A Few of the Best Wine Bottle Christmas Trees!
December 20, 2011
Bubbles!
Ok, so this one is made from Heineken bottles….but it’s still AWESOME!
I can name 10 labels I recognize in the tree below, see if you can do better!
This Week in Wine–12/18/11
December 18, 2011
French Lessons: Why Letting Kids Drink At Home Isn’t ‘Tres Bien’
Many European parents, and some American ones, too, have long figured if they let their kids drink alcohol at home, they’d be less likely to go hog wild with their friends. But recent studies of teen drinking behavior don’t bear that out.
That’s unwelcome news in places like France, where these scientific developments are running head long into a culture that loves its wine. French government surveys show the number of French teens who drink heavily is on the rise, says Bertrand Nalpas, who heads the alcohol and addiction office at the French National Institute on Health and Medical Research.
"The age of first drink is about 12 years old in France," he says. That first drink is usually at home with the family, which has made it difficult, says Nalpas, to get out the message that alcohol can be dangerous. If kids see their parents and grandparents drinking, he says, they think, "I can drink also."
Click here for the full article.
My Thoughts
The flaw in this study is that I think it goes way deeper than parents simply letting their kids drink in their own home from an early age. I’m a big supporter of not making alcohol such a taboo subject, but it doesn’t just stop there. It needs to be coupled with an education on alcohol, both in school and from their “parental units”.
Rest-assured, I want to be the first person who gives my kid a taste of alcohol, whilst letting them know the dangers associated with over-consumption. I’ll also be keeping a careful eye on who my child is hanging out with, as I know other parents won’t be as diligent on their “in home schooling”!
People are always so quick to blame the parents when a kid is “acting up” (in one form or another); and I think that’s 100% of the problem when under-age binge drinking is put under the microscope!
Kelley & Young Wine on Oprah’s ‘Best of’ List
Geyserville-based Kelley & Young Wines got some good news last week, learning that its 2010 Sauvignon Blanc ($24) was included in Oprah’s “Best of” list, published in the January issue of O Magazine.
The small local winery made only 186 cases from grapes grown in nearby Robert Young Vineyards. Here’s what co-owner Kathleen Kelley Young had to say about the news.
How did Oprah hear about Kelley & Young?
One of the venues I sell our wine through is tastingroom.com, an online wine store started a couple of years ago by local Russian River dairyman turned Internet guy Tim Bucher. They have a great line up of local wines, and we sell a fair amount of wine this way. You’ll see that they’ve gotten many wine celebs, chefs, etc., to select their favorite wines. I guess they’ve been working on Oprah and voila!
Click here for the full article.
My Thoughts
Ahhh, the power of Oprah strikes again! <I need to be careful with what I say, as I know she’s ALWAYS listening!> You can’t deny her influence! I’ve said it here before, as I myself have witnessed the “Oprah effect” first-hand!
After she had Dr. Oz on her show a few years ago, proclaiming Sardinian wine to contain more beneficial properties than wines from other countries, I saw a HUGE amount of demand for wines from the tiny Italian island. No exaggeration, I was receiving daily phone calls for about 2 months from the date the show aired, from little old ladies truly believing it to be the fountain of youth! Craziness, but for Kelley & Young wines (whom I’d never heard of until today), no doubt they’re over the moon!
A Guide to Alternative Investments…Wine Being One of Them!
December 18, 2011
Perrin & Fils “Les Sinards”Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Rhone, France, 2007
December 17, 2011
Grape
70% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre
Facts
- I do have to say, I’ve always had an affinity for Chateauneuf-du-Pape, even before I started really getting into wine. Maybe it’s because, for some reason, I deemed it to be my first “serious” bottle of vino.
I’ve always thought of Chateauneuf to be almost stuck in time. Whereas most other wine regions of the world have seen at least a partial amount of modernization; whether it be their winemaking practices, or the way they label/market their wines, Chateauneuf seem to pay no attention. They rely on the same medieval-style italic fonts, family crests, and embossed wine bottles that they’ve been using for decades. I have a good degree of respect for them for that! Though, with that being said, let’s see what happens once the Millenial’s start dominating the wine buying market… - Perrin & Fils are a legend in the Rhone region of France, and are also the owners of the famous Chateau de Beaucastel estate (also a Chateauneuf-du-Pape). The reins of the winery have been passed through multiple generations.
- The Perrin & Fils “Les Sinards” Chateauneuf-du-Pape is a certified organic wine. Don’t expect to find any mention of that on either the front or back label. To most European winemakers, it isn’t big deal. They’re not doing anything special. They’re just making wine the way they always have!
- The “Les Sinards” received 92 points by Robert Parker, and 90 points by the Wine Speculator (of which I always have to preface by saying….if you care…).
- Since Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf (the flagship of Perrin) is on the pricey side (usually $80+, depending on the vintage), the “Les Sinards” is a nice way wallet-friendly way to taste wine from the same winemaking family. All wines bearing the Perrin & Fils name are always of solid quality, even their sub-$20 retail Cote du Rhone’s.
Coffee-Roasted Duck Paired with HeartSmart “For Giving” Mount Veeder Cabernet, 2008.
December 16, 2011
With December being such a crazy month (my wife works in retail, and I work in a restaurant), eating at home has kind of taken a backseat over the last few weeks. Therefore, I do have to say that these food and wine pairing articles have also been a little sparse. Who wants to get home after working a 12+ hour shift, and cook? Not me! I’m sure we’re not in a minority on this, but I do have to say that this meal REALLY made me miss cooking at home!
The HeartSmart “For Giving” Mount Veeder Cabernet found its beginning in the most unlikely of places: Oprah.
Peggy Rowan (the winemaker behind HeartSmart) was inspired to create the wine after Oprah’s "The Big Give”. With Peggy’s brother and best friend (the wine label artist) both being quadriplegics, part of the proceeds from each bottle sold is donated to the Reeve-Irvine Research Center (owing part of its name to the actor Christopher Reeve). The facility is devoted to the study of repair, regeneration, and recovery of function after spinal cord injury.
Peggy obviously has a heart of gold, as her other wine (the Great Dane) sees part of its proceeds being donated to the Rolling Dog Ranch, a rescue facility for disabled animals.
So now that you have a little background on the wine, let’s discuss the food!
I think I’ve only cooked duck in my own home maybe twice in my whole life. I really do love duck. You can be assured that if it’s on the menu at a restaurant, I’ll be ordering it. I would probably eat it more often at home, except it’s almost impossible to find at grocery stores. Luckily for me, I have a residential park close to my house with plenty of ducks on the pond. It’s quite handy to be able to sneak under the cover of darkness into the park and shoot a few ducks for dinner…
Vina Robles “Jardine Vineyard” Sauvignon Blanc, Paso Robles, California, 2010.
December 15, 2011
Wine: Vina Robles
Grape: Sauvignon Blanc
Place: Jardine Vineyard, Paso Robles, California
Price: $16 (retail)
← Older posts Newer posts →
