by Linda Perrins Ress Foxworth
Everyone seems to have different ideas about pairing wine with food. But there are four rules that are consistent among most wine experts. Here are the four rules of pairing wine with food in order of importance.1. Match the weight of the wine to the weight of the food. If you're serving a heavy, winter-weather meal, serve a heavy winter-weather wine. If you've made something light and summery, serve a light, summery wine. This is where the old adage 'white wine with white meat, red wine with red meat' really holds up. It is the quickest and easiest way to pair your food with wine. But, say you want to make a more sophisticated pairing. That's when you go to rule #2.2. Match the elements of the wine with the elements of the food. The three elements of wine that you want to conside...
by Joseph Stephens
How about teaming up your favorite meal with the best of wine this weekend? It sounds a great idea but don't you think you may overindulge? Well, you may not mind this but what about the hangover you have to face, the other morning. How about spending you entire Sunday afternoon sitting inside the bathroom, with one hand on your forehead and the other on your stomach? Scary isn't it?Hey, hold on! I am not trying to scare the life out of you. I am just showing you the real picture of a hangover that you may require to face the following day after you have overindulged in your favorite wine.This sounds really bad but don't worry, there are many tips you can follow in order to get rid of a wine hangover. All you need to do is to follow the instructions given below:a) Water, water and water:Wa...
by Joseph Stephens
Alright the holidays have passed and needless to say you’re tired of turkey, ham or roast beef or what ever and now you maybe watching your diet after indulging yourself. So here are some quick and easy food ideas that keeps calories in mind but are still good and are a nice change of pace. If you’re really trying to watch your calories then try to keep the wine to only one glass a day and not too late at night the reason for this is that wine contains alcohol which will slow your body’s ability to burn calories. Of course you can always forget the wine but just remember you might not enjoy your meal as much.We hope that you enjoy these recipes and they give a nice change to your meal ideas and nice change of pace. There can be many befits to adding wine to your meal it can enhance ...
by Rosie Carbo
Culinaria, a San Antonio-based nonprofit organization that creates year-round events centered on food and wine, relishes its annual festival. For one, it’s an open table with a place for everyone to dine in chic elegance or backyard casual. The annual Culinaria food and wine festival is set for May 15-19 at venues in and around the Alamo city. Everything from charming Chardonnays to Mystic Merlots and capricious Cabs will be poured at all events. Additionally, non-wine aficionados can select from an array of superior spirits or handcrafted beer at several of the indoor and outdoor events during the five-day festival. The lengthy list of sponsors includes HEB, where many of the domestic and international brands of fine wines are available. The organization started under another name in...
by Ron Barker, Cigarvolante Llc
A recent article in Forbes highlighted a new Jolie/Pitt wine that has brought new interest to rosé wine.Jolie-Pitt’s New Wine Is Scarce, Twelve Best Rosé’s To Try InsteadSince starting the Virginia Wine and Cigar Trail 3 years ago I have had the opportunity to taste a number of new varieties and styles and several that I have disdained in the past, like rosé and have, with few exceptions, been delighted. One of the pleasant surprises is the number and the complexity of the rosés that we have had the opportunity to taste and pair. We have paired with 5 of them across our 15 (to date) wineries. Across the 5 we have paired them with 4 different cigars, some of them with two cigars that bring out different characteristics. Holly Grove 2010 Sunset RoseThe 2010 Sun-set Rose’ was produc...
by Jackie Gonzalez
Latin cuisine, music and art under one roof will help those in need.(Miami, FL - April 2013) - Latin Events Network, an event planning and management company, will hold the First Annual Latin Taste Fest in collaboration with charity partner, Feeding South Florida on Saturday, June 1, 2013 from 4:00 - 10:00 p.m. in the International Ballroom at the Hilton Miami Airport, the event hotel sponsor, located at 5101 Blue Lagoon Drive.The Latin Taste Fest is a food, wine, and spirits extravaganza that will feature cuisine samplings, wines, beers, brand liquors, gourmet cooking classes, accompanied by an eclectic variety of live Latin musical entertainment, among other exhibits and activities soon to be announced. The event will include a variety of top local Latin restaurants that will offer a ta...
by John Cesano
John on Wine Spotlight winery: Testa VineyardsBy John Cesanopublished 03/28/2013 in the Ukiah Daily JournalComfy. Comfy is how I feel when I visit Testa Vineyards, just north of Calpella at 6400 N. State Street.From the rustic metal farm antiques used as installed art decorations to the red checked cloths covering wood-round topped wine barrels, and from country music playing on the radio to old wooden picnic tables - all surrounded by head pruned old vine vineyards, a lake, mustard growing between the vines when I visited, and a three bedroom vineyard rental guest house with a winemaker's dream: a cellar for barrels and cases. Testa Vineyards has a warm, unpretentious, welcoming vibe; Testa is defined by its comfortableness.The Testa family has farmed grapes in Calpella for more than 100 ...
by John Cesano
John on WineFriends don't let friends Vacu-VinBy John Cesanopublished 04/04/2013 in the Ukiah Daily JournalOne of my wine industry jobs was with the Wine Appreciation Guild, one of the industry's largest publishers of wine books and a one-stop distributor of both wine books and accessories. My job was to sell wine books and wine accessories to winery tasting rooms, wine shops, and other specialty merchants in 42 California counties.There was one item I refused to sell.Vacu-Vin. There is no wine preservation system more ubiquitous. Gwyneth Paltrow told Oprah that it is a "must-have" in her kitchen. Every frau and pretentious wine poser in the country has one. Sales of the devices number in the tens of millions.For the one or two of you who are unfamiliar with Vacu-Vin, here's what the manuf...
by John Cesano
JOHN ON WINESpotlight Winery: RIVINOBy John Cesanopublished 04/11/2013 in the Ukiah Daily Journal"Welcome to RIVINO," owner Suzanne Jahnke-McConnell greeted me on my recent visit. Together with her winemaker husband Jason McConnell, Suzanne runs the winery at the vineyard Suzanne's dad has been growing grapes at for the last 20 years.RIVINO is a made up word, a portmanteau, a combination or joining of two words, River and Vino. Vino is, of course, Italian for wine, and the grapes for these wines are grown in vineyards alongside the Russian River.RIVINO winery on Cox Schrader Road in Ukiah, east adjacent to Highway 101, is an Estate winery, meaning that the wines are made from grapes grown, crushed, and fermented on site. Estate wines often exhibit vineyard specific characteristics. All of ...
by John Cesano
John on WineWinery spotlight: Barra of Mendocino and GirasoleBy John Cesanopublished in the Ukiah Daily Journal on April 18, 2013The cypress tree surrounded Barra event center on North State Street, just north of Calpella in Redwood Valley is home to a wine tasting bar that plays host to special private events. On recent visits I have seen the large interior space set up beautifully for a wedding reception and a baby shower.Invited to taste through the wines of both Barra and Girasole, I found Barra of Mendocino wines are bigger and feature a mix of specific oak barrels, often Louis Latour barrels to bring specific notes to the wines, while Girosole are largely stainless steel tank driven wines with just a small percentage of French and American oak for flavor.My tasting hosts were winemak...
