My Wine Education

Restaurant: Boi Na Braza Scotch Dinner (Johnnie Walker)

Michelle and I have been looking for an opportunity to try the rodizio-style restaurant that opened downtown for a few years, but we never found the right time to go until this past week. Master of Whiskey Robert Sickler was hosting a pairing dinner at Boi Na Braza alongside 5 different blends of Johnnie Walker. Overall the chance to have an enormous amount of meat with the chance to taste different sipping whiskeys was too good to pass up.

   - Kevin

Our overall reviews:

Whiskey
Meat
Boi Na Braza

(We only had our cell phones as cameras. oops!)

Follow the jump for all the gory and gluttonous details.

Restaurant: Lavomatic

I know I'm not a foodie blog, per se, but as I mentioned yesterday, we sort of had our own mini restaurant week last week. How could I not share?

We swung into Lavomatic on Friday night on our way to the Opera. It was sort of an impulse on our part, but I certainly don't regret it. It's the first time we've made it to Lavomatic, so we're a bit behind a lot of our friends.

Lavomatic, in a refurbished laundromat, has a skinny but bright and lovely downstairs and a patio on the roof. Being in our Opera finest, we chose to eat in the downstairs area. We got lucky - our hostess put us right next to Tim from CheapWineRatings.com, which was a pleasant surprise. Us wine bloggers - we think alike. ;-) Lavomatic is a fun and casual restaurant, where you could certainly show up in jeans, but we didn't feel out of place in our pre-Opera attire either.

I ordered the summer pasta, which was chock full of lemony goodness. Kevin swears there were a lot of vegetables in there too, but I'm choosing blissful ignorance on this. I paired it, on the recommendation of our server, with a glass of Noël St Laurent Côtes-du-Rhone white.

More Specific Information on Riesling Labels

According to this article in Decanter, the International Riesling Foundation has proposed that a "taste scale" appear on every bottle of Riesling. This is to help consumers identify whether the wine is sweet, off-dry, dry, and so forth.

Of course, you can tell now - or at least get a general idea - by identifying whether a Riesling is a Kabinett, Spatlese, or Auslese (see my definitions in this post). There is a lot on a German wine label - type, regions, and percentages of residual sugar.

This is part of a move, I believe, to make German wine labels more approachable. Last year, we were quite taken with the inexpensive Clean Slate Riesling. It was the first German bottle I'd encountered with an approachable "graphic" label. It's one of the reasons we bought it, as we gave several bottles to our non-wine-drinking friends.

This is also part of removing the common misconception that Riesling is just a sweet wine. By specifically calling out how sweet or dry the wine is, the Internal Riesling Foundation hopes to dispel that myth and help grow Riesling sales. (Riesling is currently the fastest growing market of white wines in the US.)

What do you think of the idea of a tasting scale added to bottles of Riesling?

Restaurant: Seny Tapas

Last week was crazy. We had our own mini Restaurant Week, eating at Seny, Lavomatic, and Boi Na Braza. In between, we met up with the Cincinnati area bloggers at the wonderful Mercantile Library. It was a great meet-up, and better described in other blogs than mine.

Tuesday night I met fellow blogger Julie at Seny, in East Walnut Hills. Years ago, I lived in East Walnut Hills. I was obviously ahead of my time; since then, the area has been turned on its ear and completely rehabbed. I was blown away. Seny is located right on deSales Corner, across from St. Francis deSales Church.

Seny (pronounced Sen) is a true tapas bar, with small portions. The trick in a tapas bar is to order several different dishes and split them. I'm a terribly picky eater (which is why, folks, I write about alcohol and not food for the most part), but I had no problems with the Seny menu.

For wine, I opted for atypical. It was a warm summer's day and truly, I just don't always want wine. I started with a Portugese Broadbent vinho verde. If you haven't had a vinho verde, run out to Liquor Direct and pick up a bottle of Gazela for $5. It's like drinking Sprite, but lighter. In fact, I highly recommend it with a tiny bit of ice and a lime. My second glass was a white sangria, loaded with apples and other fruits. Both drinks were light and refreshing. Seny had a nice wine list, with some approachable Spanish wines. The markup was about standard for an upscale restaurant, with a bottle of Nora coming in at around $30 (retail $12-15).  The glaring omission from the wine list, in my opinion, were the wines from Valeta. But I'm a bit partial to those.

Julie and I ordered four dishes: a charcuterie plate, a cheese plate, potatas bravas, and pollo.

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events 7/25 - 7/31

Photo by Flickr user Jeff Kubina, licensed under Creative Commons

After two weeks of wine dinners, I haven't found any special events for this coming week. Instead, it's a good opportunity to remind you of the plethora of regular tastings happening every week in Cincinnati. This includes Fridays at the Wine Merchant, Wednesdays at The Party Source (plus their EQ classes), Fridays & Saturdays at Liquor Direct, Thurs - Sat at both Cork & Bottle locations, Sat & Sun at Party Town, and that doesn't even scratch the surface. Our full calendar of events is always available, so don't forget to check it regularly as it's updated often.

And don't forget, for information on what's going on in Dayton, you can refer to Mark's blog at Uncorked.

Tell the retailers we sent you, and have a great weekend!

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

A Visit to Harmony Hill

If you're looking for something to do on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon, I recommend a visit to Harmony Hill Winery in Bethel. Bethel sounds far away, but really, it's only about 15 miles outside of Anderson, and not that far off of Beechmont Avenue.

I've written about Harmony Hill before, and it's only gotten better. They've upgraded their tasting room. It's so much fun to bring your friends, buy a bottle of wine, and grab an umbrella'd table, and just sit and listen to whatever acoustic band might be playing. It's a perfect way to relax on a Saturday afternoon.

Of course, while you're there, you really need to try their wines as well. At .50/taste, you can't go wrong with trying whatever they have available. My favorite white is the Ovation, which is a Vidal Blanc blend, but our friends really enjoyed the Traminette Concerto. We also got to try, straight out of the tanks, two reds that will be bottled soon - the Rhapsody and the Rubato.

A visit to Harmony Hill is a great way to learn more about more domestic and French-American hybrid grapes. Bill and Patti, winemakers and owners, are more than willing to share their knowledge. I truly believe that Ohio wines are under-rated and intend on shipping a case out to California this fall for my Wine Bloggers Conference. That case will definitely include some Harmony Hill.

One of the great things about Harmony Hill is that it's both kid and dog friendly. Our friends brought both with them, and it was no problem at all. I recommend packing a picnic lunch and grabbing a nice chilled bottle of wine at the tasting counter, sitting back, and just enjoying life.

Harmony Hill Winery
2534 Swings Corner / Point Isabel Road
Bethel, OH 45106
(513) 734-3548

Open all Summer: Fridays, 5-9 pm, Satudays, noon - 6 pm

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events 7/18 - 7/24

I can't believe it's Friday. Personally, I've had a strange week, capped off by yesterday's Parrothead madness and today's recovery.

Tastings for the week are leaning heavily, again, on wine dinners and other food-related events. Chalk has two events this week, including an art expo on Sunday. There's also a scotch dinner at Boi na Braza and a LobstaBake at Little Sonoma.

For the full list of Cincinnati tastings, both one-time and recurring, refer to our Google Calendar on this page. For information on what's going on in Dayton, you can refer to Mark's blog at Uncorked.

Tell the retailers we sent you, and have a great weekend!

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Featured wine (and beer and spirits) events are after the jump.

I can't believe it's Friday. Personally, I've had a strange week, capped off by yesterday's Parrothead madness and today's recovery.

Tastings for the week are leaning heavily, again, on wine dinners and other food-related events. Chalk has two events this week, including an art expo on Sunday. There's also a scotch dinner at Boi na Braza and a LobstaBake at Little Sonoma.

For the full list of Cincinnati tastings, both one-time and recurring, refer to our Google Calendar on this page. For information on what's going on in Dayton, you can refer to Mark's blog at Uncorked.

Tell the retailers we sent you, and have a great weekend!

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Featured wine (and beer and spirits) events are after the jump.

Some interesting stats ...

I read a report on Decanter.com yesterday that had some interesting numbers, so I wanted to do a quick post and share them:

• Spain will produce more wine than France by 2015.
• Spain has the most hectares under vine, followed by France then Italy.
• In 2007, American wines outsold French wines in the UK.
• The US is now selling and drinking more bottles than anywhere in the world, meaning France is no longer the world's biggest wine market.
• Rosé outsold white wine in France for the first time, and red wine sales declined.

Much of this decline in sales and exporting has been attributed to France's resistance to new trends and a new consumer. I've come across several importers from France who are striving to make French wine more accessible (it can be scary), but not enough. You have to admit, to a wine newbie, a French label is scary.

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events 7/11 - 7/17

First off, a big mea culpa. I've been so swamped with a million other things that the weekly wine listings sort of fell off my radar. Not only that, but I was sloppy about updating the main calendar page. The calendar is now completely updated. Yay! And we're back with weekly wine events.

It's all about wine dinners (and lunches) next week, finishing off with the Bacchanalian Society Summer Gathering. I had intended to go this time, until I realized it was the same night as my yearly pilgrimage to Jimmy Buffet and Parrotheadland.

I'd also recommend looking ahead to the next week, where you'll find a wine dinner at Chalk and a scotch dinner at Boi Na Braza.

For the full list of Cincinnati tastings, both one-time and recurring, refer to our Google Calendar on this page. For information on what's going on in Dayton, you can refer to Mark's blog at Uncorked.

Tell the retailers we sent you, and have a great weekend!

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Featured wine (and beer and spirits) events are after the jump.

Today's Friday Image is of Findlay Market.
Licensed under Creative Commons on Flickr by photobunny.

Up & Coming: French Winemakers & Wine Regions

Come join us!

This is another benefit for the scholarship fund in memory of my sister. But this one might be a little more to your liking, seeing as how it's a wine class.

Party Source has generously donated one of their excellent EQ sessions, including the wine, the appetizers, and the expansive knowledge of Jay Erisman. Come join us on Thurs, Sept 11, from 6-8 pm at the EQ Center at The Party Source for a night learning about Up & Coming French Winemakers and Wine Regions, with a focus on red wines.

Cost for the event is $40 per person and 100% of your donation goes to the scholarship fund. Isn't that cool? There are only 28 seats still available for this before we have to mark it as Sold Out. It's a great chance to learn more about French wine and help out a good cause as well. Win/win - or perhaps, win/wine!

Tickets must be purchased online and it goes without saying (but I should say it anyway), you must be 21.

If you have any questions let me know. You can learn more about the Scholarship Fund at the official website, which is also where you can register for the tasting.

Cheers!