Archive for the 'Events' Category

Thank you to everyone who entered our Montana Master Grillers Contest! We received some great responses from all across the country from readers like you. Our grand prize was for one lucky reader to win a three-night stay for two at Montana’s The Resort at Paws Up this Memorial Day weekend and attend, quite possibly, the best wine and barbeque event of the year – Montana Master Grillers. Co-sponsored by Wine Enthusiast and Double Ranch, this event will feature lunches and dinners prepared by some of the world’s top chefs in this premier culinary-filled weekend.

Without further ado, we’re happy to announce Clive Berkman as our lucky winner! Clive is a Chef with his own blog, Cooking With Clive For his wine and BBQ pairing, he told us “My favorite style of wine to pair with BBQ is a dry sparkling rosé. Although Grenache, Zinfandel and Syrah work well I find the sweetness and body of some BBQs tend to take away from a great match. With the sparkling it stands up to the body and the crispness and bubbles perfect the palate for another bite.”  Congratulations to Clive, and we hope you have an amazing weekend in Montana this May!

As a Thank You to everyone who entered, here are some of our favorite answers as we asked you all, “What is your favorite wine & BBQ pairing?” Please be warned: you may find yourself salivating from some of the mouthwatering pairings below!
“My recipe for grilled pork tenderloin stuffed with Point Reyes blue cheese drizzled with a blackberry-syrah sauce served next to the campfire outside of my RV.”
-    Nancy

“Ground Lamb soaked with my favorite red wine (Stonestreet Monument Ridge) lightly seasoned, plus sautéed onions, topped with blue cheese on a toasted ciabatta roll served with the same wine.”
-    Jaime
“Grilled lemon citrus chicken and a crisp sauvignon blanc - a perfect combination in the summertime!”
-    Crista

“Lamb chops seasoned with salt, pepper, rosemary and olive oil, then served with key lime jelly for dipping, along with sides of home fried purple potatoes and mashed spaghetti squash. The wine pairing would be a 2005 Morey-Saint Denis.“
-    James

“The BBQ:  thick cut (2″) antelope backstraps (grass and grain fed critters, not sagebrush eaters) marinated in Veri Veri Teriyaki , grilled hot and fast to a warm, red, juicy interior. Seasoned with fresh ground pepper and salt to taste.”
-    John

“2010 Venge Scout’s Honor Proprietary Red with Grilled Top Sirloin of Lamb with a raspberry cherry chutney.”
-    Dinah

“Copper River Salmon drizzled in real Maple Syrup, on Cedar Plank, with a 2009 Cinder Winery Tempranillo.”
-    Julie

By far the most popular pairing we received, was pork and Zinfandel. We’re sensing a trend!

Feel free to share your favorite pairings below, if you haven’t already. Cheers!

Calling all hopheads! In case you haven’t heard, allow me to fill you in: Today is International IPA Appreciation Day. That’s right… today is the day to break out your favorite IPA from around the world and Facebook, Tweet or Google + all about your experience drinking it and how much you love it. Why? Essentially, to promote the consumption of delicious, flavorful beer and strengthen the voice of the discerning craft beer drinker.

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This Monday, June 6th, marks the launch of the Sud de France Festival in New York. The month-long festival, now in its third year, encourages attendees to experience the spirit of the Mediterranean lifestyle, complete with fine wine, foods and entertainment from the Languedoc-Roussillon region. It allows people the opportunity to learn more about the culture and specialties of the region through a convivial approach of tastings and experimentation, all at exciting venues with welcoming ambiance and alongside local winemakers and artists.

For a region with so much to offer, the concept behind the annual festival couldn’t be more appropriate.

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You might have forgotten it in the hubbub over Valentine’s Day, or never even known about it (shame on you!), but Wednesday, February 16th, is Syrah Day or #SyrahDay. That said, I’m sure the organizers at Hospice du Rhône won’t mind if folks call it Shiraz Day in certain parts of the world. The idea behind these sorts of events is to get a large number of people cyberbuzzing about a topic and hopefully increase knowledge and engagement levels on a larger scale than if there were no particular focus.

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Every year, the CIVL (The Conseil Interprofessionel des Vins du Languedoc) organizes the Languedoc Ambassador Wine Tour, a trade and media tasting designed to promote the great diversity and superb quality of AOC wines found in the Languedoc wine region. This year is no exception, with fantastic wines announced today as the official CIVL Ambassador Wines of 2011.

It’s fantastic exposure for an oft-overlooked region.

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Halloween is one of those strange holidays that people either do really well or not at all. To me, there’s no going halfway here because if you try to cut corners and just come up with a costume in five minutes (i.e. sheet ghost) you inevitably just end up feeling stupid for even bothering while marveling at other people’s elaborate costumes as they look at you and think “what a weak, lazy costume.” Awful.

Nope, for me and my loved ones, Halloween is all about fun and getting into the spirit of things, because while it might be a pain in the you-know-what to get your act together, the payoff in laughing and smiling with kids, family and friends makes it all worthwhile in the end.

First off, I make (as in sew) a fair portion of my costume every year. I don’t really believe in spending more than $50 on a costume, and by making a good part of it on your own you bring down that total expenditure to even less while keeping the integrity of the design in tact. The best way to do this? Set a date with a group of friends who also need to get crafty either for themselves or their kids, break out the sewing machines and a couple bottles of wine. For some reason, I find that a crisp, refreshing white like an Albariño from Rías Baixas or Sauvignon Blanc from South Africa really helps to get those creative juices flowing, and doing it with friends is just all the more fun.

Then, there’s the actual Halloween festivities. Of course if you have kids and must go trick or treating with them, there’s no reason you shouldn’t have a good time too. Dress up! Try something silly and adventurous. You’ll be an awesome parent for being fun and a great spouse for letting loose and maybe putting something on outside your comfort zone of the traditional post-7pm tee and sweats. The kids will get candy, and you can treat yourself to some hot buttered rum or a black martini after the sugar rush subsides and they finally fall asleep.

But the best way to celebrate is undoubtedly to have a Halloween party. You get to laugh (or cackle) with friends and family and take some awesome pictures, as well as make some crazy fun drinks. Here are some of my favorites:

Halloween Harvest Punch – Because you should ALWAYS have a giant bowl of booze.
Combine 1 part melon liqueur, 1 part dark rum, 1 part light rum, 2 parts white cranberry juice, 1 part unfiltered apple juice, 1 part simple syrup and juice of one lemon in punch bowl. Garnish with apple slices, blueberries and melon balls.

Dracula’s Kiss – delicious and deadly
Rim glass in thick red-colored simple syrup (not necessary, but definitely has a cool effect). Coat the bottom of the martini glass with ½ ounce grenadine. Add ice and 1 ounce black cherry vodka. Fill glass with cola and garnish with maraschino cherries.

Ghostbuster – I ain’t scared of no ghosts
Pour 1 ounce peach schnapps and 1 ounce melon liqueur into shaker with ice. Shake and strain into glass. Add 3-5 drops of Irish cream liqueur drop by drop into the center of the glass. Watch the ghost dance.

Walking Dead – For the zombies that need to pull an all-nighter
Half fill highball glass with Newcastle. Add 1 shot of chilled brewed espresso, 1 ½ ounces (a shot) of Jack Daniel’s and fill with red bull. Stir, drink and get ready to stay awake. (Note – The Newcastle DraughtKeg is especially useful for these, with less bottle waste and no flat half bottles lingering around. Also people can just have a regular beer if they don’t really want to stay up all night.)

In addition to cocktails, be sure to check out winemag.com’s article on hosting a Halloween party with tons of recipes and tips.

So, how will you wake the dead this year? Are you ready to take Halloween to another level? What are your favorite spooktacular drinks?

Photo courtesy, Brewer's Association/Jason E. Kaplan

Let me rephrase that… reflections on the beer fest. Last week was the 29th annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colorado, America’s biggest beer festival and Guiness record holder for the most beers tapped in one location as well as the largest selection of American beers gathered together on the globe. With close to 50,000 attendees over the course of four sessions in three days (Saturday afternoon is for Brewers’ Association members only), this is by no means a small production. Considering the amount of beers to try (over 2,200) and new experiences and information to be absorbed, all I can say is, good thing they give you a tasting book with the names of all the breweries and beers!

It’s a lot to take in, but after a week the haze begins to clear and coherent reflections can be assembled. Here are some of the highlights and epiphanies I experienced that I can’t wait to examine further:

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Photo @ Christophe Grilhé

Nearly every grape seems to have its own advocacy group these days: ZAP for Zinfandel, PS I Love You for Petite Sirah, TAPAS for Tempranillo. And why not? Every berry deserves a little love.

Grenache still doesn’t have a group of its own, but at least it has a day. This Friday, September 24, 2010 is International Grenache Day, an initiative born of the First International Grenache Symposium, which was held this past June in France’s Rhône Valley.

There are numerous local wine events being planned around the world focusing on Grenache, like the Hospice du Rhône-Paso Bowl event if you happen to be in Paso Robles. Retailers and restaurateurs elsewhere are also participating–just search the Web and you’re bound to find something. Better still is this Google Maps link I just got in from the Symposium.

If nothing else, plan to open a bottle of Grenache and post about it somewhere–on a blog, Facebook, Twitter–using the official #Grenache hash tag. Give this unsung grape a little love.

These days, everything seems to be a little easier thanks in large part to the internet. What used to take days, weeks, even months of digging through dusty papers and fragile microfiche in the library is now at your fingertips via online archives and resource sites. The phone book I had delivered to my house last week?… a good fire starter considering I have a handy app on my smartphone that doesn’t leave my fingers black. And of course it’s almost too easy keeping up with friends and family through the use of email, blogs and social media sites like Twitter and Facebook.

But one of the best reasons to love social media these days is the opportunity to follow people and events all over the world without leaving the comfort of your living room.

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They converge upon the Colorado Convention Center with such number and force, one never knows what to expect. Hotels are flooded with everyone from beer-belly twenty-somethings to groups of women looking to broaden their knowledge and affluent couples traveling from abroad with the event as the only item on their itinerary. The city of Denver becomes filled with locals and tourists alike, all carrying little 3 ounce tasting glasses with the same ubiquitous logo as the countless banners that adorn the streets.  With 462 breweries pouring over 2,200 beers, there’s a reason this event is listed as one of the top 1,000 places in the US to visit before you die and is the Guinness World Record holder for the most beers tapped in one location as well as the largest selection of American beers gathered together on the globe.

The Great American Beer Festival: need I say more? 

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