California study theorizes that antioxidants and resveratrol in red wine may cut down on cancer risk...

A daily glass (or two) of red wine may reduce the risk of lung cancer in men, particularly in smokers, according to research published in the October issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

Smokers suffer from an especially high risk of lung cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, 213,380 new cases of lung cancer were reported in the United States in 2007, with 160,390 deaths, making it a leading cause of cancer death in the country.

For those of you who haven’t been keeping up on our sappy stories from the European Wine Blogger’s Conference that took place in La Rioja last weekend, allow me to catch you up. For three days, Robert McIntosh, Ryan and I gathered together several wine bloggers from around the world to meet and chat about…yup, wine blogging.

However, what you, nor anyone else, has known up until today was that we didn’t have a location set for the keynote tasting / dinner until a few weeks before the event - I kid you not. Don’t get me wrong, we were looking! But try as we might, from June to August, getting anything planned and confirmed in Spain is impossible. So with literally days remaining, we used one of Robert’s many Rioja connections - also known as the golden enchufe - to get us a reservation at La Chata.

Now mind you, none of us had ever been there, but the restaurant came on good authority as a wonderful place that would actually seat all 40 bloggers. But get this, they wouldn’t only make room our entire crew, but they even had a separate area where we could host our wine tasting consisting of cases upon cases of wine! This, my friends, was a miracle, and a reservation based on complete faith, because for all we knew, it could have been a mess!

So what made La Chata such an incredible find?

The Perfect Feeling

The historic restaurant is nestled inside the old part of Logrono on a tiny Gothic style street called, Calle Carnicería, just a stones throw away from the Plaza del Mercado and the Catedral de La Redonda. Stepping through the door, you enter a small room holding a set of wooden stairs, a long hallway to the right of the stairs that lead to a white tiled kitchen, and a narrow wooden bar that sits about 6ft in front of an enormous stone oven. Built in 1821, this monster of an oven has seen more carcasses than I hope any of us will have seen in a lifetime, and was the first of its kind in Spain. Two stone ovens were later constructed in the Plaza del Mercado in the early 19th century, primarily for bread, but La Chata had already gained a reputation for creating the first of its kind.

Walking up the stairs, you enter a long cozy room with wooden floors, thick wooden tables and chairs, and cozy atmosphere that feels more appropriate for a large Sunday brunch with a Riojan family than a restaurant filled with foreigners. But strangely enough, that is exactly how they try to make you feel, like part of the family.

La Chata is owned and managed by the Belber family, a patient and loving group of people who were eagerly willing to not only endure my 1001 questions on cooking a suckling pig, but also handling a loud and passionate group of international wine bloggers who were ridiculously excited to experience a traditional Rioja meal. With grace and professionalism, they handled the most inquisitive and cautious among us with a humor, entertainment and kindness. For me, it was a feeling of complete acceptance regardless of whether or not I enjoyed the food. As stated by the chef and owner’s wife, Estela, “How cool that you all came from around the world to appreciate our food and culture. I appreciate that!”. So do we Estela, so do we!

Fourths Anyone?

And as if the service and atmosphere wasn’t cozy and heart-warming enough, the food was quite good. Granted, the caveat being that the conversation and gales of laughter may have influenced my perception, making every dish seem incredible, but hey, take my impressions for what they’re worth. From what I remember, between Juan mistaking Ryan as my brother and Emidio training his child how to differentiate aromas from various wines, in the end, it all tasted good to me

Our meal began with four appetizers:

Ensalada Templada de Perdiz Escabechada con Endibias (Partridge Endive Salad)

Jamón Ibérico de Bellota (Traditional Cured Ham)

Espárragos Especiales de la Ribera (White Asparagus served with Sliced Tomatoes and Mayonnaise)

Revuelto de Boetus Edulis con su Cebolleta Fresca (Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Onion and Edulis Mushrooms)

Of these four, I’d like to call attention to the Revuelto de Boetus Edulis con su Pebolleta Fresca. Having only had Huevos Rotos (scrambled eggs with chorizo and a touch of vanilla) in Rioja, I was extrememly happy to have tried another version. The eggs held a perfect delicate, yet firm texture, while the mushrooms added that earthy flavor that paired beautifully with the 2007 Pazos de Lusco from Rias Baixas. I´m still dreaming about this dish today!

Once the plates were cleared, a large heaping pile of Cochinillo (suckling pig less than 6 months old) was placed on the table with a crisp skin to contrast its tender and juicy meat. This was paired with Escarola de la Tierra con su Aliño de Ajitos, a stiff and curly leafy green lettuce (similar to frise) in a light garlic dressing. The crisp green texture and spicy garlic flavor added that perfect touch to the slightly sweet meat.

In short, this restaurant is a must visit, a place I would highly suggest you go if you wish to experience a traditional Rioja meal in a cozy and quaint family run restaurant, where good service and a big smile are a normal part of the experience. Sigh, only a few months to go before we’re back again. I can’t wait!

Que Aproveche!

Gabriella Opaz

Restauranta Asador La Chata

Carnicerias, 3

26001 Logroño, Spain

+34 9941 251 296

lachata@teleline.es.

http://geo.ya.com/weblachata/bienve.htm

• Some of the Food Culture of La Rioja (warning may cause salivation)
• Dinner at Terete in Haro, La Rioja
• Aromas & Sabores in Campo de Ourique, Lisbon
• Tapas at El Xampanyet
• Wine Bloggers Dinner during Alimentaria in BCN, Hosted by Bodegas Tintoralba

Image by Thomas Hawk via Flickr

As a fugitive of the cubicle nation I’ve learned a few interesting things.  Some about myself and some about actually jumping ship and really trying to get things going.  In fact, I don’t have much time today but this blog is an important part of my life and I don’t want it to go dark for too long.

So its about three months since I was officially “jumped” and the main thing I’ve learned is this - have your shit together, ducks in a row, and get ready because having little visibility into where the money is going to come from is a scary thing.  Don’t let all these entrepreneurs tell you “oh yeah, just do it; shit or get off the pot; blah blah blah”.  All crap.  There is NOTHING impulsive about jumping ship and going it alone.

If you’re part of the cubicle nation you’ve most likely gotten extremely good at your job and that gives you confidence to “give it a try”.  Recognize this - while you may be a genius in your field, you do NOT know everything you should to go it alone.  Go into it with your eyes open and allow yourself to “know what you don’t know”.  Business development, marketing, networking, tech services, administrative assistant, bookkeeper, customer support, legal secretary, etc…

Its not that you CAN’T do all this stuff, but just know that you’ll need to plan some time where you don’t have money (or assume you don’t) figure out how you’ll pull that off - assuming no income - and then when you’re OK with that you can go for it.  Because what will happen is things will take longer then you think and you need to make sure you’re not rushed into bad decisions for your business just because of the uneasy feeling that “no visibility” gives you.  In fact, you want to figure out everything I mentioned in the previous paragraph as a way to give yourself visibility into your business and the more visibility you have the better you’ll feel about the jump.

Next - you can’t get away from politics.  Now granted, there are no office politics unless you want to count arguments over why the dogs haven’t been walked in a week and the potential of withholding of certain marital obligations as politics.  But the politics that I’m talking about are around meeting new people, making a name for yourself, and building your business.  I’m not big on politics and generally as a consultant, even early in building the business, I tell it like it is, turn down business that while I’m perfectly capable of doing the work, it doesn’t add to my “portfolio” if you will.  Its a tricky thing breaking into new markets and its clear that there are “circles” everywhere you go.  I’ve always known that and I’ve been ready for it.  But its more important to understand that going into it then I would’ve thought before making the leap.  So I think its important to communicate that out - You are not getting away from politics by escaping from the cubicle nation; you are just dealing with a different type of politics.  So “how to gain friends and influence people” is still an important skill!!

OK, I have to run but I think I’ll be doing more and more around communicating my Cubicle Nation Fugitive experiences as they seem to be coming fast and furious and they are actually interesting as I learn from this.

Cheers!

Although I missed the boat on this one completely, the results are in for the latest Wine Blogging Wednesday over at CorkDork. This month’s objective was to try new red wines from New Zealand. 31 bloggers participated this time! Check it out!

It may sound obvious to put a girl in blue jeans in an ad for wine (like, helLO, this is an advertisement for youths, duh), and therefore not that interesting, but for some reason it works. Sacre Bleu's frankly young-looking model, along with product placement at the hip Miami music venue The Fillmore, support of charitable organization Rock the Cause and funny winemaking videos from French Gustave (it's always nice to have a Frenchie in the mix), put the brand at the top of the wine-marketing-to-Millennials heap. Haven't tasted the wine yet, but seeing as it's coming from France's promising Languedoc, my bet is it's not half bad.

A few weeks ago, a friend of ours gave us the skinny on a new wine shop in Barcelona called, Neyras Vins. Located on Calle Laietana, a short jaunt from the famous Barcelona Cathedral, it is a cozy and comfortable space that welcomes both tourists and residents alike.

It’s owner, Antonio Gomez Neyra, is also the owner of Restaurante Neyras, founded back in 1989. Albeit not an ancient restaurant by European standards, it has gained a solid reputation as a high-end seafood and wine establishment. Consequently, the creation of a wine shop two doors down from his restaurant seemed like an easy investment when your customers continually inquire about your fine Spanish wines. Unfortunately, as of yet, one cannot meander over to the Neyras Vins and pick out a bottle of wine to pair with your meal, but we’re hopeful this policy will change in the future.

What makes Neyras Vins unique is that its manager, Juan Manuel Gonzalvo, prides himself on actively seeking out a personal relationship with their producers, over 90% of which are Spanish. Many of these producers can also be read about on his blog Y Vinos, a point of pride and joy for Juan Manuel, as its creation came well before that of the store. However, there is not relationship between the blog and the store. Neyras Vins, sadly, does not have a website as of yet, but we’re hoping this will also change in the near future, and if we’re all lucky it will be blog based.

Neyras Vins is well organized, designed, and most importantly, affordable. Constructed primarily of wood, with bottles organized by regions, and plenty of wide open space to peruse while sipping on wines open and available to the customer, its a great little shop worthy of checking out. And if for whatever strange reason, you’re in the mood for a Japanese scotch (fun Japanese whiskey site!) or an exotic Tequila, while in Spain, you don’t have to look any further, as their glass case is stocked with a variety of liquors from around the world.

During our visit, we also had the opportunity to learn about a new producer, Heretat Montrubi located in the Alt Penedes. We tried two of their wines, one of which was an incredible sweet wine made with 73% Xarel.lo and 23% Parellada. The 2006 Advent is claimed to be the first ever sweet wine made with Xarel.lo. What’s more is that this wine is made in a very similar way Pedro Ximenez, where the bunches are individually hung from metal wires to naturally dehydrate over the course of 75 days. The grapes are then pressed, fermented at a low temperature with a specific yeast, and finally, placed in two 225 oak barrels where they finish off their fermentation for 11 months on lees. This process results in a delicate and radiant golden color with a lovely and bizarre range of aromas including: cereal, honeycomb, orange zest and a touch of white, mature fruit. In the mouth, the wine shows incredible acidity, medium body and a nice, lingering finish full of honey, lemon custard and raw nuts. And as if this sweet wine wasn’t interesting enough, we also experienced the 2004 Gaintus, an incredibly unique wine made exclusively from Sumoll! This is a rarity, and one clearly highlighted by the winery as, “the first single variety wine from the Sumoll grape”.

If you are in Barcelona, stop by and say hello from Catavino, and please share your impressions of the Neyras Vins here on our site.

Additionally, I’d be interested to know your thoughts as to whether retail stores need an online presence, and if so, how? How do you find a wine shop when you’re traveling to a new country, and what is the criteria that helps you decide if you want to swing by and check out a wine shop?

Saludos,

Gabriella Opaz

Neyrus Vins
Via Laietana 41 (Esq. Joaquim Pou. 2)
08003 Barcelona
Phone: +34 93 301 30 35
Map

• Sumoll
• Vila Viniteca
• About Us? - Wine bloggers to your blogs!
• Japanese Food - Spanish Wine a Food pairing made at Freixenet?
• 2005 Sumoll Rosat, Pardas, Catalunya

This is a premium Montenegrin red wine made from the indigenous Vranac grape. The Reserve is produced from particulary good years, in small quantities, aged in barrels for several years. It is also aged in bottles for one year before being released to the market.

This is a dry wine, with a pleasant fruity nose. However, the impressions are far lower than it’s price. If you want to experience the Vranac variety the Montenegrin way, go for a regular Planta?e Vranac or their Vranac Pro Corde. They are much cheaper and the experience is almost the same.

Wines of the Vranac variety are produced throughout the region, apart from Montenegro, you can find them in Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Herzegovina.

Score: 7/10
Price: 15 euro (in Montenegro)

Technorati Tags: Vranac, Montenegro, Montenegrin Wines, Wine

Editors note: Starting today, we will be highlighting an Iberian wine, or winery, every Friday. It may cover a single one, a project or a winery. We’ll try, in most cases, to choose wines that are widely distributed, but this will not always be possible. Hope you enjoy.

About a year and half ago, I stumbled across a wine website that had a link to an Iberian winery blog. Clicking the link, I was taken to a page with about three posts and no comments enabled. At the time, there were approximately three other winery blogs out there, and I was excited to see another pop up. However, this “blog” didn’t allow comments. Thus, in my world, it wasn’t a blog. Long story short, earlier this month, I made contact with Andrew McCarthy through a friend, and was able to help him with a little Blogspot coding to remedy this problem. Today Castro Martin sits at the 8th place in our sidebar list of Iberian winery blogs, and I’m glad to have them there. I have loved Castro Martin’s wines for quite some time, and today, both Gabriella and I would like to recommend their great Albarino’s from the popular region of Rias Baixas.

Seriously, these are some nice wines: full of body and pure fruit, they are both complex and easy to understand. The Castro Martin Albarino is straightforward pure flesh fruit with some zesty acidity. It is a 2006, and if you noticed, we’re almost to the end of 2008; meaning that for it to have this kind of zestiness is a credit to the winemaker or the grape. I’ve been lectured by winemakers who work with Albariño that contrary to popular thought, it should be aged. In fact, I have yet to do it, but I have a standing invitation with Lusco to taste through some older vintages just to illustrate this exact point. This wine is still alive, full of vivacity, and I trust will last for another year or two.

The second wine we’re suggesting is the A2O, a wine that unfortunately is spelled with a tilde (~) over the 2; thus making brand awareness an issue since no one I know can type it. But that’s beside the point. This wine is full of stuffing and ready to go for a 5 year stay in my cellar, if we can stop ourselves from drinking it all up. Rich and layered flavors supported on a framework of acidity that is strong and yet supple. I want more, and you should too. Check this wine out!!

This family owned winery itself has a history that stretches back well before DO of Rias Baixas existed, and their website claims that they were the first to use stainless steel tanks for their wines. And current winemaker, Angela Martin is responsible for the production of award winning wines, such as the Acio de Ouro (no info) in 2000, for best Albariño. There’s even rumor that in 2001, Andrew McCarthy attended a wine tasting that appeared to have lasted a bit longer than was to be expected, eventually ending in a marriage!

I don’t need to recap the entire history and wine making, because the site (despite its silly pop-up windows and some distracting flash) provides some good information for your to peruse on your own time. Here’s a direct link to avoid the pop-up window.

Complaints? Well I have to say, I hate fake cork. If your going to opt out of the real cork, then please move to screw caps. Fake cork is annoying, ugly and at times, harder to open than the real stuff. Please just get on with it and move to a screwcap if you don’t want the cork.  Otherwise, the wines are great and well worth seeking out. Not to mention, please leave a comment on their newly “open to comments” blog, where you can see what is happening in Galicia, Spain.

Cheers,

Ryan

• Castro Martin Albariño 2006
• Castro Martin A2O 2007

Related articles by Zemanta

• Vinho Verde Makes Being Green Easy

• Martin Codax
• Podcast #27 - FENAVIN and the tale of two Spanish Albariño’s
• Podcast #13 - Summer is Over
• Global Wine Distributor signs Agreement with Martín Códax
• Iberian Winery Hall of Fame

 Yesterday saw the announcement of the medal winners for the International Wine Challenge.

This year 9,358 wines were judged from 35 different countries, by 400 judges. The judges came from 19 different countries and included 33 Masters of Wine. 260 Gold medals were awarded, 1,129 wines won Silver medals and 1,839 wines won Bronze medals.

The top 3 medal winning nations remain the same as last year ? France, Australia and Italy. France scooped the most medals with a total tally of 635.  English wines continue to show improved form with 21 medals in 2007 up from 16 last year.

Of the UK Supermarkets Tesco stocks most medal winning wines whilst Sainsbury?s can claim the most Golds. Waitrose own-label wines won 3 Silver and 5 Bronze medals.

Here at Bottletalk HQ we’ll be sure to be trying a few of these award winners and letting you know what we think on the site.

Sad sign of the times: collectors are resorting to selling their precious wine in order to raise capital. Lisa Baertlein (reuters.com) writes:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Wine cellars have been taking a hit from the global credit crisis and it isn't because the owners of rare bottles are drinking more -- it's because they have been selling to raise cash.
 
The selling started with mortgage brokers and has moved to Wall Street as owners turn their collections of coveted vintages into liquid assets.
 
"People need money. Even richer people need money sometimes," Vinfolio.com founder and Chief Executive Stephen Bachmann told Reuters on Monday.
 
In the last few weeks, private collectors submitted offers to sell $10 million worth of wine to Vinfolio, a San Francisco-based company that buys and sells wine online. Normally the company has about $6 million offered to it.

» Full Story

Tags: melgab, wine, collection, recession, funds, south-africa, South Africa

Image by ikelee via Flickr

Ahhh, “Dear Abby“…what ever happened to that in this age of near real-time social media…anyway, here’s one thats worth a chuckle (but not worth the e-mail bandwidth its probably taking up!).

Maybe this is a way to reduce traffic on the Internet, just post funny stuff up on a blog and send friends the links not giant emails. 

*******************************

Dear Abby:

I have never written to you before, but I really need your advice. I have suspected for some time now that my wife has been cheating on me.  The usual signs; phone rings but if I answer, the caller hangs up.  My wife has been going but with ‘the girls’ a lot recently — although when I ask their names, she always says, “just some friends from work, you don’t know them.” I always try to stay awake to look out for her coming home, but I usually fall asleep.  Anyway, I have never approached the subject with my wife.  I think deep down I just did not want to know the truth, but last night she went out again and I decided to check on her finally. Around midnight, I decided to hide in the garage behind my golf clubs so I could get a good view of the whole street when she arrived home from a night out with ‘the girls.’  When she got out of the car she was buttoning up her blouse, which was open, and she took her panties out of her purse and slipped them on.  It was at that moment, crouching behind my golf clubs, that I noticed a hairline crack where the grip meets the graphite shaft on my 3-wood.  Is this something I can or should try to fix myself, or should I take it back to the pro-shop where I bought it and try to get a refund?

photo by Maryam at My Marrakesh

The whole world failed Rwanda  - Words attributed to UN staff members under Secretary-General Kofi Annan, rep