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Impeccably maintained vineyards. A sprawling estate complete with world class dining, and stunning gardens. Tasting rooms that are bright and airy, and large enough for bus loads of visitors. This is an image that would not be out of place at a top flight California wine producer, or even a First Growth French Chateau, but I am describing Granmonte, one of Thailand's most impressive wine destinations.
Visooth Lohitnavy envisioned creating a grand estate among the jungle clad granite cliffs in the Asoke Valley of the Khao Yai region of Thailand, and he has made it all come to pass. With determination, and evidently no small sum of money, he has created a jewel where you least expect to find one.
Planted primarily to Syrah and Chenin Blanc with a few rows of Cabernet Sauvignon to experiment with, the vineyards of Granmonte are text book examples of modernity. Employing the Smart Vineyard System, data about the vineyards can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
This is especially important for the next generation of the Lohitnavy family as daughter Nikki studies enology in Australia while monitoring the family vineyards and sending her father regular directions for field adjustments based on real time data.
So just how well does all of this attention to detail pay off? I was quite impressed with their their efforts, but the even harder to impress International panel of judges at the 2008 Syrah du Monde blind tasted their Primavera Syrah and awarded it with a Silver Medal.
Tasting the wines of Granmonte is only half of the fun. Visiting the estate affords you the opportunity to enjoy the exquisite VinCotto restaurant. My tenderloin of Australian beet with French Foie Gras would have been amazing anywhere, but set among the lush tropical foliage of the Thai countryside it was a revelation. Keeping with the family theme, Visooth's wife Sakuna is responsible for the wide range of flavors the restaurant has to offer.
The delights of the restaurant are available to go at the tasting room, with a selection of Sakuna's sauces and preserves sold along side the fine selection of wines. Enjoy a sip of Chenin Blanc, then walk the grounds and admire the lotus pond before settling in for a fine meal at the restaurant and a bottle of their award winning Syrah.
Just two hours from Bangkok, Granmonte is well worth the trip. For more information on visiting Granmonte the next time you are in Thailand, or to learn more about the estate and its ever evolving plans, visit their web site at http://www.granmonte.com/. Tell them I sent you.
Dining in Thailand has been hit or miss for us. We are currently staying in a beach resort about 2 hours south of Bangkok, and it is not exactly cosmopolitan, despite this being the beach residence of the royal family (who probably don't get out to the local eateries much).
Before we left Bangkok we did have a fun meal at the impressive (and very expensive) Siam Paragon Mall. We ate at the Another Hound by Greyhound Cafe. The original Greyhound Cafe being at the Emporium Mall. It was a fun selection of updated versions of street food, with a passable wine list. Not cheap, but innovative and surprisingly good for a shopping mall.
Here in Hua Hin, the beach community that is our home for two more months, we have mostly visited local restaurants, which are a dime a dozen. Every few feet there is another establishment, ranging from a push cart to a 100 seat sit down restaurant. The quality of the food has nothing to do with how impressive the place looks, and we have found that even highly rated restaurants have constancy issues.
Thai food seems to be a fusion of neighboring India, China and Indonesian influences. At least as it is has been served to us, it seems to fail to live up to any of those origins. Some of the finest food I have ever had were in China, India and Indonesia, but don't judge those cuisines by their watered down American counterparts. To visit these lands is to be thrust into a culinary adventure.
France has long been my favorite destination for food, a bias no doubt propelled by the fact I have classic French chef training. On this year long trip I have made a point of cooking, no matter how meager our kitchen logistics may be, and my dinners almost always rival any restaurant's.
So it was with great expectation that we visited the Brasserie de Paris here in Hua Hin, Thailand. The modest restaurant is beach side with great views of the lighted fishing boats in the dark harbor. The food was good, and we enjoyed ourselves, but it was not our night for wine. The slim pickings on the wine list were pared down further by "finished" labels covering almost all of the red wine choices. Our first selection was greeted by a verbal "finished" and we had to settle for what would never have been my choice if only the list were fully available.
They had no Thai wines on their list, and after having tasted my first Thai offering, I am not altogether surprised.
Such is just one of the many problems with trying to run an upscale French restaurant at the beach, hours from the nearest city with its suppliers. For all of that we still managed to have a very nice savory style of Foie Gras (as opposed to the common practice of preparing it with a fruit sauce). Everything was perfectly nice, but the au gratin potatoes were especially memorable. Considering the challenges they faced, the Brasserie pulled of a feast that would be impossible for lesser restauranteurs.
We still have several months to explore, and even if we only eat out once a week or less, there is ample opportunity to find another gem, and when we do, you will read about it here.
If you?re interested in designing your own custom wine cellar there are a number of options available to you. The best news is that there are wine cellar designs for everyone from the avid do-it-yourselfer to the complete woodworking novice.
There are modular wine racks that are available in different grains and finishes, with the least expensive generally being a wood such as pine. Most modular wine rack dealers will offer other materials such as red cedar or finished wood as well. Of course you can always save some money and finish the wood yourself if you desire a particular type of finish or color for your wine cellar racks.
There are many wine racking companies that offer crown molding and skirting pieces so that you can easily combine different styles of wine cellar racking materials and types. This approach can yield some very unique custom wine cellar designs.
There are built in glass racks that are made to fit snugly within a rack system. A good place for one of these individual units would be above the table top piece mentioned above. This would add to the ambience as well as functionality of your custom modular wine racking system.
If you want something a little different than the traditional wood wine cellar racks, there are attractive metal trellis rack pieces that are very economical, yet stylish. These tend to look classier than the wood modular wine racking pieces, especially for placement in bar areas that will be viewed by visitors.
If you would like to add a table area to your wine cellar while increasing the storage capacity of your cellar at the same time, a wine bin table may be the best addition to your modular racking system. There are taller, wine tasting tables that hold just over 100 bottles or about 180 bottles of wine, and there are shorter wine rack tables that hold more than 200 wine bottles in case bins.
There are many online dealers and manufacturers of wine cellar racking pieces that also offer custom computer design services to help you achieve the exact wine cellar layout that you have in mine. With many of these professional services you can then have the plans sent to you and decide if you will build them yourself or have someone else build them for you.
With all of the wine cellar design options available to you, there are many ways to accomplish the perfect wine cellar design for you and your situation. There are many wine enthusiasts online communities and the like where you can find others interested in the same things that you are and maybe gain some other ideas about wine cellars and the design aspect of creating your own wine cellar.
2005 Ponzi Pinot Noir The 2005 Pinot Noir Willamette Valley offers toasty cherry and strawberry aromas leading to a medium-bodied, structured wine with spicy flavors and a slightly tannic finish. Drink this tasty Pinot Noir over the next 4-6 years. Ponzi Vineyards began in 1974 making them one of Oregon?s pioneers. Dick and Nancy Ponzi, the founders, remain very much involved although winemaking duties were turned over to daughter Luisa in 1993. In addition to remaining a reference point for Oregon Pinot Noir, the winery fashions excellent wines from Italian varietals including Arneis and Dolcetto in honor of their heritage. Not yet released. Tel. (503) 628-1227; www.ponziwines.com Rating: 89 Estimated Cost: $29-$40
2004 Lignier-Michelot, Chambolle-Musigny Les Gammaires Medium, medium-plus cherry-red colour. The nose is understated but shows good depth and there’s no ‘2004 character’. In the mouth it’s serious, with good mid-palate dimension and a good persistence of ripe flavour. Very nice - I bought some more. Rebuy - Yes a lignier-michelot 2004 chambolle les gammaires
Fall is just around the corner and few wines are more enjoyable when the weather turns cool than Italy's Sangiovese wines. In the video below, Iron Chef Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich discuss how best to pair Sangiovese with food. Take a look:
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What with the Summer Games currently placing China and its regional cuisines in the limelight in terms of reflecting nearly a continent?s worth of complex, multi-ethnic influences, we should also consider other similarly impressive culinary miracles that geographically take up an infinitesimally tiny fraction the size of China?say Slovenia. In my understanding at least, Slovenia has always represented a fascinating crossroads within an impossibly modest amount of land. Many diverse and even warring influences have laced Slovene customs, viticulture and cuisine. Somehow though, like a cultural or culinary manifestation of the metaphysical concept in J.L. Borges? The Aleph, individual influences never amass into an incomprehensible amalgamation, but rather, remain clearly discernible.
Whether in its fairly recent history as a sovereign republic, under communism or seemingly serving as the geopolitical puck between Napoleon and the Habsburgs? shuffleboard match, Slovenia?s former overlords and neighbors include decidedly unique food cultures?Croats, Istrian Italians, Hungarians and Austrians, among others. Bearing all of this in mind and turning our thoughts to the central concern here on Enotheque, I would like to recommend this wine from the Gori?ka Brda region. Aside from being one of the wines I?ve been enjoying recently, I chose to post on it because I strongly feel that it?s indicative of the impressive quality-value dynamic that importers and retailers could benefit from should markets seem more receptive to the artisan wines of Slovenia.
Even if one is already familiar with the Colli Orientali of Friuli?sRibolla Gialla, the Slovene version, Rebula, is more than worth trying. As a whole, Slovenia and the Gori?ka Brda produce white wines of impressive caliber, be it from more distinctly regional varieties or others introduced from abroad: Briski Tokaji, Teran, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Sivi Pinot, Pinela, or Rebula for that matter. In terms of this one, vintner Matjaz Cetrtic farms Rebula on wide, terraced limestone vineyards, purposefully limiting yields to ensure lush, concentrated and nuanced wines. My notes follow for the 2004 Matjaz Cetrtic Ferdinand Rebula Brda:
Tasting Notes?
Appearance-wise, this wine is medium gold. The nose is clean and of medium intensity, with highly unusual though pleasantly different aromas of caramelized or burnt orange peel, citrus, flowers and minerals. Strange, delightful palate with just enough lemon acidity, hint of underripe green fruit flavors, minerality in the form of pebbles, as well as the aforementioned burnt orange peel flavor that leads into a nice finish. If in search of something wildly, completely different, I wouldn?t doubt to reach for more Slovene wines such as this Cetrtic Rebula.
As a closing note, should the unbelievable degree of complexity in tiny Slovenia?s food and wine heritages impress you and compel you towards further learning, visit the culinary section of what appears to be their official tourism portal on the web.
Heathcote, Victoria, Australia. Shiraz. 15%. Cork (very long 55mm and blemish free). Approx $A70.
The Pleiades is a well known star cluster (easily) visible in both hemispheres, which features prominently in ancient mythology. In the image on the bottle for instance, the lowest star (the 4th from the left) represents Merope, who is the only one of her nymph sisters to marry a mortal (the crafty Sisyphus).
La Pleiade is a collaboration between Michel Chapoutier and Ron Laughton (Jasper Hill). The grapes are grown biodynamically and without irrigation. Presumably the intent is to demonstrate geography (Cambrian soil) and terroir.
A massive black wine which is not for the faint hearted. It is dense and powerful and laden with oak, tannin and fully ripe fruit. Smelling of ink, raisins, prune, spice (juniper), and dried herbs (bay leaf and lavender) this is quite confronting from the very start. Structured, firm and long, the tannins and alcohol vie for attention.
A weekend blow through to (NW's) place had us drinking through a few bottles from his "informed" cellar. (NW) of this blog, picked this up several years ago and laid it down. It comes from the St. Julien section of Bordeaux and is noted as a premier great growth year after year.
Even before raising the glass to my nose sweet fruit filled the air. Luden's wild cherry cough drops (a fond memory from kid-dom came to mind)
Nose is big cigar box aromas with touches of leather and of course cherries galore.
Palate--even at 13 years old, this wine still has some maturing to do with slightly chewy tannins, which lay out the cedar foundation with bright red fruit, plum. (NW) paid around $50 this when he purchased it but you won't be able to touch it for that now. Raise a glass for sure!
Recently, at a dinner with friends, one man's date turned to me and complained, "He's so boring. All he ever talks about is wine. All day long he talks about wine." I probably looked hurt, because I was just as engrossed in our discussion of Syrah as he was. Lorraine leaned toward me and whispered, "She's right, you know. We're all hopeless wine geeks. Look at us from an outsider's point of view."
Kopaonik is the largest Serbian ski resort. It is a popular place for domestic skiers and is becoming increasingly popular with foreign visitors. Although “Kopaonik” is actually a large mountain, the term usually refers to the area around the “Grand” hotel and the apartment complex “Sun?ani Vrhovi”. The area is small but contains quite a few hotels and private houses. It’s self contained, with shops, banks, a post office, etc. Apart from the restaurants in hotels, there are a few good restaurants around. In this article I’ll write about the restaurants I’ve visited this year, it might help you make the right choice (I didn’t have any tips at all…).
Etno club “Sunce”
This restaurant is located at the end of a quiet cool-de-sac, in the woods, a 5 minute walk from the Grand hotel. It looks very small from the outside, but it’s quite a spacious place. The atmosphere is great, fairly traditional, with two open fire places, a mixture of smaller and larger tables, a nice blend of loudness and privacy. The music wasn’t great, but that’s the easiest thing to change . The food was excellent and so was the service. They offer mainly Serbian dishes, if you’re not sure what to choose from the menu, the waiters will help you with their recommendations, you can trust them. The wine list includes wines from some of the better Serbian cellars, such as Radovanovi? and Aleksandrovi? (Topola). Go for Aleksandrovi?’s red or white Triumph, they are some of the best wines Serbia has to offer. Overall, it’s a great place, I’ll be back.
Food quality 5/5 Atmosphere 5/5 Service: 5/5 Price 3/5 (moderate, but excellent value) Wine list 3/5 (Radovanovi?, Aleksandrovi?)
Na?a ku?a
This place reminds me of modern pubs-restaurants in Ireland. It has a large bar area in the center, with large tables around, a couple of two seater tables in the corner for some extra privacy and a cosy open fire in the front. Both the interior of the restaurant and the furniture are made of light coloured wood, and there are stripes of small red lights throughout. There’s also a big video beam that mainly shows snow scenes during the day. It is a place frequented by the younger crowd and is open quite late into the nigth (until 3am). They have a small but well-chosen menu (which is also extremely well designed) and it’s obvious they put a lot of effort to make it a bit different from other restaurants in the vicinty. The chef is excellent, and the food is great, so give “Na?a Ku?a” a try if you get tired from the Serbian cousine and are looking for some European tastes. It is one of the more expensive restaurants, with a full dinner for two with a bottle of wine and a dessert producing a bill of around 50 euros. The wine choice is not great, but they do have a few wines apart from the regular choice, we recommend the wines from the Terra Lazarica range.
Food quality 5/5 Atmosphere 4/5 (nice mix of modern and traditional, younger crowd) Service: 4/5 Price 2/5 (expensive) Wine list 2/5
Etno ku?a Studenica
If you’re on a lower budget looking for good quality Serbian food you should visit the etno restaurant Studenica. Pick one of the two tables on the far left to avoid looking at the interior of the kitchen and to avoid the local crowd on the right side. The place is clean, the food was great and the waiter was top-notch, but the problem with this place is that it has too much light, it is visited by the local crowd and generally the level of privacy is quite low.
Food quality 4/5 Atmosphere 2/5 Service: 4/5 Price 4/5 (relatively cheap, good value) Wine list 1/5
Zvrk
This is a very popular restaurant located at the center of ski activities (the “baby slope”, ski lifts Karaman Greben and Pan?i?ev Vrh), just besides the Grand hotel. The restaurant has two levels, the upper one being more packed and colorful, the lower one containing a large center-located open fire place. This fire creates a very tempting smell outside the restaurant, which is the main reason you probably won’t resist getting into it. In general, it’s not a bad place, but there are much better choices around…
Food quality: 2/5 Atmosphere: 4/5 Service: 3/5 Price: 3/5 Wine list: 1/5 (just the very basic Serbian wines)
After weeks of fiddling around with game, organ meats and arguing in Spanish about whether or not the package contains gizzards and hearts, I felt like taking things back to basics. Roasted chicken with creamed spinach, cornbread, and macaroni and cheese, the sides coming from Fresh Market.
I used the "Stretch's Chicken" recipe from the latest issue of Saveur, which involves putting a hard cheese/herb paste on a cut-up chicken and browning the parts in a cast-iron skillet before roasting it all at high temperature in the oven. For simplicity and because it's my favorite for this kind of cooking, I just used a pack of leg/thigh quarters. Defat the pan and deglaze with red wine vinegar and you've got a tangy sauce to go with the chicken. It's ridiculously simple but really flavorful.
For the wine I took a gamble with the 2002 Botromagno Gravina from the bootheel of Italy in Puglia. $15, 12% abv, 60% Greco, 40% Malvasia. I'm not sure how long this wine was supposed to age, but it's become amazing over the years. There are rich aromas of dates and golden raisins as well as violets. Flavors of dried apricots with a foundation of lemony acidity round out the package, and it's got a beautiful amber hue to it.
Looking at this plate, you could easily find the ingredients in a TV dinner or cafeteria lunch menu. Just put a little love and attention in the preparation and find the right wine to make it special. And, of course, eat it at the table surrounded by friends.
labor day is next weekend and many of us will be grilling up hot dogs, bratwurst, and other traditional picnic fare that is difficult to pair with wine. In a recent article, Washington Post columnists, Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg offer suggestions on what to serve with "dinner in a long bun." Among their suggestions are an Alsatian Riesling with bratwurst, a Rioja with a chili dog, and Chianti with Italian Sausage.
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When you're gazing at endless rows of wine and you have no clue what to buy, here some generalized tips that can help weed out the crap and allow you to make an educated guess:
1) Don't buy any wine that has dust on it. Chances are there is a reason it hasn't moved. It is either a horrible wine or its a terrible value.
2) If you only see a couple bottles of a particular wine left on the shelf, it may be worth trying. This could be an indication that people are buying it up like crazy and you just happened to walk in at the right time.
3) Read the back label for helpful flavor guides. Smart wineries include descriptions and food pairings. Those that don't have any indicators are anyone's guess as to how it will taste.
Hopefully these easy-to-remember tips will help those in need. Be smart. Use common sense. Don't blindly buy another bottle of vino without making at LEAST an educated guess. Cheers!
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!
As much as I love books and in particular books on wine, it is apparent I have too many of them. At last count there was over 70. Most have been idle and untouched for years, collecting dust and musty smells. Recently, I gathered the least loved, mainly the ones full of tasting notes and numbers (perhaps that is a lesson for writers of wine blogs too) and visited several second book merchants. I had low expectations which proved excessive. I had thought someone would at least offer $10 for my twenty books. In the end, no one was interested, the purveyors of trashy second hand novels said my books on wine were worthless. . . Of course this unsupported secondary market means that occasionally treasures at bargain prices can be found. In the image above (which are some of the books I kept), there are two such finds. A first edition of the World Atlas of Wine set me back 50 cents (Church fair in the rural town of Albany) and George Saintsbury's classic book was only two dollars.
For those interested in old wine books, in particular books full of tasting notes and numbers, I'd suggest visiting your local Good Samaritan store, I've heard that some new stock has just arrived.
The Wine Bloggers Conference (WBC) in Sonoma has come and gone. I’ve been toiling around with so many things to write about that I hardly know where to start. So I’m going to have to write a series of posts about different things.
First, there will be no “wrap-up” post. The concept of the WBC was to take our online conversations and meet face to face, as a community, to get a better understanding of the issues and each other. Then we need to talk more about the issues back online again. So I have always viewed the WBC as another element like our comments, tweets, forum posts, etc. We need to keep this conversation going and evolve the medium as a community. Its exciting when you think about it. Like I mentioned, technology has once again taken an industry status quo and turned it upside-down. The game has changed and we can influence how things pan out in the future. Already, as noted by Alice Feiring in her keynote speech at dinner on Saturday, there has never been a community of wine writers and now, if you felt the energy in the room at the conference, clearly there is. Guess what - thats new.
As a co-producer with so many new friends let me say a thanks and an apology.
First the apology:
While its necessary to get sponsors to pull something like this together on this scale and make sure we’re not just gathering in a park drinking from the water fountains, we tried very hard to make this a re-imagining of a wine conference. All bloggers welcome and the community is there to interact with each other first and foremost. We attempted to dedicate an entire morning to the Unconference - a free-flowing session with ad-hoc topics, no sponsors, no pitches, only bloggers. I personally communicated to everyone that we would have at least that much time to do something completely unscripted because thats what we as bloggers are about really - going off-script, something completely different. I took my time getting to the Unconference and when I arrived there was already a session about Wine2.0 and getting bloggers involved. So after all my talk of unscripted, unsponsored, hippy-blogger-love day, a brand ran a session anyway which changed the tenor of the Unconference. I didn’t take that lightly and I do apologize to the community for it. We hadn’t intended for there to be any corporate presence in that session and I should’ve paid a little closer attention to what was going on. I wanted to get that out because its been toiling in my head for days.
Now the thanks.
I’ve been getting alot of kudos, which I do appreciate and I do my best to say so even though I’m not the best at taking compliments, but really Allan Wright of Zephyr Adventures turned out to be the perfect partner to pull this off. I know a few of us had been kicking around the idea of a conference for a while but knowing what it takes to pull off a conference, my hesitation was basically I knew what I didn’t know and that was very daunting. Allan approached me in April and after talking over what he thought he could do for a conference like this it was pretty clear he had alot of experience and skills in areas I didn’t and THAT is what makes teams, companies, ideas, etc. work! The success we had was not only fast (April to October - 6 months) but we were able to take care of what we needed efficiently as if we worked together for a long time when in reality we were going basically “site unseen”. So MANY thanks to Allan, the perfect partner to making this come to fruition.
Next post…the anatomy of a conference - the snafus you DIDN’T see even if you thought it went smoothly!
The Saleschick of the Year Award has been awarded to me.
And here's why: At a tasting in a southern suburb of Buffalo yesterday, I sold over a case of a 2005 Altesse.
You read right: Altesse.
I began each pour with the caveat of "I have to warn you, this is a weird one.." I went on to describe the odd almond/cheese/metallic notes that make it a partner for fondue and therefore gravy. I know, the two have NOTHING in common, but it worked, and I honestly do think it would pair well. One woman even bought four bottles, putting back the Chardonnay she was going to serve at Thanksgiving.
In a search for a photo of Altesse to go with this blurb, I re-found one of my favorite sites: The Wine Info Site. In addition to having photos of some supremely esoteric varietals (y'all can find those Hungarian grapes there, if you guys are reading this!), The Wine Info Site is apparently out of The Netherlands and the English translations are sometimes hilarious. Case in point: Altesse is a full-bodied grape variety with plenty of taste, for white wine. It is grown in the Savoie, France. This grape is also called Roussette and produces strong wines with a pleasant dosis of acidity and a herbal taste with a touch of mineral.
I do totally agree about the herbal taste with minerality, but what the schmeck is a 'dosis'? Is that the Latin plural of 'dose'? And I adore that Altesse has plenty of taste "for white wine."
Tecnorati
. The food was excellent and so was the service. They offer mainly Serbian dishes, if you’re not sure what to choose from the menu, the waiters will help you with their recommendations, you can trust them. The wine list includes wines from some of the better Serbian cellars, such as Radovanovi? and Aleksandrovi? (Topola). Go for Aleksandrovi?’s red or white Triumph, they are some of the best wines Serbia has to offer. Overall, it’s a great place, I’ll be back.
