by Guglielmo Rocchiccioli
A MODERN SCIENCE: FOOD-AND-WINE CONNOISSEURSHIPWhat is food-and-wine connoisseurship ?It is a modern science which is trying to establish real connection between food and wine. When you have to marry a recipe, you should get the right wine behind the wine in the sense that you need to build up the perfect pairing based on the modern parameters and not only by following the old, but still valid rule of matching meat to red wine and fish to white wine.What do you mean when you are referring to real connection between food and wine ?There are 2 types of wine-food combinations:1. CONTRAST: the principle is based on the fact that the characteristics of the wine chosen for the pairing should be in contrast with the characteristics of the recipe. For example, if a recipe presents a strong succule...
by Mike Bonheim
The Wine Novice's Guide to the Tasting NoteOnce, people were embarrassed to know little or nothing about wine.It was as if this knowledge was passed down via divine intervention to the debonaire and metropolitan, and anyone who was not inherently knowledgeable on the topic was an unsophisticated yokel who has no place in proper society.Well, have no shame. Today’s wine community is increasingly welcome to new members; the web is overflowing with resources for the connoisseur of tomorrow, and wine groups geared for the novice wine lover seem to be gathering in every street-corner café and BYO restaurant in town.What once seemed an elitist, exclusive, and intimidating world is quickly becoming a welcoming community of wine lovers. There is no fear in asking questions. No shame in having a...
by Joseph Mclaughlin
Veronica Picon is a sommelier, a wine educator, a mom, and a South American wine tour guide. I’ve taken a number of her wine classes and she has graciously agreed to be the first interviewee for my blog.Eat Drink Travel Write (EDTW): What got you first interested in wine?Veronica Picon (VP): I’m from Argentina originally, as you probably know already, and I had studied Hotel and Restaurant Management there. Obviously when you are in the restaurant business you are always in touch with the wine. I worked in several places in Argentina. Then when I came to Boston I worked mostly in restaurants and that really put me in constant contact with the wine. I was very lucky to work in places where they really paid attention to the wine selection. My first place to work was Tasca which i...
by Shoppersvineyard.com
If you are looking to get hitched and are tasked with supplying wine & champagne, for your guests at the wedding or even rehearsal dinner, chances are you have more questions than you do answers. Our handy guide below will help you in answering the most common questions: How much do I need and what should I budget? How much do you need? There is no magical formula. Only you know the drinking habits of your guests. For example, your college roomie is probably going to consume a bit more than your elderly Aunt Bertha. Here are a few tips to help you do the math:•Always buy extra. You never, ever want to run out. How embarrassing...•Bottles of wine (750ml) will typically pour 5 glasses, while bottles of champagne will pour 6 flutes.•Figure each guest will have a minimum of 2 glasses, ev...
by Stefanie Phillips
Keeping track of your wine collection in a wine cellar can be a daunting task. Here are some tips on how to organize your wine so you can easily locate your favorite bottle when you need it.Q: How can I manage my wine storage?A: Even if you have a small collection, it can be daunting to remember where every bottle is, and just what vintages you have in your collection. There are many software programs and even entire computer systems available that can help manage your wine collections. You can create a database of wines you own, and would like to own in the future. You can map where each bottle is in your wine cellar. You can even keep tasting notes and wine auction information all in one place. These programs are a must for the serious collector. They’ll help you keep your collection ...
by Rosie Carbo
South American Chef Michael Cordua’s Americas restaurant gained national attention when Esquire magazine voted his churrasco (signature-aged beef tenderloin) among its pick of the best top 20 steaks in America.But this accolade is not the reason I chose to indulge a “Last Supper” at Americas recently. It was my nostalgia for his original Galleria mall local, and my incurably romantic nature that prompted me to dine there.The five-course dinner, paired with Cousino-Macul wines from Chile, was a bargain at $65 each. The first glass of wine, a straw-colored Chardonnay, was paired with totopos de pez espada (grilled swordfish on Spanish idiazabal cheese sauce) on corn tortilla chips. We savored every sip while seated beneath dimly lighted caves and trees created by Chicago architect Jor...
by Rosie Carbo
The Italian Cultural and Community Center, the voice of the Italian-American community in Houston, hosted another Italian wine tasting session recently. This educational wine tasting focused on the extraordinary “Emerging Wines of Italy” and their developing popularity in the American market.“When you’ve got restaurants like the Olive Garden, coming to the table with a bottle of Moscato di Asti, that means something. We know from experience that restaurants often set the pace for wines that will be popular,” said Philip Cusimano, a 30-year veteran wine broker who led the discussion. Moscato de Asti, an elegant white table wine with notes of green apple and tropical fruits, was the first wine tasted by approximately 100 members and guests of the nonprofit, who gathered at the gr...
by Rosie Carbo
Chris and Yoli Caldwell didn’t have a wine pedigree when they emerged as a Houston family winery in 2010. But all that changed with the couple’s first entry in the annual Houston Rodeo International Wine Competition in 2011. Having decided to label their Texas wines Eaglefire, the husband and wife won a Gold Medal for their home-grown, locally sourced Muscat Blanc. Who knew that Brenham, a Houston hamlet known more for its Blue Bell ice cream than for its grapes, would produce prize-winning grapes? But Chris Caldwell credits the grapes harvested from Brenham as one reason the Eaglefire Muscat Blanc won the Gold Medal and a crush of fans. Ignited by their early success, Chris and Yoli hosted “Taste the Revolution,” their second public wine tasting Saturday at their He...
by Ron Kapon
For the second year in a row the Society of Wine Educators Conference was on the East Coast. Last year it was Washington DC and this year's conference (#35) was in Providence, Rhode Island (technically the site of the conference- the Crown Plaza Hotel is in Warwick, RI). Last year I went by train; this year I drove from NYC in a bit over three hours. There were over 250 attendees and it was great to visit with old wine friends that I do not normally see during the year.I arrived in time for the opening luncheon and seminar sponsored by Wines of Portugal. The guest chef was from Lisbon and the presenters represented Women Winemakers and the regions of Porto and Madeira. At this point it got tricky for me. There were 3, 4 or 5 seminars scheduled at the same time and it was very difficult to ...
by Marisa Dvari
Naked Wine by Alice FeiringReviewed by Marisa D'VariIn this colorful narrative vaguely similar to Kermit Lynch’s Adventures on the Wine Route, Alice Feiring tackles “natural wine,” currently one of the hottest subjects in the wine world. Most people think that like buying the freshest produce in a greenmarket, the more natural the wine, the better. Yet many respected wine critics are against natural wine, and even some winemakers famed for their natural winemaking practices agree there may be limits to how “natural” a wine should go.So what is natural wine, anyway? Basically, it refers to any wine made with natural yeast and a minimum of outside chemicals, including sulfur. Sulfur is a naturally occurring byproduct of the fermentation process. The problem is that in the past, pro...