Kevin Zraly is perhaps best known as the creator of the Windows on the World Wine School. He established the Windows on the World program  in a New York City restaurant. Over the years he has authored several editions of Windows on the World, with the latest one published in 2012.  Last year I reviewed his Windows on the World Complete Wine Course. My review is available online. As Zraly continues to explore more wine regions, I look forward to reading his next book. In the meantime he has created webisodes.

Zraly Wine Webisodes

Kevin Zraly has now made four very short webisodes that were recently released. These less than 60 second youtube bits show him to be friendly, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. While I have not met him, he appears to be someone you could sit down with and enjoy a glass of wine while discussing the world of wine.

If you have ever visited a wine shop and wondered how to pronounce a German wine name, in the German Wine Pronounciation  Zraly pronounces several names arranged from dry to sweeter.

In the second webisode Using Your Senses to Taste Wine, Zraly emphasizes the importance of the sense of smell when tasting wines.

In another episode, Pronunciation Tips for Italian Wines, emphasis is placed on the region of Tuscany. In the Best Wine Value episode, Zraly says that when visiting a wine shop, he looks for the country then region and then the specific wine variety. While noting that he is happy when he can find a $50 bottle of wine that tastes like $500 bottle of wine, he says that there are numerous good value wines under $20.

Kevin Zraly Wine Stopper and Wine Glass Charms

For anyone interested in wine stoppers and wine glass charms, special Kevin Zraly accessories are available on the Internet. The wine stopper is silver plated with a silicone tip and says, ” MAY ALL YOUR VINTAGES BE GREAT! The charms come with a set of eight in a box. Each charm has a rectangular shape attached to the charm ring. Each charm features a different word related to wine such as FRESH, BOLD, SEDUCTIVE, and DELICATE. The box, with a hinged back, provides a great place to store the charms when not in use. Inside, the top of the box has a small selection of the words used in Zraly’s wine course to describe wine. In his course he uses 500 words to describe wine. The list with the charms includes 35 of these words. 

A gift of Zraly’s Windows on the World Complete Wine Course, a Zraly wine stopper and set of wine charms would be a gift that would be remembered and used time and time again.

Images: Provided by K. Connors of Sterling Publishing Co., Inc., NY

Cheers! Kathy

There are many great Valentine’s Day gifts. Wine is a perfect gift that can be shared and makes a moment rememberable. A gift that lasts longer and can be enjoyed more times is a book. Consider the book A Wine Journey. This book is ideal for wine enthusiasts. Do you know someone who likes to make wine? Several chapters in the book look at winemaking experiences both at home and at wineries. Do you know someone who enjoys traveling to winery tasting rooms? There are a number of chapters that look at wine travel on three continents. The book includes several anecdotal stories we gathered while visiting wineries.  Do you know someone who just wants to learn about wine? A couple of chapters discuss options for learning about wine.

A Wine Journey will inspire people to discover the fascinating world of wine. Purchase this book, tie it with a red ribbon and say, Happy Valentine’s Day to someone you love.

A Wine Journey is available in several formats: a paperback, a hard cover and ebook. The ebook editions will work on a Kindle, Nook and a Sony Reader. It will also work on ipads that have a Kindle, Nook or Sony Reader app. Check out A Wine Journey website for information about the book and purchasing.

Cheers,
Terry

The following blog is based on encouragement from one of our contacts Sherrie Wilkolaski at Infinity Publishing. Sherrie suggested that authors not be shy and provide people with five reasons why their books make great gifts. I went beyond  five and came up with a baker’s dozen of reasons that someone would like to receive our recently published book, A Wine Journey.

1.  1. Offers encouragement for someone to visit wine country
2. 2. Makes a great addition to a winemaking kit
3. 3. Introduces people to ways to learn about wine
4. Added with a bottle of wine, it is a gift that will be remembered
5. The book has a long list of grape varietals (The Wine Century Club)
6. Keep A Wine Journey in the car to check off grape varietals you come across
7. Its @6” x 9” size makes it easy to carry on the plane or in your carry bag
8. Makes a great addition to a wine library
9. Unique wine book – there is none like it on the market
10. Your recipient will enjoy the book
11. Makes a gift basket special
12. Your intended recipient loves wine and to read
13. The price is reasonable

Interested in purchasing A Wine Journey as a gift for someone or perhaps yourself, the book is available at major .com sellers including Amazon.com, Barnes&Noble.com, Books-A-Million, and Powell’s City of Books.

Enjoy!

"A Wine Journey" Book Signing

Yesterday was our first book signing at a winery. We signed 27 books and it was a relatively slow day at Pearmund Cellars.  The winery has invited us back for another book signing in 2013. It was a great opportunity for us to meet people and hear their wine stories as well as sell copies of A Wine Journey. We are pleased and hope everyone who purchased a book will enjoy it and use it to help encourage his or her wine journey to continue.

Many thanks to Chris Pearmund who has offered his encouragement and a spot to set up the book signing. Also, many thanks to the Pearmund Cellars staff who were so friendly and efficient.

Would you like to have a book signing at your winery?

Cheers, Kathy

This afternoon Terry and I will be at our first book signing taking place at a winery. The owner of Pearmund Cellars is Chris Pearmund, one of the many people, who have inspired us on our wine journey.

When we meet you at Pearmund Cellars or other book signing events, we hope you will bring your own wine, winery and vineyard stories to share with us.

A Wine Journey is available as a hardback and paperback. Both will be available today. For those who are looking for an ebook, Amazon is now carrying it on their website.

Cheers, Kathy

Yesterday we wrote that we will be at Pearmund Cellars in Northern Virginia on Saturday (December 15) afternoon for a book signing event. It seems appropriate that using an excerpt from our book, A Wine Journey, to let you know a little about Chris Pearmund, a well known winemaker and winery consultant.

We first met Chris Pearmund at his winery, Pearmund Cellars, in Broad Run, Virginia, during the middle of January 2007. It did not take long to see that Chris is a visionary as well as a mover and shaker of the wine industry. He started Pearmund Cellars and was instrumental in starting the Winery at LaGrange and Vint Hill Craft Winery in Virginia. His reach extends beyond the Virginia border; he also helped Horizon Cellars start in North Carolina. Chris is friendly, and we later learned that he has a propensity for fun. This was clearly seen in his stuffed animals adorning barrels in the barrel room at Pearmund Cellars.

Chris’ wine journey began earlier in life. He commented that he had the best mother in the world, but she found cooking a challenge. Chris learned to cook as a preteen, then went to cooking school, worked in kitchens and then discovered wine. He noticed that, in many ways, wine makes food better. Chris realized that people have a concept of preparing food and what is done in the kitchen. However, when it comes to wine, many do not know what has to be done in a vineyard and a winery to make that wine in their bottle.

Wine journeys are not a static event. They are dynamic, and once they begin, they continue. Chris said his journey continues, for example, “at the London Wine Trade Fair, with 40,000 wines to try in three days, I was still like a kid in a candy store. At these types of tastings, focus is important. Sparkling wine for a few hours, visit wines of Greece for awhile, then the different crus of Beaujolais. It’s a big wine world, constantly changing, and I’m still thirsty for more.” Chris was a wine steward at Clyde’s Restaurant group during the 1980s. It was during those years that he entertained the possibility of becoming a winemaker and owning a winery.

Chris spent almost two decades in the wine industry. In addition to being a wine steward, he worked in retail, wholesale, import, wineries and in education, first as a student and then as a teacher. When you are on your wine journey, there are those moments in life that you remember. For Chris, there was an evening of pizza and a 1980 Chateaux Margaux, and later a 1961 Chateaux Margaux he shared with his Dad. Those were events that changed his journey and put him on the path to becoming owner and winemaker at Pearmund Cellars.

Hope to see you at Pearmund Cellars on Saturday.

Cheers! Kathy

The Wine Trail Traveler winter edition of the Quarterly E-Zine is now available to view as a pdf. You can view the Quarterly at: http://winetrailtraveler.com/newsletter/magwinter1011.pdf

This winter edition includes:

Winemaking Scene: What were Kathy and Terry up to with winemaking during the Fall 2010?

On the Cover: New Zealand Christmas Tree

Focus on New Zealand

Focus on Southern California

Wine in the Bible: God’s Generosity: Interpreting the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard

A Splash of Wine (Recipes)

• Sweet Wine and Honey Roasted Pears
• Handmade Cherry Almond Pie
• Chocolate Cabernet Sauvignon Tart
• Savory Cherry Sauce

New Friends Miles Apart

Book Review: Food & Wine Annual Cookbook 2010: An Entire Year of Recipes

Book Review: Oz Clarke’s Let Me Tell You About Wine: A Beginner’s Guide to Understanding and Enjoying Wine

Partners

Recently I finished reading When the Rivers Ran Red: An Amazing Story of Courage and Triumph in America’s Wine Country by Vivienne Sosnowski. What a powerful story about Prohibition. Sosnowski presents a side of Prohibition that is seldom heard – the side of the winemakers and vineyard owners. Yes, there is a lot of detail but this is a nonfiction book and the details included provide a believability of how Prohibition affected those in particularly in Sonoma and Napa Valleys. Historians and wine enthusiasts will enjoy reading about the other side of Prohibition. For a review of the book read the Wine Trail Traveler review.

We recently visited one of the wineries that lost thousands of gallons of wine mentioned in the book. Read a review of Foppiano Vineyards on Wine Trail Traveler.

I recently discovered, Food Bites, The Science of the Foods We Eat by Richard W. Hartel and Annakate Hartel. Chapter three, only two pages long, is titled “Vintage Wines and Chocolates.” In only two pages they discuss the cocoa bean and grape. Both are affected by the growing conditions. This affects the finished product. There is so much science involved in winemaking; I wish the authors had added an additional chapter about wine including brix levels, yeast, fermentation and more.

Other chapters in the book include “Process Food: Good or Bad?,” Food Safety and Mobile Food Carts,” “Butter or Margarine?” and “Kool-Aid or Tang?”

While this is an interesting book and based on columns written by Richard Hartel, I hope he will consider another lengthier book with “generous portion” chapters.

Cheers! Kathy

Wine Tasting: A Professional Handbook by Ronald Jackson

Just realized that while I had written a long review of this wine tasting book for Suite101, I had not reviewed it on the Wine Trail Traveler website. Of course, according to Suite101 rules one is not allowed to reuse the same article elsewhere for one year. Besides Google doesn’t like duplicate contents so, I’ll do a rewrite for the book review section of Wine Trail Traveler. In the meantime, you may want to read the review on Suite101.

Cheers! Kathy