Webderland Wine Seminar

[FinderDoug]

I hope you bought them a copy of Bottle Shock for the flight home.

Thanks for the reccomendations - always on the lookout for something new to wrap my taste buds around.

[Lori Koonce]

Hey Douglas

http://www.fpwm.com

This is a really interesting site. They have a unique system to help you find exactaly what you are looking for in a wine.

This is the only thing I can think of that would entice you and your good lady into a trip to see me and SF in person.

And if you don't wanna come here to get the wine, they do ship nationwide.

[markabaddon]

I loves me a good Viognier, but with the weather turning chillier, I am gravitating back to my first love, Zinfandel (especially made from the last grapes of the season)

[Moderator]

Peggy, Doug, Frank, Mark and any other foodie/eunology fans who might be lurking:

I am a little more than halfway through Daniel Boulud's Letters to a Young Chef, and have to recommend it to all of you guys. Boulud's comments and observations -- made to a fictional "young" penpal -- are spot on and fascinating to read. Boulud's "voice" is considerably more refined than is Anthony Bourdain's, but he also pulls back the curtain on realities and necessities of working in the restaurant industry. His love of food, wine and the industry comes through on every page, and he clearly enjoys what he's discussing.

http://www.alibris.com/search/books/qwork/7717199/used/Letters%20to%20a%20Young%20Chef

[FrankChurch]

The one helpful thing about catering is that you have access to free food. This plus input from the cable tv beast has turned me into a grade-A foodie.

Never been big on wine, but love crafted beer, high-end coffee, subtle trinkets of mouth joy.

Will look for the book Comrade Barberrrr.

I heard Langer's deli is the welp beating at the bakery door.

[Peggy]

Thanks Steve, will have to look it up!

(and no, I haven't died. Just been off the board. Can't keep up with this and my other SM burdens....)

[FinderDoug]

Steve - Will definitely check it out - danke.

Frank - What have you drinking craft-beer wise? Had a bottle of the Saint Arnold 2011 Divine Reserve with dinner - just out last week from Saint Arnold down here in Texas and an official Big Deal with the beer drinkers. This year was a double IPA that has a gorgeous amber color and while remarkably hoppy, it doesn't have the typical bitter hoppy bite - crisp, clean and very drinkable, if it was available in larger quantities. Have had quite a few with really interesting flavor profiles since arriving in Texas; I wholly recommend the Brew Dog Tokyo stout (an outrageously complex stout with a heavyweight 18.2% ABV) and - when in season - the Brooklyn Brewery Black Ops - a high-end buy as well, and a seasonal that can be hard to find, but its aged in bourbon barrels and is waaaaaaay too smooth.

Dessert tonight (to bring it back around to wine) brought us a glass of the wonderful The Rare Wine Company New York Malmsey Special Reserve Madeira, accompanying a little brownie and a little blue cheese. The bottle was a Valentine's Day gift from my honey, and it keeps getting better every time we draw a glass from it. That it complements both sweet and savory in different ways is part of what I love about it.

[FrankChurch]

Goose Island is good. We brew Sam Adams here, so I drink that--it does have a nice bitter finish. In Cleveland they brew Great Lakes brand crafted brews. They are very good and they have a neato look. Check em out:

http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/

I like the one with the rock guitarists.

I like taking chances with different crafted beers. I drink ales, but am not big on fruity tastes. I love dark beers, with a bite and a bit of sweetness. Guiness is too much like mud.

I also stick with basic beers like Fosters oil cans and Harp. So many beers, so little time.

[Ezra Lb.]

Bass

[FrankChurch]

Bass Harp. We need music for beer drinkin.

[cynic]

oooo,
it's been years; Red White and Blue, from Pabst, returnable bottles at $3.50... a case.
a little skunky, lime or any citrus a big plus.

everclear...say hello to God, bye bye braincells.

stout is like a meal, an acquired taste, i still seldom drink it "warm".

[FrankChurch]

And you burp at the table and wipe your mouth with your shirt. Good, now we know.

[cynic]

frank;
if you must continue tossing your turds, at least take down the "peace sign" avatar.
wash your hands, and strap your helmet on tight lil' buddy.

[Anthony Ravenscroft]

While I appreciate just about every standard red wine, I find myself enjoying stuff that's labelled "Gamay Beaujolais." Despite sounding French, it's a mid-century California variant on pinot noir grapes, & the GB name was apparently banned by the Feds (!!!) in 2007. Still, there's a few dusty bottles that show up on the shelves of small stores, but mostly I have to content myself with the Jadot Beaujolais-Villages. Have yet to knowingly try a Beaujolais Nouveau.

Turns out that the distant burg in whic I live has some blue-collar wine fans. I've floated the idea to a few of starting some sort of wine club, & received a good level of enthusiasm. Problem is, I have no idea how to begin (though I can obtain space at a local hotel & pay a quite reasonable corkage fee to bring our own bottles). I'm pretty certain I can latch onto a couple of liquor stores to provide some bottles (like the "Happy Harry's" chain) & even a vintner or two (i.e., Two Fools: http://www.twofoolsvineyard.com/wine.html). After that, I'm clueless.

Anyone got suggestions?

[markabaddon]

Tony,

I have never been part of a wine club, so take this with a large grain of salt, but my recommendation would be to have about 5 or 6 wines to try that would be appropriate for that season. You could also use this as an opportunity to have people try some more unusual wines. For example, in white wines, most people know about Chardonnay, but one of my favorite summer wines I discovered last year was a Viognier. I would suggest a blend of a couple more traditional wines to try and a couple of more unusual options.

On the Beaujolais Nouveau, I have had a wider spectrum of opinion on that wine than on almost any other. Some years, it is a very fun wine to have. Light, refreshing, and a great wine to serve at the start of a party. Other years, I have had it where it was so buttery it was gross, or there were other flavors that just were not good (it was not like a corked bottle, had those, and this was different)

Tried a new wine this weekend I HATED, a greek wine called a Retsina, which has a pine resin flavor. I tried it at a local store and was so repulsed by it I had to bring Karen back to try it. Yes, I am an asshole, but we all knew that before. I told her the wine had a very unusual flavor but would not say if it was good or bad. When she took a sip, I looked away so that she would not see my face. The guy at the wine store, who knows us pretty well, said that her reaction was the most extreme of anyone's who had tried the wine and half expected her to spit the wine out, rather than just dump the rest in the bucket.