Wine Club Insider back with you.

As I mentioned, I was out of town doing some work the past week, returning Late Thursday, just in time for a task I was semi-dreading, to be honest… I’m all about helping out, but lately, I’ve been so busy, volunteering wasn’t top of my priority list - I mean, I’ve got lots other other “real” things to do, ya know?

I, like many of you, I expect, am busy, and for the next couple of weeks, I’ll be as busy as any time all year, as we have our largest event of the year coming up - www.adventuresportsweek.com - if you want to see what it’s all about. Well, one of the things we set out to do when we changed our lives around a couple of years back was to try to give back of ourselves if we could, and as luck would have it, it was time to do some givin’.

We live very near an amazing natural resource, Farragut State Park, and with the severity of our winter, there was lots of damage to trails and paths. With our event coming up there in a couple of weeks, myself and a couple members of our working group gathered up chain saws, shovels and rakes on Friday, and hit the trails, clearing dead fall, branches and the like.

12 hours of carrying a chain saw uphill later, we had cleared and restored over 9 miles of trails. Let’s just say this was a job. There’s still 4 miles to go that I’ll try to get to this week, but the main stuff is done.

On top of that, a dear friend who had just had surgery emailed us Friday night in a panic; she was in charge of an aid station for the local marathon, and the group assigned to help out bailed, so she was stuck with no help, and 1800 thirsty runners coming on Sunday morning, so we passed the email around our crew, and as of 6:30 am on Sunday, we were out manning the water station, which was tough, considering I’m way more used to running the marathon than helping at it.

I have to say, though, that it ended up being a great experience! We brought music, oranges, cookies, Heed sports drinks, muffins and a megaphone, and turned our little aid station into a party zone, and the runners loved it! They were so appreciative, and it was well worth the time to help out a friend. The weather was perfect, and all in all, it was a blast!

The bottom line is that despite being swamped, volunteering was a fulfilling and worthwhile experience, and no matter how I felt at the outset, I walked away feeling much better about myself and what we accomplished, and you know what, I’ll still manage to get caught up on my project.

I encourage you to find something you can do to give back and help others without benefit to yourself… you’ll end up giving you and others a gift beyond price. Trust me; you’ll never regret it, and the glass of Mondavi Coastal Pinot at the end of the weekend tasted better than ever!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider, out!

Pinot Noir, USA Wine, Uncategorized giving back, Helping others, Volunteerism

Wine Club Insider back with you!

Well, I’m back from an out-of-town working sojourn in lovely central Oregon.

My last evening there, I competed in a little “Iron Chef meets Chopped” cooking contest against a local chef, and it was a blast!

The key ingredients were chicken, strawberries, Graham crackers, and the secret ingredient was Bok Choy (?). We could prepare as many dishes as we could, highlighting the ingredients, and using a few other things as well, so with the opening gong, the battle was on!

For my dishes, I prepared a double appetizer that was well received… I made a sauteed chicken taco, stuffed with diced bok choy, cilantro and a sour cream, yogurt and wasabi sauce with a lime wedge on top, and I made a mille feuilles of very thinly sliced chicken breast slices and super thinly sliced red potatoes, topped with a jumbo prawn and a strawberry emulsion.

For my main course, I took a piece of the chicken breast, sliced it and stuffed it with strawberry, graham cracker and a piece of Havarti cheese, and the baked it, wrapped in puff pastry.

I served it over sauteed bok choy with a mustard and white wine sauce, accompanied by diced red potatoes cooked up in the rest of the sour cream - wasabi sauce.

For dessert, I made a puff pastry crust, and coated it with Graham crackers and a butter/lemon cream. While that was cooking, I took rhubarb, lots of strawberries, raspberry liqueur and some sugar, and cooked them down to a nice coulis. I filled the pastry shell, let it chill a bit, and served it with a touch of whipped cream.

My opponent Lisa made a spinach and bok choy salad with strawberries and carmelized almonds (which were really good!)).

For her entree, she went with simple, pan seared chicken breast with a balsamic reduction, and baked bok choy in the same sauce. She served it with rice with raisins and almonds. For dessert, she made a graham cracker pie crust, and made a key lime pie topped with a couple of strawberries.

In the judging, I won the appetizer and entree unanimously, and narrowly lost the dessert, but won the overall. More importantly, we had a great time, and ate 5 terrific courses.

We also had some wine, and I’m not talking just any wine!

We started with the terrific Clos du Bois Zin, which, while not as good as the Ravenswood, was pretty special. Next, we had the Concannon Petite Syrah, which is one of our host’s favorites, and it didn’t disappoint. Then I brought out the Borra “Fusion,” a Syrah, Cab, Merlot, Zin blend from Lodi, and it was AMAZING! Everyone loved this wine… it was one of the best I’ve drank in some time, and even better under the circumstances.

For dessert, I cracked one of my treasures: a 750 of 1982 Renaissance Late Harvest Sauv Blanc. I’m not sure if I’ve had a better glass of dessert wine in a long time, Ice wine included.

I bought the last case a couple of years ago, and have been drinking them for special occasions. The wine is now the color of rich caramel, and the flavor just keeps getting better. What an awesome way to end a great evening!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

California Wine, Dessert Wine, Fine Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Shiraz, Sweet Wine, USA Wine, Uncategorized, Vineyards, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting Borra Fusion, Clos du Bois Zinfandel, COncannon Petite Syrah, Iron Chef

Wine Club Insider coming at you from on the road this week!

Yup… actually had to go out of town to do some work for a living… I pride myself on being one of the busiest unemployed people I know, but every once in a while, I have to do something at least mildly productive, even if just to keep my wife happy.

With that in mind, I had to make the trip to Bend, Or. to teach a small clinic. I drove down Sunday, and it was an awesome day… mid 80s (warmest day this year around here!), sunny… perfect! By the looks of it, the wine industry isn’t suffering quite as mush as the rest of us in these troubled times… people will always keep sipping their vino, I guess. It was great to see all of the new wineries dotting the Columbia River and Oregon hillsides as I made the trip. I’m planning in hitting a few of them on the way home - strictly for educational purposes, of course!

On a side note, the unsettled weather seems to be following me; the drive down was perfect, it was 86 yesterday, and today, after giving it a chance to catch up, it’s 66 and raining - in the high desert. Oh well… just seems to be my luck this spring. I did get a great run in this morning before the clouds rolled in, though, so no worries!

The folks I’m staying with in Bend are also foodie/winos, so we manage to always find something to drink, eat and chat about, even if it’s just a simple salad, watermelon and cheese like we had Sunday night, accompanied by a very pleasant surprise that I dragged out of my cellar and brought along for the ride…

We opened a 2002 A Mano Puglia, which is made from 100% Primitivo (Basically Zinfandel, or at least modern Zin’s grandfather). It was huge! Rich, full, but not over done. Yup… Zin is my current favorite red grape… it’s been working toward it for a year, and over the past 3 or 4 months, I don’t think I’ve had a bad Zin!

Last night, friends came over for lasagna, salad and bread, and brought, of all things, a Ravenswood Zin. A great coincidence! The Ravenswood was excellent, as usual, but lacked some of the fruit of the A Mano, to my mind. Still a terrific wine, though.

Tonight, I’m facing off against one of the chefs here in town in an Iron Chef-meets-Chopped contest, with pride and a good bottle on the line… I’ll let you know how it goes on Thursday!

(I think I have an edge, because I also brought the fabulous 2003 Borra “Fusion,” the Syrah-Cab Sauv-Merlot-Zin blend from from Lodi for the entree, and with my dessert, I’m serving one of the last 6 remaining bottles of Renaissance 1982 Late Harvest Sauv Blanc in a 750… it’s the color of dark caramel, and will carry the evening for me, I’m sure, no matter what I make!) Almost a shame to have to throw in work in the middle of all of it, but it keeps me in vino, laptops and mountain bikes, so it’s all good!

Have a great week!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

California Wine, Dessert Wine, Fine Wine, International Wine, Italian Wine, Red Wine, Shiraz, Sweet Wine, USA Wine, Vineyards, Vintage Wine, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Tasting A Mano, Borra Fusion, Chopped, cooking, Iron Chef, Primitivo, Ravenswood, Renaissance Late Harvest, Travel, Wine, Zinfandel

Wine Club Insider back with you.

Rain, Rain, go away, come again another year…

Another day of substandard temps, buckets of rain and overcast here in the northwest. Our summers and falls are marvelous, but Spring kind of sucks until the rain ends… they give us just enough nice days so we don’t move away, but then the next wave of storms comes through, and our drought worries ease for another year!

One good thing is that it’s great for the grapes, though! Wet spring, long, hot, dry summer… maybe that’s why Columbia Valley fruit is getting such a great reputation!

In doing my normal weekly tromp around the cyber-vineyards of the Internet, I came across a new (to me, at least) site called “The Wine Society” out of England.  www.thewinesociety.com

Founded in 1874, it is reputed to be the World’s oldest wine club, and their stated goal is to introduce people to some of the world’s great wines at a fair price.

The way they work their membership is that you actually buy a share in the WIne Society for $60-ish (40 British pounds) and it is good for a lifetime, with no pressure to buy.

Even though shipping to the US isn’t an easy option, there are still plenty of other reasons to join, especially if you want a great wine education or have the option of travelling to the UK or to France at all…

Their wine list is over 800 deep, stuffed full of some of the great treasures from the US, Europe, Australia and beyond. They have a great online library, and if you live in England, they will deliver your wines with their own vans!

They also have several tastings, controlled storage for their members, and a nice futures program. They also have retail outlets in England and France if you “just have to have it today.”

I’m actually thinking about joining just for the extras, and picking up my wine when I next get there… and if I can’t bring it back with me, I guess I’ll just be forced to drink it with a nice piece of cheese and some fresh bread out in the English countryside… could be worse, I guess.

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out

Bordeaux, Burgundy, California Wine, Fine Wine, French Wine, International Wine, Red Wine, USA Wine, Vintage Wine, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Club Gift, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Reviews, Wine Storage, Wine Tasting, Wine Tours International Wine, The Wine Society, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Education

Wine Club Insider back with you!

I am going to apologize in advance: We’re hosting a 1300 person event with 24 different sessions over 10 days coming up in early June, and as things get closer, I may be a bit sporadic on my postings… I will do what I can to keep current, and will promise to make up any that I miss afterwards.

This is one of the biggest events we have ever done, and it’s rapidly turning into a 25 hour/day project!

Anyway, I hope you all had a marvelous Mother’s Day! We certainly did around here. My own mom passed away very young from cancer, but my wife not only has her mom, she also has a 96 year old grandmother (Omi) and a 93 year old grandmother, both in excellent health (well, excellent for 93 and 96… I’d settle for being that healthy at that age!) so we had a full table of moms.., my wife and I are also expecting our own first child within the next couple of weeks, so she almost counted in the motherhood department this year.

Being a chef, one of the greatest joys is being able to cook for the family, especially one that enjoys good food, as ours does, so I get the pleasant task of doing the family holiday meals, of which Mother’s Day ranks right up there.

Here’s what we did to keep body and soul together for Mother’s Day; our family are big fish eaters, so I based the meal around some wonderful halibut fillets I found, and went from there.

Appetizers:   Cold smoked sockeye salmon (yes, I smoked it myself) with minced egg, herbed cream cheese and home made croutons, accompanied by a nice cheese tray with Havarti, smoked Gouda, aged cheddar and Berliner, an excellent, aged Irish white cheese.

For our first beverage I made one of our signature champagne cocktails, using Whidbey’s Loganberry Liqueur, and then pouring the champagne in so slowly that the liqueur (which is a rich, deep purple) stays on the bottom. Add a raspberry into the drink and straddle a strawberry on the rim, and you have one attractive drink that tastes good, too!

Salad:  We had a spinach salad topped with strawberries, raspberries, diced pears, candied walnuts, feta, and a hot bacon raspberry vinagreitte dressing, served with warm soft rolls. I served a delightful Argentinian wine called “Chumeia,” which is an off-dry, almost effervescent blend of Torrontes and Chenin Blanc that offset the salad very nicely.

For the main course, I seasoned the halibut with sea salt and thyme, sauteed them in olive oil, and served them up over a bit of cooked spinach in a nice three pepper sauce. We also had some pan fried new red baby potatoes and some crisp asparagus, and I topped the halibut with a sauteed giant prawn.

Our two wines were the single vineyard Ironstone “Rosato de Sangiovese,” a bone dry sangio blush that everyone loved, to some surprise. Since our family are mainly red wine drinkers, I also opened a bottle of the 2004 Isenhower “Red Paintbrush.” I ‘ve mentioned this beauty before, and likely will again, as this merlot based blend is an awesome wine, and is drinking perfectly right now.

A quick note on food and wine pairings:  The days of “white with fish, red with meat” are long gone, my friends. Experiment with all sorts of pairings, and you’ll be surprised with what you find that works well. Also, basically, it comes down to “drink what you like,” though that is NOT an excuse to not try new and different wines, even if they’re white, and you’re a “red wine drinker,” or vice versa!

For dessert, I created something new in the spring time vein, and was pleased with how it came out…

I sliced up an Angel food cake loaf, and then French-toasted the slices in egg, powdered sugar and more of the Whidbey’s liqueur. Yummm. Yes, it tasted as good as it sounds. I covered the slices with a bit of strawberry whipped cream, fresh strawbs, and for a touch of flavor and color, I added a splash of Rhubarb and strawberry coulis I whipped up the night before. It was, I must say, excellent. The grandparents were almost licking their plates! We served it with a bottle of Golddigger Cellars 2002 Late Harvest Sauv Blanc for the crowning touch.

Well, that was it for us. I’d love to hear what you all do for traditions, or what you did for meals to bless our moms… let me know, and I can hopefully post some of the best ones.

Until next time,

Cheers!

WIne Club Insider out.

California Wine, Dessert Wine, Fine Wine, International Wine, Merlot, Red Wine, Sparkling Wine, Sweet Wine, USA Wine, Uncategorized, Vineyards, White Wine, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Making, Wine Reviews brunch, Champagne cocktails, Chumeia, Golddigger Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc, Isenhower Red Paintbrush, meals with families, Merlot, Mother's Day, Torrontes, Whidbey's Liqueur

Wine Club Insider (finally!) back…

I can hear it now…

“Hey, WCI, where have you been? I was looking for my usual end-of-the-week dose of wine club news, and, poof, there’s nothing there? What gives?”

With deepest and most humble apologies, I respectfully submit that sometimes even wine blogging must take a back seat to real life.

As some of you no doubt know, Ray and Joan Kroc (of McDonald’s Fame, and I don’t mean ee-ei-ee-ei-oh) left hundreds of millions of dollars to the Salvation Army to build a number of community centers across the USA. Well, Coeur d’ Alene Idaho was one of the fortunate recipients, and after raising a matching $38 million, CDA became the smallest (by far) city to have one of the amazing new rec and community centers. (Here… check out www.kroccda.org for an idea of how special these centers are!)

Well. the grand opening was this weekend, with the gala last Friday night, and yours truly was able to help provide the catering for the big day.

Since Wednesday, I’ve been on my feet for 12 - 14 straight hours prepping and transporting a buffet for 450 to the center, and then setting up, serving and cleaning up.

It was a lot of work but well worth it, and well received. Here is a sample of what we had on the menu:

~ Chicken Valdostana (chicken breasts pounded out like veal, and then stuffed with copacola sausage and fontina cheese and baked in a Putanesca sauce)

~ Crostini with whipped gorgonzola andfig or sun-dried tomato puree

~ Pizza “turnovers”

~ 10 sides of cold smoked salmon and all the trimmings

~ Huckleberry cheese cake and sauces

~ Antipasto, fresh fruit and cheese trays that could have fed the 2nd army

and a few other little delicacies.

Redwood Creek Winery served up the libations to accompany, and a good time was had by all, though I don’t know if I want to see another chicken or cut another piece of cheese for a while…

So, that, dear readers, is why last week’s column was a tad late… I hope you will understand, and tune in again this week… after all, this was for a great cause, and anything done in the service of food, wine, charities and enjoyment of the public has to be a good thing, right?

Enjoy your day!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

Uncategorized buffet, charity, food, gala event, Kroc Center, Wine Club

Wine Club Insider back with you!

Yesterday, we took part in one of the great festival/sporting events anywhere in the USA; The Lilac Bloomsday Run, a 12 k (7.46 mile) run through the streets of Spokane with 52,000(!) of our closest friends.

In its 22rd year, Bloomsday - www.bloomsdayrun.org - is one of the largest (2nd largest, I believe, behind Bay to Breakers), best organized runs anywhere, and is a giant party that captivates an entire region for several days, including a huge fitness expo, community fitness and training classes etc.

It is also held the 1st Sunday in May, which nicely coincides with “Cinco de Mayo” festivities, which, this year, is being celebrated on the 5th of May…

I have to admit that I spent Saturday evening with my friends Jose and Margarita, rather than wine, but still managed to complete the pretty challenging run in 58 minutes, which isn’t bad for an old guy!

Dessert wines, as I have mentioned, are some of my favorites, with Ice Wine - or Eiswein - topping that list (okay, maybe Port is right up there).

We’ve talked a bit about Port in an earlier article, but I wanted to chat about how Ice Wines are made, since several vintages will be coming to market soon, just in time for your summer enjoyment.

So, what do you get when you let the grapes freeze on the vine, waiting until December or even January to pick them, by hand, in the dead of night, at less than 10 degrees?

Ice Wine, or Eiswein in Germany, is perhaps the most difficult to make, best-crafted wine in the world, and creates wine with such character and depth that it is hard to describe until you have tried it. These are world class wonders of delight and delicacy, with world class prices, to boot. In Germany, Riesling grapes are used for Eiswein, but other varietals are used around the world, including Gewurtztraminer and Sauvignon Blanc, Vidal, Muscat, Pinot Gris, Semillon, Chardonnay, Chenin Blanc, and even Pinot Noir and Catawba. Canadian Ice Wines are viewed as perhaps the greatest in the world, and can easily fetch more the $90 for a 375 ml bottle! New Zealand, Austria and the US also make wonderful Ice Wines.

Here are just a few of your choices:

Inniskillin (Canada)                             Vidal and Riesling         $65 – 90/375ml (maybe the best in the world!)

Terra Blanca (Washington)                  Chenin Blanc                $50/375 ml

Bonny Doon ‘Vin Glaciere’                    Muscat                         $24

Mission Hill Reserve     (Canada)          Vidal                             $60

Selaks (New Zealand) and Covey Run (Washington) make excellent Ice Wines for under $30!

Of course, there are a whole raft of German Eisweins, including the famous Dr. Loosens, which are spectacular, if a bit pricey.

Some wineries freeze their own grapes, which seems to me like cheating, but there is little argument about the finished product. Dolce from Far Niente Vineyard ($80/375 ml) is a great example.

So, there’s a bit of a primer on “the Nectar of the Gods.” Enjoy!!

Cheers,

Wine Club Insider out.

California Wine, Dessert Wine, Fine Wine, International Wine, Sweet Wine, USA Wine, Uncategorized, Vintage Wine, Wine Cellar, Wine Club, Wine Club Gift, Wine Education, Wine Lovers, Wine Making, Wine Tasting Cinco de mayo, Dessert wines, Eiswein, Ice Wine, Running, Sweet wines, tequila, Wine Club

Wine Club Insider back!

Wow… what a week!

Besides the other events I’m doing, my wife and I are expecting our first child in June, so now we have baby classes, baby showers, baby nurseries, baby shopping… for all the parents out there, you know of what I speak, and for those still unencumbered, you just wait… what a blessing, all tied up in lots of work!

On our drive to the airport, there is a mini-storage facility - ABC Mini-storage - that brightens my day, and the days of the hundreds of drivers that breeze past on the interstate.

Now, I don’t have storage there. As a matter of fact, I’ve never even stopped in, yet I can’t wait to see what’s new…

The thing they do that’s so special - and yet so simple - is they have a billboard with a different funny/interesting/thought provoking quote on each side, and like many, I suspect, I love those quotes!

Today’s was “Why is abbreviation such a long word?”

The flip side is “Why does the word Lisp have an “S” in it?”

Simple, yes, but every week when I drive by and they’ve changed it, I’m excited, and I bet many of you love quotes as much as I do.

That said, I started thinking about wine (what a surprise!) and wondered if I could find some quotes… of course, we all know the usual suspects, but was that it?

Turns out, there are a few more…

Here are some of the ones that caught my eye:

Fine Wine, International Wine, Uncategorized, Wine Education, Wine Lovers Wine, Wine Club, wine humor, wine quotes