Last night’s Women’s Wine & Dine – What you missed…

Well, last night’s event was AWESOME – we had over 50 ladies there, it was a blast. We paired Domestic VS. Imported wines, Content our board member (and partner with Tydings & Rosenberg LLP) spoke about why you should care about alcohol legislation, in Maryland especially. Our amazing guest speaker was none other than the fabulous Jane Brewer, who is co-chair of the Tax department at KAWG&F (yes, tax at this time of year is an exciting subject and with the addition of good wine, it was positively scintillating). Our featured charity was Art With a Heart, which offers art therapy to disadvantaged children and adults throughout the Baltimore area.

One of the biggest thrills was the food – we had an amazing menu. As usual the folks at Chris Daniels outdid themselves. I had the flat ironed steak over gorgonzola potato foam (this is NOT your normal rubber chicken dinner networking meal ladies by a long shot but those that had the almond covered rainbow trout with shoestring potatoes & fennel, were just as pleased as punch.

The crowd at March 26th Women’s Wine & Dine

As promised – here are the wines – prices indicated are approximate:
Domaine St Vincent Gruet New Mexico $10.99 -

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Domaine Saint Vincent Brut is a Méthode Champenoise sparkling wine produced by the Gruet family in New Mexico. Gruet makes more than a million bottles of French Champagne every year, and their Gruet Brut from New Mexico has long been our top-selling domestic sparkler. As the second label of Gruet, Domaine Saint Vincent Brut is surely one of the best values in domestic sparkling wines on the market.

Domaine Saint Vincent Brut is a soft yellow-gold in color, crisp and lively, with a nose of apples, citrus and vanilla. Light/medium in body, it is dry with flavors of apples, lemons, flinty earth and bread dough. Well balanced and food-friendly, this sparkling wine offers a clean and refreshing finish.

Domaine Saint Vincent Brut goes well with all kinds of food, and its friendly price makes it the perfect sparkler for summer parties. This one always blows away the wine snobs and know it alls… for that alone, I LOVE it.

Great value for your money!
Don Conde Cava SPAIN $9.99

Great – hey, this is drinking like the “good stuff” but it’s cheaper! wine

Sparkling wine from a specific part of Spain, Made by the champagne method, Cava wines use Chardonnay and Pinot Noir as well as Macabeo, Parellada, and Xarello grapes. Many of these wines should be drunk young to enjoy the most fruit flavor.

This is my – I want bubbles, but I don’t want to bust the budget bottle of choice. Great for Graduation parties !

Windy Ridge Heron Chard $12

Nestled high atop the hills in Temecula California lies the newest Winery in the Temecula Valley. With the daily afternoon winds it is appropriately named Windy Ridge Cellars.

The Proprietors, Steve & Valerie Andrews plan to operate a small boutique winery with the finest details personally attended to.
The 10 acres are terraced and planted with Zinfandel, Syrah, Viognier and Cabernet Sauvignon varietals. Tasting open by appointment only at this time.

THIS WAS ONE OF THE EVENING’S FAVORITES – LOTS OF LADIES LOVED IT, AND i HAVE TO AGREE! Most tasty!

Jim Jim Unwooded Chardonnay AUSTRALIA $11

Milbrandt Pinot Gris $14
Cornaro Pinot Grigio $8 ITALY

Heron Merlot $14
Altosur Merlot CHILE $10

Front Porch Cab $11
Man Vintners Cab SOUTH AFRICA $10

Good eats…really

Ok – so I’ve not been on a lot – hey, I’ve been eating…ok? First, gorged on Mary Sue chocolate like any bad Catholic would this past Easter… but if you’re talking “real” food…where have I been eating? Many places.

The most memorable of late include…One Eyed Mikes with my friends D & T – really neat place in Fells, is it new – no? But frankly, nothing new inspires me… They have great food (don’t go without a reservation though unless you’re willing to wait or eat in the bar), they are the world’s first ever – Grand Marnier club (really), the bartenders are smart, sassy, cute and fun…and it’s about the most interesting place I’ve been in a while…that was until last week and Henninger’s Tavern.

Ok – I can hear you snobs and know it alls saying “Ha, she claims she knows food in Bmore and she’s NEVER been there?” Well, yes, get over it. The truth is a while back a good friend (and fellow lover of good food) suggested it  – and when I heard the word Tavern, it wasn’t fitting the mood and dress that day…however, another friend – A – suggested it this week, and well – glad he did. I felt (as people probably always do – so forgive the clichay….) like I was somewhere other than Baltimore (Ironic as it’s a Baltimore landmark). The mix of classy, fun, funky, great food, good wine list (with even better prices), pinup girl memorabillia, and just plain fun – made me love the place. Yup – destined to become an “M” spot! 9 on 10 and please (you know who you are) don’t make this your new hip “take a date”  spot – I don’t feel like running into you and your harem,  when all I want is a good dinner, and great drink NOT TO MENTION peace. Gracias!

Now, for the other places I visited – I finally – after the hoopla, you know i hate hitting a restaurant when it’s “Just Opened”… I went to Meli – liked it – didn’t LOVE it. On a scale of 1-10 – I’d say 7. Service wasn’t tops – but they were understaffed, and you gotta give them a break as they were extremely gracious about it. Interesting menu – lot’s of influences of honey – hence the name Meli. In the spirit of objectivity – I should go back – and I will, promise to give you an update.

Went back to Tsunami (actually did Tsunami for sushi first – then Lemongrass for Entrees) – and really, have to say – LOVE it. The food, the atmosphere – the service…all good. On the scale 8.

Compared to RA which looks great, but is anything but ZEN. Can someone leave the loud music for a little later please? I lost my appetite…Didn’t love RA – left me, well – raw. Not great for the digestion.

Speaking of Asian – The Sun recently reviewed Pho Dat Than – a place I reviewed almost two years ago for the Baltimore Examiner (come on people – wake up – will ya?). Again, if you MUST venture to Howard County, here’s a civilized place to get some really good – authentic – Asian food, Vietnamese if you please. Great – fabulous and cheap… Save the money and hit Arundel Mills up the road

Ok – enough for now. Off to prepare tonights Women’s Wine & Dine!

How to Start your own Wine Cellar at Home

THE BASICS OF STARTING AND ORGANIZING A HOME WINE CELLAR

 

#1 – The Amount of bottles doesn’t matter – the System does. Find your system. But pick a system you can STICK to. I like the simple – 3 tier – Everyday, Special Occasion – Do not Touch under penalty of death.

 

#2 – Pick a place to store it. Pick a place away from the light, and ideally in a climate controlled area – actual temperature is not what’s most important – stability of temperature is. Spare closet, bedroom or basement (provided not too damp or too dry or hot) are all ok. You don’t need fancy racking you can do very well with sturdy wine boxes piled on one another.

 

#3 – Get yourself a little black book/composition book and if you have the energy – write down what you have – and organize ON PAPER what goes with what.  If that is TOO time consuming – just keep your receipts when you buy wine and put a little number next to each item (section #1, #2, #3) and you’ll know where to put them when you bring them home. It’s also good to keep receipts for insurance purposes and to keep track of what you’re buying.

 

#4 – Get the little sticky dots from Staples or Office Depot and use a color coding system on the top of the bottle so you can “at a glance” when they are lying down on their side – pick which ones are “ready to drink – green” , “save for a special occasion or not yet – ready- yellow” and “do not touch or ageing – red”.

 

# 5 – Have fun with the cellar – don’t be a slave to it. Do research before you buy lots at auction or spend a lot of money as you can make mistakes.

Out and About – Urbanite party…& more

Toodles…

Well, went to the Urbanite bash at Center Stage yesterday – great party. The food presented by Taste and our friend Chef Ann was amazing. The pulled pork sliders were my favorite – wine was supplied by Macaroni Grill and the Chianti – was pretty good – who knew? The meatballs from Georgies (Canton?) were also quite tasty. Good party food – actually no, great party food, a rarity at times.

It was a good crowd, there was music and lots of energy. An artist was painting – very nice event. Great job…well done, is there anything the Urbanite doesn’t do well? Methinks not.

Had I not been coming down with the flu – I would have probably enjoyed it MUCH more.

Here’s an interesting video from Sloane Brown and the Baltimore Sun….

http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/custom/modernlife/bal-sceneandheardgallery-flashplayer,0,6862216.htmlstory?coll=bal-modernlife-utility

J Paul’s in the Inner Harbor – not bad, not bad.

This weekend, I went to J Paul’s with a friend, my expectations were low but I actually had some delicious beef sliders, oysters – Blue Points to be exact and some great Sam Adams Winter Ale. The crab cake sliders…um, not so good. The rest – very tasty though.

Wines from The Women’s Wine & Dine event on February 27, 2008

Well, we did it – people didn’t think we would but we did it – we drank….egads, BOX wines! at the last Women’s Wine & Dine.

Now, why did we did we do this? Precisely because lots of people out there think you SHOULDN’T. Here’s the deal – is a box wine going to rock your world like a small production, single vineyard fine wine – NO. But then again – you shouldn’t be expecting a KIA to beat a Mercedes in a drag race either. Everything (and every wine) has it’s purpose in life. Box wines – their time has come.

This year, I’ve found myself making the acquaintance of several people who do the “boating” thing – whether sailing or power boats, one across the board rule seems to be “no glass on the boat”. So, what’s a girl to do? I mean – I like my glass of wine while I’m watching the sun set on the bay et al…Box wines baby, to the rescue!

Now, were we in VA where they are civilized to the point of allowing people to purchase wine in the grocery store, even at Target… we’d have a MUCH greater variety of wines to choose from – however, we live in Maryland – and the system is not into making wine easy for you to get your hands on (sorry). So, the selection is somewhat limited.

Last Wednesday we sampled the Box Star wines…

The Cabernet, The Shiraz, The Merlot and yes, the Chardonnay (Mucho thanks to Allison & Stu Doris of Four Corners for helping out on that)…they were great! We served them instead of our usual bubbly and everyone agreed – for the price ($17 a box which holds the equivalent of three bottles) mighty tasty.

We also tasted some “bottled” wines as well…

Here’s the lineup:

Barnard Griffin White Riesling Washington State, USA ($10) OK – Why Riesling you ask? Here’s the deal… Easter and Passover (no this wine is not Kosher but if you do the meal and don’t necessarily keep Kosher it would work, make sense?) This slightly sweet wine works with a variety of salty, sweet, savory foods. It is crisp enough to keep your tastebuds snappy and can go with a LOT of different things.

Man Vintner’s Chenin Blanc South Africa ($10) – In the Loire Valley, in France – they GET Chenin Blanc, they understand that it is a highly versatile grape that can make still, sparkling, even sweet wines… In South Africa, they get that as well. Why Chenin Blanc? Well – every try to please everyone and find it darn near impossible? Here’s the deal – Chenin Blanc will usually appease both the Sauvignon Blanc AND Chardonnay drinkers…plus, at this price -it’s great value when cooking or entertaining.

Graham Beck Railroad Red blend South Africa ($12)- I just love this red wine. It drinks SO MUCH more expensive than it is. It is a lovely blend of Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Yummy. Everyone there loved it too…this was by far one of the most favorite poured.

De Bortolli Petite Sirah ($11) Australia, with a screw cap – can’t beat that!

OK – We tasted this to help show case the difference between Petite Sirah and Syrah or Shiraz. I have a phrase I have coined (really) that goes like this: “No Sirah, Que Shiraz, syrah…” Meaning Sirah is separate from Shiraz and Syrah – which are the same animal just pronounced differently in different parts of the world.

Happy Drinking! (in moderation of course).