try something like Beaujolais or a very light pinot noir.)
STYLE
Crisp, clean wines work better with sushi than rich, intensely flavored wines. If there's too much going on in your glass, the sushi's subtle flavor may not be able to compete. Think sauvignon blanc, sparkling wine or a crisp chardonnay from Carneros or Burgundy.
SWEETNESS
Fear not the gewurztraminer. Wines with a touch of sweetness tend to be excellent with spicy foods like wasabi-smeared sushi. Even if you don't normally like sweet wines, you'll be amazed how well they work with sushi.
THE MOMENT OF TRUTH
Sure, pairing tips are nice, but how well do they hold up in the real world with real sushi? To find out, I recruited a couple of like-minded friends to join me in a little sushi and wine pairing experiment at our local sushi hangout.
In the name of hard-hitting investigative reporting, we sampled seven varieties of sushi with five different wines. Our sushi selection included maguro (tuna), hamachi (yellowtail), spicy tuna roll, sake (salmon), California roll (crab and avocado with fish eggs), Kamikaze roll (yellowtail, scallions and avocado) and unagi (eel). We washed down our sushi delights with a white wine from France's Rhone Valley, a riesling/gewurztraminer/pinot blanc blend from Alsace, a California fume blanc, a California chardonnay and an Italian merlot. (Ain't research tough?!)
Following is a summary of our findings, in order of overall preference:
Riesling/gewurztraminer/pinot blanc blend: Great with the maguro. The sweetness of the wine cut through the spiciness of the wasabi very nicely. For the same reason, it was excellent with the spicy tuna roll. The wine was deemed "a tasty match" for the hamachi, and everyone agreed it was "wonderful" with the California roll and "excellent" with the Kamikaze roll. The only disappointments were the salmon and unagi. This wine was the clear winner!
Fume blanc: The wine was a little dry for the maguro, but we loved it with the hamachi. One taster was inspired to remark, "Damn it, that was good!" after trying it with the spicy tuna. It was "excellent" with both the Kamikaze roll and unagi, and "good" with the sake and California roll. This one tied for second place, along with the chardonnay.
Chardonnay: The chard was good with the maguro and hamachi, but disappointing with the salmon. It matched surprisingly well with the spicy tuna roll, and everyone thought it paired well with the California roll and unagi. The wine was also good, "but not amazing," with the Kamikaze roll.
Rhone white: This wine was fabulous with the maguro -- refreshing and clean. It also did well with the hamachi and spicy tuna, though these pairings were "nothing to write home about." We all liked it with the salmon, and loved it with the California and Kamikaze rolls. The wine was a bit too dry for the unagi.
Merlot: This wine was awful with the maguro, but surprisingly good with the hamachi. After sampling it with the spicy tuna, one taster advised, "Don't ever try this at home!" Similar warnings were issued for the salmon and California roll. It was declared "pretty good" with the Kamikaze roll and "excellent" with the unagi, due to the barbecue sauce. Not surprisingly, this one came in last place.
With the exception of the merlot, I'd heartily recommend any of the above wines as great companions for sushi. But then, for sushi freaks and wine geeks like me, even the bad combinations are still pretty damn good.
A magnificent Malbec! It picked up a trophy at the inaugural Wines of Argentina Awards held in Mendoza in 2007, having wowed the international panel of judges - included among them wine expert Jancis Robinson, who gave it an impressive 17 out of 20. This mulberry and spice-flavoured red wine was made by Herve Fabre, who was originally involved in the Bordeaux wine trade, before he and his wife fell in love with Argentina and moved there to establish a boutique winery. Herve's experience in producing top quality wines shines through in this tremendously rich, silky-smooth wine. Ripe blackberry and bramble aromas merge seamlessly with spicy oak and vanilla flavours. Full bodied, yet seriously smooth and warming. This 89 Parker point wine is sure to survive for many years to come. Definitely a wine to enjoy with fine food ... try it with rare roast beef or a juicy steak.
"Wonderfully succulent, rich berry fruit with hints of spice box." (Parker). A must-have wine from this superb estate, once provider of the second wine of Cos d'Estournel. "Blackberries ... herbs ... hints of spices." (Wine Spectator)
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