Wine under the Pines takes place August 6 from 12 to 7pm at the Kimmel Orchard & Vineyard in Nebraska.

Five Nebraska wineries and two breweries (one participant is both a winery and a brewery are participating in this charity event to benefit the American Red Cross Disaster Relief which is supporting those who were affected by the flooding of the Missouri River this year.

The Wine under the Pines event includes live music, two cooking demonstrations, and a grape stomp. In addition, free trolley service will be available.

The individual participants include Kimmel Orchard & Vineyard, Arbor Day Farm, Nebraska Brewing Company, Deer Springs Winery, Schilling Bridge Winery & Microbrewery, and Whiskey Run Creek Vineyard and Winery.

Visit the Wine under the Pines website for more details.

Cheers, Kathy

Below is a recipe from Casa-Dea Estates Winery for Shrimp and Orange Salad with Pomegranate. Paul Battilana, winemaker, at Casa Dea Estates Winery suggests pairing this recipe for Shrimp and Orange Salad with the Casa-Dea Estates Winery Cabernet Franc Rosé. If you have the opportunity be sure to visit Casa-Dea. The ambiance is great!

Enjoy! Kathy

Shrimp and Orange Salad with Pomegranate

paired with Cabernet Franc Rosé

You can use any sweet oranges for this appetizer and if you don’t have fresh mint, add 1 tsp dried mint to the dressing.

According to Paul, “A rosé is not just for summer. Our beautiful dry Cabernet Franc Rosé will pair nicely with this appetizer.”

Ingredients

•       1 pomegranate

•       1/3 c extra-virgin olive oil

•       2 T balsamic vinegar

•       Pinch salt

•       Dash hot pepper sauce

•       3 oranges

•       1/3 c finely sliced sweet onion

•       Mixed greens

•       ¼ c chopped fresh mint

•       Shrimp

•       4 thin slices fresh ginger

•       4 thin slices lemon

•       2 bay leaves

•       1 T coriander seeds

•       1 ½ t salt

•       1 t black peppercorns

•       12 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

1. Cut pomegranate in half crosswise.  Using juicer, squeeze 1/3 cup juice from half.  Whisk juice with oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce; chill.
2. Remove seeds from remaining pomegranate half; set aside.
3. Cut off ends of oranges; cut off peel and white pith.  Cut segments out of membranes; chill.
4. Rinse onion under cold running water.
5. Shrimp:  Bring 2 cups water, ginger, lemon, bay leaves, coriander, salt and peppercorns to a boil over medium heat; boil for 5 minutes.
6. Strain through a sieve, discarding solids.  Return liquid to pan; bring to boil.
7. Add shrimp; reduce heat to low.  Poach, below simmer, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes.  Drain and chill.
8. Arrange mixed greens on salad plates; top with orange segments, onion slices and shrimp.  Whisk dressing; drizzle over salad.  Sprinkle with reserved pomegranate seeds and mint.

Recipe provided by Paul Battilana, winemaker at Casa Dea Estates Winery, Prince Edward County, Canada

Markham Vineyards in Napa Valley is promoting a special philanthropic program and it ends July 31st!

Non-profit organizations that work toward bettering their communities will want to take note. This year is the 4th Annual Mark of Distinction Initiative.  Two $25,000 grants will be given a nonprofit organization. In addition Markham Vineyards is producing two Estate Cabernet Sauvignon wines, The Philanthropist and The Altruist. For every bottle sold $1 will go to the selected nonprofits.

If you or an organization you know qualifies for one of these grants, submission is easy. According to my email, “Submissions should be no more than 300 words, and should describe the initiative, rationale and inspiration. The projects and initiatives can range from building community center playgrounds, to implementing a community recycling program, to founding a volunteer network for teens. A brief budget and timeline for execution should also be included.” Hurry you don’t have much time left to participate.

Markham Vineyards has also started a Sip of Service emphasizing that even the little things can count. Each week until Oct 2, one altruist chosen each week by a random drawing will be awarded a $200 prize. “To enter, individuals can share a brief statement online on the “Sip of Service” tab on www.facebook.com/MarkhamVineyards detailing how they have made a difference in their community and benefited someone else’s life.”

Congratulations to Markham Vineyards for supporting the improvement of communities!

Cheers! Kathy

Back in May, I wrote a blog about the New York City Wine & Food Festival to be held this fall, September 29 thru October 2. Tickets are now available for this massive event. Tickets are per event; while some may find prices to be steep, it should be remembered that this is a charity event. According to the event website, “100% of the net proceeds benefit the Food Bank For New York City, fighting hunger in the five boroughs; and Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit working to end childhood hunger in America. In 2010, the Festival raised more than $1.2 million for these charities, helping them better provide for those they serve and closing the gap on hunger in our country.”

Here are a few more details about the New York City Wine & Food Festival for 2011. Four grand tastings and several dinners are scheduled. Also look for seminars and panel discussions.

Seminars at the festival will be on Saturday and Sunday. Included in the lineup are:

• Vertical Tasting of Santa Rita Casa Real: 8 Outstanding Vintages of an Iconic South American Gem hosted by Laura
• Petrossian Caviar Seminar with Ray Isle
• Riedel presents Crystal Clear: Does The Glass Make a Difference?
• Cheese Essentials
• Around the World with Pinot Noir

Don’t miss some of the Panel discussions and other activities from Meatpacking Local. You will find

• New York Insiders with Master Sommelier Laura DePasqu
• What is the Ultimate Restaurant Experience?
• Dining Sustainably in New York Restaurants

Tickets are available per event or as a package. If you are thinking about attending any of the scheduled events, get your tickets early in case the event is sold out. Tickets are available at online.

Cheers! Kathy

How helpful are the words “bad” or “good” when referring to a wine? Some writers are quick to use these words when discussing a wine. How do their readers interpret the words? When it comes to wine, the use of words like “bad” and “good” are not as simple as they seem. Often the word bad means the writer doesn’t like the wine. Conversely the word good means the writer liked the wine. If a reader shares the same likes and dislikes as the writer, than the use of bad or good could prove helpful. However, just because one person dislikes a wine doesn’t imply that the next person will dislike the wine. For example, someone from the southeastern part of the United States who was raised on Muscadine grapes may like and enjoy a glass of wine made from the Nobel grape. Give that person a glass of Shafer Hillside Select and they may think it is bad. Wine is a personal preference and good and bad as used to describe wine is a personal interpretation and therefore not useful. Let’s try not to bash a wine unless it has a “wine fault.” Consider that a review of a wine that criticizes the wine based on what the writer likes is not helpful to the reader. Of course if the wine has a fault that should be noted.

When can the word “bad” literally mean bad? Some wines are faulted. Jean Lenoir’s wine faults kit Le Nez Du Vin lists 12 faults that a wine may have. These include:

Vegetal
Rotten Apple
Vinegar
Glue
Soap
Sulphur
Rotten egg
Onion
Cauliflower
Horse
Mouldy-earthy
Cork

While making wine at Vint Hill Craft Winery in Virginia, we had an opportunity to taste a wine that had a strong cauliflower and onion aroma and taste. The fault was traced to the vineyard. The new vineyard owner did not follow directions on a spray that was applied to the vineyard. Grapes were harvested prior to the number of days stated in the directions for the spray.

I’ve run across a few faults not on the above list including geranium taint and smoke taint. The first wine I made, from a wine kit had a distinct geranium taint. Others didn’t pick it up though and the taint was completely covered up if the wine was mulled. I’ve tasted a 2008 smoke-tainted wine from Mendocino County in California. There were terrible forest fires prior to and during the 2008 harvest and it did affect the wine. Using the word “bad” to describe a fault is entirely different than using the word to describe a wine the writer doesn’t like.

Readers be aware. If a writer uses the word “bad” or “good” see if the writer tells why the wine was bad or good. If the author doesn’t give details, then the words “bad” and “god” are meaningless. If the writer does state why he or she thinks a wine is “bad’ or “good” then the reader must interpret if their palate agrees with the writer.

Cheers,
Terry

For thousands of years wine was thought of as a food item rather than a beverage in Europe. More Americans are also coming to this way of thinking as wines are ordered with meals. Wine is an ingredient in many recipes. WineTrailTraveler.com has over 200 recipes that feature different wines as one of the ingredients. To further promote wine as a food trend, the Food Network has paired with Wente Vineyards to produce entwine, a portfolio of wines to have with meals. The four wines will debut in August 2011 and retail for $12.99.

Wente Vineyards in Livermore, California is over 125 years old and continues to be family owned and operated. The winery sources grapes from their close to 3,000 acres of sustainably farmed vineyards. Working with the Food Network, four wines were created for the entwine portfolio: 2009 Pinot Grigio, 2009 Chardonnay, 2009 Merlot and a 2009 Cabernet Sauvignon.

We had an opportunity to taste these wines prior to release at the 2011 Wine Bloggers Conference in Charlottesville, Virginia. The easy drinkable Pinot Grigio was a straw color and offered citrus notes. The Chardonnay was a light yellow color and offered apple and pear with citrus nuances. It had a crisp finish begging for food. The Cabernet Sauvignon was a transparent ruby that had a dark fruit aroma and taste. There were mild tannins on the crisp finish. This Cab also begs for food. The Merlot was a transparent red color that offered dark fruit and a touch of earthiness. Mild tannins accompanied the fruity aftertaste.

The word entwine represents the coming together of the flavors of food and wine and how they create a unique experience for people. Check out the wines with your lunch and dinner beginning in August 2011.

Cheers,
Terry

With the hot, humid, lazy days of summer here, maybe it’s time to get out of the house/kitchen and enjoy some time at a winery. In addition to tasting rooms numerous wineries have restaurants onsite. While some are small, others provide a gourmet experience.

In addition to restaurants, wineries may also provide entertainment and special events. Check out the wineries in your region to see what they have to offer.

Below is a list to give you an idea of what you may find near you! Have a great weekend!

Cheers! Kathy

Friday, July 29

Lorimar Winery, California
Event: Friday Night “Happy Hour”
Web Info

Chateau Chantal, Michigan
Event: Tapas Tour
Web Info

Ferrante Winery & Ristorante, Ohio
Entertainment: Ramone
Web Info

Laurello Vineyards, Ohio
Entertainment: Keith Ramson
Special: Margarita pizza
Web Info

Pearmund Cellars, Virginia
Event: TGIF
Web Info

Saturday, July 30

Blue Ridge Vineyard, Virginia
Event: SOLREVOLT Web Info

Cava Winery & Vineyard
Event: Cava Berries Blueberry Weekend
Web Info

Chateau Chantal, Michigan
Event: Tapas Tour
Web Info

Ferrante Winery & Ristorante, Ohio
Entertainment: Afternoon-Timeless Duo; Evening-Face Value
Web Info

Laurello Vineyards, Ohio
Entertainment: Uncharted Course
Special: Margarita pizza
Web Info

Lorimar Winery, California
Entertainment: Kenny Marquez-Classic Rock
Web Info

Three Fox Vineyards, Virginia
Event: at 9:30am – Race Through Tuscany-in Virginia -5K Race
Web Info

Winery at LaGrange, Virginia
Event: Live Music All Summer Long/Damon and Dave
Web Info

Sunday, July 31

Blue Ridge Vineyard, Virginia
Event: Sunday Afternoon Event-check winery for details
Web Info

Cava Winery & Vineyard
Event: Cava Berries Blueberry Weekend
Web Info

Chateau Chantal, Michigan
Event: Tapas Tour
Web Info

DelFosse Winery, Virginia
Event: French Crepe Day
Web Info

Ferrante Winery & Ristorante, Ohio
Entertainment: Dave Sterner
Website Info

A New Jersey winery is opening a wine school. If you enjoy wine and have any interest in how to make it, then consider producing your own wine with the help of a winery.

Cava Winery & Vineyard is opening a “wine school” adjacent to their winery and tasting room. On July 30 at 6:30 pm, the winery is hosting the Cava Winemaking School Orientation. Attendees will be treated to an orientation and walk-thru of the wine making process. The varietal grape you choose to produce your wine needs to be decided upon quickly. The orientation includes a light pasta buffet and a glass of Sangria. Check out the Cava Winery & Vineyard website. Reservations are requested – call 973-823-9463 or email info@cavawinery.com

With harvest time approaching (and I’ve heard that wineries in Texas have already started harvest) it’s the perfect time to start planning to create your own wine. For those who want some professional guidance along the way, the perfect place to make your own wine is probably a winery or winemaking facility.

Opportunities for producing your wine are beginning to spring up around the country. If you are considering making your own wine, here are some suggestions.

• Consider the distance you need to travel to the winery. While an hour or two drive may not seem far, it does add up if you want to spend considerable amount of time at the winery.
• Decide if you want minimal intervention or if you want to use products like Laffort to guide the wine in the direction you ultimately want.
• The cost of making wine is dependent on several things including where the grapes are sourced from as well as if you are using French or American oak. There are also additional charges if aged longer than 9 months or so.

Other winemaking experiences can be discovered at Vint Hill Craft Winery in northern Virginia and Tin Lizzie Wineworks in central Maryland.

Of course, if you don’t have a wine school near you may want to experiment with making wine at home!

To read a blog about making wine at a winery and at home check out winemaking.WineTrailTraveler.com.

Cheers, Kathy

As press covering this Wine Bloggers Conference, I couldn’t help noticing that the content offered was much less than that provided at the Wineries Unlimited Trade Show and Conference earlier this year in Richmond, Virginia. As an educator, I look for the educational value of keynote addresses and breakout sessions. After reflection, I have some suggestions that would have worked at the 2011 conference but not necessarily at a future conference depending on the theme.

How could the content and educational value of the content be increased? The session with the most content and educational value was the Wine Aromas session. The Power Point slide presentation and the activity provided many learning opportunities. The activity can be replicated anywhere at anytime and written about. Participants, even if they knew about aromas, could still test their ability during the activity. This format could serve as a possible format for future sessions.

Both keynote addresses were motivational. Jancis Robinson suggested that wine bloggers should improve their writing. How do you do that? Writing doesn’t improve by just telling a blogger to write better. Consider a session on writing about wine. Have an author give concrete examples of different well written examples followed by an activity. For the activity, taste a wine and write about it by modeling after one of the examples. This may seem like a high school class, however the content of high school classes wasn’t wine.

Eric Asimov suggested that wine writers use some creativity in their writing about wine. They should be wary of words that readers may not understand such as petrol. How can a writer be creative about wine? Mr. Asimov’s talk motivated me to write Haiku for each red wine tasted during the Twitter Tasting. Having a session on alternative styles of writing about wine could help. The activity once again could be to taste a wine or two and write a description using one or several alternative styles.

A session on how to write negative reviews would be helpful. I have already read some bloggers from this conference write a negative reflection on some of the wines and then gave no evidence as to why a wine was bad. This is not professional. I have no problem with a blogger writing that he or she did not like a wine and then tell why, but a writer who simply says a wine is bad is not doing a service to anyone.

People attending a conference have expectations. One is the ability to network. WBC11 certainly had many people networking. We increased the number of business cards received and given out by 100% over the last conference attended. In future conferences, consider providing some time specifically set aside for networking and exchanging business cards. We did some networking and could have done more.

The idea of multiple sessions is to allow attendees to select from several to attend. Those who wish to attend sessions that could help improve their writing may choose those. Other may not feel they need attend writing sessions. That’s why there are multiple sessions at the same time. For WBC12 ask, what content could participants take with them from the conference?

Cheers,
Terry

Day Two of the Wine Bloggers Conference began with a presentation on “Virginia Wine Industry’s History, Geology, and Business Climate.”

Conference attendees then boarded buses leaving for winery visits. We were on bus #1 which headed to Madison County. Our first stop was to DuCard Vineyards. The group was divided into two and our section headed to the vineyards where the owner gave us a brief history of his winery, how he happened to become involved in owning a winery, information about the soil, pruning and pest problems. As we stood in the vineyard, many of us began dripping and shirts were soaked. It hadn’t taken long for the heat to get to us. Not too soon we were back in the tasting room trying several of the DuCard wines. The congeniality was nice while we tasted and asked questions about the wines. While the winery is slightly off the beaten track, it is a nice winery with a large deck and awesome views of Virginia mountains.

Soon we were on our way to Sweely Estate Winery where we had lunch. The buffet luncheon was held in the large event room of the tasting room facility. Four wines were at each place setting to be paired with the various items in the buffet. Lunch was relaxing and the room with two large fireplaces is impressive.

After lunch we had a tour of the gravity-flow Sweely winery building. According to winemaker, Frantz Ventre, there are only two winery facilities like this in the country.

We then headed back to the bus for the trip back to Charlottesville to listen to the second keynote address of the conference by Eric Asimov, a journalist for the New York Times.

Then it was time for the Live Wine Blogging Event that focused on red wines. This was done in the same manner as the event for the white wines the day before. Again it was successful with the exception of good connections to the Internet.

Dinner with wine pairings followed with an appetizer, corn chowder, a steak entrée and concluding with a dessert plate of various cheeses and fruit. Several wine blogger awards were announced.

For those who were adventurous and not too tired, they could participate in the “Vibrant Rioja Crawl.” I was too tired but also curious as to how a crawl works. We were given a map to five nearby restaurants. At each restaurant, we were able to have a glass of wine, appetizers and have our map stamped. By the start, it was dark and difficult to see but eventually we made our way to four of the five restaurants. The fifth restaurant was not near the others and it took some time searching for it. We finally located it after asking a security guard. It was only a few feet from the Omni!

Day 2 was non-stop go. It was filled with diverse activities and literally had something for everyone.

Cheers! Kathy