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When people often ask me how I "got into wine" I have a sense that they are expecting me to relate some story of a revelatory mouthful -- that one wine which struck me like a lightning bolt and sent me down the path to become the wine fanatic that I am today. Strangely, I possess no story like that about wine. I remember merely a pastiche of many special and prosaic moments with wine that have gradually led to me to the depths of my current passion.
I do, however, have a story like that about how I fell in love with sake.
It was the year 2000, and I was a Director of User Experience at Sapient Corporation, and I was asked whether I would be interested in going to Japan to help the company open an office there. Single at the time, with no pets or other obligations, I excitedly said that I would at least go on the initial exploratory trip, and would make my decision based on that experience.
The company planned to make its introduction to the market with the help of a partner firm, a relatively upstart organization that happened to be headed by several of the former top executives of BCG Japan. Our second night in the country, they took us out to what, at the time, was the best sushi I had ever eaten in my life in a private sushi club in Tokyo's Roppongi district. I knew that my job description that evening was going to involve the consumption of a lot of alcohol, but I didn't much care for beer. So when it was offered, I asked politely if I might drink sake instead. The CEO of our partner firm barked at the chef behind the sushi counter, and that's when it happened.
In my memory, the lights dim a little bit around the restaurant so that the sushi chef is bathed in the sole splash of bright light. He places a beautiful small wineglass on the counter, its bowl foggy with the chill of the freezer he has just taken it from. Then he turns slowly and reaches down below the counter to emerge with a huge brown bottle in his arms, its striking handmade paper label brushed with a stroke that resembles a huge number "2." My glass is poured and placed in front of me, shimmering and cool. And my first sip is like drinking a pristine glacial lake under a full moon.
I had the presence of mind to keep my initial outburst to something along the lines of "Wow, this is really good." But what I really meant was "Holy fucking shit, THIS IS SAKE?!?"
In that moment, I knew that I wanted to drink fine chilled sake for the rest of my life. I wanted to try as much as possible, as many different kinds as possible, and as often as I possibly could.
And that was my introduction to the sake known as Kubota Manju.
To put this in terms that might make more sense to wine lovers, here's an analogy: until that point I had been drinking sparkling wine from a box (heated up in the microwave, I might add) and then someone poured me my first glass of properly chilled Krug Champagne.
Kubota Manju is produced by a brewery known as Asahi Shuzo in the Niigata prefecture of western Japan, and it may well be the most well known fine sake in the world. Asahi Shuzo was founded in 1830 and is the largest producer in Niigata prefecture, and therefore one of the largest producers in all of Japan. Just as the massive Champagne houses who manage to strike a fine balance between making huge quantities of product at a very high quality, elevated further by a globally recognized brand, so too has Asahi Shuzo managed to turn Kubota into the Cristal of sake. The brand of the drink has eclipsed the people who have made it.
Kubota is a trade name -- one of the very first successful "brands" of fine sake on the market. The sake was originally named Asahiyama, and was finally branded Kubota in 1985, taking the nickname that the brewery had enjoyed. The Kubota line of sakes, and Kubota Manju in particular, gained massive popularity in the 1980s as Japan rekindled (some would say created) its appreciation for fine sake, partially due to simply good timing and savvy marketing, but also no doubt because of its extremely high quality and taste.
Asahi Shuzo was one of the pioneers of the fine sake movement (which has only really been around for about 50 years, and successful for 30), and in particular was one of the first to use stainless steel tanks for making sake. The use of steel in sake making has a similar effect to the use of steel in winemaking. It is more hygienic, leading to lower numbers of outside or unwanted bacteria during the fermentation process, and tends to accentuate the fruit. Or in the case of sake, the floral qualities of the rice.
Kubota Manju is an unusual sake in several respects, independent of its popularity or quality. It carries no formal designation of its level of quality, which is why I've had to note the fact that it is actually a junmai daiginjo sake parenthetically above. For those of you who aren't familiar with sake designations, this means that it is made from rice that has been polished down to at least 50% of its former mass, and includes no added alcohol in the brewing process. Not content to stop just past the 50% mark, Kubota Manju is usually made from rice polished down to about 33% of its former mass.
Instead of such quality designations, the Kubota line of sakes are simply given numbers, if you will to correspond to their quality. The "ju" in the name roughly translates to "celebrations" or "congratulations" (though some snidely suggest it might mean "ostentatious") and the other character is a number. Kubota Manju means roughly "10,000 celebrations." The two lower grades of Kubota are known as Senju (1000) and Hyakuju (100), respectively. There are also two or three other, even higher, grades of sake made with the Kubota name every year, as well.
There is a reason that this is the most popular and most well known fine sake in all of Japan. It is the same reason that I couldn't have asked for a better introduction into the world of fine, chilled sake. It is delicate, refined, and incredibly high class, in addition to being a textbook example of top class sake from an organoleptic standpoint, and definitely one of the world's top sakes.
While in the past nine years I have discovered sakes that I like better than Kubota Manju, it will always remain one of my favorites, both for nostalgic reasons, and because it really is damn good. I buy a bottle or two to bring back with me from Japan every time I visit, which isn't nearly often enough.
Tasting Notes: Colorless in the glass, this sake has a nose of cedar trees and fresh rainwater, with hints of dried orange peel aromas. In the mouth it is smooth and silky, with a beautiful weight on the tongue and a perfect dry balance that allows flavors of tuberose and orange blossom to mingle with hints of cedar and wet stone that leave the palate feeling alive and refreshed. Outstanding.
Food Pairing: I love drinking this sake with sushi and sashimi of all kinds, but in particular with the creamy goodness of raw scallops.
The more good Champagne I have, the more it seems to me that you really get what you pay for. Unfortunately, what you have to pay for the really good stuff is out of the reach of most wine lovers, which was why I didn't like Champagne until several years after I started getting into wine.
Now I love it, but only because I've been able to taste Champagnes like these.
Alfred Gratien represents an interesting class of Champagne producer. When we speak of those who make Champagne, we most often talk about the Champagne "Houses" -- the massive brands who contract with sometimes hundreds of growers to produce very large quantities of bubbly -- and the "grower producers" who make what some call affectionately "farmer fizz."
There is a third category, however, that in more ways than one represents an earlier age in Champagne production. Before the big Champagne houses got so big, they were small. While they did not grow their own grapes (or at least not a majority of them) they made small lots of handcrafted Champagne with grapes from growers with whom they had long term relationships.
Champagne Alfred Gratien, founded in 1864, operates not only at the scale of these traditionally small houses, producing no more than about 22,000 cases of wine per year, but also maintains all of the handcrafted traditions that some of the larger houses have had to abandon over the years (Gratien was sold to a holding company in 2000, but has changed none of its practices or production levels as a result).
In a similarly old-fashioned manner, the wine is never allowed to go through a secondary malolactic fermentation, but is instead carefully blended with older vintages (in the case of non-vintage wine) and put into bottles with the liqueur de tirage (the mix of sugar and yeast that produces the sparkling fermentation in the bottle) and closed with a wired cork. The use of a cork at this step is extremely unusual, time consuming and costly. The rationale for using a cork at this stage is much like using a cork at any stage -- the tiny amount of oxygen that the cork permits into the bottle helps to mature the wine.
The trouble is, however, that this cork closure comes with all the downsides of normal cork -- you have to remove it carefully by hand and you have to make sure that the wine is not corked. So after careful hand riddling (the process of turning each individual bottle to settle the yeasts and other sediment into the neck of the bottle) and three years of aging, each bottle must not only be opened and re-corked after adding the dosage (the mix of sugar and older vintage wine), but each needs to be tasted to make sure that it is not corked - a daunting task even at the estate's maximum production level of 250,000 bottles per year.
The estate's production is overseen by cellar master Nicolas Jaeger, who is the fourth generation of the Jaeger family to hold this title at Alfred Gratien. Under his guidance, the estate produces five non-vintage and one vintage wine of outstanding quality and distinction from the traditional blend of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and Pinot Meunier grapes, many of which are organically, or at least "sustainably" farmed.
While they are made in small quantities and cost a pretty penny, these wines are most certainly worth the effort and the money required to experience them.
TASTING NOTES:
NV Alfred Gratien "Brut Classique" Champagne, Epernay, France Pale blonde in the glass with fine bubbles , this wine has a remarkable nose of mineral, and striking hibiscus aromas -- a unique combination of floral and fruity qualities. In the mouth it is bright with a mineral acidity, very soft mousse, and beautifully yeasty warm bread quality that merges nicely with citrus elements as the wine lingers through a long finish. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $55. Where to buy?
NV Alfred Gratien "Brut Classique" Rose Champagne, Epernay, France Pale salmon in color with very fine bubbles, this wine has a nose of old socks (in a good way) and redcurrant aromas. In the mouth it offers hints of berries amidst deeper more earthly flavors of wet chalkboard, and wet dirt. Excellent acidity floats the wine through a beautiful finish. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $55. Where to buy?
NV Alfred Gratien Blanc des Blancs Champagne, Epernay, France Pale green-gold in the glass, this wine has a bright zingy nose of lemon juice and lemon zest aromas. In the mouth it is equally bright, with flavors of pink grapefruit and lemon zest with lovely accents of warm brioche in the very fine mousse that seems to linger quite long in the mouth. Score: between 9 and 9.5. Cost: $75. Where to buy?
1998 Alfred Gratien Millesime Blanc de Noirs Champagne, Epernay, France Light gold in the glass with the tiniest of bubbles, this wine has a beautiful, ageless nose of warm brioche and rainwater aromas. In the mouth it is nothing short of phenomenal. Beautifully layered with core flavors of warm freshly baked bread and brewers yeast wrapped in an explosively tangy layer of citrus and brown sugar qualities that moderate to toasted white bread flavors on the very long finish. Outstanding. Score: between 9.5 and 10. Cost: $100. Where to buy?
NV Alfred Gratien "Cuvee Paradis" Brut Champagne, Epernay, France Palest gold in color, this wine has a nose of toasted brioche and bright lemon and mineral aromas. In the mouth it is soft and airy with clear, bright flavors of lemon zest, and a beautiful yeasty quality that lingers beautifully on the palate for a long time. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $130.Where to buy?
NV Alfred Gratien "Cuvee Paradis" Brut Rose Champagne, Epernay, France Pale salmon in color with extremely fine bubbles, this wine has a nose of wet wool and hibiscus aromas. In the mouth it is strikingly mineral and lean with hibiscus and rose hip flavors peeking around the edge of a remarkable stony core of the wine that maintains a presence in the beautiful finish. Score: around 9.5. Cost: $130.Where to buy?
OK folks, here's the deal. Today is the last day of A Menu For Hope charity raffle. You've got until Midnight tonight, Pacific Time, to buy raffle tickets for some seriously awesome prizes. Every raffle ticket increases your chance of winning said prize, and every ticket buys healthy, nutritious lunches for school children in Lesotho. What could be better than that?
It's important to realize that even a single $10 ticket can win you some seriously good loot. One of the most popular prizes last year (and this year), the Meadowood vacation package, was won by someone who bought a single ticket.
It's also important that you know that some of this year's prizes have had slightly less bidding than others, which means the chances of you winning them are QUITE HIGH with just a single ticket, and INCREDIBLY HIGH were you to buy say, 10 tickets.
You may be asking, "Now why would I go and spend $100 on raffle tickets, even though the cause is so good." Here's the answer: because if you did, you'd have a very good chance of winning prizes that are in some cases worth THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS.
Getting the picture? It's like this: if I told you that by spending $100 you'd have a 3 in 5 chance of winning $400 worth of wine and be doing a great thing for charity, I hope that you'd see this as a winning proposition, no?
So here are some prizes that need a little love in the bidding department, and might just be yours for the taking, depending on just how generous you're feeling (or how much Champagne you've already had today). Go bid a little bit (or a little more), and have yourself a very Happy New Year!
Wine and Film Premieres from Wilson Daniels One of the country's most respected wine importers, Wilson Daniels Ltd., is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2008. The Napa Valley-based company has created a Menu For Hope six-bottle collection of wines from its portfolio of European wine estates, offering bidders an opportunity to taste wines from six different regions spanning three countries -- with a high-definition twist. Winners will receive the following wines:
NV Delamotte Brut Cotes des Blancs Grand Cru 2006 Domaine Marc Kreydenweiss Kritt Gewurztraminer Alsace 2005 Domaine Faiveley Nuits-Saint-Georges 2006 Domaine Philippe & Vincent Jaboulet Crozes-Hermitage Rouge 2004 Castello di Volpaia Chianti Classico Riserva DOCG 1996 Royal Tokaji Nyulászó First Growth Tokaji Aszú 6 Puttonyos
This fall, Wilson Daniels premiered documentary-style films for its French and Hungarian wine estates, which the winning bidder can watch online or download to an iPod at www.wilsondanielsfilms.com to "virtually" tour the vineyards and meet the winemakers before, after, or while they taste the wines. Value: $275. Prize Code: WB04. Courtesy of Wilson Daniels Ltd.
Two World Class Gruner Veltliners and a set of World Class White Wine Glasses This prize includes a set of six Denkart Zalto white wine glasses and the two most highly rated Gruner Veltliners in the Winemonger inventory, the 2006 and 2007 Donabaum Spitzer Point GV Smaragd Gruner Veltliner from Austria. The wines speak for themselves, but you should know about the glasses. 100% lead free and dishwasher safe, these glasses were created for the complexity and refinement of the most expressive white wines. Technical perfection is the basic principle of the Zalto Glass Manufactury. Zalto Glasses have always been produced following a tradition of using only the most highly skilled glass-blowers working with a selection of the best raw materials. The curve of the bowls are tilted at the angles of 24°, 48° and 72°, which are in accordance to the tilt angles of the Earth. This stunning glass has become the standard for many world-class tasting rooms and well-set tables. Shipping within the USA only. Value: more than $415. Prize Code: WB07. More details at Winemonger.
Half Case of Verge Syrah, and a Tour of the Vineyard Join VERGE Winemaker Mike Brunson for a special tour of Bradford Mountain where you will see firsthand what it means to farm on the edge of the wild. At just over 1200 feet elevation, Bradford Mountain is on the far western edge of Dry Creek Valley in Sonoma County. VERGE Wine Cellars produces small lots of block specific Syrah and these organcially grown vineyards are perfect examples of what we call Fringe Vineyards. Mike Brunson has over 15 years winemaking experience and will describe the ins and outs of organic viticulture, mountain farming, and Syrah winemaking. After the hike, you'll enjoy a tasting of Syrahs from Bradford Mountain as well as a selection of other Syrahs from around the world. As a parting gift, you will also recieve 6 bottles of VERGE Wine Cellars' inaugural release, the 2006 VERGE Syrah. Value: $240. Prize code: WB08. Courtesy of Verge Cellars.
Wine Book Bonanza There's only one thing better than drinking wine, and that's drinking wine with a nice wine book on your lap. Here's your chance to add to your library and maybe learn a thing or two in the process. Courtesy of University of California Press, pick any 5 wine books from their current list of titles. Value: approx $150. Prize Code:WB09. Courtesy of University of California Press.
Wine Travel Guide Voucher The main raffle prize on offer from Wine Travel Guides is a gold gift subscription to Wine Travel Guides (worth £49 or approximately $75 or €60) which lasts a whole year from activation. This will give you access to all the travel guides on the site. Today there are 46 comprehensive guides to the wine regions of France. By mid-January there will be a further seven guides covering Tuscany in Italy, Rioja in Spain and Mosel in Germany. Here is your chance to plan that trip to the wine regions of Europe with expert insider advice from 15 top-class wine and travel writers.
The bonus offer: If you can meet author Wink Lorch in either the Jura or Savoie wine regions of France, she will personally drive you around the wine region for a day, meeting and tasting with some of her favourite wine growers and taking you out to lunch. Value: $80 or more. Prize Code:WB10. Courtesy of Wink Lorch.
Inaugural Vintage of Capture's Tin Cross Vineyards Sauvignon Blanc This prize consists of a bottle from the first launch of Capture Winery's 2008 Tin Cross Vineyard Sauvignon Blanc. This wine is the unprecedented, first product of the winemaking team's efforts with Tin Cross being to be released in Spring 2009. Additionally, this wine will arrive paired with an elegantly framed vision of its origin; an image of Tin Cross' upper vineyard, professionally photographed and signed by the renowned Olaf Beckman. The total package is valued at $542. Prize Code:WB14. More details at Our Wine Story.
Port Wine Starter Set from Quevedo If you're a lover of port wine, or think you might be, you'll enjoy this gift: A Port Wine Starter Kit made up of: - port wine tongs - port wine filter - port wine decanter - port wine cups - dark chocolate - a coupon for a bottle of Quevedo 2005 Vintage redeemable at the closest wine shop that carries the wine. Value: $90. Prize Code: WB17. More details at Quevedo Wine.
Exclusive Wine Accessory Set This prize includes four exclusive wine accessories developed by Wine Line:
-Wine Vine 12 bottle stainless steel wine rack -Wine Flyte Carrier--for easily serving 6 glasses of wine, carrying & drying glasses as well-patent pending -Wine Aerator w/single glass adapter-patent pending -Chateau Epernay Handmade Rosewood Corkscrew in gift box
These accessories make fantastic gifts for wine lovers. Value: $200.00. Prize Code: WB18. Courtesy of WineLine
Custom 90 Minute Wine Seminar Bill Wilson, the host and producer of the Wine for Newbies Podcast will offer a 90-minute live wine seminar. The winner of this prize can choose the topic(s) for this wine seminar which he'll broadcast via streaming video at a time and date of the winner's choosing. The winner can have as many people participate as he or she wants! Since the seminar will be live via the Internet, the winner can be anywhere, as long as they understand English. Prize code: WB20. Courtesy of Wine for Newbies.
Wine, Wine and More Wine from Domaine 547 This prize includes a Magnum of 2003 Pax Cellars Kobler Family Vineyard Syrah and a $50 gift certificate to domaine547.com. The prize can be shipped to anywhere that FedEx legally delivers alcohol to, with the exception of New Hampshire. Domaine 547 is also willing to arrange for shipping to other states, on behalf of any bidder who wants to ship the wine via use of their own UPS account. Value: $150. Prize Code: WB27. Courtesy of Domaine 547.
Magnum of wine, tour, and tasting at Tolosa Winery for Six People Join Tolosa winemaker Larry Brooks for a past, present and future tour of the Winery in San Luis Obispo and finish with a artisan wine and cheese pairing. A Magnum of our 10th Anniversary wine will also be given to the winner upon arrival.
PAST: Guests will learn about the origin of our name and the story behind our brand. They will also have the opportunity to taste past vintages from the Tolosa library collection.
PRESENT: After a brief talk about our vineyard and outside production area, guests will be toured through our tank and barrel rooms.
FUTURE: The tour finishes with a futures tasting from select French oak barrels. This intimate tasting will take place in our private barrel designed area with our finest wine selections.
Following the tour you and your guests will be guided through an artisan wine and cheese pairing with Tolosa's wine and cheese educator & sommelier, John Shakley. As you relax in our beautiful private Heritage Room, John will pair five limited production wines with five artisan cheeses from around the world. Value: $400. Prize Code: WB29. Courtesy of Tolosa Winery.
Spelunking anyone? I feel like a spelunker when I where that headlamp. I’m filling the last barrels for the 2008 vintage in this photo. It certainly was a long one for us, and I’m glad it is over. Wine quality overall seems very good. The whites are delicate and fragrant, and the reds show good varietal character so far.
I know most folks think of harvest as grapes being harvested and received, but the real work for us goes far beyond receiving grapes. It can be a very physically wearing time, and the end of it all is, frankly, welcome. We can resume our normal lives and actually get the weekends off. We aren’t off the hook entirely, though, as the wines and barrels need to be monitored. We check for the progress of malo-lactic fermentation, check on any wines that may have gone to barrel slightly sweet, and monitor any increase in volatile fermentation. Barrels also need to be topped, additions made, white wines stirred, and all the equipment needs to be cleaned, repaired if needed, and put away. Here’s a photo from a few weeks ago that I like.This is a picture of a red fermentor after we have drained most of the wine and before we have started shoveling the skins out of the tank and into the presses. The open space underneath is a stainless steel filter which, among other things, helps us to drain the tank.
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.
'An onsite accident occurred at Wirra Wirra yesterday following the collapse of a fermenting tower at our winery in McLaren Vale. A number of fermenters, tanks and a presses have been damaged, resulting in some loss to our 2008 vintage.
'We are currently working closely with the authorities and SafeWork SA to assess the full extent of the damage.
'We’d like to extend our thanks to all the emergency services whose quick action and professionalism were outstanding. Our thoughts are with our young cellar hand who is currently in a serious, yet stable condition at Flinders Medical Centre. We are pleased to hear that he is making positive progress.
'While it is difficult to determine at this time the full extent of wine lost, it is significantly less than has been reported. Some of the wine in tank may still be salvageable, while offers of fruit from growers to offset the loss have been coming in thick and fast. Whilst the loss of wine is important to our business, clearly the safety and welfare of our staff is of greatest priority at this time.
'Workplace safety for all our staff is of paramount importance at Wirra Wirra, and we are thankful no more serious injuries were sustained.
'We’d also like to extend our thanks to the winemaking community of McLaren Vale and our neighbouring districts who have rallied round with offers of help and well wishes; we have been extremely touched by their support and generosity.
Trott produced the first vintage of Church Block back in 1972 “with a little help from his friends”. It looks like history will repeat itself in 2008.'
BREAKING NEWS: 3.13PM AEST March 6 2008
McLaren Vale winery, Wirra Wirra, earlier today suffered considerable damage to its winery when a number of 45,000 litre fermenters collapsed, causing damage to some tanks and presses, and a significant loss of vintage 2008 must and wine.
One cellar hand sustained minor injuries, however no serious injuries have been reported.
The winery has temporarily been shut down, and staff are working with officials to ascertain the full extent of the damage.
Wirra Wirra is unable to determine when the winery will be up and running again.
Mongrain Glass makes beautiful and fancy wine glasses. James Mongrain is the artist behind this beauty. The thing that impresses me most about James Mongrain is that he has worked with Dale Chihuly since the late 1990?s. Dale Chihuly is a world class glass artist.
I looked through the Mongrain Glass website at the pictures of fancy wine glasses. The white glass goblets were magnificent, as were the chartreuse and yellow. I looked further at the Solid Series and there were more fancy wine glasses in blue, pink and the prettiest black glass I?ve ever seen.
James Mongrain and Mongrain Glass have so many fancy wine glasses for sale. It is important to keep in mind that each of the pieces is handmade and one-of-a-kind. If you want to order any of the Mongrain Glass fancy wine glasses, you need to e-mail or call with your order.
Mongrain Glass has a series of fancy wine glasses called the Creature Series. These are so beautiful. The stems of the fancy wine glasses are creatures like swans and sea horses. There is one design in particular, that has a frosted look to it. There are even dainty flowers around the base of these fancy wine glasses.
The Modern Venetians line of Mongrain Glass fancy wine glasses are very sophisticated in appearance. The glass detail work brings lace to mind because of its intricacy. I would have a very hard time trying to choose which line of Morain Glass fancy wine glasses I wanted. I actually like them all.
In addition to fancy wine glasses, Morain Glass makes commissioned pieces of art. Some of the pieces pictured in the gallery on their website were very large. There are no prices listed on this website, but these look like they cost many thousands of dollars.
Fancy wine glasses really do seem to be a small part of what Morain Glass does in their studio. I found a picture of a piece of art entitle Vortex. Vortex is described as a 7-foot stainless-steel slice of sensuality. The foundation of this piece of art is set in steel and a collection of glass forms illuminate neon light from within. The union of glass and steel in this piece of art is somewhat of a contrast, both in form and idea. Glass and steel are two distinct elements that have been joined so intimately it?s as if they are one.
So, when Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston split, he had to sell his Frank-Gehry designed wine cellar. But, he?s not moping around.
It's rumored that the movie star, who was adept at stomping people in Fight Club and Troy, could soon be stomping grapes, thereby putting him among the ranks of celebrities with their names on wine labels.
Pitt stayed in a village in the Piedmont (Italy that is) and visited 2 different wineries that were for sale.
Monica Tavella, spokeswoman for the Fontanafredda estate in Piedmont, told the newspaper that Pitt stayed there after the Winter Olympics and expressed interest in the art of winemaking and viticulture.
Holy Jesus. Brad Pitt and super exclusive cult Barolos?? Shhhh?. I need a moment to myself.
Okay, let's move on............
A Votre Sante
In France when you want to ?cheers? you say A Votre Sante which translates ?to your health.? Over the past 5 years we have heard a lot about compounds in red wine which are beneficial to your health, specifically resveratrol. Studies have shown that moderate consumption of red wine can reduce the likelihood of a heart attack. But check out the other things they are testing it for look at how good it actually is. Also, in the quote below MDWD refers to a moderate daily wine drinker. While our doctors and government don't recommend wine, British health officials routinely do. A growing mound of studies, reflecting sources such as the American Heart Association and The New England Journal of Medicine, confirms wine to be precisely the potent and nutritious medicine our ancestors assumed it was. Besides the magic in polyphenols, which you could get from grape juice, and in alcohol, which you could get from gin, wine adds up to more than the sum of its parts. In contrast with bingers and abstainers, as well as beer and spirits drinkers, moderate daily wine drinkers (MDWDs) are better-educated and earn more. Their higher cognitive skills propel them through the Alzheimer's years with a 50 percent lower risk of dementia, one reason they're half as likely to end up in nursing homes even though they live longer, succumbing to cardiovascular diseases at half the rate of abstainers and heavy drinkers. Since moderate daily wine raises "good" cholesterol and reduces inflammation and clotting, MDWDs recover better from heart attacks and surgery and have a lower risk of stroke. They also have a 30 percent lower rate of Type 2 diabetes. Both red and white wine pack powerful, cancer-fighting antioxidants. Incidence of endometrial cancer is 83 percent lower in female MDWDs. Wine with meals halves your risk of colorectal cancer. Wine even eases blood-vessel constriction in smokers, while its polyphenols alleviate certain lung diseases. MDWDs get fewer colds with lighter symptoms. Their bones are denser, and they have nicer teeth, due to wine compounds that zap gum-disease bacteria. But wouldn't all that alcohol play havoc with your liver and kidneys? Nope. In fact, MDWDs have 30 percent lower risk of kidney dysfunction, and liver disease decreases as wine consumption rises. MDWDs have narrower waists and half the obesity rate of bingers and abstainers. Mysteriously, adding wine to a diet appears to melt pounds. It could be antioxidants and flavanoids speeding the breakdown of fat. It couldn't hurt that red wine, at 1.37 grams per liter, provides 8.5 percent of recommended daily fiber. It might have to do with metabolism or pleasure centers, which might explain why wine also helps with anorexia.
Craziness. Not only are wine drinkers cooler, more educated, and more successful, we?re also tons healthier. Now, drink up!
English Lit, Geometry, and Vinology?
How cool is this? In Australia high school students can actually take a class to teach them how to make wine. The rules are that they cannot taste or drink wine at any point in time during the class, nor can they attend events where their wines are tasted out (bummer). But they actually get to go through the process from start to finish of making their own wine. Even cooler is that the school has now gotten their proper licenses so that they can sell and market the wine to the public. At my school the electives were art, French, and agriculture class.
Viticulture started at the school in 2000 with the planting of 450 vines on four old sand tennis courts, comprising 215 durif vines, 175 shiraz vines and 70 viognier vines. The course, designed for year 11 and 12 students, was developed by the Wine Industrial National Education Training and Advisory Council and is competency skills-based with students achieving an Australian Qualification Framework Certificate I in Food Processing (wine). Mr Adamson said students worked in the school vineyard and then did placements at local vineyards. Wine is stored in barrels at the school and bottled at Cofield?s. Mr Adamson said the proceeds from the sale of the wine would be used for further equipment for the course.
He said the course had plenty of success stories to day with graduates doing well in the field. One is former student, David Whyte, now assistant winemaker at Cofield?s. ?David is our technical adviser and I take samples to him for advice when we make our wine,? Mr Adamson said. ?Now he?s the teacher and I?m the student.?
Um, is it just me or do they look like something more than just "student and teacher"? Cool concept, gay picture.
I, for one, think that it is incredibly important and hip as hell to be teaching these kids a craft that they can take into the real world and be successful with. I wish they would do that more in American school systems. If there was such thing as a mini-homebrew kit for toddlers I know that my husband would have already bought one for my son. Hmmm? maybe we can just send him to school in Australia. Ha!
Anheuser Busch? new seasonal beers? The latest trend in beer drinking in America has been that drinkers are opting for hand crafted, more flavorful beers from micro-breweries. With that, Anheuser-Busch? market share has decreased so we knew it wouldn?t be long before they tried to up the ante.
Budweiser. Michelob. Natural Ice. Busch.
What do these beers all have in common? They are all brewed by Anheuser-Busch and are beers most craft beer drinkers would not think of imbibing unless there was absolutely nothing else available.
I?d go for water first. But Anheuser-Busch, at least on a small scale, is trying to change the minds of craft beer drinkers.
They have released Demon?s Hop Yard IPA, brewed in the company?s Portsmouth, N.H., brewery and only sold in New England on tap.
McGualey said, "These are just a fun way to let people take a peek inside what our company is doing. It?s all about consumers today. I think consumers are looking for products like these."
I don?t know about you guys but the tap handle alone is frightening. I can?t imagine what the beer is like. I mean on one hand I?m glad that they are paying attention enough to know they need to step up their game, but on the other hand, my opinion of their company is so innately flawed that I probably won?t even try their new seasonals. Oh, BTW the new seasonals are the Jack?s Pumpkin Spice Ale, the Winter?s Bourbon Cask Ale, the Spring Heat Spiced Wheat and the Beach Bum Blonde Ale. If any of you get to try them email me with info. I am super curious about them.
Today is hump day and I am on coast until I get outta here. My last day is tomorrow so as soon as I finish some filing I'm done!! I've got some web surfing to do do I'm out! Cheers!
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