Chalk’s Birthday (and mine)!

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Chalk food + wine in Covington. I celebrated my birthday there last year, the day after they opened, and I'll be continuing that tradition this year.

Chalk is throwing itself a birthday party on January 15. They'll be hosting a dinner by the bite event, featuring favorite items from their menu over the last year. There will be special cocktail features from Mixologist Molly Wellman, as well as beer specials. Cost is $40 per person and includes dinner bites, select wines, and door prizes.

Additionally, there will be a raffle for a private dinner prepared by Chef Jared Whalen and for a private wine event with sommelier Bryant Phillips, as well as artwork from the restaurant.

There won't be a sit-down dinner per se. I understand that it's more of a cocktail party atmosphere. You'll need to call (859.643.1234) ahead. They'll guarantee your reservation with a credit card. This gets you onto the VIP list. For those of you who want to wing it, you can just show up. Just know that those folks on the VIP list are going to get in before you. (If you do reserve a spot with your credit card, you can cancel up until 24 hours before hand.)

Doors open at 7 pm and the party lasts until 12:30 am. I'll be celebrating my birthday there and I'd love to have you all join me!  You see, Summer Genetti's mini red velvet cupcakes are like some sort of addiction for me. I can't think of a better birthday cake for myself. If you decide to go, leave a comment below or shoot me an email.

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events: Jan 10 – Jan 16, 2009

Well, happy new year!  The tasting schedule is getting into the swing of things again and the regular tastings are pretty much all back on track.

I'm making one change to my events postings. In the past I would post on Fridays and list the events from Friday to Thursday. But that doesn't leave you much time to plan for those Friday events. So, I'm now posting on Fridays, but listing the events for the following Saturday through Friday. That gives you enough time to plan for the upcoming week.

This week, most of the events are piled onto the end of the week. So let's get started!

Remember, these are just one-time events of which I'm aware. Regular (recurring) events are always listed on the calendar. The calendar is up to date.
Any wine-related events I'm currently aware of are on the
calendar. If I missed something – something local to Cincinnati that is
- let me know!

For information on what's going on in Dayton, you can refer to Mark's blog at Uncorked.

Local Wine Tasting Event Calendar

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Remember, the events we list in this post are one-time events. You can always refer to the calendar for regular tastings throughout the region. On to the weekly featured events …

Photo Credit: LIFE Magazine

Read the rest of this entry »

Liquor Direct Tastings Resume

As an FYI, the good folks at Liquor Direct resume their ever-popular weekly tastings this weekend. Times are 4-8 pm Friday, 2-6 pm Saturday at both stores. This particular weekend, you can try Best Value Whites at Covington on Friday and Best Value Reds at Ft Thomas. Those tastings flip on Saturday.

Remember, tastings are a great way to try more wines during a recession. Especially "Best Value" wines, which you can probably afford to take home as well.

Hope to see you there!

Recession Wines: Low-End Bubbles

Sometimes we all need some Champagne to perk us up. But Champagne, the real stuff (even Grower Champagne), can be a bit pricey. If you want to keep your pocketbook under control, then I have two recommendations for you. I'd love to hear your own recommendations in the comments. 

Barefoot Bubbly Brut Cuvée Chardonnay Champagne, NV, $6.99:
This is the perfect sparkling wine for a lot of things. In the past,
I've purchased this wine in bulk for wedding showers. At $7/bottle,
well, you can't beat it. And as far as cheap sparklers, it has a lot
more flavor than your average cheapie. It's not the best, mind you. And
on its own, it satisfies that sparkler craving, but it's missing those
wonderful pear aromas and that bread-y taste I like so much in the real
stuff. But, it's not too sweet and not bone-dry either. It's actually
well-balanced.

What does this wine excel at? Mimosas. If I'm making a bourbon and
coke, I might use Old Crow or Dowling as my bourbon, because they're
decent but cheap. I won't be pouring Four Roses into my Coke. What a
waste!  The same theory applies to a Mimosa. I'm not going to pour more
expensive Champagne into my orange juice. I'll lose all the flavor!
But I do want a decent sparkler. My rule of thumb with mixers: I need to be able to drink the mixer on its own, without the urge to dump it immediately. 

Image credit

Barefoot is the perfect, absolutely perfect, Mimosa sparkler. On holidays,
Kevin & I like to have Mimosa Days. All Mimosas, all day. That
takes at least 3 bottles of sparkling wine and 2 cartons of orange
juice. We found a deal on Barefoot last week at Party Town (Turfway).
As we were wandering through the sparkling aisle, we spied a coupon
hanging over the Barefoot section. The coupon gave us $18 off of 6
bottles – making each bottle around $4. I couldn't have been happier.
We plowed through 3 bottles on New Year's Day, mixed with some nice
pulp-free, low-fat Tropicana.

Alone:

Mimosa:

Sofia Minis, "California Carbonated White Wine" , 4-187ml cans, $12.99 – $15.99 for four:

Sofia is canned sparkling wine. The target market? Me (not my Mom). It's a hot pink can
with a pretty floral design and a pink bendy straw. In fact, Sofia was
one of my earliest blog posts, back in June 2004. Here's the thing about Sofia-in-a-can: Sometimes a girl just wants to kick back with some bubbly.
I
know I don't need to open an entire bottle, but the can is the
perfect serving on those nights when I want to relax with a sparkler.
No, it's not the best sparkling wine in the world, and the bottled
version does taste a bit better, but this isn't bad either. There's a
bit of green apple, with some pear finish. I prefer to pour it in a
glass, as I can taste (or imagine I taste) the tinniness from the can. I won't drink beer from a can either (I'm such a snob). It
gets a pretty decent rating from me, more for convenience than taste.
Oh, and for the bendy straw.

My rating:

New Year’s Resolutions 2009

I'm not really the New Year's resolution type. Rather, I make them every year and every year I forget about them shortly thereafter. But I thought I'd give it another shot this year:

1. Get fit. I don't want to say "lose weight" but I do want to get healthy. In that spirit, I'm returning to my Autumn '08 strategy of giving up beer and dessert so that I can keep wine.

2. Get my side business actually working. There's a little ad over in the column. That way —>.
It mentions home tastings. I've never really announced it here on the blog, but I do offer this service and it's a heck of a lot of fun. I'd love to do it more often.

3. Figure out my day job. Since working with technology and wine does not seem to be an option for me here in Cincinnati, I need to figure out what to do with myself. Do I want a "real" job or continue as a freelance social media consultant? Is there even a "real" job out there in social media?

4. Figure out if any of the local print rags might want a freelance wine columnist. Anyone with tips on how to do that, please let me know!

5. This is the big one. I'm going to order the study guide, study for, and take the test for my Certified Wine Educator's certificate. Its not much, but since any test gives me a panic attack (no joke), it's a big deal for me.

Do you have any food and wine related resolutions? Restaurants you have to try? Foods you want to discover?

Let us know in the comments