Having a party? Got place card holders? Here's an idea with a vino theme. We've seen them at Daily Olive and Uncommon Goods, but you can probably find them from a variety of vendors. A set of 12 for $8 seems to be the going rate.
Whether or not your guests are corked, you'll be able to put them in their place with these handy items.
12 May
2008
Mother's Day Madness
Yesterday was Mother’s Day. I decided to forgo the usual long wait in a crowded restaurant for a mass-produced, overpriced meal. Instead, I opted to make my own brunch for the family (because that’s the kind of mother I am). Well, at least I planned on it being brunch. It ended up being our dinner, but it was good nonetheless. Luckily, I didn’t choose to make something like pancakes or waffles. I haven’t eaten things like that for dinner since my college days. I’m sure the kids wouldn’t have minded, but I had already baked some cupcakes for dessert and didn’t want the whole meal to cost me a trip to the dentist.
05 May
2008
California Family Wineries to Watch
The program was entitled "TASTE: California's Family Wineries" and the flyer explained, "The theme this month is small family wineries, artisanal wines and new brands to watch. Winemakers from Sonoma, Napa, Mendocino, Paso Robles & Santa Barbara will pour dozens of wines that showcase California's diverse climate, soils, and topography." The host was Ian Blackburn, a Master of Wine candidate and founder of LearnAboutWine.com, a web site dedicated to wine education. So, we signed up to go and learn something new.
The early evening weather was balmy and setting was an open-air plaza next to a hip, upscale restaurant in Beverly Hills. We didn't know what to expect, but we thought we might just find something new and different. We were not disappointed.
28 Apr
2008
A Rose By Any Other Name...
A week ago, on the morning of the Santa Barbara County 26th Annual Vintners' Festival, we had the distinct pleasure of participating in Palmina Wines very first educational program at their Lompoc facility in Santa Barbara County. The program was led by Steve and Chrystal Clifton, the owner/winemakers. The topic was Tocai Friulano. Steve kicked off the program by saying, "This grape has a complicated history." That's an understatement, to be sure.
Hungary has its Tokaji, a sweet amber-colored dessert wine made from the Furmint grape. Italy's Tocai Friulano is made from a grape also known as Sauvignon Vert or Sauvignonasse, which yields wines that are floral with wonderful minerality and a slightly bitter almond finish (and not related to Sauvignon Blanc, which is more herbaceous). But that is where the plot starts to thicken.
22 Apr
2008
On the Food Trail in Santa Barbara
As Rich mentioned in an earlier post, we spent last Saturday tasting our way through Santa Barbara County. We love both the wines and food of the area and always seem to find something new whenever we visit. This time was no exception. Surprisingly, our latest discovery was found in one of our old haunts. Intermezzo (located in downtown Santa Barbara) is a great little wine bar/bistro that also serves cocktails and traditional wine bar fare. We tried a few things off the menu, including a dessert that came from the Wine Cask, their affiliated restaurant next door. All of it was wonderful, but one dish really hit the spot for both of us. They call it Tuscan Style Flatbread with Jamon Serrano, Heirloom Tomato and Wild Arugula.
21 Apr
2008
Saturday in Santa Barbara County
This past Saturday, we departed quite early from Los Angeles to spend the day in the Santa Barbara wine country. There were few cars on the road, a nice change from the typical Los Angeles driving experience, and the drive along the coastline was tranquil and majestic. The morning cloud cover was thick and the air was moist and breezy as we approached Santa Barbara. Drizzle covered our windshield as we drove the final leg along Highway 1 to reach Lompoc. We were on our way to attend the 26th Annual Vintners' Festival at Lompoc's River Park hosted that afternoon by the Santa Barbara County Vintners' Association, but we arrived early that morning to jumpstart the day with a Friulian experience hosted by Palmina Wines owners Steve and Chrystal Clifton. One of the extra benefits of the Vintners' Festival is that area wineries hold special events over the same weekend.
14 Apr
2008
Go Invisible with Vino Nobile
Towards the end of his famous poem, Bocco in Toscana (Bacchus in Tuscany) published in 1685, Francesco Redi proclaims:
I'm ravished! I'm rapt!
Heav'n finds me admissible.
Lost in extacy! blinded! invisible!
Hearken, all Earth!
We, Bacchus, in the might of our great mirth; –
To all who reverence us, and are right thinkers;
Hear, all ye drinkers!
Give ear, and give faith, to our edict divine! –
Montepulciano's the King of all Wine.
In Tuscan culture, to "go invisible" means to be carried away in a fit of rapture – to cloud nine, if you will. I guess he really liked the stuff.
07 Apr
2008
Slip Slidin’ Away…
Creating and implementing a blog is a lot of work. We had no idea of the amount of time we would be spending getting this baby afloat. So it wasn’t a surprise to either of us when we found ourselves sitting in front of our computers on our anniversary instead of at a nice table in one of Los Angeles’ many fine restaurants.
It was our own fault, really. We thought it only appropriate that the inaugural posting of the Wine Imbiber should fall on our 24th anniversary, given our history. But, we only came up with the idea a week ahead of the self-imposed deadline, with many items still in need of attention. Neither of us had bothered to put “make dinner reservations” on the top of the punch list.
What does a stressed-out couple do to celebrate their dual special occasion when they find themselves without extravagant dinner reservations in a city like LA?
31 Mar
2008
Wine Shops' Best Kept Secret
There wasn't much fanfare announcing this rare opportunity. Visiting a local wine shop last week, I learned they were hosting a wine tasting the upcoming Saturday. They host a different winery each weekend. This past Saturday, the shop was hosting Moraga Vineyards, a winegrowing estate in the hills of Bel Air, California (some of the most expensive real estate in California).
For a nominal fee ($10 in this case), I was able to sample two vintages of Moraga's white wine and 4 vintages of their red. Since the whites are priced around $55 per bottle and the reds range from around $125 to $200 per bottle (some are even more, depending on the vintage), the tasting fee was irrelevant.
24 Mar
2008
From Cheese to Nuts
An appetizer is defined as food eaten before a meal to stimulate the appetite. I don’t know about your kitchen, but the appetites around mine don’t normally require much stimulating. In fact, we’ve been known to make full meals out of appetizers. At restaurants, I’d much prefer to sample two or three different appetizers than limit myself to one main course. After all, variety is the spice of life (for me anyway).
Cheese and nuts are staple foods around our house. Their many varieties make them versatile ingredients for all types of recipes. From simple after-school snacks for the kids to elegant hors d’oeuvres for wine tastings, you really can’t go wrong including them in some form or another. I’ve been making Goat Cheese Italiano for so long, I don’t remember its origin.
24 Mar
2008
Where to Begin
"Wine makes a symphony of a good meal," declared Fernande Garvin in The Art of French Cooking (1969). Andre Simon (1877-1970), the wine critic, expressed it in more graphic terms, observing "Food without wine is a corpse; wine without food is a ghost; united and well matched they are as body and soul, living partners." However stated, the notion that wine and food go together is indisputable. Personally, I can hardly think about wine without considering food. But which with what?
Pairing Food & Wine
If you are relatively new to the wine experience or to wine and food pairing, how do you figure out which food will enhance your wine enjoyment? Or, for those more oriented to food, which wine will complement your food?
© 2008 Habeas Mirth Corp.
All rights reserved.