Food & Wine - Fine Taste and Joy of Life !

Best Buy Wine Tip !

2006-10-30T22:42:00.000-08:00

It was said about Guigal 2003 Chateauneuf-du-Pape :
"... the 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape... has the potential to be the finest Chateauneuf Guigal has produced. It reveals more power, richness, and intensity than any previous vintage, including the highly regarded 2000 and 1998. The deep ruby-hued 2003 reveals a big, sweet bouquet of kirsch, black currants, exotic Asian spices, and pepper. Made in a full-bodied, unctuous style with high glycerin as well as alcohol, it should offer lovely drinking upon release."
After tasting this wine I can only agrea and higly recomend this wine as a best buy in it's price range !
You can find it at Wine.com

Food & Wine - Danish Cheese !

2006-08-06T18:25:00.000-07:00

Few things pair as well as wine and cheese, My favorite cheese has allways been the Danish cheese for it's excelent quality and taste.. here's a little guide of some of the fine cheese that the Danes has to offer :

Blue Castello
This brie-like blue cheese from Denmark is made by Tholstrup, the same company that makes Saga Blue at its factory in the United States. Blue Castello is richer than Saga Blue and is made only in Denmark. Castello is a distant derivative of Italian Gorgonzola but has a higher fat content and a milder flavor. It is a perfect blue for those who like a little blue flavor without being blown away.

Cream Havarti
About 100 years ago, a farmer’s wife who lived in North Zealand (one of Denmark’s most romantic islands -- a trysting place for lovers) became interested in the art of cheesemaking. She traveled through Europe to learn the secrets of this craft. Upon her return, she began to experiment with her newly acquired techniques. She named her finest creation after her farm, "Havarthi". Today’s Cream Havarti is a direct descendant. It has an ivory interior patterned with a myriad of tiny holes and is mild, creamy and mellow. We are featuring five of our favorite varieties: garlic and herb, dill, jalapeno, caraway and chive.

Danbo
Danbo is one of the most popular cheeses in Denmark. Served for breakfast on a slice of white bread or just for snacks, this Swiss-style cheese is usually at hand in the Danish kitchen. Made from partially skimmed cow’s milk, this semi-soft cheese has a mildly sweet, nutty flavor and a taste that fits well with both adults and children. fits very well on a butter bisquet with a glass of wine aswell I might add.

Danbo with Seeds
Also known as "King Christian," this Danish specialty cheese is made from partially skimmed cow’s milk and is flavored with caraway seeds. This addition gives Danbo a warm, familiar taste, reminiscent of rye bread. Similar in concept to Dutch Leyden, although with a springier texture, Danbo is a festive cheese that is always a hit at parties. It partners very well with beer and wine, especially when served with dark breads, such as pumpernickel.

Danish Crumbly Blue
Danish blue is the consummate salad cheese, excellent crumbled atop a bed a leafy greens and drizzled with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil. Made from cow's milk, it is a white cheese with a delicate network of blue-green veins. Denmark's rich, green grazing pastures and fertile soil contribute to the fine, consistent quality of this world famous product. Danish Blue can be used as a special dessert cheese with fresh fruits like strawberries, pears or peaches. It is also great in recipes that call for Crumbly Blue or Roquefort.

Danish Tilsit
Tilsit is a surface ripened cheese first made by Dutch settlers in East Prussia, near the town of Tilsit, in the mid-19th Century. They were trying to recreate their beloved Gouda, but the cheese became infected with moulds, yeasts, and bacteria in a damp cellar. And so Tilsit was born… Also known as Tilsit Havarti, this cheese is made has a fuller and more intense flavor than Havarti, but is milder than German Tilsit. Made of partially skimmed milk with a brownish-orange washed rind, Danish Tilsit is more yellow in color than Havarti but has a similar springy, elastic, semi-firm texture, ideal for slicing. Danish Tilsit also has a piquant flavor, making it a great table cheese to enjoy with a Danish beer. Try this versatile cheese cubed in salads, melted in sauces, on potatoes, flans or on burgers.

Esrom
The Danish Cheese Institute rediscovered this old recipe in 1951. Previously known as Danish Port Salut, it is now named Esrom, after the monks who made this forgotten cheese in Esrom Monastery. Made from partially skimmed cow’s milk, it is slow ripened with starter cultures for 10 – 12 weeks. Esrom has an orange, semi-hard rind that has been rubbed with brine during the aging process. Its interior is semi-soft with a supple texture and irregularly shaped holes. It is full flavored with a big, rich, pungent aroma and becomes spicier as it ages.

Monsted Cavern
Monsted Cavern is so named because it is aged underground in the Monsted limestone cave in the central part of Denmark's Jutland peninsula. In this cave, a constant temperature of 45ºF and a constant humidity of 95% are naturally maintained year round. This climatic consistency yields an excellent product because the cheese is not subjected to environmental changes during aging. Monsted Cavern has a strong taste, and tickles the roof of your mouth like an aged Cheddar or Swiss. With a flavor all its own, Monsted Cavern is a surprisingly unique and delicious cheese.

Smoked Havarti
About 100 years ago, a farmer’s wife who lived in North Zealand (one of Denmark’s most romantic islands -- a trysting place for lovers) became interested in the art of cheesemaking. She traveled through Europe to learn the secrets of this craft. Upon her return, she began to experiment with her newly acquired techniques. She named her finest creation after her farm, "Havarthi". Today’s Cream Havarti is a direct descendant. It has an ivory interior patterned with a myriad of tiny holes and is mild, creamy and mellow. The smoked rind infuses the cheese and adds a new dimension to traditional Havarti.

Sol Danablu
Kirkeby Dairy was established in 1906 in Svendborg on the pristine island of Funen in Denmark. Their Danablu is unique, with similarities to French Bleu d'Auvergne. It is an excellent cheese for crumbling over salad or simply served as a snack with fresh fruit.

If you're not in Denmark some of these cheeses can be hard to come by, however I can personaly recomend I Gourmet for delivering great special food products both fast and at a very fair price ! Shop here for Delicious Cheese And Special Products !

Wine Types & Varietals - Rose Wine !

2006-06-29T06:34:00.000-07:00

A Rose by Any Other Name
Technically, a rose is an "unfinished red wine," but the term seems so- secondary. Rose is a different sort of wine, with all the refreshing qualities of a white wine mixed with some characteristics of a red. It can be made from many different grape varietals and in many different regions, the most popular and successful being Southern France, Spain, California & Italy.

Notable Facts about Rose Wine !
Rose is a wine that goes through the red winemaking process, but is stopped before extracting too many red wine characteristics. Almost always made from red varietals, the grapes are pressed and the juice sits with the skins for fermentation - but just for a little while - enough time to get a bit of color and a bit of the skin characteristics. Then fermentation continues as a white wine, most often in stainless steel. Roses are typically ready to drink early - not so much to age. Some popular regions of Rose are Tavel (an AOC for ONLY rose wines in the Rhone area of France), other areas of Southern France, Spain, Italy and California. Almost all regions make rose, and many from different grape varieties (Grenache-based in Spain, France, Australia and South Africa; Sangiovese or Nebbiolo in Italy). Just like red and white wines, roses can be of different styles - sweet or dry, dark or light - the winemaker and grape variety (or varieties as roses are often blended) are key. Pink wines have delicious character and are perfect for food. For dryer styles of Rose, try those from Southern France and Spain, for the sweeter styles, look for White Zinfandel and some other California rose makers.
Click Here To Shop Online For Great Wines !

Wine Basics - Bordeaux Wine !

2006-06-25T12:36:00.000-07:00

If you must know something about wine, Bordeaux is the one you just can't skip ! Bordeaux. The name itself conjures up images of old, dusty bottles and decanters. And, while it is the region known for the most ageable, not to mention pricy, red wines of the world, Bordeaux has fallen from the "king of red wine" throne after a few poor vintages, rising prices and more value-driven competitors. However, once a good Bordeaux is tasted, particularly if it’s an old one, you know what the hubbub is all about.

Bordeaux is most often separated into two parts –the right bank and the left bank. On the left bank, Cabernet Sauvignon rules, and the Médoc region hugs the west side of the Gironde river. Within the Médoc are the four top communes of (from north to south) St.-Estèphe, Paulliac, St.-Julien and Margaux. These communes make some pretty sought-after red wines. Below the Médoc, following the river as it turns, lies the Graves region. Named as such for its gravelly soils, Graves is home to some top white wine regions like Pessac-Léognan (for dry whites) and the sweet wine regions of Sauternes and Barsac.

The right bank of Bordeaux is where Merlot and Cabernet Franc shine best. Merlot is typically used more in the blends, particularly in the surrounding satellite regions of Bordeaux. The heart of the right bank is the city of St.-Émilion and the wine region that surrounds it. Next door is Pomerol, a small but intense red wine producer. Other areas include Côtes du Bourg & Côtes du Blaye, Fronsac & Canon-Fronsac, and Côtes de Castillon . Bordeaux has other regions that are making wine – some of it great value!

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Wine Basics - Napa Valley Wine !

2006-06-20T18:02:00.000-07:00

It’s hard not to think of Napa Valley when thinking of California wines. The region is, after all, the one that brought world recognition to California wine making. The area was settled by a few choice wine families in the 1960’s who bet that the wines of the area would grow and flourish. They were right. The Napa wine industry really took off in the 1980’s, when vineyard lands were scooped up and vines were planted throughout the area. A number of wineries emerged, from large conglomerates to small boutique to cult classics. Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely the grape of choice here, with many winemakers also focusing on Bordeaux blends. Whites are usually Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc.

Notable Facts
Within the Napa Valley lie small sub-appellations that lend even more character specifics to the wines. Furthest south is Carneros, followed by Yountville, then Oakville & Rutherford. Above those two is St.-Helena and finally, while not yet an AVA, Calistoga. These appellations are situated on the valley floor and are known for creating rich, smooth Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots and Chardonnays. There are a few mountain regions as well, nestled on the sides of the above valley AVAs. Those include Howell Mountain, Stags Leap and Mount Veeder. Wines from the mountain regions are often more structured and firm, yet also with a pronounced elegance.

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Xbox 360 Gear and Game Reviews - All the best x360 Games !

2006-06-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

There's a new Gaming site in Town and it's hitting down hard on Xbox 360 gaming, game gear and all the hot new games out for the X360, Check out reviews, get game cheats, game hints and fun facts about your favorite Xbox360 Games ! Just reviewed are hot games like the allready legendary Call Of Duty 2 and new commer Oblivion that continues the saga of The Elder Scrolls ! Up coming will be a closer look at the awesome new game from Danish IO Interactive Hitman - Bloodmoney.. Get your ass over to Jeezz.com and get your game facts strait from the launch ! X360 games never been hótter than this !

Xbox 360 Gear and Game Reviews - All the best x360 Games !

Special Food & Wine Deal On Almonds !

2006-03-08T11:42:00.000-08:00

You'd never thing that you'd actually find an online specialist in Almonds, would you ? My one stop shop for Almonds, and actually a lot of other great products like sugar free chocolates, sweets and candies.. special baked goods and naturally everything imaginable in nuts, being it Almond, cashew, pecan or any other nuts has got to be The Almond Plaza !
We've hooked up with Almond Plaza to give the readers of Food&Wine blog a very special deal, so take advantage of the 15% off everything sale we got going on NOW!
These gifts will keep you happy and healthy, give someone you care about the best gifts out there, available at Almond Plaza.

Special Offer for Food Wine Blog Readers:
Enter code 834342 at the check out to save 15% off Almond Plaza Gifts! Offer expires Friday, March 31st.

A Few Sweet Pickings From Almond Plaza Website :

	16 oz gift tin Cashew and Pecan Mix A match of the giants - golden Cashews and mammoth pecans. The buttery sweet flavor of our giant cashews is the perfect complement to our fancy roasted, mammoth pecan halves. They're lightly salted and carefully sealed in handsome gift tin. Net wt. 16 oz. $ 18.99 Sale $ 13.29
	Assorted Sugar Free Chocolates Didn't think you could get luscious chocolates sugar free? Our selection includes the best: clusters, caramels, meltaways and creams coated in milk, dark, and white chocolate. Ideal for those watching sugar and salt intake. 1 lb. Assortment. $ 22.99 Sale $19.54
	Classic Almond Quartet 14 oz. party sized cans: roasted blanched salted, smoked hickory smoke flavored, dry roasted, and roasted salted almonds. $26.99 Sale $ 22.94

More Delicious Almonds And Special Products !

Wine Is Good For The Human Race !

2006-02-17T14:48:00.000-08:00

For over 7,000 years, wine has benefited the human race. ..It has quenched thirst, and warded off disease, it has acted as an antiseptic in wartime and as a muse to poets, writers, scholars, politicians and other prominent figures. What other man-made drink can claim such a record?

In our modern age, wine quality has improved considerably, particularly thanks to temperature control at fermentation, which has permitted vineyards to be planted in new areas where it was impossible to make good wines before. Unfortunately, the modern age has also brought industrialization to the wine industry where millions of bottles of the same wine are produced. Such wines, in my opinion, are often merely chemical assemblages that rarely taste fine and that have no soul. But this doesn't mean you have to spend a small fortune to find an alternative to these branded, mass-marketed wines.

Below are 4 wines. two white wines and two red wines, that I have selected at the winemessenger, all of them special priced this month to give you a taste of very good wine at a low cost.

Falasco Amarone della Valpolicella Original Price: $42.50 Reduced Price: $39.25	Sesti Terra di Siena 2000 Original Price: $29.00 Reduced Price: $27.00
Domaine de Raissac Chardonnay Le Parc 2003 Original Price: $9.75 Reduced Price: $9:25	Club Sauvignon Blanc 2004 Original Price: $12.75 Reduced Price: $12.00

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Discover New Wines in The Wine Club !

2005-12-20T03:20:00.000-08:00

Four Seasons Wine Club !

At the beginning of each season, The Wine Messenger’s Four Seasons Club sends participants a 3-, 6- or 12-bottle case of high-quality wines from around the world. These wines are carefully selected by our Tasting Panel from our current featured wines to perfectly complement the season.

Four Season Sets start at only $39 per season so anyone can discover new interesting wines, there are 3 different levels to the wine club as listed bellow :
Clever Consumer
Great everyday wines that are versatile matches with foods and very approachable for people learning about wine.
Connoisseur
A marriage between quality and value, these wines are ready to drink now, but many also have cellaring potential.
Collector
Age-worthy wines for the aficionados on your gift list who will appreciate the regional and varietal pedigree, as well as the generosity in taste.
*Tip !* These would make excelent gifts aswell !

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Choose The Best Wine Gift !

2005-12-18T00:42:00.000-08:00

How To... Choose a Good Wine Gift !

No one wears ties anymore. Pashmina is so 2000. Now, let’s see--that leaves wine as the one perfect holiday gift remaining.

Wine always fits. You can never have enough of it. Wine comes in a flavor or style to please anyone on your list. And if you give a really nice bottle, the recipient may be so grateful that you’ll get to share it.

To give wine as a gift you should pick something different, something special. The weekday Merlot or Pinot Grigio isn’t going to cut it for the holidays. Try one of these approaches when you want to deliver the maximum in holiday cheer.

Bubbly is best
Whether it’s true Champagne from the Champagne region of France or a sparkling wine from elsewhere, nothing says celebration like a wine with bubbles. For the holidays select a vintage Champagne or another prestige cuvee if you can afford it. Most bubbly is non-vintage, meaning that it’s blended from base wines made in different vintages before it goes through the second fermentation that adds the natural carbonation. Vintage sparkling wines, however, are more rare and made from grapes grown only in the year indicated on the bottle. The term prestige cuvee refer to the top-quality sparkling wine of a particular brand, often priced over $100 a bottle. Veuve Cliquot, for example, makes an excellent nonvintage Champagne but its prestige cuvee, La Grande Dame, is vintage dated and even better in quality.

Accidentally delicious
Many inexpensive dinner wines are somewhat sweet, but you haven’t tasted how good a sweet wine can be until you’ve tried one of the great dessert wines of the world that are made through a natural accident. There’s a type of mold called Botrytis that sometimes infects vineyards and produces a paradoxically wonderful result. The mold shrivels the grapes, eliminating much of their water content, so that when they are picked and pressed the juice is naturally very sweet and concentrated in flavor. In Germany a wine made this way is called trockenbeerenauslese, in Bordeaux it’s a Sauternes or Barsac. Fine Botrytis dessert wines are also made in California, Australia and elsewhere. They may be labeled as “botrytis affected,” “select late harvest” or “dried berry selection.”

Size matters
In wine terms, the bigger the bottle, the more there is to go around, the better it will age and the more “ah!” power it will carry. If you give a friend or loved one a magnum bottle (1.5 liters) of a wine that is already good, like a fine Bordeaux or topnotch California Chardonnay, you will have more than doubled their pleasure. Bottles even bigger than magnums carry even more good will:

Magnum: holds two regular bottles, or 1.5 liters
Double magnum: holds four regular bottles, or 3 liters.
Jeroboam: holds six regular bottles, or 4.5 liters.

Something old
Give a bottle of something slightly old as a special treat. Very few people have a place to store their wines safely until they gain the mellow texture and more intricate flavors of maturity. So a gift of an older Cabernet, Bordeaux or Tuscan shows extra thought and care. Even two to three years can make a difference if the wine has been stored in a consistently cool place. It’s even better if you are one of the lucky ones with a wine cellar and can pull a gift from your own racks. This is another great reason to buy wine by the case.

Recommended:
California Cabernet Sauvignon from 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995.
Bordeaux from 1988, 1989, 1990, 1995.
Brunello di Montalcino or Super Tuscan reds from 1985, 1988, 1990, 1995.

Click Here To Shop For Great Wine Gifts !

Featured Coffee of the Month - Holiday Blend !

2005-12-15T08:06:00.000-08:00

December 2005 - Mary Tellie's Holiday Blend Coffe !

Mary Tellie roasts and blends her coffee beans to perfection. Her café, Zummo's, is located in the Green Ridge section of Scranton, PA. Mary is dedicated to roasting the finest quality coffee from all over the world. She offers both specialty blends and origins to create some of the tastiest and smoothest coffees. Freshly roasted coffee and 100% specialty grade Arabica coffee beans is the key to producing the most delicious cup of coffee. She roasts daily to insure that every blend is bursting with flavor and aroma. She also visits various coffee farms and other roasters around the world to better understand her product and the coffee roasting industry. Electric City Roasting Co. is a member of the SCAA.

House blends are the backbone of any coffee merchant. They depend on it and your trying it is a good way to find out if you can depend on them. They make choices from hundreds of coffees to achieve a successful blend. A blend is not simply a mixture. It is a combination of the desired coffee characteristics, and it cannot be maintained by always adhering to a formula. No two coffee crops have the exact same characteristics. The blender measures uniformity by the effect of the whole rather than by the quantities of the component parts. A good coffee merchant realizes that we depend on them for their skill in selecting and blending to give us that perfect cup of coffee.

Holiday Blend is a Vienna roast, dark roasted to capture a mellow, caramel-like acidity, a creamy stout body and a hint of smokiness at the finish. This coffee is an ideal blend to complement a holiday feast or a nostalgic reunion.

Serving Suggestions
Coffee Grog: Cream a tablespoon of butter and 1/3 cup of brown sugar (tightly packed) together and blend in 1/8 teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. Make 4 1/2 cups of extra strength Holiday Blend coffee. Add the coffee to the butter/sugar/spice mixture. Stir in 3/4 cup of rum and 3/4 cup of light cream. Serve in mugs and garnish with lemon and orange twists.

CLICK HERE to subscribe to the Coffee of the Month Club and try special blends every month !

Know when a good wine has gone bad !

2005-12-14T15:36:00.000-08:00

How To... Know when a good wine has gone bad !

Thank God and the world’s winemaking universities that we don’t have to put up with many truly flawed, terrible wines anymore. But it does still happen.

Here’s how to know the difference between a wine that just doesn’t suit you and one that should be poured down the drain.

Corked
The most common flaw in wine comes from a defective cork that infects the wine and turns the aroma to a mildewed, wet-cardboard smell and the taste to a flattened, dried out sensation. The wine is called “corked” or “corky.” You should send it back in a restaurant or ask the wine merchant who sold it to you to exchange it for a good bottle. Read more in “Send a bottle back.”

Oxidized
The oxygen in air makes a good wine go bad in a day or two if an opened bottle isn’t properly looked after. An oxidized wine smells to me like stale bread or weak vinegar (which it’s trying to turn into). This is a particular hazard with wines by the glass at restaurants, where half-empty bottles are often kept on the bar overnight. Refrigeration helps, even for reds. Another preventive measure is pouring the wine into a smaller container like a half-bottle (375 milliliter) with a tight lid so that it fills to the top and excludes any air.

Cooked
Wine can be “cooked” if kept in hot attics or trunks, above stoves or in frugally minded corporate offices where the AC is turned off over the weekends. It’s a slow simmer, but the wine gets ruined before long. It will look brownish around the edges of the glass (whether red or white) and may smell caramelized. If you also noticed that the cork in the bottle was pushed up and partway out, it’s probably cooked.

Going through malolactic
Winemakers put most red wines and many whites, especially Chardonnay, through a mild secondary transformation in addition to the yeast fermentation that turns them from grape juice into wine. The conversion is called malolactic. But if a winemaker isn’t careful, the malolactic can happen after the wine is bottled. The result can vary from a mild effervescence to a totally stinky aroma and bizarre flavors. One frequent sign is an unusually cloudy or hazy appearance.

Sulfury
Sulfur dioxide is added to virtually all wines in very small quantities (10 to about 100 parts per million) to help prevent oxidation and bacterial growth. That’s why you see the note on the label that says “Contains Sulfites.” Sulfur is a good thing in moderation, but if the winemaker goofs and adds too much, then the wine smells like matchsticks and can prickle the inside of your nostrils. It’s not wise to drink it. Another wrinkle on the sulfur problem is when a wine smells like rotten eggs. This is from hydrogen sulfide and you won’t need me to tell you not to drink it.

Know More About Wine & Find Great Wines to Taste

How To... Wine Tasting !

2005-12-13T06:46:00.000-08:00

how to taste wine!

Professional wine tasters do not treat the process casually. Maybe it's not even fun at times, since they have to dissect, in minutest detail, every sip of every wine. It's their job. You, on the other hand, are not accountable to anybody but yourself. The degree of seriousness aside, there are some key factors one looks for in assessing wine. You certainly don't have to like what is considered excellent wine, but you should have an appreciation for why it is considered such. Also, it makes drinking better wines a much deeper, richer experience.

There are several kinds of tasting. One is for people who barely know the difference between red and white - uncommon but not unheard of. In this case, choose five bottles, a light young red, a mature red, a dry white, a sweet white, and a port or sherry. For a more discerning group, choose five different varietals, like a Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, Cabernet, Merlot and Syrah, to illuminate the distinct differences in so-called "red" wines. Another method might be to select Chardonnays from as many different growing regions as is practical (include several countries and states) to determine what the "baseline Chardonnay" taste is, and how that taste can vary depending upon where it's grown. This is a delightful way to explore a single varietal in depth.

For the more serious taster there are horizontal and vertical tastings. Horizontal would be, for example, ten Cabernets from the same year but different wineries; vertical means all the Cabernets are from different years. This give insight as to what constitutes an excellent Cabernet - again, in your opinion.

You can taste blind -- without seeing the labels -- or in full view of the facts. Blind tasting insures you are not swayed by a wine's reputation. You'll detect what you're supposed to detect, not what you think you're supposed to detect. In blind tasting competitions, the object is to guess correctly the wine and the vintage, and the best team wins. In competitive tastings wine against wine, such as pitting Cabernets from California against Bordeaux from France, the tasting is done blind to insure a fair out come - so the more established reputation of the Bordeaux region doesn't wield more clout than it deserves to.

When several wines are being tasted, the order should be youngest and lightest wines first followed by older more full-bodied ones. To reverse this order is to overwhelm any subtleties a younger, lighter wine might have accrued and is not a fair assessment.

And what are you looking for in evaluating wine? Appearance first, then smell, impression in the mouth, total flavor in the mouth, and aftertaste.

Appearance consists of a wine's clarity and its color. As red wines age they fade, going from deep purple to, eventually, a brick color, whereas white wines grow darker. The best way to judge color is against a white background, a tablecloth or piece of paper, with not a lot of wine in the glass. Also part of a wine's appearance is the wine's viscosity or "legs," which run down the sides of the glass when it is swirled. The more slow moving the legs, the denser the flavor. So if a red wine is pale to brickish and has slow moving legs you can expect it to be mature.

Our centers for smell are located right next to our memory centers. One good whiff of a wine that has been swirled in the glass a couple times should evoke distinct memories - of honey, flowers, mushrooms, citrus, butter, for example - it will also remind you that you've had this wine before, or alert you to the vinegary or moldy scent of a bad wine. First impressions are crucial here and far more reliable than subsequent sniffs. Based on appearance and smell, you now have enough information to determine a wine's overall quality and age.

Tasting the wine fills in some blanks, mainly with regard to a wine's "balance." Take a generous sip and swirl it in your mouth. The weight of the wine in your mouth will tell you whether it's light-, medium- or full-bodied. It also tells you how much sweetness, acidity, alcohol and tannin it contains. The object is for these elements to harmonize pleasantly. If one element is dominant, a proficient taster will know whether that imbalance is a flaw, or is acceptable in the wine being tasted. (A young red wine might be overly tannic but with definite fruitiness, suggesting that in a few years the tannin will have been moderated by the fruit; in this case too much tannin is perfectly acceptable.) The ultimate moment in tasting is just before the wine is swallowed, when the vapors hit the upper nasal cavities.

In France, the concept of aftertaste has been quantified in the form of a "caudalie." If the flavor of the wine stays in your mouth after swallowing for one second, that wine has achieved one caudalie. The more caudalies the better, especially with the wines of Burgundy. Really good wines make the strongest impressions with their smell and their aftertaste.

If you're a professional taster, or if the information obtained is to be used for any important purpose, like a wine review, you should spit out each sip. Not as much fun, for sure, but it does make for a clear head.

Finally, it's a good idea to keep notes about the wines you taste so you can enjoy - or steer clear of - those precise wines again, or so you can get wines with similar characteristics. And feel free to develop your own rating system. Professional ratings are very helpful in a broad sense but they can't compare to what you think about a wine.

At some point you may want to take an actual wine tasting class -- talk to your local wine shop for recommendations!!

Find Great Wines to Taste

Recipes - Beef Fillet in Puff Pastry !

2005-12-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

Beef Fillet in Puff Pastry!
Carré di Manzo in crosta alla Balsamica

Ingredients:
1-1/2 lbs beef fillet
1/6 lb thin slices bacon
1/2 lb frozen puff pastry
3 Tbsp Salsa Balsamica (or good quality Balsamic vinegar)
2 Tbsp Castello Banfi "Extra-Virgin" olive oil
15 grams mustard
1 Tbsp Worcester sauce/demiglacé
1 beaten egg
Flour, salt, pepper

Directions:
Remove fat and skin from the fillet with a sharp knife. Season with salt and pepper and brown with oil in a very hot oven for 8-10 minutes. Put aside and keep cool. In the meantime, on the side, brown bacon on moderate heat, add mustard, Worcester sauce and Salsa Balsamica. Reduce the sauce by two thirds and baste the browned meat. Put the remaining sauce back on the burner, stretch with the demiglacè, season and adjust density and keep warm. Defrost puff pastry according to directions and after thawed, wrap the fillet first with the bacon, then with the puff pastry, close well, brush with egg and bake in oven until the pastry is golden. Suggested wine pairing: Cecchi Valle delle Rose Morellino di Scansano
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How To... Let it Breathe ?

2005-12-10T11:18:00.000-08:00

Wine Basics - Let it Breathe !

“Would you like me to open the wine now so it can breathe?” Yes, I would like her to open the bottle, but not for the reason she thinks.

One of the first things a waiter should be taught about wine service is that merely opening the bottle does not let the wine “breathe.” A gasp is about all it will achieve. This is one of the most common misconceptions about wine.

But this is not to say that wines don’t benefit from exposing them to air. Many young, concentrated red wines, like an expensive Cabernet Sauvignon or Bordeaux that can age for several years, undergo a sort of micro aging process by getting lots of air into them.

The same goes for a young and concentrated or especially astringent white wine, such as a white Burgundy. The reason is that forced exposure to air begins to oxidize a wine, causing subtle chemical changes that affect both the flavors and the texture.

If you’ve ever left a half-empty bottle of wine for a couple of days in your kitchen, you know that it will soon turn stale. The idea of “breathing” is to start this process but stop it in time – by drinking the wine – to achieve only a mild oxidation.

Just popping the cork isn’t going to get you there, however. The best and most entertaining way to accomplish real aeration is to pour the wine into a decanter. It doesn’t have to be crystal or silver; it doesn’t even have to be a real decanter, just whatever glass pitcher or jar or ceramic bottle with a wide mouth that you have on hand. Your decanter, whether elegant or funky, can add a nice new element to the table, so it’s tempting and perfectly acceptable to aerate any young wine.

You don’t need a candle for this, either. That kind of decanting is called for only with a bottle of much older wine that has sediment in the bottom.

If you’re at home, get your wine to breathe by pulling the cork and pouring the wine into the pitcher from the greatest height you can achieve without spilling everything all over the counter. The idea is to splash it as much as possible to maximize the wine’s contact with air.

At a restaurant, answer the waiter by saying yes, please open the wine now. Then ask if she’ll decant it for you. There’s no charge. If the restaurant isn’t set up for decanting, then ask that your wine be opened and glasses poured for everyone, even if you’re saving the wine for the next course.

Your wine will do a lot more breathing in your glass than it ever would have while still cooped up in the bottle.

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How To... Cope With Corks ?

2005-12-09T05:06:00.000-08:00

Wine Basics - How To... Cope With Corks !

Pop! The note of percussion that marks the opening of a bottle of wine is one of the most pleasant sounds on earth to me. And getting to that pop with a minimum of cursing and frustration makes it sound even sweeter.

A wine bottle is one of the most difficult consumer product packages to open—right up there with Barbie dolls (I have a 4-year-old daughter) and cat litter (two 4-month old kittens). To get the genie out of the bottle you need a tool (a good corkscrew) and a brief primer on how to use one.

Primitive or refined?
Any corkscrew will work if you know how to use it. The simplest form consists of a “worm” (the spiral piece of metal, or screw) embedded in a handle, and no moving parts. Along the Mosel and Rhine Rivers in Germany, winemakers take pride in the primitive, using this type of archaic corkscrew with a gnarled chunk of wood for a handle. They twist in the screw, stand up, put the bottle between their knees and yank out the cork with sheer force. That’s OK in a gravel-floored wine cellar, but for the kitchen or dining room a different tool and etiquette is usually called for. I prefer the more refined waiter’s corkscrew that looks rather like a pocketknife with lots of foldout parts, or one of the many Screwpull models.

Levering the worm:
First, remove the foil capsule or plastic wrap that covers the cork. You can simply rip the whole capsule off if you like, but if you have a metal foil it usually looks neater to cut it around the lip of the bottle with the knife attachment you’ll find on most corkscrews. If there’s no foil, only a wax seal, you don’t have to remove it. Put the point of the worm in the middle of the cork or wax. Push and twist till the worm is totally buried in the cork, and pull or lever it out.

Problem corks:
Most newly released wines have physically sound corks, but older bottles that have been aging present special challenges. Even a new cork will sometimes crumble or break as you try to pull it. It’s not a real worry, because the crumbs won’t hurt the wine. If the cork disintegrates on pulling, however, you may want to filter the wine through a tight sieve or coffee filter, for aesthetic reasons, before serving it. Wines older than 10 years often have corks that are either stuck too tight and won’t budge before they break, or have become weak and crumbly with age. On one of these it sometimes works best to use an “ah-so” cork puller, the two-pronged, non-worm type that doesn’t penetrate the cork itself. Still, there isn’t any foolproof way to loosen them or keep them intact other than proceeding slowly and gaining hands-on experience. (May we all have the opportunity to practice on some 1989 Bordeaux!)

Wood or plastic?
The classic wine cork is made from the bark of cork-oak trees. These grow mostly in Spain and Portugal. The bark is harvested once every several years and then grows back. The corks are bored out of the bark. Artificial or plastic corks are on the upswing, however, in response to the seemingly intractable problem of cork taint in natural bark corks. Cork taint is a condition in the cork that can spoil the wine by infecting it with a musty odor and stripping it of some of its flavor. Wines so affected are called “corky” or “corked.” Despite industry efforts to control the problem, I still find more than 2 percent of natural-corked wines are “corky.”

Listen to the cork:
Well, not really. But look at it before you buy. If it has been pushed up and out of the bottle, forcing a bulge in the foil or plastic, don’t buy it. Heat usually causes this movement, and too much heat can spoil a wine, just as coffee spoils after too much time on the warmer. If wine has leaked out around the cork and capsule, it’s probably also a heat problem. This is fairly common with Port and other sweet wines, however, and doesn’t necessarily indicate spoilage.

Keep your cork wet:
Be sure to store your wine bottles on their sides if you are planning to keep them longer than a couple of months. This keeps each cork wet, and a wet cork is a happy cork. Because a cork absorbs a small amount of wine, it becomes slightly swollen with it and forms a tighter seal against the glass than if it was dry. The tight seal keeps air from leaking in, and exposure to air can ruin the wine.

Don’t smell the cork:
When a waiter or wine steward presents you the cork after opening a bottle, you don’t need to sniff it. The odor of the cork tells you little, because corks can smell corky even when the wine is fine. Just look to see that the cork carries the same winery name and vintage as the bottle. If not, you may have a dishonest restaurant or supply chain, and that’s a worse problem than a tainted cork.
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Cheese and Food Pairings !

2005-12-07T14:02:00.000-08:00

What to Serve With That Wine?

Philadelphia prefers cheese steak, New York loves cheese cake, the Swiss serve cheese fondue, and kids scream for Chuck e Cheese! The fact of the matter is that this ancient, versatile, beloved food pairs well with just about every other food. And of course, lest we forget, the most important food pairing of all is wine and cheese. It can be melted, shredded, grated, sliced, diced, cubed, spread, chunked, spooned or crumbled. However you choose to prepare it, you will be guaranteed to enjoy it.

Which Type of Cheese is Your Favorite?
Whether your passion is for Stilton, Roquefort or Gorgonzola Cheese; Camembert, Extra Sharp Cheddar or Brie Cheese; Provolone, Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano Cheese; Emmental, Jarlsberg or Gruyere Cheese; Asiago, Mozzarella or Havarti Cheese; Blue, Goat or Sheep's Milk Cheese; Aged Gouda, Edam or Manchego Cheese; Maytag Blue, Pecorino Romano or Smoked Wensleydale; Ricotta, Mascarpone or Feta; Raclette, Fontina or Limburger; Italian, French or British; Spanish, Dutch or American Cheese; Imported or Domestic; Artisan, Farmhouse or wide production; igourmet.com has what you are searching for.

Gourmet cheeses come in many varieties and flavors, but the most important factor to consider when shopping this intriguing category is quality.

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igourmet imports gourmet cheeses from Italy, France, Spain, England, Ireland, Holland, and Belgium. 30 countries in all! But as the industry develops, Wisconsin, California and Vermont are making some of the world's greatest cheeses as well. The extreme diversity of this food category ranks second only to wine. One could enjoy a different cheese every day for a year and still not sample every variety from France alone.
Imported cheeses, specialty meats, and thousand of gourmet products !

Wine Basics - How To... ?

2005-12-07T00:21:00.000-08:00

How To... Know when a wine is peaking
!

Only a small percentage of the world’s wines get noticeably better with age, but those that do are worth the wait. Drinking an age-worthy wine at its peak of perfection is something no wine drinker should miss.

My wine-aging epiphany happened with a bottle of 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild from Bordeaux that friends shared with me in the mid 1980s. But I’ve enjoyed similar experiences many times since then, and with wines that cost much, much less.

Certain wine types of the world, like red Bordeaux and white Riesling from Germany have proven their ability to evolve--become more interesting and complex in flavor as they get older--without deteriorating. Sometimes they’ll go for more than 100 years, such as the 1870 Chateau Lafite Rothschild I got to taste on another occasion.

A more practical example is a case of 1994 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon worth $35 a bottle that I bought new when it was released in 1998. I have been popping the corks on this wine at the rate of about two bottles per year since 1999. It’s a taste pleasure as well as an intellectual exercise of sorts to follow its evolution. It has gone from powerfully fruity and sweetly oaky in flavor and quite firm and tannic in texture, to more mellow in flavor, with what’s called bottle bouquet replacing the straightforward aromas of a young wine, and with more intricate, spicy-perfumy flavors and a milder, easier-drinking texture.

The lesson here is that a wine doesn’t have to be super-expensive or super-old to show the benefits of aging. It has to be the right kind to start with, and has to be kept in a good, cool storage area that’s as close to 55 degrees year-round as you can manage or afford.

Here’s a look at several types of wine that might be worth aging, and when you should drink them.

Bordeaux:
The red wines of Bordeaux are the gold standard of age-worthy wine. Made largely with Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon grapes in the warm, southwestern corner of France, they seem to have an inherent ability to age well. Vintages vary significantly here, but the best years will produce $100 and up wines that improve for 20 years or more, $50 wines that improve for 15 years or more and even $18 wines that will evolve interestingly for five or more years after their release.

California Cabernet Sauvignon and Bordeaux-style blends:
I’ve never really bought the Francophile’s claim that California wines don’t age. Because in the 1980s I had the chance to taste 20-year-old, 30-year-old and even 40-year-old Napa Valley Cabernets that were in great shape and delicious to drink. This doesn’t mean you should save the $9 fighting varietal wines with “California” appellations on the label, but most $20 to $200 Cabs from Napa Valley, Sonoma County and a few other spots will get more interesting with at least three to five years mellowing after release. And the best will be even better than those oldsters I drank almost 20 years ago.

Red Burgundy and US Pinot Noir:
Some red Burgundies age beautifully, but unless you buy a blue chip like Domaine de la Romanee-Conti it’s a gamble. Even more so with American Pinot Noirs, which usually don’t have the combination of acidity, tannin and concentration to carry them forward in time. Red Burgundy worthy $30 a bottle or more is safe for three to five years, but I would drink most of your U.S. Pinots within a year or two of release while they’re still too tasty to pass up.

Zinfandel:
You rarely find the magic happening in an old Zinfandel that happens rather regularly with a nice Bordeaux. Basically you can drink them on release and for a couple of years afterward. After 10 years in proper cool storage they won’t turn bad, necessarily, but the odds are against them becoming more enticing than when they’re young.

Tuscan Reds:
Many of them are too new to be certain, but most are inherently structured to age. The proven types include Brunello di Montalcino and the early super-Tuscans like Tignanello and Solaia. All these can benefit from 10 years or more in a cool cellar.

Rhone Reds:
Not as high profile as Bordeaux, but certain subcategories of wine from this French region have great track records for aging. Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Hermitage and Cote-Rotie are three of the top Rhone districts (appellations) to look for when you want a wine that shows its best stuff after 10 or more years.

German Riesling:
A great white wine with which to experience the benefits of age. The best types are the richer, often sweeter styles such as ripe Spatlese, riper Auslese and super-ripe Beerenauslese. Even Spatlese can improve for several years, and super-concentrated Beerenauslese can go for decades.

Chardonnay and White Burgundy:
The best wines for aging are often the most tight and tart when young, including French Chablis, the various Montrachets and Meursault from Burgundy, which in the $50 and up range can get better for five to 15 years. A few American and Australian Chardonnays are also quite age-worthy, but they’re not necessarily the ones that get the highest ratings. Look for the older wineries, like Hanzell and Far Niente from California.

Port:
Real vintage Port from Portugal is virtually ageless. Aficionados today are still deciding whether their 1963s are too young. So these are slam dunks for the cellar. A very good vintage from a very good label can easily improve for 25 years.

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Wine Basics - Pairing food & wine !

2005-12-06T22:36:00.000-08:00

Pairing Food & Wine.

True or False: White wine is to be drunk with white meats and fish, red wine goes with beef, and sweet wines go with desserts, period, and to do it any other way is courting a visit from the Wine Police.

The answer is False, but the truth is that until a couple decades ago this is how people decided what to drink with dinner. Thankfully, our minds have broadened. The current thinking is that since food can be every bit as complex as wine, the options for creating rich pairings are staggering. And it cannot be stressed enough: a successful pairing is one that you find pleasing -- maybe nobody else on the planet likes Champagne with liverwurst, but you happen to find the combination absolutely transporting.

If there is a rule of thumb it would be either to go for complementary flavors or flavors that contrast. For example, a dish with citrus would be complemented by a fruity wine; a hearty stew would go well with a full-bodied wine; and a delicately flavored dish, such as poached sole, would be in good company with a dry, crisp wine. Whereas a rich cream sauce would contrast nicely with a highly acidic dry wine; and a simple snack of bread and cheese would turn positively ambrosial when paired with a complex full-bodied red. The best advice of all is to experiment, open-mindedly, and frequently.

What follows are some truths about how wine can react with food:

A wine high in tannins (Bordeaux, for instance) mated with a food high in tannins (like walnuts) will render the wine almost undrinkably dry and astringent.
Protein tends to calm tannins, so a very tannic wine might be rendered glorious when enjoyed with rare beef.
Delicate foods - veal, or filet of sole for example - will be overwhelmed by a full-bodied red wine. By the same token, a hearty lasagna will virtually cancel out a dry, medium-bodied Sauvignon Blanc.
A wine can add its primary flavor to a dish, giving food a layer it didn't start out with.
Some wine and food combinations result in a flavor that was not present in either one and is not meant to be, metal for instance. Try white turkey meat with red Bordeaux if you doubt this.
Sometimes it's as though this wine has been searching all its life for this food and fireworks ensue.
Tannic wines make sweet foods taste less sweet; salty foods emphasize tannin.
Salty foods mute the sweetness and enhance the fruitiness of a sweet wine.
Wines that are high in acid taste less acidic with salty or sweet food; acidic wines also can offset oily foods.

Remember - any combination you enjoy is a good combination!

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