Win 2 MORE Tickets to the Riverside WineFest!
November 13, 2012
Due to the overwhelming response I received to the last competition I ran to win tickets to the 10th Annual Riverside WineFest & 5 Points Fall Festival, I managed to “politely convince” (without any violence) Riverside Liquors’ owner David Joudi to let me give away 2 MORE tickets!
The party starts at 6pm this Saturday November 17th, and the 1000 block of Park Street will be closed to traffic for you to enjoy the wines and live entertainment. Food venders will also be in the street and stores will be open extra hours for your enjoyment.
Personally, I have 2 favorite wine tasting events in Jacksonville: Caring Chefs and the Riverside WineFest. Unfortunately since the Riverside event falls right-around my birthday, I am usually out of town for it….BUT NOT THIS YEAR!!! I will be there in full force!!!
The Riverside WineFest lets you taste over 300 wines from around the world and shop at participating merchants for great fall and holiday specials. While there are a lot of wine events in Jacksonville, no other event offers so many quality wines for such a small donation!
All you have to do is answer the following question and email me the answer:
What is the cost of a single ticket to the Riverside WineFest (CLUE: the answer can be found at the Riverside Liquors website)
a) $10
b) $30
c) $50
d) No idea…I’m just going to try and bribe the organizers with a bottle of Boone’s Farm and a smile….hopefully they’ll let me in…
Once you have chosen the correct answer from one of the 4 options above, shoot me a quick email at kris@blogyourwine.com and you will be entered for a chance to win.
The competition deadline is Thursday Nov 15th at midnight. One entry person. Entry will be selected at random. If you entered the previous competition you will need to enter again. All email addresses will be added to Jacksonville Wine Guide weekly email newsletter. Tickets will be made available to you on the day of the event at Riverside Liquors.
Good luck, and remember that even if you aren’t chosen as the winner, tickets to the Riverside WineFest are only $30 a person with the proceeds being donated to Riverside Avondale Preservation & Big Brothers & Big Sisters Of North Florida. Click here for more information on the Riverside WineFest.
Posted in Events | Tagged Riverside Liquors, Riverside Liquors Jacksonville, Riverside WineFest | Leave a comment //My Story: The Fresh Prince of Bel Air Version.
November 13, 2012In the average week I can’t even count the number of times I get asked where I’m from, how I came to end up in this country, how I met my wife, and how I got into wine. I therefore did what any rational person would do, and set my life story to the beat of the Fresh Prince of Bel Air. Now I can just direct them to this post and all will become clear!
Play the video and sing along!
Now this is the story all about how.
The wine world got flipped, turned upside down.
And I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there.
I’ll tell you how I became an expert of wine and live here.
In was Brighouse, England, born and raised.
It’s a small town, where I spent most of my days.
Chillin’ out, hustlin’, not very cool.
Selling chewing gum for 10 pence inside of the school.
Lots of dreams in my head, they were up to no good.
Started working restaurants in my neighborhood.
I got into Leeds University, and my dream became clear.
I said “I’m moving to Orlando, I heard it’s warm there!”
I interned at Planet Hollywood and a girl came near.
Her name was Denise, she was cute to be fair.
If anything I could say that this chick was rare.
Got married in ’04, became a Somm from there!
Moved to the States around ’04 or ’05.
Stared wine blogging, trying to keep my dream alive.
As I looked at my kingdom, I was finally here.
To sit on my throne, in the wine blogosphere!
Saladini Pilastri “Vigna Monteprandone," Rosso Piceno Superiore, Marches, Italy.
November 12, 2012
Grapes
70% Montepulciano, 30% Sangiovese.
Facts
- “Excuse me…yes, hello! This is my first time in your wine store and I was wondering if you could help me. I read this review online today written by this delightful Englishman and I was hoping you know it. The wine is: Saladini Pilastri ‘Vigna Monteprandone,’ Rosso Piceno Superiore from Marches, Italy. Do you have it?”
- The name of this wine doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, now does it? And therein lies the problem! What are the chances you would order this wine in a restaurant, at least, what are the chances you would order this wine and have a crack at pronouncing it?
Hell, I think I do a fairly good job at banging-out the pronunciation on this one, and EVEN I wouldn’t order it by name! No, unfortunately I’d have to revert to the old tried-and-tested “Could I get a bottle of this one…” as I stab my finger at the wine’s name on the wine list.I’m not saying that wineries such as Saladini Pilastri should give up on all indication of their heritage, but they AT LEAST need to try and put themselves in the shoes of a non-Italian speaking wine drinker, who’s looking to order a bottle from a country outside of Italy. So many great wines suffer the same fate of not being ordered, simply because they’re unpronounceable. It’s a big shame.
- The Saladini Pilastri winery takes its name from Count Saladini Pilastri, a “nobleman” (which from all my history classes in England tells me that his family probably killed a bunch of people and took all their money…I’m guessing) from the year 1000.
- When you’re thinking Rosso Piceno (which I’m sure this is the first time you’ve even seen that name), think Chianti. The two wines are very similar, since Rosso Piceno [Row-soe Pee-CHAY-noe] usually contains a majority of Sangiovese (the main grape used in Chianti) and the regions aren’t that far apart.
- If you ever see “Superiore” on a bottle of Italian vino it does actually have a definition…unlike all the garbage which is normally thrown onto the front label of New World wines (i.e. Reserve, Old Vines, Private Reserve etc.) The only problem is that each Italian region has its own definition on the term. In the case of Rosso Piceno, the term “Superiore” means that Montepulciano must make up between 35% and 70% of the blend, and Sangiovese between 30% and 50%. The region where the wines can be produced are also limited to 13 “municipalities.”
Cold Maceration.
November 12, 2012
What Entitles YOU to be a Critic!?!?
November 9, 2012
From the beginning of this year my wine teaching slowly began to skew “offline,” since I started instructing an 11 week wine class to culinary students at the local Art Institute. It’s certainly been a wake-up call for me. I never really thought teaching would ever be listed on my resume, and even though it’s only a part-time class, it’s really opened my eyes as to how wine drinkers palates evolve….but more importantly, how so many people view themselves as a wine critic (so matter how much wine experience they may or may not have).
To do my best to set the tone for the first wine class, each I semester I start things the same way:
I review the syllabus, outline what we’ll be talking about over the 11 weeks, what is expected of them, how the grades will be broken-down, when projects are to be handed in etc. etc. etc…
Then the slideshow comes to an end, and I give my final words of advice:
“Over the course of this semester, we will probably sample between 120-140 wines. Some of those wines, as brand new wine drinkers, you will enjoy. Some of them you will not enjoy. What I will say is that I’ve personally hand-selected all of these wines myself. There will be no bad wines in the bunch. I will have tasted all of them beforehand, so I will know if any are corked, or otherwise spoiled in any one of a number of ways in which a wine can be.
We’ve already established how much wine knowledge you have, and we all agreed that it’s pretty-much next to zero. Some of you, being in your early twenties, have indeed only ever tasted wine once or twice before this signing up for this class. You are therefore all brand new wine drinkers.
I know for a FACT you WILL all have an opinion on each of these wines i.e. whether you enjoyed it or not. I’m here to tell you that your opinion is not relevant. It doesn’t count. It also won’t count for at least a few more years, and that is ONLY if you continue to taste wine, refine your palate and develop what EXACTLY it is about that wine what you like/do no like. As harsh as that sounds, it’s an absolute reality. If I want your opinion, I will ask for it; and even then it still has no credibility, either inside or outside of this classroom.
Ok, so, our first wine will be a German Kabinett Riesling…”
Posted in News |
Tagged how to be a wine critic, how to be a wine snob, what is a wine snob, wine critics, Wine Snobs |
Leave a comment //
III Forks Salutes Veterans.
November 9, 2012
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