Great Article on Wine Accessories

Ten @ 10: Wine stuff you don't need. Really.

Posted by Bill Daley

"A jug of wine, a loaf of bread – and thou," that old Persian poet Omar Khayyam had the right idea. You don't need a lot of fussing and fidgeting to throw a memorable party, whether for 200 or 2.
Wine drinkers out there could be forgiven for not knowing this considering the wide assortment of the oenological paraphernalia on the market. All promise to make you a better host, a more savvy connoisseur. Some of these devices and gadgets are handy and can make entertaining easier. But you can get along without them – even a corkscrew.

The Stew staff joined me in thinking up all the wine "thingies" aspiring hosts can live without. Really, you can.

1. Wine bucket. You can chill bottles in a large pitcher or vase, even a wok piled high with ice (the wok works particularly well with those fat bottles of sparkling wine).

.....Click to Continue Reading at The Stew!!!!

Girls with Good Glasses

Hey everyone. Here's an interesting article on wine glasses from Salon. Savor it while I work on the post for the most recent wine club -- it's full of pictures and links!

How to Sabrage a Champagne Bottle

Step 1:

*Remove the foil and muselet covering the cork.

*Align the blunt end of a moderately heavy knife with teh seam of the bottle.

Step 2:

*Forcefully slide the knife along the seam, striking the lip of the bottle (the weakest point)

*Make sure to follow through while yelling loudly

PREPARE TO BASK IN GLORY!


~from the back of the Wine Riot's business card

Got Tickets to Wine Riot!!

I'm proud to admit that I am the new owner of 2 tickets to this weekend's Wine Riot brought to us by The Second Glass. They will be pouring over 250 wines, have a DJ, a photo booth, crash course seminars, and food pairings. I'M SO EXCITED! I'm forcing Reed to go with me (yeah, I really had to twist his arm on this one...) So, between the two of us I think we should be able to taste all 250 wines.... CHALLENGE!!

we might not remember any of them... but that's neither here nor there

Check out this video from last year's Wine Riot.

I promise we'll take lots of pics and maybe I'll try my hand at a video of our own!

And how did I get these tickets, you may ask? I went to a pre-Riot tasting down at Bin Ends in Braintree on Sunday and got 'em there. Let me tell you... that place is AMAZING!! Great selection, low prices, and really knowledgeable, friendly staff. I was able to pick up an exciting Chilean Syrah for G&G on Thursday while I was there, too (3 birds - 1 stone!). More on that in the days to come.

** Oh, and remember that whole "I lost my camera" thing... yeah, one week after the new one comes in the mail I FIND IT! Where? In my golf bag of all places!! Now I have a "party" camera and a "real" camera :)

Faux-hawks and Birthdays

My birthday party was kick-ass for a number of reasons: so many of my awesome friends showed up - keg-stands - horse races - karaoke - awesome sparkly & ruffled presents - and of course, a mohawk.

When your birthday falls so close to Christmas, it's easy to feel like you'd be more important if, and only if, you'd been conceived by a virgin.

Luckily, this year my friends went all out to make me feel special. For the purposes of this blog there are a few highlights to share with you:

Wine Aerator!

I took this on my recent ski-vacay for some testing. We poured 2 glasses of wine, one with and one without the aerator. You could totally tell the difference! It made our wines taste a little more smooth, richer, deeper, and more complex. Totally awesome gift! Thanks J!

And Now For The Wines!

My friends know me so well... I got so much tasty wine for my b-day! Woot!

2007 Frei Brothers Reserve: Chardonnay from Northern Sonoma, CA ~Thanks Hugh!

Herding Cats: Pinotage/Merlot from South Africa. ~Thanks Kristen!

Il Valore: Sangiovese from the Puglia region of Italy. ~ Thanks Trish & Ben!

Best of all... Reed went out of his way to find my favorite varietal - AMARONE

For Amarone, only the ripest recie ("ears") of the grape bunches are picked in late October, then dried under shelter in the open air in flat wood crates holding 7 kilos until January/February (appassimento method). Fermentation of the raisined, non-botrytis affected grapes is done in temperature-controlled, stainless steel tanks with indigenous yeasts and can last 20-30 days. Aged 1 year in stainless, 4-5 years in Slovenian oak botte (casks). Average production: 3000-3500 cases per vintage.

IN OTHER WORDS, its a very rare, and expensive, imported wine. AND DELICIOUS!!! I can't say enough about this wine. It is a powerful, intense red with concentrated black cherry and jammy-ness. It is dense, rich, dry and has firm tannins while also being incredibly well-balanced.

The second wine he gave me is another of Italy's prize wines, SFORZATO (which translates to withering or strained).

Sforzato is a very special wine obtained uniquely from Nebbiolo grapes that are left to ripen for a longer period than is required for the production of regular wines. Its quality depends not so much on technical matters as on climatic conditions and the quality of the grapes. It is thus an embodiment of the uniqueness of this Alpine territory.

My Sforzato was deep red with an intense bouquet, ethereal and very complex. Full-bodied, structured, and velvety. This was a great sipping wine, and we spent the evening enjoying it next to the fireplace in our Waterville Valley "chateau".

An internet search revealed that "Sforzato is the pride of Valtellina and one of the greatest wines of Italy. Its unrivaled complexity and elegance makes it a premium wine from Lombardy. It is a vintage wine only produced during propitious harvests and is truly a connoisseur’s delight."

Wow, thanks everyone for a WONDERFUL, JOYFUL, INCREDIBLY LOVING BIRTHDAY!!