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Spring eSHOP Special eSHOP Special April 25th, 2008 Special spring special on the Gaspard Yurkievich eSHOP: We?re offering 20% off the ENTIRE spring/summer 2008 collection for a limited time only! 20% off special valid from April 23 - 30. Remember, ALWAYS FREE SHIPPING IN FRANCE/Livraison toujours gratuite en France! Spring for the chic peeptoes, laser cut leather bags, men?s fluo socks and sunglasses tee-shirts? Enter the eSHOP! BLACK PEEPTOES - 335 euros NOW 248 euros. EMERAUDE BAG - 295 euros NOW 5
Spring has Sprung has Sprung April 1st, 2008 The spring/summer 2008 collections have arrived at the Gaspard Yurkievich boutique and eSHOP (click HERE to check it out). Men?s tee-shirts with discrete shoulder pleating and neon socks, women?s tops, skirts and trousers in sleek satin croco fabric. Slip on a pair of gladiator heels or slingbacks with charcoal lurex socks for the finishing touch and you?re ready to go! Black silk top Price : 400 EUR (Worldwide shipping available) ????
Une Fixette: Très Bien Shop Guys, I have a new discovery and I want to share it with you. Well, there's this ultra-hip online store just around the corner. It is a Sweden-based online store that caters to cult labels comme Julian Red, A.P.C., Carin Wester, Gaspard Yurkievich, Wendy & Jim, Ann Sofie Back, Nom De Guerre, Raf by Raf Simons, Henrik Vibskov, Siv Stoldal, B- store, Peter Jensen, Wester, Wood Wood and Soulland, to name a few. The selection online is just amazing because these days, I've been trying to fi
Simplicity Rules Rules January 20th, 2008 The ?look? of French actress Audrey Tautou was recently put in the spotlight on the Elle France website. Her simplistic and elegant style epitomizes French charm. Get the look with select wardrobe basics: a light, feminine dress paired with sleek ballerinas, a bag and you?re ready to go! Gaspard Yurkievich Ballerina Flats, now available for only 122,50? on the eSHOP. ?Click below to see full article on the Elle France Website? ?For more ballerina
Simplicity Rules Rules January 20th, 2008 The ?look? of French actress Audrey Tautou was recently put in the spotlight on the Elle France website. Her simplistic and elegant style epitomizes French charm. Get the look with select wardrobe basics: a light, feminine dress paired with sleek ballerinas, a bag and you?re ready to go! Gaspard Yurkievich Ballerina Flats, now available for only 122,50â?¬ on the eSHOP. ?Click below to see full article on the Elle France Website? ?For more balleri
Une Fixette: Très Bien Shop Guys, I have a new discovery and I want to share it with you. Well, there's this ultra-hip online store just around the corner. It is a Sweden-based online store that caters to cult labels comme Julian Red, A.P.C., Carin Wester, Gaspard Yurkievich, Wendy & Jim, Ann Sofie Back, Nom De Guerre, Raf by Raf Simons, Henrik Vibskov, Siv Stoldal, B- store, Peter Jensen, Wester, Wood Wood and Soulland, to name a few. The selection online is just amazing because these days, I've been trying to fi
As seen in Cosmopolitan France seen in Cosmopolitan France January 2nd, 2008 Gaspard Yurkievich was spotted TWO times in the January 2008 issue of Cosmopolitan France. First for a pair of their hidden platform maryjanes (so hot for this winter!)? And silver lurex tights with contrasting knit design, sure to spice up any outfit? Posted in Press, e-SHOP | No Comments »
e-SHOP goes LIVE! goes LIVE! December 31st, 2007 It?s here at last! No more waiting for that pair of gold lurex tights or hidden platform pumps! Just one click away is the brand new Gaspard Yurkievich e-SHOP, complete with all the current Gaspard Yurkievich collections: Men?s and Women?s Prêt-à-Porter, Shoes, Socks/Tights and Accessories. Select items include fashion show presentations for outfit ideas and inspiration! Click the above banner to check out the new e-SHOP, and don?t forget to subscribe
Have an amazing evening and above all - drink some great wine and champagne!
2008 promises to be an exciting year for The Cru so stay tuned!
To begin with I will be releasing a new look Cru in the next two weeks - it's going to a lot easy to navigate around and hopefully it will make finding your favourite South African wine that much easier and more enjoyable!
Until then have a great evening and enjoy the chosen Pouza!
Half bottles of wine are great, at least in principal. They are a perfect way to prevent having to deal with left over wine. I am delighted to find them in restaurants, as it gives me a chance to sample more than one wine through a meal.
All life it seems is a compromise. With half bottles you get great benefits, but there is the inevitable downside. A half bottle of wine is more prone to environmental circumstance. In other words, it goes bad more easily.
I have been in a position of late to try many half bottles in a row (I am temporarily single). These have been bottles of my favorite wines, and I was delighted to find them in 375s. The delight turned to disappointment, repeatedly, as one after the other was in some way less than I expected.
The smaller size means that any heat or vibration damage has a greater impact. It is the inverse of why Magnums are the perfect sized bottles for aging wine. Small bottles also tend to not fit well in wine racks, unless you plan for them in advance.
I am not saying that all half bottles are likely to be bad, far from it. My spate of bad luck can be attributed to the fact that I bought all of the wines from the same place. Whatever ruined the first bottle, probably was responsible for the downfall of the others as well.
I have had better luck in the past, and I am far from swearing off half bottles. I just thought it was important to point out that a bad half bottle or two is no reason to swear off the size in general.
Ask for half bottles in restaurants, let them know you are interested. This will help propagate them in the industry, so if your favorite restaurant doesn't have any half bottles now, perhaps they will in the future.
Wine by the glass in a restaurant is a great concept, but too often poorly implemented. If the bottle has been open too long the wine will be much worse than the little variation a half bottle may be prone to.
Speaking of restaurants, I love starting with a half bottle of Champagne. Then a half bottle of white wine followed by a half bottle of red, and perhaps even a half bottle of dessert wine to finish it off. This is ideal for two, but even for the solo diner 2 or more half bottles can still be ideal. Remember, no one said you have to finish all of the wine! By the way, I send my left over wine to the Chef - the kitchen rarely gets a tip.
A wonderful surprise. Light golden colour. Lovely nose of honey, toast and citrus. Silky palate with depth and richness. Long, every element in balance. At its peak now, this is a world-class wine. Cork. 11.5% - 92/100
Don Ziraldo is the founder of Inniskillin Winery in Canada and is credited with bringing ice wine to the forefront. If you?ve never had it, you should try it. It?s expensive ($100 for a half bottle) but OMG it is divine. I had the Cab Franc Icewine and it tasted like a liquid strawberry shortcake. Anywho, Ziraldo got married this past week to Anna Netter. But here?s the good part. The couple did a press release and here are just a few snipits from their article. The 58-year-old Mr. Ziraldo met his bride on the ski slopes of Whistler, but they lived apart for some time, "each continuing to travel and learn from other cultures. Gradually, thanks to their mutual interest in Buddhism, both learned that "there is no fear, only love." At the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece the couple exchanged eternity rings. Remember that kids ?there is no fear, only love?. WTF? I love it, they exchanged ?eternity rings?. Is that just basically what millionaires call a wedding band? And OMG, that hat and those shoes do not scream millionaire. I do like her dress though.
More details on the wedding: It took place at the jet-set Hotel Traube-Tonbach (Traube means grape in German), which "prides itself on its strictly enforced peace and quiet, and the glamour of its very upscale clientele." The wines were Inniskillin -- natch -- and the dinner menu featured venison and pike. The couple is honeymooning in the Bahamas with friends.
Does it strike anyone else as odd that they took ?friends? on their honeymoon?
Fact #1 JD Wetherspoon?s is a chain of pubs in England. There are 650 in operation.
Fact #2 Constellation Brands is a wine GIANT. They sell more than 80 million cases a year. They own Alice White, Almaden, Arbor Mist, Cook's, Covey Run, Inglenook, Vendange, Dunnewood, Farallon, Great Western, J. Roget, Marcus James, Paul Masson table wines, Taylor California Cellars, Viña Santa Carolina, Banrock Station, Hardys, Leasingham, Barossa Valley Estate, Chateau Reynella, and Nobilo just to name a few. Seriously, they own hundreds of wineries.
Fact #3 Constellation often does ?private labels?. This means that they take one of their wines, let?s say Alice White for example, and they put it in a bottle with a different label on it. So, if you were a mega retail store *cough Total Wine cough* you could take that Alice White and call it Blue Flame *cough ass in a glass cough* and when people want more, they can only get it at your store b/c the consumer doesn?t know it?s Alice White?.for example.
Fact #4 JD Wetherspoon?s let several different companies compete for their house wine. Whatever wine was the most popular for the trial period would win an exclusive with all of the pubs for a contract valued at nearly 150 million dollars.
Okay, now that we know the facts, let?s look at what really happened. It seems that an email was leaked from the Boss of Matthew Clarks Brands (a division of Constellation Brands) to all of their employees (around 300 people).
Wine distributor Matthew Clark emailed staff asking them to buy up to eight bottles of wine each at JD Wetherspoon's pubs in Bristol - and then claim it back on expenses. Employees were told to buy Nottage Hill Chardonnay and Shiraz, and Echo Falls - all of which are produced by Matthew Clark parent company Constellation Europe. If each of the firm's 300 employees had "done their bit" and splashed out on eight bottles of wine, it would have increased sales by 2,400 bottles in the city's pubs - potentially tipping the balance in its favour. The plan to artificially enhance the wine's popularity was devised as Constellation battled with rival firms for the exclusive rights to supply wine to JD Wetherspoon's 650 pubs.
Nice. I?d love to buy wine and expense it back to my boss. Somehow I don?t think he?d go for it. I have to say though, this doesn?t shock me so much. I wouldn?t put anything past Constellation Brands. So I guess my point here is know your brands, and know what you are buying. http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article1200200.ece
When pigs fly?I mean drink beer
So, in Tasmania (off of the coast of Australia) there is a local tourist attraction that has been getting a lot of flack lately. If you go to the ?Pub in the Paddock? you will find Prescilla and PB and they chug beers. But get this, Prescilla and PB are pigs. Yep, people can pay to ? and I quote ? ?pour bottles of beer down the willing throats of resident pigs?.
Dude, I would totally pay to see that. But PETA would like to go on the record and state that they are not down with it and they want to have the pigs rescued.
"Whilst it is a difficult pill to swallow ... it's certainly not cruelty, unfortunately," RSPCA state chief executive Rick Butler told PETA.
Pub owner Anne Free said Wednesday she was outraged that the tourist attraction had been attacked as cruel in the latest edition of a magazine published by animal welfare group Choose Cruelty Free. "When it's very, very quiet, I often actually have to go over and give them a couple of drinks because, yeah, they do look forward to it," Free told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio. Note to self: If you ever go to Tasmania, you must go see the beer swilling pigs! http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14035561/
Boozehounds
Heartland Brewery has just begun marketing their new beer called Slobber Lager. This non-alcoholic beef flavored beer is made specifically for dogs.
"It's damn good," said Jon Bloostein, owner of Heartland Brewery, after taking a sip. Polo, a Bichon Frise, took a sniff and slurped down the whole bowl in a few seconds. Simba, a Shih Tzu, was more hesitant. After several whiffs and plenty of encouragement, he took a few gulps. But Diva, a Rottweiler, couldn't get enough. She finished one bowl and moved on to the next. Still thirsty, she sipped from a pint glass, then drank straight from the tap. "She's a beer drinker!" said Allison Cardona of the ASPCA, who helped bring the dogs, all available for adoption, to the tavern for the taste test.
Um, I am sure the dogs love it but why is the brewer drinking it? Ew! Beef flavored beer? Count me out. My dog is fat enough as it is so he?s definitely not getting any.
Schramsberg has just come out with a new sparkling wine meant to compete with the likes of Krug, Dom P., and Cristal. It is called J. Schram Rose 1988 and there were only 800 cases produced. Rarely will you ever see an American Sparkler go for more than $75 but this one??$120. "It appears in a world where Dom Pérignon Rosé is $200, and Cristal is probably $350. The Krug Rosé is certainly in that range as well," said Shramsberg head winemaker Hugh Davies. "This wine competes with those in terms of flavor, finesse and character.
Yeah, but it?s still Schramsberg and I doubt it competes with Krug. Strike that ? There is NO WAY it competes with Krug. If anybody out there can get a hold of some, I wanna know what it?s like. Ooooh I would love to have it in a blind tasting. http://www.winespectator.com/Wine/Features/0,1197,3361,00.html
Last night was our anniversary so Kipp and I got a babysitter and hit the town. First we went to Milner's in Winston Salem and I had a glass of Renard Rose. It was just kinda meh... From there we proceeded to go to several different bars and I actually ran into an old sorority sister at Foothills. Anyway we came home at 8:30 (I know, were wild right?) and I fixed Steak with a mushroom and Humboldt Fog (bleu cheese) sauce. We had an '01 Spotteswoode with it. That review will come tomorrow. But for now read my review of Martinelli Pinot that I had at an impromptu wine dinner with Jon and Sam at my house on Sunday.
Martinelli '02 Moonshine Ranch Pinot Noir The nose was earthy and powdery all at the same time. It also had a lot of blackberry with some hints of white pepper. The palate was all cherry cola and sweet black cherries. There was some hidden acidity on the mid-palate with a very sweet, very lush blackberry jam finish. Yeah, it was over extracted but damn, it was GOOD. I have one more bottle and I think I'll let that one sit for about 3 more years.
We have the habit of dropping into our local discount grocery outlet and going through all of the many marked down wines they carry. We buy 6 plus various varietals and brands at a time and put them out at our weekly family gathering for all to try. We have all been very impressed with Santino 'old vine' Zin. I went back and bought all the bottles they had left! Happy to find your site.
I've put off reviewing the Pillar Box Red 2006 from Henry's Drive for quite a while because of something my mother taught me: If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.
The Pillar Box Red 2005 was any easy-to-drink red blend ? all one needed to do was to crack open the screwcap, pour it in a glass, and drink it. When the 2006 vintage arrived last winter, I expected it to be much the same, but it wasn't. Instead, as it came out of the bottle it was bitter and harsh, and packed a lot of alcoholic heat.
Due in part to the perseverance of our wine rep, we wine guys and gals discovered that its personality changed dramatically after it was exposed to air for a while, so we sold the ?06 with a caveat: Decant it for at least half an hour, or leave the bottle open for three days before drinking. Because of those requirements, it definitely wasn't a party wine.
Lately I'd been curious about what effect six months of bottle age had wrought on the Pillar Box Red, so I gave it another try last night. Cracked open the bottle, poured a bit, gave the glass a swirl, and ... "hey, this is good!"
Age has definitely mellowed this vintage of Pillar Box Red. It does open with a streak of tannin, but that is quickly overpowered by jammy blackberry, blueberry and cassis flavors. It's full-bodied, and the alcoholic heat it once had is nowhere in evidence, despite its 15 percent alcohol content. After a brief (20 minute) decant the wine opens even more and the streak of tannin vanishes, a cedar nose emerges and the fruit flavors deepen. It could benefit from even more bottle age, but this Australian blend of Padthaway Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot is perfectly drinkable right now, and is an excellent candidate to pair with burgers or serve by itself -- and since it's only about ten bucks a bottle, as a party wine!
Aussies love to give their wines strange names, but they don't come out of thin air. (D'Arenberg's Footbolt Shiraz is named after a horse; Tait's Ball Buster Shiraz is named in honor of the winemaker's wife, who we are to gather is not a shy, delicate creature.) Pillar Box wines are named for the ubiquitous mailboxes that populate Great Britain and, to a lesser extent, Australia. Pillar Box's wine labels further extend the tribute ? and as a variation of the theme, Henry's Drive also makes a Barossa Shiraz called Dead Letter Office.
I'm going to buy this wine...because I just think it's terribly cool that a winery would honor one of the greatest jazz vocalists in the history of the genre. (Have you ever heard Ella sing "mack the knife"?!!?)
However, I'm probably not going to drink this Domaine Carneros Sparkling Wine while listening to any jazz, including Ella. Here's why.
I've long believed that even given the range and the diversity of the Jazz genre, the absolutely most appropriate drink to accompany Jazz is something that attacks the senses, throat, palate and body with a Velvet Bite.
No pure wine I've ever consumed possesses this quality.
By "Velvet Bite" I mean, first, that sensation of a subtle sting that warms just as the sting diminishes when the liquid is poured over your palate. You need to feel the relief of the alcohol sting diminishing just as the alcohol also begins to warm the throat and stomach.
There must be a soft clamping down on the palate that does not linger, but also is not escapable. The sensation alerts the senses in a momentary shock like no wine can do, yet fades away, relinquishing its bite in favor of alertness and warmth.
This state, I think, is best suited for listening to Jazz. Bourbon, Whiskey, Scotch and even cognac and armagnac are the proper drinks to pair with Jazz; best suited to provide a velvet bite.
Further, I believe the full affect of pairing the Velvet Bite with Jazz occurs when a shot of any of the above beverages is taken in advance of sipping on a second round of the same. And, how this shot is performed can affect the pleasure of the pairing even more if done right.
The shot, while it should be taken in all at once, should not be targeted at the throat so that it slips down past the palate with minimal contact. On the other hand, taking time to swish the beverage around the palate will also ruin the experience. Rather, the throat should be half to 3/4s closed when the shot enters the mouth. The partially closed throat will promote a slow movement of the bourbon over the palate, followed in quick order by it slowly sliding down the gullet. The technique delivers the bite, but does not sear the palate. And at the same time, a decent amount of alcohol enters the body and the blood stream in relatively quick fashion.
Yes, I'm suggesting that Jazz is best appreciated with a slight buzz. Not a "drunk". But a warm, comfortable, smirk inducing buzz.
It should be noted that after the initial shot of our preferred beverage, the second round can be sipped, and probably enjoyed even more due to the palate, body and mind having been properly prepared by the initial shot.
Wine is simply too week to stand up to the challenging nature of jazz; the subtle, complex and sometimes jolting nature of jazz rhythms require the body to be properly prepared with an anesthesia that both weakens one's grip on convention, yet provides a bite.
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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Our brains work in mysterious ways. Ever since I got my Fusebox wine blending kit from Crushpad Wine, all I think of when I think of the beautiful box of wine designed to create a custom blending experience is the notoriously sexual and metaphorical “The Who” song, Squeezebox. This, all told, is somewhat apt because if the Fusebox were not an inanimate object, I would want to make love to it.
I had the opportunity to join Indianapolis wine blogging pal Mark of winecanine.com and Renee, the doyenne of the Indianapolis food blogging scene from her outpost at Feed Me / Drink Me, along with a few other notables, including a wine distributor, on Saturday night. Couched in conviviality was the desire to put the Fusebox to work.
If you are interested in the Cliffs Notes version, I will simply say this—the Fusebox is incredibly well executed and an absolute smash for a party. At $120 bucks, it is well worth the money. In addition, the wine, six bottles of 375 ml blending varieties, is very, very good individually, let along as the sum of the parts. On top of that, the wine distributor in attendance wanted to distribute the Fusebox and Mark from winecanine.com, who works part-time at the best wine shop in Central Indiana, said the storeowner thought he could move an easy 150 units at the holidays. The Fusebox has my unequivocal Good Grape endorsement.
If that is not enough, Alder from Vinography is represented in the Fusebox with his Wine Aroma cards. It felt like a karmic match with the wine blogger representation. Though, as a sidebar, I will admit that I chuckled to myself at the end of the night, much drunken wine later, when I read “peeling willow bark” as a scent component on the wine aroma card from Alder. Ahem … note to Alder: stay away from your wife’s high-end, wacky-scented body lotion, my friend.
What transcends the Fusebox from the merely interesting to the compelling is both the organization and the quality of the wine. It is primarily comprised of six 375 ml bottles of blending wine including Cabernet Sauvignon (two bottles), Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc that top to bottom are of excellent quality.
The kit also contains a mystery wine for some palate testing and all of the accouterments necessary to blend to your heart’s content—graduated cylinder, pipettes (mini wine-thief’s) and some schwag like a corkscrew and some evaluation cards, etc.
As I noted, the thing that makes this kit sing is the quality of the wine and the fact that it works. With the ingenious recipe cards, you can custom blend your own wines adding a dash of this and a dash of that and it is a true aid in helping to understand how components add different qualities. We all know that Petite Verdot and Cab Franc are frequent blending partners, but if you have a bit of Cab and you add in the Petite Verdot and the Cab Franc it brings the whole picture together for your palate.
The other masterstroke of this kit is the recipe cards they include. They offer blending suggestions to mimic a 2002 Joseph Phelps Insignia, 1996 Lafite Rothschild, 2000 Chateau Margaux, and a 1997 Opus One, amongst other things.
Those at our party all took turns creating blends from the recipe cards and sharing. It’s vicariously thrilling to put a blend together and imagine for a moment that it may approximate a wine that retails for $2000 +
If I had to give one recommendation for the kit, it would be to include tasting notes for the marquee wines on the recipe cards so users of the kit could subsequently take some of their own notes on the created blend with a baseline. I kind of want a little more context to why my blend is supposed to equate to a very premiere wine, but, in the end, that is just a quibble.
Next time, I am going to buy a kit to do on my own blending, at home, as a self-study aid, you will want to, as well. The Fusebox is fantastic for a party, but probably equally as valuable, in a different light, as a way to hone your palate chops in a more intimate setting. In fact, I hope and fully expect Crushpad to change it up every year to keep customers coming back and trying different things.
Either way, using the Fusebox in a crowd or in your kitchen with your significant other, it’s a smash hit. Make sure to turn on “The Who” and croon with me, “Come on and tease me like you do, I’m so in love with you, Mama’s got a Fusebox …”
Upgraded to 96-100 points Parker: "This offering has been controversial as its price increase ranged between 300-400%, but this is a great terroir, and since the remarkable winemaking team of Nicolas Thienpont and Stephane Derenoncourt took over in 2002, Larcis Ducasse is finally showing its true colors. Located near Pavie, it possesses undeniable potential as demonstrated by the profound 2005. A 3,000-case blend of 78% Merlot, 20% Cabernet Franc, and 2% Cabernet Sauvignon fashioned from yields of 27 hectoliters per hectare, it underwent all of the standard garagiste winemaking techniques. It is not surprising that just about all the famous estates in this neighborhood on the Cote Pavie, including Pavie and Troplong-Mondot, did unbelievably well in 2005. A dark, dense purple color is followed by an extraordinary perfume of roasted herbs, espresso, tapenade, creme de cassis, and sweet kirsch. It is a wine of sheer opulence, extravagant richness, sweet tannin, and an amazingly layered texture as well as length. A blockbuster with superb elegance, finesse, and precision, it represents an exceptional achievement. Kudos to everyone involved for turning out this modern day legend. Anticipated maturity: 2011-2030."
The best thing about this very moment is that I am in my own bed. Finally. After camping out for five days at Vinitaly and then taking to the road for another week in northern Italy, I came home exhuasted and relieved. Airplanes filled with sick children coughing for eleven hours must have broken down my resistance. A week in the office trying to put together a series of wine seminars across Texas and then a very important dinner for an important Italian winemaker, almost broke me. I spent a weekend alternating between duties at wine dinners and laying on my couch trying to prevent getting any sicker. But come Monday I was stung. Maybe it was a little flu, or a cold or allergies, whatever it was, I should have sat the week out. Instead I took to the road. Dallas on Monday, Houston on Tuesday, Austin on Wednesday and San Antonio on Thursday, with a quick flight back to Dallas for a private and very upscale event for Riccardo Cotarella at the home of a friend in Highland Park and sixty of his closest friends and family.
Last Sunday I knew I was sunk. I had driven off the wine trail onto a shoulder, and it was leading me straight into the gates of hell. But what could I do? I was scheduled to work all week with my colleague and friend the Master Sommelier, Guy Stout. Four days, four cities. The show must go on.
I had no voice. I emailed a friend whose wife is an opera singer, a coloratura soprano. She is very protective of her voice. So I asked him to have her send me her remedy for a sore throat with no voice and the need to perform. Her email was priceless, and someday I must reprint her remedy, for it is alchemy and genius.
I proceeded to go forward. Monday was upon me. Our meeting with salespeople went well enough. That lasted for an hour and was fairly low impact. The challenge would come in the afternoon when we would be doing a ninety minute presentation and a lot of talking.
Time out. I don?t usually talk about these things. I call these kinds of posts ?mommy blogs.? See what I did, see who I talked to, see my wonderful life. I usually stick to topic. But lately I have heard from a lot of folks about how wonderful my profession and life is. And it is. But not without some downsides as well. Many hours, lots of work and when one wears themselves out, burn on through it. Don?t stop. Not very glamorous.
So I was suited up and sounding like Barry White. Dallas went well, plenty of folks showed up; it was an SRO(standing room only) kind of day. Around 5:30 I was dragging and someone suggested I go home. One stop first. A friend with MS needed some wine for her MS charity event planning meeting. So I rounded up some bottles and took them to her penthouse. And then home and straight to bed.
8 PM and it is still light out. But in eight hours I must get up and catch a plane. So I forced myself down and hoped when I awoke I would feel better.
No chance. But I'm on a 6:30 AM plane, anyway. If I wanted to feel bad about my plight I saw two other colleagues at the airport who had come from way out in the suburbs to catch their flights as well. So no tears for me.
I have a friend who I rarely see, but it seems lately we are on the same plane to Houston. We both started out about the same time in the wine biz and we took different paths. But it is always interesting talking to him about the big Napa Valley wine business. Lots of correlations.
Houston. 7:30 AM. 80°F and 90% humidity. I should have brought more shirts. On to the morning meeting.
First one went well. The afternoon one started later and I found myself on a hotel room laid out trying to regain some strength. I was taking a mixture of antihistamines, zinc, aspirin, nose spray, cough drops and cough syrup. I was up, down, soft boiled, poached and rendered. I felt like crap. Thirty minutes to showtime.
Seventy folks filed in and my spirits were raised. I talked as long as my voice held out and then I handed the program over to Guy. A friend in the audience told me later that he saw my voice trail off and disappear as I handed the program over to my colleague.
2 days down ? 2 to go
After flying to Houston and doing a full days worth of program we loaded up the car and headed to Austin. I have taken that Houston to Austin road three times this year and I am beginning to really like it in a country and western song writing kind of way. As we headed into Austin, missing dinner with any number of Italian winemakers who had descended upon the capital, we rolled into the hotel and bagged it for the night.
Austin. We had two great days and we got cocky. A decent enough session with our staff and then on to the trade function.
Austin isn?t like anywhere else. There?s no predicting what will or won?t work. We set up the room, decorated the tables for 50 and opened up scores of great Italian wines. And then we waited. And waited.
Earlier we had rolled out for a quick lunch of tacos, chased with a bottle of Kerner. In plastic glasses, over ice. Had we offended the wine gods? This was Austin, was that so wrong?
Finally we started. Seven brave souls made it to the event. Along with double that amount of wine suppliers and staff. I had no voice and my emotions weren't too high, but I belted out a program that was one of my best. I gave it 120%. Later one of my friends showed up and lifted my spirits. I was really down. Guy wasn?t feeling so masterfully wonderful either. But we soldiered on and packed up the car and headed to San Antonio.
A nice meal at Luca and a glass or two of wine and we were three days down and one to go.
San Antonio ? Thursday 9 AM ? there must have been 45 salespeople in the room. Guy and I did our thing and afterwards several salespeople came up and told us we had made a difference for them that day. One old boy brought tears to my eyes. Something that I said about just making a note to have an answer to the question, ?what?s new?? really pushed his button, in a good way. Yes, they liked me, they really liked me. On to the afternoon seminar.
Meanwhile Guy drove us, on the way, to an aggie store where he returned some ridiculously expensive pesticide. I had been traveling in his car for two days with this ultra concentrated poison that cost $200 a gallon?
In the poison store that had these wonderful posters with detailed drawings of ants and bees and sharpshooters. Down to the hairy backs on the big headed ants. Weird, but wonderful, in a macabre way.
Finally we made it to the last venue in time to get a call that my alarm back home is on and the alarm company won't call the police because I haven?t updated my permit info. All this while my phone/blackberry is crashing every five minutes.
So I lose it. I call my son and neighbor to go over and check it out. Seems that Dallas was having some serious April weather and the power was out. Small favors.
The afternoon seminar, the last one before heading back to Dallas for the Cotarella event. The restaurant had set the room up as if only seven people were coming to this one. No, no, no. Eventually 15-20 people showed and we averted a disaster.
I started the event off knowing I would have to bow out early and get to the airport. Around ten minutes past the time I should have stopped, Giulio popped his head in and got me out to the car. Along the way he made conversation about things, trying to ease my worry.
Airport. In time. Phone dead. Catch plane. Ears clog up and stay clogged up. I?m never gonna get well.
A hard landing in Dallas and a quick dart to Highland Park to prepare for the Cotarella event. I am dead tired. I am grouchy. But the show must go on. Clouds were gathering. Would our wonderful Italian al fresco event be forced to move inside? Please, please, please, don?t rain.
Riccardo showed up looking tired too. We were the walking wounded in search of the illusive bella figura. But we grabbed each others arms and headed for the stage. Just like Bing and Bob. We killed ?em. They loved it. Almost done.
Finally about 9 PM Riccardo looks like I feel. He stands up and says good night. Thank you, Riccardo, we can all go rest up and get ready to pitch our tent another day.
That?s a peek into a week of the glamorous wine life.
The magistrate of Siena, an appointed judicial authority, has questioned the controls exercised by the consortium of Brunello di Montalcino, which governs the stipulations of how the wine is made in both the vineyard? and the cellar?.
Authorities are scanning thousands of documents, including winemaker? notes, harvest and bottling records, Consorzio? registrations and DOCG? stamps.
If the slightest discrepancy is found, even if subject to interpretation and explanation, the existing stocks of the 2003 vintage? Brunello, the year in question, will be sequestered from distribution, the company said in a statement.
Stocks already on store shelves and restaurant cellars will not be affected.
"The situation has quickly become political and threatens the commerce of innumerable small businesses and the pleasure of millions of consumers around the world,? Marc? Goodrich, chief operating officer of Banfi Vintners, a US importer of the wines, said.
?The promise of Brunello to the consumer remains valid and unquestioned, but has been caught in crossfire between warring factions in what amounts to a political disgrace.?
Goodrich claims the majority of Brunello producers are likely to come under scrutiny. This could lead to the sale? of the 2003 vintage suspended, potentially for several months if not longer.
?We will not know what really happened until all the political dust settles and the authorities retreat,? he said. "But in the meantime, they have put at risk the commercial, social and governmental reputation of all Italy.?
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
Tecnorati
I've put off reviewing the Pillar Box Red 2006 from 
The best thing about this very moment is that I am in my own bed. Finally. After camping out for five days at Vinitaly and then taking to the road for another week in northern Italy, I came home exhuasted and relieved. Airplanes filled with sick children coughing for eleven hours must have broken down my resistance. A week in the office trying to put together a series of wine seminars across Texas and then a very important dinner for an important Italian winemaker, almost broke me. I spent a weekend alternating between duties at wine dinners and laying on my couch trying to prevent getting any sicker. But come Monday I was stung. Maybe it was a little flu, or a cold or allergies, whatever it was, I should have sat the week out. Instead I took to the road. Dallas on Monday, Houston on Tuesday, Austin on Wednesday and San Antonio on Thursday, with a quick flight back to Dallas for a private and very upscale event for Riccardo Cotarella at the home of a friend in Highland Park and sixty of his closest friends and family.
Last Sunday I knew I was sunk. I had driven off the wine trail onto a shoulder, and it was leading me straight into the gates of hell. But what could I do? I was scheduled to work all week with my colleague and friend the Master Sommelier, Guy Stout. Four days, four cities. The show must go on.
First one went well. The afternoon one started later and I found myself on a hotel room laid out trying to regain some strength. I was taking a mixture of antihistamines, zinc, aspirin, nose spray, cough drops and cough syrup. I was up, down, soft boiled, poached and rendered. I felt like crap. Thirty minutes to showtime.
After flying to Houston and doing a full days worth of program we loaded up the car and headed to Austin. I have taken that Houston to Austin road three times this year and I am beginning to really like it in a country and western song writing kind of way. As we headed into Austin, missing dinner with any number of Italian winemakers who had descended upon the capital, we rolled into the hotel and bagged it for the night.
Finally we started. Seven brave souls made it to the event. Along with double that amount of wine suppliers and staff. I had no voice and my emotions weren't too high, but I belted out a program that was one of my best. I gave it 120%. Later one of my friends showed up and lifted my spirits. I was really down. Guy wasn?t feeling so masterfully wonderful either. But we soldiered on and packed up the car and headed to San Antonio.
Finally about 9 PM Riccardo looks like I feel. He stands up and says good night. Thank you, Riccardo, we can all go rest up and get ready to pitch our tent another day.
