Sparkling and Roses at the Club

First, I have to apologize to everyone.  Usually, I do a big video piece and have loads of photos. Brouhaha galore. Well, not this time.

It was a brunch, and I figured that the turnout would be tiny.  Well,  it wasn’t, and what a great time we had!

I set up the camcorder and just let it run during our blind tasting. And beyond. And then somehow I did a big Oops. While I quickly realized that *participating* in a blind tasting was a lot of fun, *watching* an entire blind tasting was about as much fun as watching golf without Tiger Woods. Apologies to golf fans out there!  So I threw in a few sound bytes, but then committed the cardinal sin of video editing:  I deleted the draft files before rendering the movie. So awayyyy went most of the video clips and a few stills.

Dammit.

But it’s still entertaining, and that’s what counts!

So anyway, I decided to just call it a draw, show a little of the footage, the few pictures that I took, and let you imagine the rest. This Sunday morning Brunch tasting - Sparkling Rosé - was a nice change of pace from the usual partylike atmosphere of our evening tastings.  Bruce and Ginger Fein had their wonderful home beautifully presented for their guests (that would be us).

Sparkling wines and Rosés were the theme, and people stepped up to the plate and brought beautiful wines and yummy food.

By the way, Rosé wine and grits are a FANTASTIC pairing!

Here are the wines that we blind tasted:

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

Rant Rant Rant. My Opinion. And I Share It.

For whatever reason, I’m feeling particularly cranky, peevish, and curmudgeonly (yes, that’s a word) today and feel like sharing my opinion - and I always have one - on different wine stuff. If you have a pet topic that you don’t want to see kicked in the teeth, then read no further. If you’re like me and have a morbidly sick curiosity, continue on.

Corks

Thanks to those who sent great ideas on things to do with corks. Cork, being a natural product with all kinds of potential, has the capacity of being a lot of things! It is, in my opinion, the best closure for wine, stelvin notwithstanding. Of course, you can do all kinds of things with screwcaps, such as …. uhhh….. Well, anyway, they make great closures for soda pop, Boone’s Farm, Arctic Vines, MD20/20, and wines from New Zealand. Or anything else you’re going to open, pour, and not care about the ambiance or the environment. If you don’t care about ambiance or environment, then be my guest. Go unscrew.

As for me, I prefer to use something that is not only classy, but also will actually become a part of the ground again if it’s thrown away. No recycling to keep it out of landfills needed. Stelvin screwcaps aren’t so “pop and pour” so to speak. They require that the plastic liner be removed from the metal cap in order to be reused after recycling. I’m thinking that folks are finding that it’s just easier to toss them into landfills.

Not green at all.

The families in Portugal are working like crazy to make sure that their cork is free of TCA, and the improvements have been astounding. There are companies (more on that on a later post) that guarantee that their 100% cork products will not cause TCA contamination.

So I prefer cork because it’s just, well, *better.* For the environment, for business, and for my romantic evenings.

Unoaked Chardonnay

While there are a few unoaked Chards that are actually quite good, it’s a wine that’s still pretty much in the novelty category for me. Frankly, if I want a nice unoaked white wine, I’ll grab a Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier (one that’s made correctly), Riesling, or any other of a number of truly delicious whites that were never meant to be oaked.

In my opinion, Chardonnay was made for oak. It’s pretty hard to top a well-made Chardonnay that’s been kissed with just enough oak (”just enough” being in the eye of the beholder, of course) to impart that characteristic creaminess and smoothness that’s made Chard the number one white wine in the US for decades.

Question: In Burgundy, are the winemakers even allowed to make white Burgundies without oak? I await your responses.

I will admit that some Napa Chards have exceeded the idea of balance in favor of the overdone (”What was that vintage? 2006 Louisville Slugger? Yum!”).  With that being said, I’d rather have an overoaked Chard than one that tastes like lemonade laced with pineapple juice and apple sauce. I want WINE, not a melted popsicle.

Stemless Wine Glasses

I look at stemless wine glasses as a CSI lesson. Want to see fingerprints, epithelials, body oils, and sweat? Then just take a look at a stemless! Made for forensic education and learning about DNA, it sucks as a wine glass.

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

Focus On - Vines of the Marycrest

My affection for Victor Abascal and Vines on the Marycrest wines is no secret, but this is the first time I’ve really had a chance to interview Victor for Vegas Wineaux.  We were in his new winery - still under construction - which wasn’t there the last time I visited.

The actual interview was nearly 20 minutes long, and it took some creative (and hair-pulling) angst to shave it down to about eight.

Who needs sleep anyway?

I’ve already uploaded the video on YouTube (which you already know if you are my friend on FaceBook or follow me on Twitter), but here it is for your enjoyment.  I will call this Part One, because Victor and family have such an interesting life and activities,  it begs for a Part Deux.  Of course, I’ve been trying to persuade Victor to consider having his life story done into a fun wine movie.  Hmm. Will I have to add scriptwriting to my list of stuff to do?!?

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

Onward and Upward We Go!

Now that the Murphy-Goode competition has finished the first and public module of its recruitment process, all we can do now is wait. How do I feel my chances are?  Hard to say.  While I certainly meet all of their qualifications, I also understand that there may be intangibles that may have nothing to do with me at all.

So, I will wait.  But I won’t *sit* and wait; that’s not possible!  Even as we speak, I have piles of tasks for Vegas Wineaux on the desk that still have to be done,  no matter what happens with Murphy-Goode.  Vegas Wineaux life goes onward and upward!

Read more

Sphere: Related Content

Cork Creep - Being Invaded by Tree Bark!

Inspired by the innovative work of the late Art Stratemeyer, I decided to reach out to those who are in my situation: What the heck to do with all of those danged wine corks!!

It started with a simple glass vase.  When that was filled, they migrated to a glass fishbowl.  When that was filled, they started growing in the vase again.  This does not include those that were given away, donated, thrown (gasp!) away, or lost.  Anyway, I recently purchased a really large bowl from the really large bowl section of World Market, and to my horror, they seem to be breeding in this larger, more cork-friendly environment!  And, surprisingly enough, I *don’t* drink that much wine!

So what are you doing with your corks? Trivets? Bulletin boards? Ornaments?  Furniture?  Now that I’m getting into video (yes, I do have my OCD moments), I’m thinking about doing a Sci-Fi movie, say, something along the lines of “Attack of the Cork Zombies,” using the corks as special effects zombies or something. …Yeah, yeah, I know. But I’m lucid most of the time.

We can argue the merits of corks vs screwcaps vs synthetics vs glass closures ad nauseum, but the fact of the matter is that with the exception of glass closures, cork is the only one that lends itself to creativity after its initial purpose is served.  And, unlike the others mentioned, cork is completely “green” and biodegradable.  And, surprisingly enough, by *not* using corks, the cork forests will be endangered, and their disappearance can cause untold damage to those people whose livelihoods depend on cork harvesting, and will have a negative impact upon the local environment. While I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t mind screwcaps - in fact, one of my favorite higher-end wines, Vines on the Marycrest My Generation is under screwcap, dammit - I prefer the ambiance and, yes, sexiness of the “pop” of a cork on a romantic evening. Or any time, for that matter.

Which brings me back to my original dilemma.  What in the heck do we do with all of those wine corks?!?

If I get enough feedback from y’all, I’d like to take over where Strat left off and offer a page for the express purpose of figuring out what to do with all of the corks that we just can’t quite bring ourselves to get rid of.  Here are a few ideas; your mileage may vary:

• unmarked corks can be ground up and used as mulch for potted plants - you don’t want to use marked corks because they have great memories connected to them
• whole corks can be also be used as mulch in garden areas
• Ginger and Bruce have attached their corks to a board in their kitchen hallway, with each one dated
• Mitch and Amy have a ginormous bowl in the middle of their kitchen island that I personally believe will never be filled, and it makes for a striking decorative accessory
• cut in circles and used as “feet” under cutting boards, trays, or other otherwise flat surfaces in order to raise them up for air circulation

And many more, I’m sure.

Share!  Let’s see how long a list we can make.  I await your ideas!

Related articles:

• Cork dork: Ten cool things to do with leftover wine corks (s191715151.onlinehome.us)
• A Mountain of Corks for Wine Cork Crafts! (anotherwineblog.com)
• We love cork… (sandihurst.blogspot.com)
• Good Cap, Bad Cap (miami herald)
• Make a Bulletin Board from Wine Corks [DIY] (lifehacker.com)
• Recycle Wine Corks (recycle raccoon)

Sphere: Related Content

Next Page »