by David Gaier
On May 11 at the Ramscale penthouse in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, Arrows Restaurant Chefs Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier rolled out their new cookbook "Maine Classics."The Chefs, who took home the James Beard Award for Best Chefs of the Northeast last year, were in town to introduce New York’s food writers to the book and more importantly, to the food, which we tasted while looking out over the skyline with great views of the south tip of Manhattan, Hoboken, and Jersey City, with Lady Liberty and Staten Island off in the distance. I believe we were, in fact, looking out over the Hudson at the spot where “Sully” Sullenberger brought US Airways flight 1549 to a stop, saving his own and 154 other lives.Anyway, it was a perfect evening. Paired in my case with Four Vines Naked Char...
by David Gaier
On April 25 I was privileged to enjoy an evening with Christian Moueix (“Moo-ecks”) of Petrus and Dominus fame, as a guest of Sherry-Lehman CEO Chris Adams. Monsieur Moueix hosted a tasting of his Dominus and Napanook wines, with paired cuisine from Manhattan’s Hotel Plaza Athenee.I’ve been drinking his wines all my adult life and so I felt like I’d known Christian ever since I’d read Napa: The Story of an American Eden. In that book, one of my five favorite wine books, we hear about how Christian, who’d studied winemaking and viticulture at UC Davis, was first approached by Robert Mondavi who was in Bordeaux for the 1981 harvest, and had met with Christian and suggested that he consider expanding the Moueix family horizons beyond France. Those horizons alone were considerab...
by Emily Barclay
Everyone knows that cheese and wine are a match made in heaven. But if your knowledge of cheeses is limited to cheddars and your wine knowledge limited to Pinot Grigios, where do you begin?First off, there are two main ways to pair wine; by region and by taste. Pairing by region is often used because it is thought that what grows together, goes together! The “science” bit behind it is that the soil that grows the grapes to make the wine will be specific to the location it is in. This is then the same soil that grows the grass that the dairy cows from the region feed on. When pairing wines by taste, there are some guidelines to consider but feel free to disagree, after all, taste will always be personal to the individual. Generally, the stronger the cheese you choose – stilton, brie e...
by Rosie Carbo
By Rosie CarboThe wines of the Rias Baixas in Galicia are steeped in ancient tradition. Nestled between the Atlantic Ocean on one side and lush green landscapes on the other, Spain’s demure white wine region rocks. But unlike the Rioja, its famous neighbor to the west, the Rias Baixas is not as high profile. Yet a journey through this region’s wineries, some anchored by elegant manor houses, inspires the promise of a return visit. Val do Salnes, north of Pontevedra, is just one of three wine producing regions that make up the Denominacion de Origen Rias Baixas. These regal wineries dot the bucolic landscape. Vines look like canopies suspended above ground through wire trellises. The intent, we’re told, is to protect the vines from cold and humidity.On a recent group tour, our win...
by Chef David Darugh
Jan 15: Judgment at SauteeJudgment at SauteeSimilar to the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, also known as the Judgment of Paris, a panel of wine judges were invited to Yonah Mountain Vineyards located in Sautee, Georgia on January 15, 2011. This was to be a wine competition between top-quality viognier, chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon wines from Georgia and from California.A blind tasting was performed so that none of the judges would know the identity of what was being tasted. The judges were asked to grade each wine using the University of California at Davis 20 point tasting guide. Rankings of the wines preferred by individual judges were done based on the grades they individually attributed. An overall ranking of the wines preferred by the panel was also established by totaling and avera...
by Chef David Darugh
The Tradition of Champagne and Weddings There are lots of traditions associated with weddings, but toasting of the bride and the groom with Champagne is one of the most historic traditions that we honor. Champagne is truly the wine of celebration. It has launched thousands of ships, toasted billions of weddings, brightened countless parties, and graced untold special moments between two people.And just in case you are wondering where the phrase "toast" comes from, it comes from an ancient practice in the 6th Century. The Romans and Greeks would literally float a piece of burnt toast on top of the wine. The reason for this was that the toast took away some of the wine’s acridity. In early history wine was made and stored in animal skins, as well as many other things, so it was not nearly ...
by Chef David Darugh
The Chef’s Culinary Garden The Northeast Georgia Mountains are home to some of Georgia’s leading fresh food producers. Vegetables, fruit, flowers, cheese, wine, nuts, grain, poultry, eggs, fish, pork and cattle are all seasonally available throughout the area. An abundance of fresh water, combined with soil rich in nutrients and a temperate climate offer a recipe for great fresh seasonal foods. Rabun County is particularly known for its cabbage crop. Maybe it’s the soil, but the cabbage grown here just tastes better. As spring moves towards summer we can hardly wait for our first ears of Osage Silver Queen Corn. With all this local abundance we fret each spring as to what things we should plant in our culinary garden next to the Inn. We’ve been to restaurants where just moments ...
by Ruth Berman, Ceo Of Bon Beer Voyage Tours For Belgian & Craft Beer Enthusia
This month we'd like to share with you some of the benefits of drinking beer. That's right, beer has health benenfits! And this is something that's been known for years. In fact, a recent study by researchers at Emory University in Atlanta indicated that beer was the source of antibiotics for patients 2000 years ago. The researcher had set out to study oteoporosis in ancient African mummies and ended up finding a huge amount of teracycline in the bones. Interesting, considering Tetracycline wasn't patented until around 1950. The scientists traced the origin of the drug back to the fermented grain used by these people to make beer. Another study, this time from Tufts University, says that drinking beer helps protect bone mineral density. Apparantlly beer (especially dark beer) conta...
by Ruth Berman, Ceo Of Bon Beer Voyage Tours For Belgian & Craft Beer Enthusia
In a country known for its beer and breweries, surprisingly enough, Gruut is Ghent's only working brewery. It opened in April 2009 and is run by a woman brewer, Annick De Splenter. Annick is incredibly dedicated and diligent in her work. Wanting to recreate the medieval recipe for Grutt, she spent years going back to school and researching before she opened her brewery. She also paid her dues working for other companies. Now she has perfected her craft and we get to reap the benefits of her hard work every time we visit Ghent and her amazing Brewery, Gruut.Gruut, or gruit or grut, depending on who is spelling it, is pronounced Groot (among many other variations depending on where you happen to be in Belgium). It was the mix of spices and plants used in medieval times to flavor and somewh...
by Ruth Berman, Ceo Of Bon Beer Voyage Tours For Belgian & Craft Beer Enthusia
We toured 2 breweries and 1 brewpub during Bon Beer Voyage's Tampa Beer Safari Weekend this past February. Lucky us! We had the chance to chat with Joey Redner, owner of the wildly popular Cigar City Brewing in Tampa, Florida. For owning such a popular and successful business, Joey is a very down to earth guy and is very into promoting craft beer. BBV: What made you decide to open a brewery?JR: Love. Love of craft beer. Love for my city- there wasn't anyone doing the beers I wanted to drink locally. I considered going to a market where it would be more financially viable, somewhere where the laws work, but I love my city and I decided to overcome whatever it would take to do it here. BBV: What has been the best part of the experience for you to date?JR: Seeing the reaction to the...
