My Wine Education

Election Cocktails

Just a little bit of fun for a Halloween, pre-election Friday. Available now through the election on Tuesday (yes, it will finally be over), you can get a special election martini at Morton's Bar 12-21. Democrat-tinis, Republican-tinis, and for those of you who somehow still haven't chosen a side - Undecided-tinis. I know, cheesey, but fun. Costs run $11 per drink. (Happy hour food specials are happening too!) Of course, Morton's will be broadcasting the elections, so you can come out and cheer on your candidate and watch the stimulating news coverage. At our house, we'll be tuned to Jon Stewart & Steven Colbert's live coverage.

Staying home? The fine folks at Morton's have provided us with the recipes.

Democratini:

• 1.5 oz Absolut Citrus Vodka
• 1 oz Blue Curacao
• .5 oz Sour Mix
• Place all ingredients into shaker and add ice. Shake 15 times and strain into a Martini Glass.

Republican-tini:

• 1.5 oz Absolut Citrus Vodka
• 1 oz Pama
• .5 oz sour mix
• Place all ingredients in a shaker and add ice. Shake 15 times and strain into a Martini Glass.

Undecided-tini:

• 1.5 oz blue curacao
• 1 oz Pama
• .5 oz pomegranate syrup
• Place Blue Curacao into shaker and add ice, shake 15 times and strain into martini glass. Place Pama and Pomegranate syrup into shaker. Shake 15 times and slowly strain down the side of the Martini glass so that the mixture floats to the bottom. You should have half red with half blue floating on top.

Wine Tech: AbleGrape.com

cross-posted from bub.blicio.us

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be writing about some cool technology sites that focus on wine. Having just come back from the first ever Wine Bloggers Conference, it's all fresh in my mind. My first big find was AbleGrape.

AbleGrape is a niche search engine, focusing on wine. It's the brainchild of Doug Cook. Now, at the conference, I called Doug a wine superhero, considering he's running a wine-related startup, he won the blind tasting challenge, and he showed up Saturday night with cases of some amazing (and older vintage) wine that was either donated by a San Francisco wine bar or straight out of his own cellar. Talking to him, and others, I learned more about the search engine.

Photos: Wine Bloggers Conference and Russian River Valley Hike

Kevin and I returned from California late Tuesday afternoon. I'm still exhausted and still functioning in the west coast time zone.

The Wine Bloggers Conference was jam-packed with activity, wine, and fun. From the tasting at Kick Ranch Vineyards and liveblogging session on Friday afternoon to the Unconference and Luxe Sonoma tasting on Sunday morning, there was hardly a moment to rest. It was an amazing group of bloggers, wineries, and PR folks. I can't even express how great it was to walk into the room and know so many of the people there, because we'd met through blogging and twitter. It further illustrates my theory that online social media is there to help us meet people in real life. It breaks down barriers for us, and makes those face to face meetings more comfortable.

I'll cover some different parts of the conference over the next few weeks. I haven't unpacked yet, which means all my notes are still buried. You can, however, track what happened at the conference by our overwhelming Twitter feed and, until I get everything up, I leave you with a slideshow of the conference and our excellent hike (really, a strenuous walk) through Saralee's Vineyard in the Russian River Valley. You can see all of our photos, including our personal trips through San Francisco, Tiburon, Santa Rosa, and the Dry Creek Valley by visiting our California Flickr collection.

Step Away from the 2-Buck Chuck: Wines Under $10

About a week ago, one of my girlfriends approached me and asked, "So really, what do you think of Two-Buck Chuck?"

I suggested that she branch out. It's okay if you don't want to spend a lot on your wine. You can still try some new things and not break the bank. In fact, head to your favorite wine retailer and spend some time in the Spanish aisle. You'll be surprised at what you find!

Prices vary depending on where you buy the wine. Vintages may have changed the wine and prices may have gone up since I last tried the wine as well - after all, prices on EVERYTHING seem to be going up. The wines I'm going to suggest are all everyday table wines.

Red Guitar, $5.99-$7.99: We love our Red Guitar. This one has been our default gift wine in the past. Red Guitar is a grenache/tempranillo blend from the Navarro region of Spain. It's a bright and happy table wine that's easy to drink. (red wine)

Bodegas Borsao Campo de Borja, $6.99-$7.99: This is another grenache/tempranillo blend. Actually, you'll see a couple of those here. It's a favorite of mine. Although not overly complex, this is a fun wine with cherry, strawberry and other red fruits up front and some white pepper mixed in for good measure. (red wine)

Garnacha del Fuego, $7.99-$8.99: We just tried the new vintage - 2006 I believe - of this grenache. We found it to be more supple than the last few vintages. I actually liked it better, and we loved the previous iterations.(red wine)

Las Brisas Blanca, $8.99-$9.99: From the Spanish region of Rueda, this is a summery, breezy white. This is a Verdejo, Sauvignon Blanc, and Viura blend, but a lot of that Sauvignon Blanc comes through. This is a great relaxing wine, perfect for a hot day or just a day when you wish you could be on the beach. (white wine)

You can even venture into the French aisle.
Vin de Pays du Vaucluse, Cuvée Sélectionnée par Kermit Lynch, 2006: We picked this up at CorknBottle last week for $7.99. We were so excited about it, we're thinking of picking up a case. It might be our gift wine this holiday season. It's a bright and fruity red, with just enough earth in it to remind you it's French.

For a more local flavor, Henke Wines, on Harrison near Cheviot, offers a great table red called Vin de Rouge for only $9.50. It's a blend of several different locally grown French-American hybrids and it's fun and easy to drink.

I'd love to hear your favorite under $10 wines in the comments. In this economy, we all need wine, but wine on a budget. What are your favorites?

Wine Blogger Conference: Live Blogging Event

Welcome to the live blogging event from the Wine Bloggers Conference in Sonoma! Kevin and I will be using a software called CoverItLive to accomplish this, so cross your fingers that it works. We'll be tasting wines from all over,  including right here in California and as far away as New York. If you're reading this via RSS feed, you'll probably have to break down and visit the blog. Live blogging via CoverItLive is cool technology, but probably requires your presence on the web site - even after the event ends. ;-)

Cheers!

Road Trip! Wines, Vines, and Farms

You should take a road trip this Saturday. Where to? Well, try Georgetown, OH. I know, I hadn't heard of it either, but it's only about an hour away from downtown Cincinnati.

Think about it - the trees will be beautiful. And short of heading to upstate New York, where else are you going to get the chance to be a "leaf peeper" and have some wine at the end of it all? Wine? Of course. I wouldn't tell you to take a road trip unless there was some wine involved.

The Wines, Vines, and Farms event is a wine festival to benefit the Southern Ohio Farmland Preservation Association (SOFPA). SOFPA is a nonprofit, volunteer-run organization that works with local farmers and landowners to discuss their options for conserving their land.  One hundred percent of the ticket proceeds will go to the charity.

For only $10, you can sample Harmony Hill, Henke, Kinkead Ridge, Lakeside Vineyards, Meranda-Nixon, Renascent Vineyards, and Woodstone Creek. Your $10 gets you a souvenir glass and 7 tasting tickets. It's a great chance to try locally grown (for the most part) wines and chat with the winemakers.

The event is happening from 11 am to 4 pm on Saturday, 10/25, on Courthouse Square in Georgetown. There's also live music happening throughout the festival and a silent auction to benefit the charity. As if that wasn't enough, there's also a Quilt Barn and Covered Bridges tour happening nearby. Personally, I'd pass on the quilts, but I can't get enough of covered bridges.

It's an hour out. Take a slow lazy Saturday and enjoy the weather and the wine!

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Wine Bloggers Conference & Ohio Wines

Tomorrow we take off for sunny California. Of course, I'll be on the northern end, where the weather is comparable to here, so it should be lovely.

Kevin and I are spending a day in my favorite city, San Francisco, before heading to Sonoma. We're specifically heading to Santa Rosa to the Wine Blogger's Conference. It looks like a great time. We'll have access to free wireless the entire time we're at the conference, which includes at least one live-blogging event. It's a great opportunity for us to try all sorts of Sonoma wines we've never encountered, and meet our wine blogging cohorts from across the country.

I'm also counting on some unofficial tastings happening. Tonight I shipped out a case of local libations. I didn't write down what I shipped, but I'm reasonably sure our case included the following:

• Henke Cin Zin dessert wine
• Henke Norton, Limited Edition
• Harmony Hill Rubato (chambourcin)
• Harmony Hill Concerto (vidal blanc)
• Harmony Hill Ovation (traminette & cayuga)
• Kinkead Ridge Revelation
• Kinkead Ridge Cabernet Franc (2)
• Kinkead Ridge Viognier-Roussanne
• Kinkead Ridge Cabernet Sauvignon (2)
• Willett Bourbon 12-year (representing Kentucky's finest)

In my suitcase, I'll also be stuffing a bottle of Henke's Seyval Blanc. Why so much Kinkead Ridge? Wine bloggers requested it, so I'm bringing it!

We'll be back the middle of next week. In the meantime, watch for the occasional post from the conference, as well as a couple of posts I've scheduled to appear while we're gone.

Harvest Photos: Wine is a Grape, part 2

Yesterday we had the opportunity to harvest the reds - chambourcin and cabernet franc - out at Harmony Hill. I have no idea how many pounds of red grapes we clipped. There were around 22 of us, and we all worked hard. Although tiring, and hard on the back, it was also a lot of fun. I love being around Bill and Patti at Harmony Hill, and I often wonder if my head can hold all the vineyard knowledge that Bill shares. It's a fantastic learning experience. We'll definitely do this again next year.

I also had some fun snapping photos of the wonderful vineyard dogs, of which there are four. You can view the slideshow below or view the entire photoset on Flickr. 

You might notice that the crush process looks different than in previous photos. The reds won't go through filtration or to the bladder press for several weeks. They stay on the skins (sur lies), which gives red wines that lovely garnet hue.

Things like this, well, that's why the blog is called "My Wine Education."

Your Drinking Habit Helped Charity

The Cincinnati International Wine Festival has released their 2008 Report to the Community. This report details all sorts of things, such as how successful the 2008 festival was and their plans for 2009.

This year the Festival raised $250,000 split between 26 different charities. (If anyone knows how I can get them to help out my charity, let me know!) As the Wine Festival describes it, "We are an event based, non profit organization, that happens to host one of the largest parties in the Midwest which raises funds and distributes grants in our area."

Some numbers from the report:

• Over 6,000 people attended the festival
• Since 1991, the Festival has raised over $2.75 million for charity (that's fantastic!)
• 65% of attendees are 35-59 years of age; 28% are under 35 years of age.
• Median income of attendees is $90,000.

Okay, that last one made me blink. A couple extra times. Most attendees are below 59 years of age with a median income of $90,000? I knew writing was a poor choice for a profession.

The Honorary Chairs for the 2009 festival are festival favorites Molly and Charles Meeker, of Meeker Vineyard in Sonoma. I loved chatting with Molly at the 2008 event, and I'm always impressed with their wines across the board, including the distinctively bottled "Handprint" Merlot.

One thing I don't like is that "back by popular demand" is the Special Tasting Room. There are all sorts of reasons I don't care for this - I find it slightly devalues the experience for people who, unless they want to pay extra, won't be able to taste some remarkable wines, and I selfishly hate that the Special Tasting Room isn't open for the trade tasting.

That said, mark your calendars for next year's festival weekend, Friday, March 13 and Saturday, March 14. Winery Dinners will occur on Thursday, March 12 at area restaurants.

Trusting Yourself & Blind Tastings

  Photo by Flickr user Timmy Corkery under Creative Commons.

I always say that Kevin has the more sensitive palate between the two of us. But I don't know if that's true anymore. I think, perhaps, he's better able to dispel preconceived notions about a wine, and he's not worried about what people might think.

Generally, when we taste wine together, I look to him to set the tone of what we might taste in the wine. Berries? Okay. Oily? Well, maybe. But I let him take the lead. He's always able to find something when I'm often shy about it, coming up with "grapey." If I know the wine is a shiraz from Australia, I might say, "Is it high alcohol?" A cabernet from California leads me to say something along the lines of "fruit forward, lots of big berries." Why? Because this is what I expect from these wines. I let my preconceived notions get in my way.

Tim & I have been worrying a little about a Sonoma blind tasting in which we'll be participating at the Wine Bloggers Conference. We'll be asked to identify appellations, vintages, and so on. Tim was probably worrying about that type of thing. Me? I was worrying that I'd sound like an idiot. I was discussing this, after a fashion, with Mike on Saturday. And that's when I had my epiphany. I'm fine if I taste blind.

Kevin and I have served as wine judges several times this year. It's a great gig - I can't believe people pay us for this. But my favorite time was also the one I was the most nervous about - the time I judged without Kevin. I couldn't rely on his sensitive palate and had to trust my own. I knew only that a wine was "cabernet" but I knew no other specifics about the wine, including vintage and vineyard. It was fantastic. It took me a little time to get comfortable in my own skin, er, palate, but I did it. In fact, Ron Barrett from Kinkead Ridge actually complimented me on my palate, which surprised me. I trust his judgement, so I considered that a rather high compliment.

But it comes down to a couple things: Trust yourself. You don't have to understand everything about the wine world to know if you taste a strawberry or a barnyard. So go with what you're feeling, and go with your initial impressions. It's also okay to revise. The wine in your glass is changing every minute it's open. That strawberry might lead to a blueberry.

And host a blind tasting. Whether its you and some friends or a great big party, do it. Have everyone bring some wine, put it into paper bags with numbers, and have everyone write down what they think of the wine. I bet, like me, you'll discover that your palate is more sensitive than you thought. Blind tastings bring an anonymity to the wine that removes those preconceived notions.

Cheers!