VinesseToday.com

The Wine Country Lifestyle

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:00:04 PST

     Have you ever dreamed of living in a home that's adjacent to a vineyard and working winery?

     But have the multi-million-dollar prices in the Napa Valley virtually guaranteed that your dream will never become a reality?

     Tom Swarthout, a Chicago area developer, may have the solution. He's planning to develop just under three dozen homes on land in Lake Forest, Ill., north of...

Rutherford Hill: America's Most Improved Wine Estate

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:00:28 PST

    If there were an award for "most improved winery," Rutherford Hill Winery would be a leading candidate.

     Prior to 1996, the bottlings of Rutherford Hill could be hit or miss; you might get a very nice wine, or you might get a clunker. But when Anthony Terlato and his sons, Bill and John, purchased the estate in '96, they put their years of winemaking experience to work in an effort to guarantee a pleasant drinking experience in every bottle.

     As Anthony Terlato likes to put it: "Quality is a way of life. For Rutherford Hill, it begins in...

How to Make Your Nose Smarter

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:00:33 PST

     Food may be the way to a man's heart, but keep in mind that the food goes through his nose before it reaches his stomach.

     In other words, a huge part of enjoying food involves smelling it. Don't believe it? Then try this trick: Place pieces of four different types of food with similar textures on a plate, then close your eyes and have a friend hand you a forkful of one of the items - but before you bring the fork to your mouth, squeeze your nose so you can't smell the food. Once the food is in your mouth, try to identify it. Trust us, it's not as easy as it sounds.

     Because the aroma of food is so closely associated with its flavor, it should come as no surprise that some of the best wine judges in the...

What Would Alpana Drink?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:00 PST

     In Chicago, the most prominent of all sommeliers is a young woman named Alpana Singh. She manages the wine lists for the city's leading operator of high-end restaurants, and also hosts a restaurant review program called "Check, Please!" on the local PBS station.

     Singh wrote a less-than-memorable book a few years ago, but her blog is must-reading for anyone who enjoys pairing wine with food. You can tap into her vast knowledge of the subject at: WhatWouldAlpanaDrink.blogspot.com.

     Although quite successful in her career, Singh maintains a down-to-earth attitude and readily admits to enjoying "comfort food" every bit as much as the fancy dishes...

Tillamook Cheese & Macaroni

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:00:37 PST

     Yes, we've switched up the name of this classic American dish, for two reasons:

     1. In honor of the 100th birthday of Tillamook, a name synonymous with cheese in the Pacific Northwest.

     2. Without the cheese, what would this dish taste like?

     This recipe makes 4-6 main course-sized servings, and an outstanding wine partner would be either Merlot or a...

A 'P&L' on the 2009 California Harvest

Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:00:22 PST

     There are two ways to look at the annual winegrape harvest in California: in tons crushed, and from a purely business perspective. As much as we like to romanticize the world of wine, there can be no romance without a successful business model.

     Each year, Turrentine Brokerage issues a report on the California harvest, skewed to the business side of the ledger. Here are excerpts from the company's report on the 2009 harvest...

     * Chardonnay, the most widely planted white wine variety, was up a substantial 28% statewide in 2009 compared to 2008, which is an...

Hey, Everybody, Let's Talk About Dust!

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 08:00:30 PST

    Getting together with people to talk about dust sounds almost as exciting as watching paint dry.

     But in this case, we're not talking about just any dust. This is special dust.

     This is Rutherford dust, the special soil in a certain sector of the Napa Valley that helps vintners produce some of the most distinctive wines to be found anywhere.

     So special is this dust that it has its own society. And last month, more than 50 members of the Rutherford Dust Society gathered at the elegant Auberge du Soleil resort for...

How to Make a Memorable (in a Good Way) Toast

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:00:07 PST

     It won't be long until wedding and reunion season arrives. And that means you may be called upon to raise a glass and propose a toast.

     If the thought of bombing in front of a bunch of friends (or perfect strangers) takes the fun out of the occasion, you need to follow the Boy Scouts' motto: Be prepared.

     Here are a few tips to help you formulate a toast that everyone in attendance will remember...

How to Be the Perfect Host... at a Restaurant

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:00:10 PST

    Let's be honest: Some of the rituals that people go through when a restaurant server brings a bottle of wine to the table can be downright hilarious.

     In particular, the practice of sniffing the just-dislodged cork sends a clear signal that the sniffer THINKS he knows a lot about wine.

     But, hey, if his guests are impressed, no harm done.

     However, there are a few things that the host of...

Burgers With... Sauvignon Blanc?!?

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 08:00:39 PST

     Wine dinners provide wonderful opportunities to learn more about pairing wine with food.

     In most cases, a restaurant's chef will work directly with the featured winery's owner or a winery rep in developing the menu and selecting the pairings.

     The matchmaking can work in either direction. Sometimes the winery will want to showcase specific bottlings, and then it's up to the chef to...

Radical, Dude: Wine Dinners in Berkeley

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:00:14 PST

    Times have changed in Berkeley since I was a kid.

     Growing up in Southern California as a pre-teen in the 1960s and a teen in the '70s, everything I heard about Berkeley involved the word "radical."

     The people who went to school there were radical. The university professors were radical. The politics of the people was radical.

     Raised by loving but hopelessly "square" parents, I came to equate "radical" with hippies, long hair and...

Much-Maligned Merlot Makes a Comeback

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 08:00:31 PST

    New research by The Nielsen Company into consumer wine consumption patterns and attitudes reveals surprising facts about a wine both loved and maligned in the United States: Merlot.

     Commissioned by Blackstone Winery and utilizing multiple Nielsen data sources, the research finds that Merlot has the single largest consumer base of any varietal wine in the U.S. and, of the major wine varietals, is the one most closely associated with high quality at an affordable price.

     Complete results of the research are detailed in a report entitled, "Merlot Today: The State of the U.S. Merlot Market, Consumer Attitudes and...

Protecting the Heritage of 'Wines of a Place'

Sat, 27 Feb 2010 08:00:16 PST

    The concept of truth in advertising should extend to wine labels.

     That's why the Napa Ridge brand of wines caused such a stir at the dawning of the new millennium. There is no geographic place known as "Napa Ridge," and there wasn't even a Napa Ridge Winery.

     Vintners in real parts of the Napa Valley took umbrage with the Napa name being hijacked (as they put it), and a lengthy court battle ensued.

     The very public debate over the use of the Napa name in a non-Napa wine helped fuel interest in protecting wine region names around the world. In 2005, representatives of seven regions signed...

Make a Long Weekend of It in Sonoma County

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:00:42 PST

     Looking for a fun way to nosh your way through Sonoma County wine country?

     Consider a long weekend - March 19-21, to be specific - when two big events are planned.

     The first, known as "Pigs & Pinot," gives Charlie Palmer a chance to get his swine on and to team up with four partners in...

A 'Green' Way to Experience Wine Country

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:00:49 PST

     Interested in visiting wineries without leaving a big footprint of the environmentally unfriendly type?

     Then pick up a copy of the GrassRoutes guide book devoted to Northern California Wine Country. The sub-title: "Green Road Trips."

     Never heard of GrassRoutes? Here's some descriptive verbiage from its...

Leaf-peeping in Wine Country

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 08:00:44 PST

      QUESTION: When visiting wine country, I've noticed that the grapevines have not only bunches of grapes, but also leaves. Do the leaves have a purpose?

     ANSWER: You bet. In fact, without leaves, it would be impossible for clusters of grapes to ripen.

     Put simply... because, quite frankly, that's the only way we know how to put it...

Winter Olympics Special: All About Ice Wine

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 08:00:14 PST

     "Every heart is ice-bound till wine melt it."

     So said Herman Melville, and whether he knew it or not, Melville's observation applied even to ice wine.

     And what better time to discuss ice wine than as the 2010 Winter Olympic Games begin to wind down in Vancouver, B.C.?

     Ice wine is a sweet treat for wine lovers, the result of using grapes that have been left on the vines much longer than normal (thus developing very high sugar levels), and then...

Wine Bottles: Size Matters

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:00:46 PST

     They say you can tell a lot about a man by the size of his shoes.

     Ahem, but does the same hold true for wine bottles?

     Sometimes.

     Take the magnum, as an example. The magnum (or mag, for short) holds two standard-sized bottles of wine, or a total of 1.5 liters. In a supermarket... or a drug store with...

2 Tablespoons Make All the Difference

Sun, 21 Feb 2010 08:00:35 PST

Paprika is among the dominant flavors of this dish from Austria, and because of that spice element, complementary wines would include Zinfandel and Barbera. This recipe makes 10-12 servings, and is best enjoyed with tender egg noodles.

BEEF GOULASH...

A Taste of Burgundy in Your Home

Sat, 20 Feb 2010 08:00:10 PST

Not planning a trip to Burgundy this year? Then enjoy a taste of that wonderful region of France at home with this popular pre-meal snack, which matches beautifully with red Burgundy wine - or American Pinot Noir. This recipe makes 10-12 servings.

FRENCH GOUGERES...