Archive for July, 2008

Wine Buying Deal – Chambers Street Wines SALE

Thursday, July 31st, 2008

Chambers St Wines is “a shop that indulged their love for naturally made wines from artisanal small producers (that stocks) very, very few brand name (wines).”

Chambers St wine

They do find some amazing wines at Chambers and starting tomorrow you can get (many of) their wines at 20% off!  The deal is basically that it is a moving sale.  See article here.

If I make it there as planned tomorrow and pick up any winners I will attach those recommendations to this post.  In the meantime though, go visit their site and browse their unique and hard to find selection.

Happy Chambers St Wine Tasting!

WTG

Dumbing down wine – has it gone too far?

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008

Those of you who are long time readers know that I really can not stand the remaining pretension that exists in the wine industry. The truth is that aside from select snooty restaurants or the occasional stuck up sommelier it seems to me that A LOT of the pretension that ONCE existed within the wine world seems to have become “socially incorrect”. Even those who think they are brilliant wine connoisseurs seem to hide any possible holier-than-thou attitude.

“I’m not drinking any f*cking Merlot!” Giamati

But at what point is this ANTI-PRETENSION going TOO far?? (more…)

Drink Red Wine and Live Better (but not longer)

Monday, July 28th, 2008

This according to the website of the medical journal Cell Metabolism (as per Wine Spectator online).

Yet another article about resveratrol and its benefits. This one seems to contradict others that suggested that resveratrol extends life expectancy. Here the “researchers said the compound helps keep the bones, eyes, kidneys, heart and other muscles in mice healthier as they age, though without increasing the animals’ overall lifespan”.

wine health - 2 glasses of wine

The study compared the effects of resveratrol to those of another life enhancing therapy – caloric restriction (CR), (more…)

Wine & Temperature

Sunday, July 27th, 2008

I have written about these wine storage and serving issues before, but I figured I’d re-print this short article written by a favorite wine writer of mine – Laurie Daniel.

Wine temrature

IN YOUR CAR: Put it in a cooler or other insulated container. (more…)

Champagne Granita

Saturday, July 26th, 2008

Champagne is simply sparkling wine from the Champagne region of France. Sparkling wine is also made in regions all over the world. In Spain it is known as Cava while from Italy it is Prosecco. Here in the good old US of A, it is known simply as Sparkling wine or as my friends in Napa like to call it “bubbly”.

I don’t write a lot about sparkling wine and I must admit that I still have a lot to learn and much palate training to be done when it comes to sparkling wine. That said, I HAD to write about this frozen drink concoction. “Champagne Granita” (which can also be made from any sparkling wine) is made simply by freezing the bubbly together with some other sweet liquid (varies depending upon exact recipe – see below) and scraping up the frozen stuff (shaved ice) just like the ices they sell on the street (at least here in NYC). From there all you need to do is add your favorite garnish (berries, mint, cut fruit, etc.) & serve. Yummy…

Champagne Granita

The food network has a great recipe by Bobby Flay here, while other variations can be found on the Global gourmet site or Cocktail times.

What a delicious looking way to beat the summer heat!

Happy frozen bubbly tasting!

WTG

Highly regarded WINE BAR

Wednesday, July 23rd, 2008

As reported in my previous post, I did in fact make it out to a wine bar tonight. Said wine bar is technically located in the West Village, but it is just North of trendy Tribeca – and it definitely had a trendy aura to it.

The good: the staff was really great. I was a pain in the ass as I often tend to be (unintentionally) at wine bars, yet the staff was warm, patient and very cool. The two people behind the bar that helped out were also quite knowledgeable, and definitely NOT pretentious. Oh yeah, and the place had great stemware!

wine server

The bad: well, there was no “bad” per say. But if I had to complain about anything (more…)

Secrets of a successful wine bar

Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008

Those of you who know me or who have been reading the blog for any period of time know of my infatuation with wine bars.  Since returning to NYC from Napa, at the advice of several amazing wine industry mentors, I have been frequenting NYC’s wine bars.  All part of my journey, a journey I hope never ends, to train my wine palate.

Wine evaluation

A quick post tonight in anticipation of a visit to yet another wine bar tomorrow night. The wine bar I will be going to tomorrow night is very well regarded.  It has received positive press, and has had positive things written by patrons online.  I look forward to checking this relatively new place out, hopefully enjoying a glass or two of wine, and passing my own judgment.

As to the title of this post, “secrets of a successful wine bar” – I was speaking with a restaurant consultant today.  The topic of wine bars came up and he let me know that he believes there are 3 essential factors (more…)

Bargain Wine Shopping

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

I just finished reading an interesting article in the San Fransisco Chronicle online “Pro’s Guide To Bargain Shopping“.  The author of the article Jon Bonne’ had 3 sommeliers buy a weeks worth of wine at an average of $10/bottle & report their finds back to him.  The results were mixed, but what I found most interesting about the article were some tips for finding these bargain (AKA CHEAP) wines.

Cheap Red Wine

First was the idea that one of the things that dictates price is its actual cost.  A novel concept huh?  (more…)

How to hold a wine glass

Saturday, July 19th, 2008

I’ve taken some slack from friends and contemporaries lately for being a “wine snob”. I really don’t think of myself as an “anything snob”, but…

Last night I attended a very nice Friday night dinner with guys I play basketball with. Two of the players hosted the meal. At the dinner as we were all enjoying some wine I was reminded of an episode with a friend and fellow baller. This friend was at a wine tasting thrown in the apartment of a 3rd friend (also a fellow baller) where I not too subtly pointed out a problem with his glass. It was FILTHY. Some of the snacks served at this party was nuts, cheese & crackers – salty, greasy foods. Drinking wine and eating said (finger) foods can lead to a nasty little problem if one doesn’t know how to properly hold their wine glass…

fingerprints wine glass

OK, call me a wine snob. I suppose that is a label I can live with. But the point is that holding a wine glass by the bowl presents some problems.

The first, known by many is the influence it has on the temperature of the wine. (more…)

Wine Cocktails or “Winetails”

Thursday, July 17th, 2008

Wine Cocktails have gotten a lot of press lately (OK, the press that I read).  And as yet another summer heat wave hits NYC this weekend, I am thinking less and less about my beloved reds (even though I do enjoy them at about 60-65 degrees) and more and more about COOL REFRESHING beverages.  I am not a mixologist (although maybe I should be), but good mixologists seem to be in high demand these days.  Especially those that can concoct a good wine cocktails.

mixologist

Jason Wilson wrote a great article for the Washington Post, “A Lighter Way To Mix It Up“, discussing the idea of wine cocktails and detailing a few such concoctions. (more…)