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Shish Kabobs for the 4th of July?

July 2, 2010 – 8:54 am

Have you tried cooking shish kabobs for the 4th of July? The following recipe is from Cottonwood Cellars in Colorado. Whenever you have the opportunity to visit Colorado, be sure to take time to visit the wineries. The state is very supportive of the wine industry and the winemakers are very friendly. You can read about Colorado wineries at http://winetrailtraveler.com/colorado/colorado.php.

Cheers! Kathy

Title: Shish Kabob

Ingredients

2 lbs. lean lamb or beef, cut in 2″ cubes, marinated in 1/2 cup of olive oil and 1/3 cup of Cottonwood Cellars Reserve Merlot with 1/4 tsp. each rosemary & thyme for an hour.
1 large onion, cut in 2″ cubes.
1/8 t cinnamon
1 green pepper, cut in 2″ cubes
1 red pepper, cut in 2″ cubes
6 medium mushrooms
salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Drain meat and sprinkle with seasonings.
2. Skewer, alternating meat with vegetables.
3. Grill over barbecue until desired tenderness.
4. When serving, garnish with mint.  Serve with peta bread and lightly salted cucumber slices in yogurt.  Serve remainder of Cottonwood Cellars Reserve Merlot with dinner.

A very colorful dinner.

Cottonwood Cellars Reserve Merlot has an intense black cherry flavor which goes very well with Colorado lamb.

This is a very traditional Mediterranean dinner.

Provided by Diana Read at Cottonwood Cellars, Olathe, Colorado.

By Kathy | Posted in Wine/Food/Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Update on Maryland Direct Shipping

July 1, 2010 – 9:54 am

Here’s some important information I want to pass on to wine enthusiasts and wineries about the progress of Maryland direct shipping.

Yesterday I received an email from MD Direct Wine Shipping Adovcates titled “Wine Shipping Comptroller Update” in Maryland. A second meeting has taken place. According to the information I received, “The Comptroller’s office has an aggressive agenda, including replicating the 2003 Federal Trade Commission McLean, VA study (see Appendix A) in Annapolis, MD.”

The MD Direct Wine Shipping Advocates is also looking for volunteers to help with internet research and designing surveys to help support the cause of direct shipping to Maryland residents. Anyone interested in volunteering or supporting Maryland direct shipping should contact

John Hesse
Executive Director
Marylanders for Better Beer & Wine Laws
4315 Underwood Road
Baltimore, MD 21218
http://www.mbbwl.org
Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/MBBWL
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mbbwl

Cheers! Kathy

By Kathy | Posted in Wine News/Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Wine Country Inn in Colorado Receives Special Mention

June 29, 2010 – 8:19 pm

We have visited the wineries in the Palisade, Colorado area a couple of times. During one of our stays we had the privilege of staying at the Wine Country Inn located within a stone’s throw of Interstate 70, which extends almost from the east coast to the west coast. We had a delightful time while at the Wine Country Inn.

Recently Jean Tally, owner, wrote that Wine Country Inn had received a special honor. In a Wine Enthusiast Magazine, June 2010 article, Sleeping with the Grapes the inn was selected as “of the best places to dine well, relax in comfort and contemplate the vines.” The article is available online at http://www.winemag.com/Wine-Enthusiast-Magazine/June-2010/Sleeping-with-the-Grapes/.

This summer the Wine Country Inn has a series of summer events, “Hot Summer Notes.” These events will feature live music by Project Groove. Visitors will discover tapas, informal courtyard dining, cool cocktails, wine, beer, great funk, blues and rock. If you have an opportunity check it out.

Anyone who is contemplating a visit to this delightful region of Colorado with photo opportunities of the Colorado River and Bookcliffs should look into staying at the Wine Country Inn, which has many amenities and seems to be reasonably priced. You can read our review at http://lodging.winetrailtraveler.com/colorado/winecountryinn.php. For more information: http://winetrailtraveler.com/listings/colorado/winecountryinn.php .

Cheers! Kathy

By Kathy | Posted in Wine News/Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Wine Festivals for Traveltuesday

June 29, 2010 – 10:09 am

This is TravelTuesday, as Twitters like to call it, so here are some wine festival/events to consider traveling to in the U.S. Enjoy planning a trip to a wine festival. Many wine festivals offer an array of other activities including live music, arts & crafts to browse and perhaps buy, food to enjoy, short wine classes and camaraderie.

States included in this selection are New York, Ohio, Missouri, Florida and Michigan. Also, check out the wine events in “your own backyard.”

Finger Lakes Wine Festival http://www.flwinefest.com/ July 16-18, 2010

Hudson Wine Festival, Hudson, Ohiohttp://www.hudsonwinefestival.com/ July 16-18, 2010

Missouri Wine Festival http://www.visitesprings.com/Missouri_Wine_Festival.html Excelsior Springs, Missouri July 17, 2010

A Taste of the Space Coast, Food & Wine Fest http://www.atasteofevents.com/ Melbourne, Florida July 17

Sunrise Side Wine and Food Festival, at Harrisville Harbor, Huron Shores, Michigan http://huronshorescc.com/events/winefoodfest.htm July 17

By Kathy | Posted in Winery Events | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Planning a Picnic or Barbecue for July 4th?

June 28, 2010 – 7:55 am

Do you have plans for July 4th? If you’re planning a large get-together, how about encouraging everyone to bring a dish prepared with wine as an ingredient. If you are having difficulty coming up with these type of recipes check out the Wine Trail Traveler recipe section at http://winetrailtraveler.com/recipes/food.php. Here you will discover an array of over 150 recipes including appetizers, salads, beverages, entrees and desserts.

Picnic and Barbecue Suggestions

Assuming someone will bring a bottle of wine to the gathering, bring a corkscrew. If you are providing wine decide what you like best for a hot, summer day. Many wine lovers like a crisp, fruity wine for warm afternoons.

Whatever foods are brought to the picnic or barbecue, the advice that is usually given is to keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold.

Add red and white-checkered tablecloths and flags for color.

Have plenty of sunscreen on hand.

Have a great time!

Cheers, Kathy

By Kathy | Posted in Wine/Food/Recipes | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Barrel Oak Winery and Charity

June 27, 2010 – 1:34 pm

Barrel Oak Winery located in northern Virginia is a winery that offers a range of events. Many of these events focus on a wide range of charities. Charitable events are labeled as “A PAWS FOR THE CAUSE BENEFIT.” In the recent past, including one today, events have included benefits for Golden Retriever Rescue, Education and Training (GRREAT), the Fauquier Family Shelter Services, the American Heart Association, Lucky Dog Adoption and Leeds Pine Ridge Project effort benefiting Native Americans living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota.

Barrel Oak Winery is housed in a modern facility and the winery is one of the greenest wineries in Virginia. They also support access to organic foods. Check their events page for these events.  As Barrel Oak Winery is a partner of Wine Trail Traveler we have enjoyed following their progress since their beginning in 2008. We are delighted that they contribute in so many ways to charity and the green environment. To find the winery’s calendar of events visit http://www.barreloak.com/events/index/event_calendar

When you have the chance, check out Barrel Oak Winery. Their website is available at http://www.barreloak.com/

Cheers! Kathy

By Kathy | Posted in Winery Tasting Rooms and Cellar Doors | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

American Grape Varieties

June 25, 2010 – 9:07 am

I just finished reading an excellent article suggested by the website Drinklocalwine.com. The article Indigenous American Grape Varieties, A Primer by David Mark Brown is available on Plate Press. The author begins with the question, “Can American Vitis species produce wines that compare with those made from vinifera on a global stage?”

In this article, Brown emphasizes the six species in the Vitis genus, which are native to North America.  The six included in the article are rotundifolia, vitis rupestris, vitis mustangensis, vitis labrusca, vitis riparia and vitis aestivalis. For the wine lover, look for names such as Muscadine, Scuppernong, Concord, Niagara, Baco Noir, Marechal Foch, Frontenac and Norton.

Brown included a photo of the oldest known grapevine in North America. It is a muscadine grapevine located on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. This immense grapevine is called the Mothervine.

I found Brown’s summary very interesting and agree with him. “So make an effort to discover which hybrids and native varieties are best suited to your region and sample the best that your local wineries have to offer. You may be surprised to find that your new favorite wine has no European heritage at all.”

As you visit local wineries be on the look out for some of these unusual wines and decide for yourself which ones you enjoy.

By Kathy | Posted in Wine Notes | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

On to Paper and Pen or Finger and iPad

June 24, 2010 – 4:00 pm

When we finish a trip to visit wineries, the work begins. We returned from visiting two wineries in West Virginia and eleven in Ohio.  Now we start to write articles, edit photos and assemble web pages. That should take us another week. At the same moment we are planning our next travels, this time to Washington. We plan to visit wineries near Seattle and in the Walla Walla region. Even after we complete the thirteen articles about the recent winery visits, we will continue to write related articles for Examiner.com and Suite101.

People like to point out that we have a nice job and that we do this full time. What they don’t see is the writing, editing and publishing part. Yes we get writers block. Although we set our own deadlines, we do try to stick to them. We even run into days that we can’t write at all because we let our list of chores pile up. That usually happens frequently the week after we return from a road trip.

Kathy can seem to write anytime of the day. I do my best writing from 5:00 am to 10:00 am. After that I should just go do something else like watch my Dornfelder grow and inspect the fruit and vines for black rot or some other vengeful disease. What is interesting is that we do enjoy the writing. Bringing  to paper (or in our case a webpage) a visit to a winery or vineyard tasting room to share with thousands is challenging and fun.  So on to the paper and pen. Although during the evening I am starting to use hands and the screen of an iPad.

Cheers,

Terry

By Terry | Posted in Wine News/Commentary | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

Raven’s Glenn Winery in Ohio

June 23, 2010 – 12:48 pm

Yesterday we spent a significant amount of time touring one of Ohio’s largest wineries. Raven’s Glenn Winery is very enjoyable. They provided us with a tour, tasting and dinner selections paired with many of their wines. A few acres of vineyards are located here on sandy soil and more are only five minutes away on a hillside with vines growing in clay soil.

Although Raven’s Glenn is a winery first, they also have a wonderful restaurant with a gift room. Many of the items on the menu include wine in the ingredients. We especially enjoyed the Zinfandel Chocolate Cake drizzled with chocolate.

The restaurant with a pavilion overlooks the Tuscarawas River providing a delightful ambiance. While visiting Ohio, be sure to visit Raven’s Glenn and check out all that they have to offer.  The winery and restaurant are located in east central Ohio on U. S. Route 36. The Wine Trail Traveler review will be available next week.

Cheers! Kathy

By Kathy | Posted in Wine Notes, Winery Tasting Rooms and Cellar Doors | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Wine Wednesday Focus on Noiret

June 23, 2010 – 5:54 am

Wine grape growers are faced with weather conditions that make grape selection for vineyards crucial. Growers simply cannot plant Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Chardonnay and hope for the best. Fortunately several universities around the world create new hybrid grapes that have promising results in vineyards.

Cornell University at their Geneva, New York Agricultural Experiment Station developed a hybrid grape called Noiret that we are beginning to see in our travels. The grape produces a red wine that we tasted at Presque Isle Wine Cellars in North East, Pennsylvania and recently tasted the grape in a dessert wine produced by Raven’s Glenn Winery & Restaurant in West Lafayette, Ohio.

The Presque Isle Wine Cellars Noiret 2007, was a dark opaque purple. There was a pepper and spice aroma. The taste was smooth with black fruit and pepper. The finish had pepper with mild tannins. At Raven’s Glenn Winery, Noiret is used to make a Port-styled dessert wine called Scarlet Raven. It did not have the peppery tastes common with this grape. There was a dark berry jam fruit on the aroma and taste. There was no heat on this 20% alcohol dessert wine. Although sweet, there was enough acid on the finish to cut the sweetness.

If searching for wines made from Noiret also search for the spelling Noriet and NY73. This hybrid grape was created from a cross of the grape created by crossing NY33277 and Chancellor and then taking that grape and crossing with Steuben.

Cheers,

Terry

By Terry | Posted in Wine Notes | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

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