| Pugster Wine Cheese Italy Drink France Dessert Food Italian Charms | | Posted Tuesday, January 23, 2007 1:23:32 PM by Blog57 Team | | For wine and cheese lovers, this is the perfect charm! A bottle of Chianti, a glass of wine, and some tasty cheese. Crafted and authenticated by Pugster Inc.... | |
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| | | Fruit wines sublime | | Posted Wednesday, January 17, 2007 1:30:57 PM by Blog57 Team | | David and MaryAnn Ferrin originally shared their hobby of making fruit wines with family, friends and neighbors. But the response to their wines was so positive that they decided to open a winery. Ferrin's Fruit Winery (317-566-9463), in old-town Carmel, debuted along with the 21st century. All of the couple's wines, which range from dry to sweet, are fermented and bottled on the premises. In addition to sales at the winery, vintages also can be purchased at Dino's Vino in Fountain Square and at Marsh stores in Carmel, Castleton, Fishers (at 96th Street), and Westfield. .... | |
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| | | Grape expectations: New study shows Illinois' wineries ripening | | Posted Sunday, January 14, 2007 3:36:04 PM by Blog57 Team | | As retirement neared, Illinois hand surgeon David Conner knew exactly what he wanted to do once he put away his scalpel for good: hit the bottle. And the barrel. And the vineyard.The 65-year-old Conner parlayed a mind for chemistry, thick wallet and sprawling acreage into his Kickapoo Creek Winery near Peoria, joining a growing number of winemakers in a state better known for Abe Lincoln, corn and coal.And if a recent study is any indication, the time looks ripe for folks like Conner.The number of Illinois wineries has grown more than fivefold in the past 10 years, according to the study by wine industry analysts MKF Research, released this month by the Illinois Grape Growers and Vintners Association. Illinois has 68 wineries _ about 10 of which opened in the past 18 months _ and 450 grape growers.... | |
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| | | Gourmet Lunch at 18th Century Chateau | | Posted Wednesday, November 15, 2006 1:18:53 PM by Blog57 Team | | Situated in the beautiful village of Hesdin Labbe on the green hills of Boulonnais, this elegant 18th Century Chateau awaits your arrival with your colleagues and clients. Surrounded by its own 12 acre park and beautiful landscaped gardens, give your colleagues a luxury gourmet day out where they can relax in this plush atmosphere in this charming place dating back to Napoleonic times. As you arrive, a wine tasting will take place in the lounge where a fantastic fireplace is situated. Wines from Champagne to sweet dessert wines can be on offer where your Wine Nose host will take you through a fun tasting experience, talking about the different varieties and different tastes from the wine. After your wine tasting experience you will then be taken through to the restaurant, which over looks the parkland, to sit down to a gourmet meal covering fantastic wine and food matching, for a fantastic gastronomic afternoon.... | |
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| | | Corvallis-Philomath-Albany triangle | | Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 11:58:42 AM by Blog57 Team | | Heading south from Portland on Oregon 99W, start the day at Airlie Winery (southwest of Salem). From there head west on Airlie Road, turning south on Oregon 223, which puts you in the vicinity of Cardwell Hill Cellars and Harris Bridge Vineyard. The "dessert wines" you'll find at Harris Bridge are exquisite, and my recommendation is to pack along a bit of your favorite blue cheese to enhance the tasting experience. In Philomath, you'll encounter Spindrift Cellars on Applegate Street. And over on Main Street, there's the Wine Vault, which is the official tasting room for nearby Pheasant Court Winery (try their Marechal Foch). They also sell just about all of the wines produced in Benton County. So while you're there, you could pick up a bottle of Lumos wine since their tasting room (up the hill from Cardwell Hill Cellars) will be open the previous weekend and closed over the Thanksgiving Weekend.... | |
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| | | Things to do, places to go | | Posted Sunday, November 12, 2006 3:47:46 AM by Blog57 Team | | Wine Experience every Thursday at Roy's Lounge, for only $20 plus 11 percent tax, guests are treated to live music by Vision, a plate of Roy's signature appetizers and one glass of each of the three featured wines. Each Thursday, Roy's Lounge presents three different types of wine for the promotion. The wine selections change weekly. .... | |
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| | | Wine of the week | Sweet as a muscadine, but healthy too | | Posted Thursday, November 09, 2006 11:47:52 AM by Blog57 Team | | If you are looking for a fun sweet red wine that taste great and can be used in a variety of different cocktails than pick up a couple of bottles of this unique treasure. It is about as sweet as some of the muscadine wines made here in the South, and also contains high levels of antioxidants. Aromas of ripe sweet pomegranate, hence the name, fill the air as soon as you pull the cork. The flavors are sweet and enjoyable, packed full of ripe red fruit and natural sweetness. It coats the tongue and holds till the next sip. It is enjoyable at room temperature or with a slight chill, which tones down the slight spiciness that adds another dimension of flavor to the wine. Use in place of blush or dessert wine or as a way to unwind and help your health in one glass. The fruitiness of the wine will compliment the sweet flavors in the desserts, especially chocolate and add a little of fun with each meal.... | |
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| | | Laetitia Pinot Gris Estate 2005 | | Posted Tuesday, November 07, 2006 3:30:48 AM by Blog57 Team | | The rumors are true: I'm a wine club junky. Everytime I enter a tasting room, swallow a few drops of their finest, and begin fingering the little paper pamphlets that describe their quarterly offerings, I start reaching for my wallet and putting my name, address, and credit card info on their nicely dotted lines. As such, I've been a member of close to a dozen over the past couple years, and am now hovering comfortably somewhere around five wineries that send me wine through the mail regularly. My consistent favorite, however, is Arroyo Grande's Laetitia Winery, both because the quality of their pinot noirs, chardonnays, and sparkling vintages are superb and because they always seems to throw in a happily surprising bottle. The latest surprise was their 2005 Pinot Gris Estate, which sat on my wine rack awaiting its special day for about two months.... | |
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| | | Dessert cookbooks take the cake | | Posted Thursday, November 02, 2006 11:40:39 AM by Blog57 Team | | A baker who calls vanilla the "underwear of cooking" gets my attention first. Gale Gand, co-owner and pastry chef at the Chicago restaurant Tru, along with Lisa Weiss wrote "Chocolate & Vanilla" (Clarkson Potter Publishers, $22.50), one of three dessert cookbooks published in October that seemed to be required reading. Gand elaborates on the underwear theme: "What I really mean is that I see vanilla like an invisible essential, something that's always in the background, the thing you put on before anything else." While vanilla often plays a supporting role, it can, at times, be the Victoria's Secret star. Gand makes that point through 28 recipes, half of which call for vanilla beans and the other half for the extract. A sample: Limoncello Strawberries with Sour Cream and Vanilla Sugar, Eclairs with Coffee Glaze, Vita's Ricotta Doughnuts, Dessert French Toast and Mary's Butterballs, a recipe that illustrates Gand's approach.... | |
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| | | Give wine a shot | | Posted Tuesday, October 31, 2006 1:45:40 PM by Blog57 Team | | Initially, the idea of a wine cocktail is about as favourable as the idea of a beer cocktail. But wine cocktails are nothing new. There are the famous sparkling wine cocktails such as the classic French aperitif kir royale (creme de cassis and champagne), the Italian bellini (prosecco and white peach puree) and the French 75 (gin, lemon juice, sugar and champagne). Even the godfather of bartending, Professor Jerry Thomas, included a recipe for a champagne cocktail in his book How to Mix Drinks or the Bon Vivant's Companion (1862). His simple drink called for sugar, angostura bitters, champagne and ice. Bubbles may be the obvious choice when it comes to wine cocktails but other wine varieties also feature prominently behind the bar. Take the fortified wine vermouth, for example.... | |
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