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PATH: Editorial
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NOWFE Grand Tasting: 2007
Posted by perle0 on 2007-06-27 00:20:29
(4979 views) 
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[Editorial]
[New Orleans] |
 With each year, the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience (NOWFE) gets a little bit better. The 2006 session was overshadowed by the recent assault of Katrina, and though it went very well indeed, everyone was wondering...would it be as good as in years past? It was. This year, almost two full years PK (post Katrina), though parts of the city are still decimated, the NOWFE is all about forgetting the setbacks and celebrating the recovery...the parts of the city where visitors go are pretty much back to normal, even if the population is down and some areas are still ghost towns with the occasional FEMA trailer. The restaurants are, for the most part, back up and running full steam. Even the beloved Camellia Grill finally re-opened, exactly the same as before (that's a good thing). |
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Food and Wine Pairing of the Week by Swirl Wines
Posted by bevo vino on 2007-05-29 07:53:28
(5392 views)
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[Editorial]
[Austria] |
 White Asparagus with Pistachio Polonaise Paired with Weingut Stadt Krems Sandgrube Gruner Veltliner
2005 Weingut Stadt Krems Sandgrube Gruner Veltliner: Weingut Stadt Krems is in a class by itself: the enterprise is owned by a municipality. Historically, Weingut Stadt Krems arose from two sources. The first source is the property of the Bürgerspitalstiftung--in 1210, Duke Leopold IV of Babenberg founded a public hospital in Krems and left important legacies to it, including vineyards. The second source was the generous bequest of the imperial Burggrave of Krems, Ulrich von Dachsberg, who presented the town with vineyards in 1452. With over 550 years of history, Weingut Stadt Krems is one of the oldest wine-producers in Austria, and even in the whole of Europe.
Until 1744, the Town Hall in the historical center of the city, which is over a thousand years old, accommodated the press house and the maturing cellar. They were then relocated to the cellar in the "Corporis Christi Brotherhood." In 1915, the city acquired a wine cellar in the town moat. The estate wines of the city have been pressed there ever since. No wines or grapes have ever been bought from outside vineyards. |
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Food and Wine Pairing of the Week from Swirl Wines
Posted by bevo vino on 2007-05-14 07:27:55
(5847 views)
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[Editorial]
[Friuli] |
 Shrimp Wrapped in Prosciutto Paired with 2004 Batianich Vespa Bianco
Provided by Swirl Wines
2004 Bastianich Vespa Bianco--The region where new-style white wines reign supreme is named Friuli-Venezia Giulia, and occupies Italy’s easternmost territory. Both native and international varietals have been treated with modern technique in an effort to produce whites of exceptional distinction and equally impressive reds. |
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Food and Wine Pairing of the Week from Swirl Wines
Posted by bevo vino on 2007-05-09 02:33:26
(4809 views)
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[Editorial]
[Piedmont] |
 2005 Enzo Boglietti Dolcetto D'Alba Paired with Fusilli with Sun-Dried Tomato and Scallion Cream
Provided By: Swirl Sensational Wines
Tucked into the mountainous northwest corner of Italy, Piedmont borders Switzerland and France and sits snugly between the Alps and Apennines. In fact, the Italian word piemonte means "foot of the mountain." As a wine-producing region, Piedmont reaches rarely rivaled heights with Barolo and Barbaresco, two world-class wines made from Nebbiolo grape. Barolos are rich, rose-scented wines, robust and tannic, capable of (and often requiring) long aging. Unfortunately they are often prohibitively expensive. Barbaresco, made to be drunk earlier than Barolos, can be the more affordable choice. Other important red grapes of Piedmont are Barbera and Dolcetto, represented in the sub-appellations Asti and Alba. Barbera is very versatile with food, particularly grilled meats and tomato-based sauces. Dolcetto is a round, fruity wine best drunk young. The sweet sparkling white wine Asti is made here from Muscat grapes, as is the dry white Gavi, made from Cortese grapes. |
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The Fine Sport of Wine-Tasting
Posted by perle0 on 2007-03-06 13:27:57
(5047 views)
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[Editorial]
[England] |
 The wine societies of Oxford and Cambridge universities are lobbying to have wine tasting ratified by their schools as an official sport. Participation in such official sports gain the students prestige and special privileges, so there's a lot at stake for the students in this decision of whether or not to consider wine-tasting a sport.
That's right...wine-tasting as sport. After all, groups from the two schools meet each year to compete, and one school comes away the winner. Doesn't that constitute a sport? |
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A Memorable Wine Quest
Posted by perle0 on 2007-02-12 12:46:34
(5596 views)
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[Editorial]
[Burgundy] |
 I'd like to draw your attention to a fine article in Slate, in which the author writes about his obsession with a high-end white burgundy and his quest to taste it one more time.
"This is a story about a bottle of wine. A very expensive but also very delicious bottle of wine—a wine that so captivated me when I first tasted it that I immediately resolved to taste it again. What followed was an almost two-year odyssey that tested the limits of my resourcefulness and perhaps also exposed the warping effect that wine has had on my brain." |
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How Not to Taste Wine
Posted by perle0 on 2007-02-01 01:24:51
(4674 views)
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[Editorial]
[USA] |
| For your viewing enjoyment...a little video on what could happen if you take the concept of wine-tasting to its most extreme. Don't be this guy! |
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Training Your Palate the Grocery Store Way
Posted by perle0 on 2006-12-18 23:53:34
(4910 views)
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[Editorial]
[USA] |
A friend recently pointed out a series of videos produced by Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library. In these segments (ranging in length from around 10 minutes up to a half-hour or more if he gets going), Gary discusses a wine-related topic of interest. He's got almost 150 made at the time of this writing, so that's a lot of wine knowledge out there, available for you to suck up for free. And hey, if you are so moved, you can purchase online from the Wine Library as a thank-you.
We're providing the video below as a nice example. It's on the long side (32 minutes and change), but it gives a great lesson in how to train your palate: get out to the grocery store, make some purchases, and start tasting! |
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Orson Welles and a Little Too Much Paul Masson
Posted by perle0 on 2006-10-19 01:29:15
(13255 views)
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[Editorial]
[California] |
 If you're of a certain age, you probably remember the commercials that an aging Orson Welles did for Paul Masson wines. They featured the memorable tag line: "We will sell no wine before its time." In my house, this led to frequent shouting of "It's time to sell some wine!" often accompanied by pantomimes of turning empty pockets inside-out. (Yes, we may have been lame, but we did have fun--and a tasty beverage--on occasion.)
As it turns out, Welles may have gotten some of the inspiration from a source other than his theatrical muse--namely, the wine bottle, as this video shows. |
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NOWFE 2006: The Post-Katrina Experience
Posted by perle0 on 2006-06-05 00:58:12
(21524 views)
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[Editorial]
[New Orleans] |
I've attended the New Orleans Wine and Food Experience two times before this year's event. Like so many who are familiar with the long weekend's wine-soaked festivities, I wondered: how would this year be different? A mere 8 months after Katrina and some less-than-effective levees wiped out 80% of the city--and with most of the damaged areas still far from recovery--would the Crescent City's wine and food experience be changed beyond recognition? |
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