by Chef David Darugh
You don’t need to have an expensive Canon or Nikon digital camera to take great photos of food. However, if you advance to the professional level you will certainly be aided by the highest quality lens you can afford. But for most of us we can take some pretty awesome photos with a fairly inexpensive digital camera if we keep some useful photography tips in mind.Presentation: To take great photos the most important factor is to use good skills in food presentation and display. Just like a model has been dressed and had make-up applied food will look its best in photos if it has been properly arranged, placed in a wonderful setting, it has been appropriately garnished and useful props are added to the scene. This is characterized as “food styling” or “presentation.” In order t...
by Jeff Leve
The 2012 UGCB (Union des Grand Cru Bordeaux) North American Tour is almost here. Officially, the tour kicks off in Los Angeles, January 20. That is followed by stops in San Francisco, Saturday, January 21, Miama, January 23, New York, January 25, Chicago, January 26, Toronto January 27 and winds up in Montreal, January 28. That is a busy week for thirsty, curious Bordeaux wine lovers, chateaux owners and winemakers. For Bordeaux wine lovers and consumers who just like wine, this is the best wine event of the year! This year, the focus is on the extremely highly regarded 2009 Bordeaux vintage. Having tasted these wines multiple times from barrel to bottle, (most recently last June in Bordeaux) 2009 is an outstanding vintage for Bordeaux wine. The wines are sensuous, supple, opulent and si...
by Rosie Carbo
When you think of France, chances are you think of the Eiffel Tower, the Musée du Louvre and other landmarks. But what if you’ve never been to France? Wouldn’t it be great to journey there passport free? Well, that’s what happened to me when I visited French Country Wines recently. I had read an article that said the winery offered a free wine tasting each Saturday. So I jotted down the address and headed out. My GPS guided me to Kirby Drive, one of Houston’s most congested arteries. How could there be a winery here? But Country French Wines is tucked away on a quiet side street behind Goode Co. Texas Bar-B-Q. The nondescript building, with a splash of flowers out front, didn’t inspire a Voila! Upon entering, however, I was transported to another time and ...
by Kari Ziegler
Wine bars are popping up all over the place. They are the new "Starbucks" in fact, it seems, even Starbucks is thinking about serving wine and beer. So if everyone and anyone can open a wine bar, then having something special, something unique is what is going to set each wine bar apart from the rest of the five others on their block. What seems to be the big "bravado" trend is having 300+ wines open for the customer to choose from. I guess Costco and Bevmo have now hit the quaint local wine bar circuit.So, 300 open wines... I first stare with glee like a kid in a candy store when I am presented with the iPad menu of wines and then the reality hits. Is this too much?Open wines all have different aging issues, and there are lots of factors to how a wine ages. WineSpectator.com listed two ...
by Mary Webb
By Mary WebbThe thirteenth annual Giro D ‘Vino was anticipating precipitation, but Mother Nature traded in her halo wreath for a cycling helmet to provide us with plenty of clear day skies. Cyclists from all around the region met up at the Woodbridge winery in Lodi for a day of wine tasting, exercise and unmarked air. Woodbridge winery, located about 90 miles northeast of San Fransisco, CA., was the kick off and ending location for the Giro D’ Vino. Offering two “tasting tracks”, there was the 60k, which we participated in, or the 100K that extended another loop of wineries and roads east of Woodbridge.As with most cycling events, the participants exude a burst of positive energy. The Giro D’Vino was no exception. Blended with this positive energy was also an easy spirit; no cyc...
by Joseph Mclaughlin
Seth Mandeville is the sommelier at Sel de la Terre/Back Bay Boston. He shares his expertise in a passionate and energetic manner, and at a mile-a-minute pace. I am pleased that he agreed to slow down long enough for this interview.Eat Drink Travel Write (EDTW): What got you first interested in wine?Seth Mandeville (SM): I was bartending at Ten Prime Steak and Sushi in Providence and a person at the bar asked me the stylistic differences between two of the Pinots and at the time I had absolutely no wine knowledge and I froze. I don’t usually freeze when I’m behind a bar you know, so I made it a point to never let that happen again. And that decision kind of grew out of control from there and turned into something completely different. I had a kid, Scott Brenner, working for me w...
by Rosie Carbo
The 8th annual Savor Dallas celebration of fine wine and food is set for the weekend of March 30-31. And the price remains within the reach of wine aficionados and food lovers. Food paired with wine-tasting events is popular. Wine and food lovers discover these events advertised in upscale magazines, such as Wine & Spirits and Wine Spectator. But Savor Dallas is uncommonly extraordinary in a couple of ways. For one, the gastronomic soiree is one the least expensive in the country, according to Jim White, who together with his wife, Vicki Briley-White founded the event in 2004 as a way to showcase Dallas/Fort Worth chefs, restaurants and arts culture. But while it’s been called the “best food and wine event in Texas,” White said much of the credit goes to the e...
by Sidd Banerji
5th Annual Pune Wine Festival-an indicator to rising wine interest in India, has just been held,Saturday,24th and Sunday, 25th December,2011 at the lavish gardens of Ruhi Villa,7th Lane,Koregaon Park,Pune.“Wines are to be savored at the most relaxed and absolute cordial environment “,the loved statement of B Shankaranarayan,the leading personality behind the whole show of Pune Gourmet Club’s annual event is literally translated into action,those two days. He sees to it that the style statement is carried in all his wine events,Bandra Wine Festival,another of his events, included.If the young face of India,is opening its vast consumer’s market to the wine industry, it is to a large extent due to Yeomen’s task being done,years after years, by few senior wine lovers,committed and pa...
by Brenda Cranmer, Csw
It was while preparing study materials for my first formal wine class that I realized the industry makes learning about wine much more difficult than it should be. Most people who are interested in wine do not care about how it is made or what type of soil makes for the best Merlot. They care about how it tastes, what they like, how to buy it and what to choose from a wine menu. It did not take me long to notice that, even though I had made a conscious decision to take my wine knowledge to greater heights, while in class I found myself watching the clock through lecture waiting for the time when we put the books away and started tasting. While it is certainly important for someone in the trade to know about regions, climate and soil, most people just want to get down to the business of...
by Ron Barker, Cigarvolante Llc
The Potomac Point Winery is a beautiful, Mediterranean style building that has private arbors, sweeping views, and a Tuscan style courtyard where E! and I joined Wine Club Manager and Festival Event Coordinator Michelle Patterson and Tad, Catering Chef and fellow cigar smoker, for an afternoon of wine tasting and cigar pairing last fall. I know this sounds like an arduous task but someone had to do it! Potomac Point offers a wonderful example of the complex flavors of the Panacea Green and White cigars that are full flavored yet delicate in a way that allows them to be paired with white wines.We also have another good example of the differences between ring gauges in the same cigar with our pairings of the Black Label Maduro Classic and Grandes. The Grande, by reason of its bigger ring gau...
