Sarah Palin for Vice President!

Congratulations to Alaska Governor Sarah Palin for being selected as the Vice Presidential candidate on the GOP ticket!

I remember stumping for Palin to all my Republican friends in June; I am so happy to have the opportunity to vote for her this November.

As the only family member that has NOT visited Alaska, I am behind the curve in knowledge of "The Last Frontier," but I vow to make up for it by trying some Alaskan seafood with a nice bottle of white wine.

Find out more about Alaskan seafood here: http://www.alaskaseafood.org/

Grab some great ideas for seafood and wine pairings here:
http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com/2008/01/wine-and-fish-pairing-guide-how-to.html

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Glenora Gewurztraminer and Southwestern eggs breakfast food and wine pairing

In her blog Everyday Wine, Gretchen Roberts shared a flavorful breakfast food and wine pairing perfect for a spicy Sunday morning.

Gretchen borrowed a recipe for Southwestern Eggs from Real Simple Magazine and paired the salsa, egg, avocado, sour cream, cilantro, and chip dish with a glass of New York Gewurztraminer. See her review of this wine and food pairing here:
http://everydaywine.net/?p=68

The sugar in the Gewurztraminer cuts the heat of the salsa and the wine's 'spicy' nose pairs well with the dish's Southwestern flavors.

The hotter the salsa, the more off-dry your wine pairing must be, in order to 'tame' the heat and allow the salsa's flavors to be revealed.

Would you have wine with breakfast?

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Create Your Own Wine Tasting Game

According to the Springwise newsletter, a company in the Netherlands has put a new twist on the wine board game. Their product, 4xProeven, or "Tastingx4" in English, includes four mini-bottles of wine and a fold out game board that directs players to look, smell, taste and compare the bottles, with the end objective being to correctly guess which bottle is Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Noir and Shiraz.

The 4xProeven site is here:
http://www.4xproeven.nl/

This sounds like a fun game that will help wine drinkers improve their enjoyment of wine.

Could you construct a similar game from scratch with wines that you enjoy as a parlor game at your next get together?

Would you play a similar game with friends?

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Pizza and Wine Pairing Tips

Please don't save your wine for only 'fancy meals!'

From the Wine Spectator, Harvey Steiman shows you which reds and
whites work with pizza in this educational video:

http://click.winespectator.email-publisher.com/maal8yqabJzuAb8w3TTbaehlJd/

What's your best pizza and wine pairing?

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How to Sound Smart When You Talk With Wine Snobs

30 second Primer to food and wine conversation

My wine savvy friend Jared and I enjoyed some 'inside baseball' conversation about wine and food pairing at a recent wine group meetup. I had to be quick on my feet to keep up with his wine knowledge! I recently found a great resource from Food and Wine magazine for food and wine lovers here: http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/a-crash-course-on-the-past-30-years

Bryan Miller has compiled a 30-second guide to 30 years in food history, with the most important chefs, restaurants, wines, cooking gizmos and more.

Especially useful is his short list of must-drink vintages - memorize these and you'll know when to ooh and aah when the wine snobs talk about the famous wines they have tried.

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/5-foolproof-vintages

Which primer was the most useful to you?

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Wine and Political Conversation Pairing - the Georgian grape Rkatsiteli

The current political tensions in Eastern Europe have cast my favorite white wine grape in the international spotlight!

Rkatsiteli is a wine grape widely planted in Georgia and the Soviet Union and used to make a fragrant, floral white wine. Dr. Frank's Vinifera Wine cellars in New York's Finger Lakes region produces Rkatsiteli wine, as does McGregor Vineyards, also located in the Finger Lakes.

Learn more about Rkatsiteli here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rkatsiteli

The 2007 wine grape crop in the Finger Lakes was phenomenal, so I am looking forward to uncorking a bottle of Dr. Frank's Rkatsiteli this weekend, the perfect wine for discussing world politics.

I had the chance to talk with Dr. Frank's grandson Fred Frank about this interesting wine last year. Learn more from Fred Frank in this Youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF0ptL1TlDQ




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Sausage, Bratwurst, Chili Dog, Donut and wine pairings

In the Washington Post article, 'When Dinner Comes in a Long Bun,' Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg offer wine and food matches for less-than-classy meals.

They sampled Alsatian Riesling with Bratwurst, Pinot Noir with a seafood sausage, Rioja with a chili dog and Chianti with an Italian Sausage.

The pair also describe a tasty dessert pairing - Chateau d'Yquem and warm Krispy Kreme doughnuts.

Rioja and Chianti are two bold yet lighter red wines that have enough acidity to match the bold flavors of Italian sausage and a chili dog.

Krispy Kreme doughnuts are glazed, but they are not as sweet and full of powdered sugar as other doughnuts, so they likely would taste less sweet than the dessert wine. For the best food and wine match, make sure that the wine is always sweeter than the food.

Would you drink wine with a hot dog?

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Best Girls' Night Out Wines

Gretchen Roberts profiles a few great non-food 'sipping' wines in her Everyday Wine blog.

Roberts recommends choosing a "fruitier" wine for drinking without food and an "earthy" wine with food, and suggests drinking Sparkling Wine, Pinot Gris, Chenin Blanc and Pinot Noir after dinner at a leisurely "girls weekend."

Most people tend to enjoy a sweeter or fruitier wine when drinking it as a non-meal beverage. The complex flavors of "earthy" wines really shine when paired with food.

Roberts' specific wine picks are here: http://everydaywine.net/?p=73

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Eat Local Diet Vegetable and Wine Pairings

Food and Wine magazine offers recipes for farmers market vegetables and suggestions for how to choose the best eggplant, peppers, corn, squash and tomatoes at your farmers market.

http://www.foodandwine.com/articles/local-flavors

Food and Wine recommends a wine with cherry flavors as a match for Grilled Eggplant Risotto, a Verdejo with Angel Hair Pasta with Red Pepper Pesto and Basil, and a Roussanne with Squash and Zucchini "Linguine" with Goat Cheese.

Related Article:
Pairing Winter Vegetables and Wine
http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com/2008/02/pairing-winter-vegetables-and-wine.html

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Tour local Wineries this September with the Capital District Wine Meetup!

Join the Wine Meetup members for a day of wine tasting at the Hudson Valley Wine & Food Festival in Rhinebeck, NY.
We will take a Wade Tours bus on Sunday September 7, leaving the Crossgates Mall Parking lot at 10:15 am SHARP and returning at 6:45 p.m.

The festival brings together over 200 wineries, gourmet food, fine art & craft vendors. Your admission ticket includes all the wine you can taste and $5 worth of food to sample.

More information: http://wine.meetup.com/139/calendar/8550440/

Join the Wine Meetup members for a day of wine tasting in the Finger Lakes!

We will all play hooky from work and take a Wade Tours bus on Friday September 26, leaving the Crossgates Mall Parking lot at 6:30 a.m. am SHARP and returning at 10:00 p.m.

Enjoy wine tasting at 4 wineries along Seneca Lake:
Ventosa Vineyards
Bellhurst Winery
Glenora Wine Cellars
Fox Run Vineyards - tasting AND tour!

We will have lunch at Belhurst and also take a tour of Geneva, NY.

More Information: http://wine.meetup.com/139/calendar/8550505/



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Recipes and Wine Pairings for a 'hands-on' pasta party!

Recipe4living.com offers several recipes that will have you and your friends working in the kitchen to make homemade pasta for dinner. Most formal dinner parties are way too work-intensive for the frazzled hostess. The guests simply arrive and sit at the table, waiting to be served their meals. That's no fun!

Make your next dinner party a group effort by giving your guests the opportunity to make a part of the meal themselves.

Find recipes for your make it yourself Italian pasta party here:
http://www.recipe4living.com/Common/Article.aspx?id=61972

The simplest party can rely on boiling premade pasta and topping it with a sauce from your 'sauce buffet.' Sauces can include a Creamy Tomato Pasta Sauce with Basil, a Primo Pesto Sauce, an All Purpose Pasta Sauce, a Light Alfredo and a Fresh Tomato Sauce.

Nothing makes a party fun like a bottle of wine! Choose a Chianti and a Chardonnay and let guests sip and savor their wine as they prepare dinner. Save a bottle of each for drinking at the dinner table as well.

Please leave a link to your favorite sauce recipe in the comments section!

Related Article:
How to serve an Italian - style dinner :
http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com/2008/02/how-to-serve-italian-style-dinner.html

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Dry Riesling and Cheese Pairings

Cole Danehower offers advice on Riesling food and wine pairings in a 2002 article for the Oregon Wine Report

Danehower recommends pairing dry Riesling with creamy or fatty cheeses like Brie, Alsatian Munster, or Pont l'Evéque and salty cheeses like Gruyere, Beaufort, or Asiago.

The acid in the wine cuts through the fattiness or the creamy cheeses and sets off the saltiness of the saltier cheeses.

There are still many diehards in the wine and food pairing community that will not hear of pairing cheese with a white wine – try the pairing for yourself and see if you agree with the 'red wine only' school or the
'red and white wine' school.

Here's one of many articles on the 'only red wine with cheese' controversy - Why Red Wine and Cheese Have Stopped Going Steady.


Would you pair Riesling with Cheese?

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Education Video - Sauvignon Blanc

Wine Spectator has a great new educational video on a great summer wine - Sauvignon Blanc.

In the video "Sauvie Time," MaryAnn Worobiec shares information about California Sauvignon Blanc wines and provides insight as to how Sauvignon Blanc 'age' in the bottle.

Watch the video:
http://click.winespectator.email-publisher.com/maal7hfabJkGTb8w3TTbaehlJd/

Have you ever tasted an aged Sauvignon Blanc?

Related Article:
Find Sauvignon Blanc food and wine pairings here:
http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com/search?q=sauvignon

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Cooking Classes at the Warwick Valley Winery

Upcoming Cooking Classes at the Warwick Valley Winery with Chef Shawn Hubbell & Chef Katherine Grizzanti

Mastering Fish and Seafood
August 14, 2008 - $85 plus tax

Celebrating the Farmer's Market
August 22, 2008 from 10-12 pm (Goshen Farmer's Market)
August 23, 2008 from 10-12 pm (Blooming Hill Farm Market)
August 24, 2008 from 10-12 pm (Warwick Farmer's Market)
August 26, 2008 10-12 pm (Florida Farmer's Market)
*August 28, 2008 7-9 pm (Cooking at the Pané Bakery)

- $85 for the series plus tax

Hors D'oeuvres and Party Planning
September 11, 2008 - $65 plus tax

The Warwick Valley Winery is located at 114 Little York Road in Warwick, New York.

I got to meet Shawn Hubbell earlier this year at Brotherhood Winery, where he made a flavorful soup that paired well with a glass of Riesling.

More food and wine pairing tips from CIA grad Shawn Hubbell are here:
http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com/2007/11/wine-and-food-pairing-tips-from-cia.html

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Hearty recipe pairing for Durif wine

The Albarino to Zinfandel Blog offers a meat-rich recipe that pairs well with a glass of Durif wine.

The Steak and Kidney dish includes stewing beef, ox or lamb kidneys, flour, herbs and red wine. Durif is the same variety of grape as Petite Sirah and is grown in California, Australia and France.

If you cannot find a bottle of Durif, try Petite Sirah or Zinfandel with the meaty recipe.

American dishes do not make much use of kidneys, so this should be an interesting "international" meal pairing.

Steak and Kidney "Sponge" recipe:
http://albzin.com/recipes/ingredient/beef/steak-and-kidney-pudding/

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Wine Dinner Pairings - Red wine and salad

Cella Bistro, a really great wine-focused restaurant in Schenectady, is having a wine dinner on Tuesday, August 12 at 6:30 pm

The pairings are as follows:

Swiss chard torte with a Prosecco Brut
Grilled spice-rubbed lobster and shrimp speidini, herbed butter fondue with a Sauvignon Blanc
Mushroom ravioli, parmeggiano reggiano, porcini-truffle tomato sauce with a Dolcetto D’Acqui
Mixed field greens and herb salad, shallot vinaigrette, heirloom tomatoes, fresh housemade mozzarella, grilled house cured and smoked bacon with a Sangiovese
Toasted fennel spice rubbed pork roasted whole in a “caja china” porchetta stuffing, salsa verde with a Valpolicella
Butter roasted peaches with almond biscotti crumble, frozen vanilla bean custard, marsala caramel with a Marsala Ambra

Prosecco is a sparkling wine, so it will pair well with most any dish, especially an appetizer.
Red wine and salad is an unusual pairing, but it works because the salad includes fatty mozzarella and savory smoked bacon, which pair well with the stronger flavor of a red wine. Including 'red wine friendly' ingredients in a salad is a great tip for pleasing a red wine lover at a special dinner.

Related Article: Why wine dinner pairings work http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com/2008/06/why-wine-dinner-pairings-work.html

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Calling all Boston Wine Lovers

Boston Wine Writers
Meeting monthly at the Boston Wine School
First meeting: Tuesday, August 19

According to Jonathan, meetings of the Boston Wine Writers are free and open to everyone. "If you have something you want people to read, come with 20+ copies. If you're a wine maker with a new and interesting wine, bring it. As long as you have a passion for good wine writing, it doesn't matter whether you're a writer, editor, sales rep, importer, restaurateur, bartender, blogger, PR person, waiter, or wine lover: you're invited!"

For more information, contact: Jonathon Alsop jon -@- BostonWineSchool dot com


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Sommelier Secrets: What is your sommelier thinking?

Prominent sommeliers spill their secrets in this Wine Spectator video.

Find out what to say to your sommelier to guarantee the perfect wine
for your meal!

Related Article:
What would happen if you put the sommelier in charge of the restaurant? http://kathleenlisson.blogspot.com/2008/05/what-would-happen-if-you-put-sommelier.html

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How to Beat Stress With a Glass of Wine

Woman's Day readers - Check out 20 One-Minute Ways to beat stress!

My advice for using your favorite glass of wine to relax is tip #11.
http://www.womansday.com/health/13263/20-one-minute-ways-to-beat-stress.html

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An official taste-test for Rieslings!

International Riesling Foundation announces "Riesling Taste Scale"

In the Syracuse Post-Journal article, 'How do you pick out the right Riesling for you?' Debbie Groom provides details of the new Riesling Taste Scale from the International Riesling Foundation (IRF). Under their plan, winemakers can evaluate their Riesling and classify it as either Dry, Off-Dry, Medium Dry, Medium Sweet, and Sweet.
Official categories will make it easier for consumers to predict the taste they can expect and choose the right food pairing.

Jim Trezise, director of the New York Wine and Grape Foundation said that market research has shown that many consumers think of Riesling only as "a sweet white wine" despite the wide range of tastes it can represent.

Sweeter Rieslings pair well with hot and spicy foods. Drier Rieslings can pair with white meat and seafood dishes.

Would a Riesling Taste Scale make it easier for you to buy a new Riesling at your local wine shop?

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