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Hello...Good Gry-son strikes again, and this time the bulls eye is on Joy Gryson's handbag line, Gryson. Like Rafe, and Devi Kroell before, the bags are unmistakable in styling. What they lack in material quality, they make up for in design aesthetic.As a matter of fact, partnerships like these, do allow someone who is a slave to fashion (or who just knows what they like, even if it is out of their price range) to own a bag that looks like the real thing...with full designer brand sanctioning. No need to eve
Off Target dreamt I was in a Target store, and they had wonderful stylish accessories from big name designers at a price that could only be described as affordable at twice the price. Luella was there, and so was Rafe Totengco...even Isaac Mizrahi. Then I woke up, and logged on to target.com, only to be met by the new Loeffler Randall line staring me in the face...if only I was back asleep. Sure, the designs, like those of Devi-Kroell before them, are nice looking, but when I buy a bag to use daily, I wa
Sun Feb 20th, 2005, Forest Grove Sunday Brunch served at The Vineyard House, the renovated historic mansion at Montinore Estate, featuring seasonal menu paired with Montinore wines.
Not far in African terms, but the journey from the Rhine to the Venetian and Sicilian winelands presents a huge change in wine varietals? and styles. It's surprisingly easy to access affordable imports of Italian labels that will add style? to your antipasti and pizzas, polenta? and risottos, panna? cotta and zuccotto. Importers Melgab International have an impressive list of labels, with retail prices ranging from R22 to R650 a bottle.
Having been advised by several colleagues that I missed out on a great feast of Italian specialities at Magica Roma that were matched to the imported white, pink and red wines, I can report on a few that will partner seasonal rustic Med feasts very well. Starting with a rosy sparkler from Veneto (R49), the Prosecco Raboso Sole? Novi is an easy-drinking dry?, fruity? aperitif? with alcohol? levels of just 11.5%. Delicate fish and seafood dishes are usually partnered by pinot grigio in Italy, a dry white food wine with mineral? notes, and the low-alcohol Santepietre (R49) is a good example.
Staying with products from the north, the 2005 Valpolicella Ripasso? Classico? (R80) is a dry red blend? of corvina, rondinella and a little molinara, a spicy, smooth? wine to complement meat?, poultry and some mature cheeses, or compare this with the Sicilian cultivar? nero? d'Avola, in the 2005 Chiaramonte, a dark, fruity, mouth-filling wine from fairly new producers down south.
There are super Tuscans and Barolos, chianti and merlot, sangiovese and marsalas, grappas and more on the list. Go to www.melgab.co.za for more info.
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.
Just read an very interesting essay that makes parallels between blogging and the open source movement in software. There was a discussion about a year ago in the wine blogosphere regarding professional versus amateur and what the distinction is. This essay points out some really interesting ideas relating to this topic is worth a read. In particular, I enjoy these passages:
Like open source, blogging is something people do themselves, for free, because they enjoy it. Like open source hackers, bloggers compete with people working for money, and often win. The method of ensuring quality is also the same: Darwinian. Companies ensure quality through rules to prevent employees from screwing up. But you don’t need that when the audience can communicate with one another. People just produce whatever they want; the good stuff spreads, and the bad gets ignored. And in both cases, feedback from the audience improves the best work.
Then there is the comments on amateurs versus professionals…
There’s a name for people who work for the love of it: amateurs. The word now has such bad connotations that we forget its etymology, though it’s staring us in the face. "Amateur" was originally rather a complimentary word. But the thing to be in the twentieth century was professional, which amateurs, by definition, are not. That’s why the business world was so surprised by one lesson from open source: that people working for love often surpass those working for money. Users don’t switch from Explorer to Firefox because they want to hack the source. They switch because it’s a better browser.
More great insights here…
Actually, the fad is the word "blog," at least the way the print media now use it. What they mean by "blogger" is not someone who publishes in a weblog format, but anyone who publishes online. That’s going to become a problem as the Web becomes the default medium for publication. So I’d like to suggest an alternative word for someone who publishes online. How about "writer?" Those in the print media who dismiss the writing online because of its low average quality are missing an important point: no one reads the average blog. In the old world of channels, it meant something to talk about average quality, because that’s what you were getting whether you liked it or not. But now you can read any writer you want. So the average quality of writing online isn’t what the print media are competing against. They’re competing against the best writing online. And, like Microsoft, they’re losing.
And finally, this passage is probably my favorite…
The third big lesson we can learn from open source and blogging is that ideas can bubble up from the bottom, instead of flowing down from the top. Open source and blogging both work bottom-up: people make what they want, and the best stuff prevails. Does this sound familiar? It’s the principle of a market economy. Ironically, though open source and blogs are done for free, those worlds resemble market economies, while most companies, for all their talk about the value of free markets, are run internally like communist states.
This essay really is worth a read. Its a couple years old by Paul Graham, an essayist, programmer, and programming language designer. Wine bloggers are a very powerful force especially when you consider that its driven pretty much by love of the community’s past time rather than money. And like open source, the job of following and documenting wine requires more than a single entity with several dozen people. Its going to take a cast of thousands with a shared passion and the best will naturally rise to the top.
One of New York?s most renowned and important collectors celebrated his 50th birthday in fine fashion recently at Bouley?s private ?Test Kitchen? here in New York City. David was at the top of his game for the twenty-some-odd courses that came out. Although the tables were set, it ended up being more of a cocktail [...]
"Like the always-chic little black dress, chocolate never goes out of style. Whether prepared in a winter-perfect souffle format, drizzled over ice cream during the summer months or tucked into a decadent truffle that's perfect any season, chocolate gets it right every time. Read on for tips on pairing wine with this timeless treat, as well as insights on some of the best spots to try your hand at wine and chocolate pairing in person...
Oregon’s Beaux Frères is not only making some of America’s finest pinot noirs, but is also that most rare of things: a winery with courage. Vintage after vintage winemaker Michael Etzel shows the courage of his convictions and produces dramatically distinctive wines with a personality all their own. Some dismiss the success of Beaux Frères as mostly due to the fame of Etzel’s brother-in-law and partner, famed wine critic and publisher of The Wine Advocate, Robert Parker, but considering the stunning quality of these wines I can’t help but believe they would still be sought out by collectors everywhere with or without Parker’s impact.
While a bevy of authors have pilloried Robert Parker for dragging the wine industry down the road of standardized, jammy wines, his own winery is the polar opposite. The Beaux Frères Pinot Noirs are tight, structured wines with a decided spritz from natural CO2 when young. That’s right they’re a little fizzy. These are truly natural wines and the little spritz is a result of the natural, cool slow malolatic fermentation practiced by Etzel. None of their wines are manipulated to make them ready to drink young and even the precocious 2006 vintage produced wines that need a minimum of several years of bottle age to unfurl their now tightly wound personality. These are wines that do not try to mimic Burgundy, but that set their own unique style, both as Oregonian and an expression of Etzel’s winemaking art.
The current release of 2006 Beaux Frères Pinot Noir, The Beaux Frères Vineyard, Ribbon Ridge is nothing short of exciting. In his notes Etzel describes this wine as, “a beauty and can be drunk young.” However, he must mean in relation to his wines from previous vintages as compared to other 2006 Oregon pinots this wine far from being ready to drink. The nose is already exotic with layers of black truffle, porcini and dense, black wild forest fruits, but it is not yet resolved and you can just sense the greatness that is to come as the components intertwine and integrate. The wine hits your tongue with a thousand tiny little bites from the firm acidity and the slight spritz of the CO2, but then quickly expands dramatically into the voluptuous textures you would expect from this forward vintage. What strikes you as you taste and smell this wine is the endless swirling of exotic characteristics that make the wine change from second-to-second as you savor each sip. If you must drink this wine now, please give it at least an hour in a decanter before serving. However, at $80 a bottle you may want to give it the respect it deserves and wait at least five years before releasing the treasure inside.
Beaux Frères produces wines of great integrity and character because they are made by a winemaker with the same attributes. Mike Etzel makes what he believes. These are wines that must be on anyone’s list of the best American pinot noirs.
Nuits St George, Burgundy, France. 13%. Cork. Half bottle. Approx $A40.
Quite similar to the last De L'Arlot I had, though with perhaps a little more softness and flesh.
Lovely initial burst of rose petal, perfume and sap, before settling into a more earthy and understated repose. Like its sibling, there is a note of ginseng, though as mentioned I thought this was more rounded and plump. The softness is evanescent and soon replaced by something more meaty and firm.
IN A DRAMATIC change of focus the Hardy Wine Company today announced that it was taking a great leap backwards - and changing its name. From the end of this month the Hardy Wine Company will be known as Constellation Wines Australia. This is an attempt to change the perception of the Hardys wine name from that of a corporate giant to, more simply, a regional winery 'known for quality and craftsmanship'
While this change is largely window-dressing, it is important. It marks a significant shift in thinking at Hardys. In recent years its super-premium portfolio has been sadly neglected, to the point where many premium wine drinkers (and wine media) today query whether the Jack Mann, Houghton Gladstones, Hardy's Tintara and Thomas Hardy super-premium labels still exist. The Hardy Wine Company has become known for good quality, cheap, non-region-specific fighting varietals. It has been at the forefront of the much maligned 'race to the bottom'.
And for a long time this strategy has been widely perceived as puzzling and myopic - like defecating in your own nest.
Hardy Wine Company President John Grant said today that ‘This is a pivotal time for our company as we embark on a range of activities to move our company to higher ground. From 31 March ... we aim to showcase to the world regional winemaking at its finest.
‘By drawing on Constellation’s global resources and tapping into our generational traditions, we aim to become Australia’s regional wine champion, recognised for our quality brands and winemaking excellence.’
‘Changing our company name provides greater freedom to shine the spotlight on the real heroes of our business - the outstanding regional wines. In particular, it allows the Hardys brand to return to being a winery, known for quality and craftsmanship, rather than being known as a corporation.’
‘We will be adding to our diverse regional offering and continuing our exploration of Australia’s premium wine regions’, he said, ‘as well as strengthening our front line staff, with additional personnel, tools, resources and training’.
Constellation Wines Australia brands include: Amberley, Banrock Station, Barossa Valley Estate, Bay of Fires, Berri Estates, Brookland Valley Estate, Chateau Reynella, Goundrey, Hardys, Houghton, Leasingham, Moondah Brook, Omni, Redman, Renmano, Stanley Wines, Starvedog Lane, Stonehaven, Tintara, Yarra Burn.
Marcella Says: Italian Cooking Wisdom from the Legendary Teacher?s Master Classes, with 120 of Her Irresistible New Recipes by Marcella Hazan (HarperCollins, $30)
When the maven of Italian cooking writes another cookbook, you best pay attention. This isn?t a spaghetti and meatballs book - this is Italian cooking from Italy, with Italian ingredients and a whole lotta straightforward Italian advice from Ms. Hazan. (You did see the word ?Master? in the title, didn?t you?) Be sure to try Baked Mozzarella, Tomato, Capers and Parmesan Crostini; Fennel and Goat Cheese Salad; Veal Shanks with Lemon; and Spaghetti ?Rotolo? with Zucchini and Bacon. It?s almost like graduate school for foodies. C?mon, you know you wanna bust Iron Chef Italian on home culinary turf. So don?t cut class.
Inspired by Ingredients by Bill Telepan (Simon & Schuster, $35)
New York City chef Bill Telepan loves fresh ingredients - so much so that he dedicated an entire book to cooking (and eating) seasonally. Telepan comes across as an enthusiastic guy who must have been a farmer in a past life. (Maybe even a Master Farmer.) Recipes range from easy to complicated, but there?s something for everyone - from Pan-Fried Summer Jersey Vegetables and a delectable Pea Soup, to Chilled Shrimp with an Autumn Slaw, to Grilled Dry-Aged Rib-Eye Steak with a Red Onion Cipollata and Herbed White Beans. Head to your local farmer?s market, grab some of-the-moment veggies and get Berkeley on everyone?s ass.
Off the Shelf: Cooking from the Pantry by Donna Hay (Morrow, $25)
Reasons why we love Donna Hay: the recipes are easy, the food?s tasty, and the books are paperback (read: lightweight) yet full of pretty pictures. This Aussie chef has come out with another must-have cookbook, and the only shopping involved serves to stock the pantry. For those nights when unexpected (read: uninvited) guests drop by, rest easy that you can now step into the kitchen and whip up dishes like Stir-Fried Prawns and Noodles; Baked Chicken, Lemon and Pea Risotto; and Pasta with Buttered Broccoli. She even throws in recipes for quick sweets like a Peach and Raspberry Tart; Honey Cakes; and Raspberry Sorbet. Off the Shelf will rescue even the most novice cook from take-out menus.
Barefoot in Paris: Easy French Food You Can Really Make at Home by Ina Garten (Clarkson Potter, $35)
I love Paris? and I especially love it a la the Barefoot Contessa, otherwise known as Ina Garten. Ms. Garten manages to transform fussy French recipes into easy, do-it-at-home-in-under-one-week dishes. Her simple recipes include classics like Boeuf Bourguignon; Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic; Zucchini Vichyssoise; Loin of Pork with Green Peppercorns; and Blue Cheese Souffle. (And the Creme Brulee - ready to bake in 10 minutes, I swear - is a godsend.) Her conversational tone will ease any kitchen anxiety, and before you know it you?ve made an entire meal. Buy this book, kick off your Jimmy Choos, pour yourself a Kir Royale and browse through the glossy photos. It?s like Paris without the long flight and snooty customs officials.
Feast: Food to Celebrate Life by Nigella Lawson (Hyperion, $35)
Nigella, the British icon known for her sensual finger-licking television show and cleavage as much as for her culinary skills, is back with a book dedicated to holiday feasts. Impress your beloved with a dozen Love Buns or a Chocolate Raspberry Heart on Valentine?s Day, or liven up Halloween with Blood and Guts Potatoes and Ghoul-Graveyard Cake. For lesser-known holidays (like my-in-laws-are-coming-for-brunch-so-help-me-God), whip up Ms. Lawson?s tasty Banana Buttermilk Pancakes or a batch of Andy?s Fairfield Granola. New Year?s, Midnight Feast, Wedding Fest, Festival of Lights, Rosh Hashanah - they?re all here and they?re all fabulous. (There?s even a ?Meatless Feast? section for you veg-heads.) Start celebrating. Burning Man is just around the corner.
In the long and storied history of Wine Blogging Wednesday, several bloggers have hosted the monthly virtual tasting twice. But only one, founder Lenn Thompson of LENNDEVOURS, has hosted three times. As of today, you can add my name to the WBW three-peat list as I again take up the reins and choose the theme.
The previous two times I’ve hosted, red wines were featured: first lite in alcohol, then full-tilt in the other direction. So this time out, I’ll pick my favorite white variety, Riesling. But not Riesling grown just anywhere, but where the grape first achieved noble status in the Old World: Germany, Austria and France’s Alsace region. In this terroir, the variety produces some of the most interesting and long-lived white wines from bone-dry to lusciously sweet.
Pick any style you like, at any price point, and join me as we explore Old World Riesling on Wednesday, May 7.
To participate, just pick up a wine made from Riesling grown in Germany, Austria or Alsace (OK, Northern Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are also fine) and blog about it. If you don’t have a blog, sign-up and post at the WBW Community Blog. Once you have posted, send me an email at winecast (at) gmail (dot) com with “WBW 45″ in your subject line. Sometime after May 7th, I’ll post an event round-up here.
I hope you enjoy this theme as much as me and pick up a bottle from somewhere you have not tried yet. I think you will be very pleased with the resulting value.
The relationship between a wine and the climate, soil, and culture in which it was grown and produced-the "terroir"-is unseparable. For that reason, for instance, in France, wines labeled "Champagne" must be grown in the Northeastern province of Champagne. Similarly, wines labeled Port must come from Porto, Portugal and those labeled Sherry from Jerez, Spain.
Too often in the United States, these distinctions are ignored by wine producers that call any sparkling wine, Champagne and any fortified wine port. In the video below, the Center for Wine Origins discusses this problem:
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It?s been a very busy week, but after my nice catching up session with Google Reader, here are some treasures worth noting from the RSS pileup:
1)Catavino?sRioja Report and EWBC 2008:Gabriella and Ryan over at Catavino have made a labor of love?an ambitious sort of compendium that is all things Rioja.From regional gastronomy to what else? Los vinos!You can find maps, profiles of wineries, beautiful photography and even a comprehensive explanation of Rioja labeling practices.I also found their buying guide particularly valuable and look forward to bringing it along on some shopping trips in the near future.This kind of stuff is a privilege to be able to look at when you consider other ?regional reports? published by people with a sense of entitlement to wine travel and $60+ annual subscription fees.Ryan and Gabriella are accountable for their material, actively and genuinely elicit and value readers? opinions, suggestions and evince passion for this stuff, so go ahead and bookmark them.
3)Remember Mr. Show?s Worthington Law applied to wine?Looks like the research findings from that CalTech/Stanford study published earlier in the year have been further validated.Working Paper No, 16, published by the American Association of Wine Economists details a new study in which people generally preferred less expensive wines, unless told by researchers of course, that a wine was particularly expensive.
4) If you read Spanish and want to stay up on the latest happenings in the Mendoza wine industry, you may want to bookmark El Blog de Vinos de Argentina.I have been reading their blog for some time now and have found it more and more valuable in terms of getting an inside track on what they?re thinking in Mendoza.As an Argentine, I?ve become a bit tired of receiving my Argentine wine industry news solely from the perspective of English-language consumer magazines.In the Argentine wine-sense, I?m approaching the sort of frustration many over here are feeling with news sources like CNN and FOX?it?s unfortunately limited for my needs.I may not be alone in wanting something like this?I really feel that things would get interesting if insiders from many wine regions only generally covered by shiny-cover magazines began communicating their perspectives directly to readers in a couple of other languages.
5) I would like to issue a preliminary warning before checking out this final note...it is cringe-inducing. I caught this on an Argentine website related to wine news. You'll click on the link and notice the article is written in Spanish, but that won't deter you from making the appropriate inference...Madonna will be contracting some local producer to lovingly craft her own label of Malbec. My comments? Oh hell no. Truthfully though, the nausea actually set in when I read that the label will reportedly be named after "Evita." Whether you are a foreigner and think Evita was a great person or an Argentine who may have the courage to speak up and express a more balanced perspective for the legacy of this famous political figure, one thing's for sure, Madonna could have chosen ANY OTHER variety cultivated in ANY OTHER country. Why us, oh God why us?
Recently, at a dinner with friends, one man's date turned to me and complained, "He's so boring. All he ever talks about is wine. All day long he talks about wine." I probably looked hurt, because I was just as engrossed in our discussion of Syrah as he was. Lorraine leaned toward me and whispered, "She's right, you know. We're all hopeless wine geeks. Look at us from an outsider's point of view."
It's almost impossible to write about pink wines these days without invoking some sort of cliche. Even the (true) claim that rosé wines are no longer out of fashion has been recycled so many times that I'm cringing just typing it. The fact of the matter is that after years of being vino-non-grata, pink wines are finally back in the awareness of American wine drinkers. After the success of Sutter Home White Zinfandel sent wine lovers running for the hills every time someone offered them a glass of rose, discerning palates are returning to pink wines in huge numbers. According to the Nielsen Company, sales of rosé wines were up 53.2% last year.
If there's one organization that might actually be able to take credit for this, it would be the masked crusaders at RAP: Rosé Avengers and Producers. This motley crew of stubborn winemakers and publicists decided three years ago that they were tired of seeing pink wines dismissed as the oenological equivalent of Kraft Singles. So they set out to change the way people thought about pink wines in America. And it appears that they very well may have succeeded.
Now if they could only get California winemakers to learn how to make really good rosé, everything would indeed be right in the world. That sounds a little harsh, and it is supposed to. There are some excellent pink California wines out there, but there are far more awful ones than good. Especially when compared with some of the other regions of the world that are known for rosé: Southern France, Spain, Southern Italy -- all these regions are chock full of beautifully dry, crisp, pink wines that many California winemakers seem unable to duplicate. Things will get better over time, of course, especially as those who know what they're doing impart their wisdom to those who don't.
If you're interested in experiencing the ultimate pink wine experience, you can't do better than the RAP Pink Out Tastings, which are held every Spring in San Francisco. Be warned, however, this is a popular event and a very small space. I recommend going early, and steeling yourself for dealing with a crowd and what seems to always be a chronic shortage of spit buckets.
Having said that, there are some good wines to be tasted, and the appetizers that are served are usually quite good as well.
Rosé Avengers and Producers: Pink Out 2008 Tuesday, May 13th 6:30pm to 8:30pm Butterfly Restaurant Pier 33, The Embarcadero (at Bay Street) San Francisco
Tickets are available for $35 in advance on the event web site. This tasting will likely sell out, as it has done every year, so get them ahead of time.
Street parking can be found on Bay Street, and the Muni streetcar stops right out front.
At a recent tasting of South African Great Whites I was really excited by the wines I tried.
In the past I have sometimes been disappointed that in general the wines could seem out of balance, either too acidic or flabby, the fruit almost a cariacature of itself and even in the worst cases just dirty.
These wines however showed exuberant fruit, great balance of refreshing acidity with richness and depth and really distinctive character. I thought they showed very well and certainly will lead me to the South African shelves when I want good value white.
My favourites from each section as follows, full tasting notes seem to a bit of a dream at the moment but one day I hope to get them all up!
Jan Daneel Chenin Blanc 2005 Napier: Very simple but stylish label would have great shelf presence. Pretty, sunny apricot nose. The broad oak at the front palate is a touch too heavy but underneath is gorgeous fruit. Well-rounded, almost heavy, weight in the middle with enough crisp acidity to take you back for another sip. The fruit pushes right through to the end and lingers for ages. Lovely. 17 Stockist -Jeroboams £15
Tokara Sauvignon Blanc 2005 Stellenbosch: Fresh, flower petals delicacy on nose followed by vibrant, exciting fruit on the palate. Well-handled oak comes pouring through on its tail but is integrated and adds complexity. Balanced and fine with a crisp, juicy finish. 18 Stockist - Wimbledon Wine Cellars £17.99
Other very good Sauvignon Blancs - Quoin Rock 2005 Stellenbosch £9.49 Andrew Chapman Wines; Cape Point Vineyards 2005 Cape Point £14 Jeroboams; Neil Ellis Groenekloof 2005 Stellenbosch £9.99 Christopher Piper Wines, Villeneuve Wines, SA Wines Online
Jordan Nine Yards Chardonnay 2005 Stellenbosch: Up front fruit balanced with a sure and light touch. Fine and nutty with integrated oak tannins backing it up. Silky mouth feel kept frech with tangy acidity. 17 Stockist Laytons; SA Wines Online £17.25
Other recommended chardonnays - Glen Carlou Quartz Stone Chardonnay 2005 Paarl £11.99-12.49 Oddbins, Christopher P
Tecnorati
"Like the always-chic little black dress, chocolate never goes out of style. Whether prepared in a winter-perfect souffle format, drizzled over ice cream during the summer months or tucked into a decadent truffle that's perfect any season, chocolate gets it right every time. Read on for tips on pairing wine with this timeless treat, as well as insights on some of the best spots to try your hand at wine and chocolate pairing in person...
The previous two times I’ve hosted, red wines were featured: first 
To participate, just pick up a wine made from Riesling grown in Germany, Austria or Alsace (OK, Northern Italy, the Czech Republic and Slovenia are also fine) and blog about it. If you don’t have a blog, 