Live Tweeting the Wine Festival

We’ll live tweeting the Wine Festival over the next two days. We’ll begin with the industry tasting that starts at 1 pm today. We’ll try to continue to tweet from the Grand Tasting this evening and I’ll do my best to tweet tomorrow in between pouring wine.

You can watch all the live tweets – from Kevin, me, Dilly Cafe and more – without even signing up for Twitter.

View the live tweets.

Wine-Girl’s 3rd Annual Wine Festival Survival Guide

The days are numbered. The Cincinnati International Wine Festival is this weekend. Hundreds of wines, hundreds of people, and you with your tasting glass. How on earth do you survive it?

Welcome to Wine-Girl’s 3^rd Annual Wine Festival Survival Guide. Every year I poll a large group of wine bloggers and find out if there are any outstanding tips, which I add to my own. These tips are geared for people who are heading to the Festival to try new wines, learn new things, and not get generally hammered.

(Need a printed copy of this? There’s a better than average chance you’ll find it in today’s MetroMix!)

So, from the collected wisdom of the Wine Blogging Twittersphere and in no particular order, here are some ways to survive tasting hundreds of wines:

1. Decide when you want to go. The Friday Grand Tasting has always seemed more manageable to me, with slightly less people. The Saturday Grand Tasting is generally the biggest event, with what seems like an unending number of people. My favorite session is Saturday afternoon, as fewer people attend and I can get more face-time with the winemakers. This year you’ll find Kevin & I enjoying the Friday night session and I may be pouring wine for both Saturday events.
2. Eat a big meal before hand. You’ll stay sober longer. You may want to follow your festival experience with a large meal afterwards. Either way, it’s a busy weekend downtown, and the St. Patrick’s Day parade and festivities fall on Saturday. Whenever you decide to eat, make reservations.
3. Consider a designated driver, cab service, or even a hotel room. Last year we decided to succumb to an afternoon and evening of alcohol and we got a hotel room. The Wine Fest web site offers several hotel packages downtown, and we often find great last minute deals at The Cincinnatian. This year we landed at the Hyatt, courtesy of Hotwire.
   Thinking of a cab service? You can always use FETCH (513-35-FETCH), which routes a cab to you from an available company.
4. Make a game plan. Let me make this easier for you – you can download the 4-part guide from Cincinnati Magazine.
   In the guide, you can find the list of attending wineries, the corresponding floor plan, and the list of wines in the Special Tasting Room. Plan ahead. See what looks interesting. Accept that you can’t possibly try everything. You may want to decide to divide and conquer within your group of friends.
5. Start at the end. Most people will start at the beginning. Starting at the end (or back) will allow you to fight a smaller crowd – at least until you make it to the middle.
6. Manage your route so that you visit the sparkling wine and champagne in between big wines. Sparklers are excellent palate cleansers and you’ll last longer if you try those in between the big reds.
7. Save those dessert wines for last. One year I succumbed to temptation and had a chocolate port early on. As tasty as it was, my next ten wines still tasted like chocolate.
8. Try new things and don’t ignore the little and/or local guys. Just because you haven’t heard of them doesn’t mean they’re bad. Truly, some of the booths have the name of the distributor, but they might be featuring three or four different wineries. This is a perfect opportunity to branch out and explore a little. Who knows what you’ll find?
9. Dress comfortably. Seriously, ladies, there is no need for high heels. You can still look cute and trendy and leave the stilettos at home. You will be walking a lot, standing even more, and jostling in and out of a lot of people. Expect it to be warm in the tasting hall. Lots of people and red wine can raise the temperature in a room.
10. Since we’re talking about clothes, wear dark colors. I know it’s almost Spring, but don’t pull out your sundresses and pastels. Even if you manage to avoid spilling red wine on yourself, someone else might very well careen into you. Lots of people + lots of alcohol = lots of wine accidents. Dark colors are your best bet.
11. Carry a small bottle of Wine Away or a Tide Stain Stick. Even if you don’t need it, someone else might. I mentioned dark clothing, yes?
12. Get there early. People start filtering in late and things get really crowded really fast. Enjoy being early.
13. Spit.
    What? Yes, I said spit. It’s actually an accepted practice. However, even at the Trade Tasting you don’t see it that often. One of the winemakers commented to me a few years ago that Cincinnati is strange because hardly anyone spits.
    Some thoughts on spitting:
    - Carry your own spit cup. Dixie cups work, as well as those Solo plastic cups. When a table is crowded, it’s hard to get to the bucket, nor do you want to be in someone else’s spit stream. Also, it’s easier to be discreet when you are quietly spitting into your own cup.
    - Dump instead of spit. I don’t spit at the Wine Festival. When I’m judging a wine competition, it doesn’t bother me to spit into a personal cup. But in our weird lack-of-spitting city, I get really self-conscious. So I take a small sip or two, try to really glean something out of it, and dump the rest of the wine into the bucket. It’s expected. You’re not wasting wine or hurting anyone’s feelings.
14. Take breaks every 30 minutes or so to have some snacks and water, as well as to regroup.
15. Hydrate, and wine doesn’t count. Bring water if they aren’t handing it out. But you’ll definitely want some handy.
16. Stop by the bathroom periodically and I don’t mean to use the facilities. You need to periodically rinse out your glass. It doesn’t take long for your wine glass to be sticky and filled with the residue of previous tastes.
17. The caveat to number 10 is that you should also try to rinse your glass with wine whenever possible and then dump. Rinsing with wine works better than water (although it won’t make the stickiness and red fingers go away). Just ask the nice person behind the table for a rinse. Heck, they might even respect you a little more for asking.
18. Don’t try to take detailed tasting notes. Sometimes I just rate things on my happy face scale; occasionally I’ll write a sentence. There will be no time for detailed information, nor will you really have free hands or space for writing.
19. Most importantly, have a fantastic time! We’ll have a follow-up post within the week, but I really look forward to hearing your own thoughts.

Cincinnati Int’l Wine Festival Events

Back in December, I posted about the upcoming Cincinnati International Wine Festival. Yes, tickets went on sale back then. Tickets tend to go rather rapidly. Closer to the date, I promise I’ll post an updated version of my Annual Wine Festival Survival Guide.

In the meantime, you need to buy your tickets. You can purchase tickets from any of the listed stores, which include Cork n Bottle, Dilly Deli & Cafe, The Liquor Cabinet, and Little Sonoma.

The official Host this year is Michael Mondavi. Instead of spending a lot of money to meet him at a wine dinner, I recommend going to a Cork n Bottle event instead. On March 9, Michael will be at the Buttermilk location for an exclusive tasting. Michael will be guiding participants through a sampling of his family’s latest vintages and will also be signing bottle purchases of his collectible Cabernet Sauvignon.The event runs from 6:30 – 8:30 and costs $25. You definitely need to RSVP, because space is limited, so email tim.hue@corknbottle.com to grab a spot.

If you are interested in the Wine Dinners that precede the Festival each year, grab a spot uber-quick. Even though the dinners are pricey, they include all of your food and wine, and you get to schmooze with winemakers.  Most of the dinners take place on March 11 and, although I’ve listed them at the bottom, you’ll see many are already sold out. If I had $300 to spare (which I don’t), I’d kill to go to the Villa San Juliette tasting at Morton’s. I have a small crush on the winemaker.

The Wine Festival runs March 12 – March 13:

• Friday Evening, Mar 12 6:30 – 9:00 PM: $70.00 prior to event, $75.00 at the door
  $105 for Grand Tasting ticket and Special Tasting ticket, $110 at the door
• Saturday Afternoon, Mar 13, 2:30 – 4:30 PM: $60.00 prior to event, $65.00 at the door
  $95.00 for Grand Tasting ticket and Special Tasting ticket, $100.00 at the door
• Saturday Evening, Mar 13, 6:30 – 9:00 PM: $70.00 prior to event, $75.00 at the door
  $105 for Grand Tasting Ticket and Special Tasting ticket, $110 at the door
• Special Tasting Room: Enjoy high end wines for one hour prior to the Grand Tastings. Each ticket will be an additonal charge of $35 for 7 tastes.

The moral of all of this is – buy your tickets soon. Whether it’s for the special dinners or for the festival itself, make your plans early this year.

Wine Dinners

March 10:

Michael Mondavi at The Palace Restaurant in the Cincinnatian Hotel
Tickets $175 - SOLD OUT!

March 11:

Carlo & Johnny – SOLD OUT!
Banfi International
Tickets: $150

DaVeed’s at 934
Graziano Family of Wines
Tickets: $125

Eddie Merlot’s
Kuletto Wines
Tickets: $125

Embers
The Hess Collection
Tickets: $150

Hugo
Frank Family Vineyards
Tickets: $150

Jags – SOLD OUT!
Truchard Vineyards
The Meeker Vineyard
Tickets: $150

Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse – SOLD OUT!
Wines from the Nickel & Nickel Family
Far Niente, Nickel & Nickel and Dolce
Tickets: $150

Boca – SOLD OUT
Marc de Grazia Selections
Tickets: $150

Morton’s, The Steakhouse
Villa San Juliette
Tickets: $150

Orchids at Palm Court
Terlato International
Tickets: $125

FNI: Twittering about wine!

Are you on Twitter? Today, the Cooking with Caitlin girls are hosting a Foodies Night In that’s all about wine! Yours truly will be one of the hosts.

If you are on Twitter, just make sure you’re following me, @cookingwithcaitlin, or @girlfriendology. We’ll be tweeting questions about wine and food between the hours of 4-6 pm today.

You can follow along even if you’re not on Twitter by searching Twitter for the tag #fni, or by plugging the #fni tag into a web-based app like Tweetgrid or Tweetchat.

I hope to “see” you there!  

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events, Feb 20-26

After a crazy Valentine’s week, our wine events slow down a little. We’ve added Oakley Wines to the recurring wines section, as they offer a Friday evening tasting. New to our one-time listings is A Bottle or Two on Montgomery Road, which offers food and wine pairing events on the weekend.

My recommendation for the week? If you can, reserve a spot for the Malvirà wine tasting at The Party Source on Saturday. Additionally, you can join Rivertown Brewery, a new local brewery, at their Dilly Deli launch party on Tuesday evening.

Remember, all the recurring events, those dependable weekly tastings, are displayed on our calendar. The one-time events are after the jump.

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

Image used under Creative Commons
from Flickr user hlkljgk

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Announcing WBW #65: Snow Day!

Wow! I have to say it’s kind of cool, hosting the first Wine Blogging Wednesday of a new decade. I should probably have picked something profound, something relating to New Year’s / New Decade resolutions and change. But no – because I’m cold. Here in the midwest, it’s freezing. My friends in DC were recently under a couple of feet of snow, and over Christmas, folks were shoveling here in Cincinnati as well. You know what? I hate snow. But growing up, I always loved a snow day.

But let me back up a moment. If you’re new to WBW, I should probably explain what’s going on. Way back in 2004, my friend Lenn at the New York Cork Report started up a virtual tasting event he called Wine Blogging Wednesday. The idea being that people interested in wine, the world over, would coalesce each month around a single theme. People would then submit their blog posts or email in reviews, and those would all be organized and shared. It was a hit. Many editions later and here we are at Wine Blogging Wednesday #65.

This month, even if you’re in warm sunny Florida or Los Angeles, I want you to look out your window and imagine Snow. Snowmen, snow balls, igloos, snow trucks, snow … cold, cold snow. Then I want you to imagine what that makes you want to drink. Do you want to curl up in front of your fireplace with a port? Maybe you want to pull out a cabernet sauvignon or a big juicy zin and then put on your snowsuit. Are you a glutton for punishment and you’re pulling out a chilled riesling before heading out to build a snowman? Are you inspired by vintners who are braving frigid temperatures to make icewine?

Image from Flickr: karenwithak via CC

In this particular instance, I’ll even allow you to branch a little away from wine if you want. With a valid story behind you, there’s no reason you can’t pop open a cognac, a brandy, or even bourbon. Imaginary “bonus points” for anyone with a wonderful Snow Day story of their youth , a great photo of snow and wine, or even a Snowman and wine!

WBW 65: Snow Day! will take place on Jan 20 (which is in between my trips to the sunnier side of our nation). Please send your info to me at wbw65@wine-girl.net. If you blog, send me a link. If you don’t have a blog, that’s okay too. You can email me your Snow Day review and story and I’ll include it in the overall roundup that will be posted a few days later.

So there you go. Have at it, everyone! Build snowmen, drink up, and keep warm!

A Perfect Holiday Gift: Tix to the Wine Festival

It’s that time of year again – tickets to the Cincinnati International Wine Festival have gone on sale! If you think about it, these would make a great stocking stuffer. The 2010 wine festival takes place March 11 – 13, including the various dinners and tastings. As usual, we’ll prep you and offer our own festival survival tips the week before the festival.

The Honorary Chair for the 2010 event, which also happens to be the 20th anniversary, is Michael Mondavi. Michael is the Founder of Folio Fine Wine Partners, an importer and producer of wines from the world’s premiere and emerging wine regions.  Yes, his dad is none other than Robert Mondavi, so the wine industry runs in his blood. In 2004 (which is when Mondavi was sold to Constellation), Michael started Folio with his wife and children. The Wine Festival will be holding a special Winery Dinner, honoring Michael, on Wednesday, March 10^th.

You can purchase tickets online – our wine festival has grabbed the enviable URL of www.winefestival.com and hung onto it for several years.

You can buy regular tickets or include admission to the Special Tasting Room. For several years I’ve had mixed emotions about the Special Tasting Room: I really enjoyed visiting it last year, and the wine is definitely high-end and special. But I hate that this wine is now held back from everyone who doesn’t want to shell out an extra $35. Is it worth it? Well, yeah. It definitely is, but I’m not a fan of the 1-hour time limit.

So buy your tickets, tell all your friends, and join us at the Grand Tastings!

Dates & Costs

Friday Evening 6:30 – 9:00 PM
$70.00 prior to event, $75.00 at the door
$105 for Grand Tasting ticket and Special Tasting ticket, $110 at the door

Saturday Afternoon 2:30 – 4:30 PM
$60.00 prior to event, $65.00 at the door
$95.00 for Grand Tasting ticket and Special Tasting ticket, $100.00 at the door

Saturday Evening 6:30 – 9:00 PM
$70.00 prior to event, $75.00 at the door
$105 for Grand Tasting Ticket and Special Tasting ticket, $110 at the door

Special Tasting Room
Enjoy high end wines for one hour prior to the Grand Tastings. Each ticket will be an additonal charge of $35 for 7 tastes.

Post-Thanksgiving Winery Spectacular Spectacular

Really. Just avoid those malls after Thanksgiving and head straight to all of your local wineries. They’re waiting for you.

In Ohio, we have the annual barrel tasting. On Saturday, Nov 28, you can visit five Ohio wineries to try unreleased vintages and current wines.

Barrels @ Harmony Hill

You can visit our friends at Harmony Hill and Kinkead Ridge, along with Burnet Ridge Winery, Henke, and Woodstone Creek. Hours and costs at each winery vary, so make sure to double-check the web site before you head out on your winery journey for the day.

Barrels @ Kinkead Ridge

Additionally, Elk Creek is having an anniversary sale at all of their locations. (Disclosure: I do a little freelance marketing for Elk Creek and they advertise on this blog.) If you want to stay on the Kentucky side, Elk Creek is offering deep discounts on their wines and a party atmosphere at the winery in Owenton.

Now, don’t special tastings and winery sales sound better than crazed shoppers and long lines? I thought so. I’ll see you at the wineries.

Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!

I’ve always wanted to go to a wine auction and the accompanying dinner. If I could find someone to drive to Chicago with me on the morning of Dec 4, I might just try to go to this. 1982 Bordeaux … wow! Even if I don’t make it to Chicago, I will definitely try to watch the auction online on Dec 5.

For full effect, I’ve literally just pasted in most of the press release:

Hart Davis Hart to Auction Important Single-Owner Wine Collection on December 5th in Chicago

Estimated to bring $3-$4.5 million, it is the largest single cellar wine auction offered in the United States in 2009 to date

(November 4, 2009 – Chicago, IL) – Hart Davis Hart Wine Co., the internationally renowned wine auction house and retailer, will hold an exciting single-owner sale, “An Important Private Collection, Including Finest Bordeaux and Californian Wines” on December 5th at award-winning restaurant Tru (676 N. St. Clair St, Chicago). This auction presents a selection from one of the largest and most important private cellars in the world. These wines comprise a veritable library of the most esteemed wines of Europe and America from the most heralded vintages of the latter 20th and early 21st centuries. All wines were purchased from top sources and cellared in ideal professional and home storage.

Bordeaux from classic and increasingly rare vintages 1949, 1959, and 1961 will be represented alongside the greatest wines from modern vintages 1982, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1996, 2000 and 2003. The sale features an impressive 288 lots of first growth Bordeaux, with 55 lots of Château Lafite-Rothschild spanning 15 vintages, 65 lots of Château Mouton-Rothschild spanning 17 vintages and 66 lots of Château Latour. An incredible selection of Château Pétrus covers 57 lots and is estimated to bring between $658,500 and $972,100.

Also included is a deep selection of wines from Harlan Estate, featuring 45 lots across 11 vintages estimated at roughly $200,000-$300,000, including six 12-bottle lots of the 100-point rated 1994 vintage and five 12-bottle lots of the 100-point rated 1997 vintage. Other California highlights include 23 lots of Dominus, many in double-magnum and imperial format.

The 836 lot auction, is estimated to fetch between $3.0 million and $4.5 million. It will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m at Tru Restaurant in Chicago. Attendance is open to the public and free of charge. Reservations for lunch during the auction ($75) should be made by calling Maria Elgass at 312.573.5597 or by emailing her at melgass@hdhwine.com.

To celebrate the collection, Hart Davis Hart will host a dinner at the historic, Morton’s of Chicago Steakhouse on Friday, December 4th, featuring wines from the legendary 1982 vintage from Bordeaux. Seating is extremely limited. Please contact Marc Smoler at 312.482.9766 or msmoler@hdhwine.com for more details.

Highlights from the December 5th Auction Include:
Lot 10: 1982 Château Lafite Rothschild (1 imp (6L)) (Est. $16,000-24,000)
Lot 95: 1959 Château Haut-Brion (12 bs) (Est. $12,000-18,000)
Lot 340: 1982 Château Pétrus (12 bs) (Est. $24,000-35,000)
Lot 381: 2000 Château Pétrus (12 bs) (Est. $28,000-42,000)
Lot 434: 1989 Château La Mission Haut Brion (12 bs) (Est. $7,000-10,000)
Lot 574: 2000 Montrachet Comtes Lafon (12 bs) (Est. $7,000-10,000)
Lot 609: 1996 Krug, Brut (12 bs) (Est. $2,400-3,500)
Lot 626: 1997 Sorì San Lorenzo Gaja (12 bs) (Est. $2,600-3,800)
Lot 629: 1970 Unico Bodegas Vega Sicilia (12 bs) (Est. $4,200-6,500)
Lot 716: 1997 Harlan Estate Red Wine (12 bs) (Est. $9,000-14,000)
Lot 764: 1997 Screaming Eagle (12 bs) (Est. $24,000-35,000)

Bidding Information
Auction catalogs are available through the website or by calling Hart Davis Hart (hdhwine.com; 312.482.9996). The expanded website allows bidders to view and search the auction catalog and place absentee bids online.

Hart Davis Hart’s state-of-the-art technology allows bidders worldwide to participate in the Chicago-based live auctions via the Internet. Bidders can follow the auction in the salesroom, hear the live auction, and bid against the room, all in real-time. More details about the technology can be found at www.hdhwine.com.

Bidders are encouraged to attend the auction in person, but Hart Davis Hart welcomes bids by phone, fax, through the website, and via the live-bid technology. For more information, contact Hart Davis Hart at 312.482.9996 or go to hdhwine.com.

Disney’s Wine & Food Festival

I've heard people make fun of this, but until you attend, well … let's just say that when Disney decides to do something, they tend to make it first-class. 

We're out of town this weekend, heading to Walt Disney World in Orlando. This will be our third outing to the Epcot Wine & Food Festival. Epcot is never overly popular with the kids, but during the Food &
Wine Fest, there seem to be substantially fewer kids in the evenings.

We previously attended in 2005, when we discovered it by accident, and 2006, when we planned the entire trip. In fact, in 2006, we were able to take an 8-hour course on Spanish wine from Master Sommelier & Master of Wine Doug Frost. We also attended an amazing dinner party called The Party of the Senses.

Apparently we had more disposable income in 2006, because those particular items are not in our budget right now. That's okay though, because the Wine & Food Festival is an amazing experience even without the extras.

Imagine the familiar setup of the Epcot World Showcase. Now add in several extra countries and line the entire lake rim with kiosks from the existing and extra countries. Each of those kiosks basically offers tapas-like options from each country, as well as wine and/or beer from that country. Kevin and I tend to eat our way around the world several times.

Many of the kiosks also have extensive learning. In the past, there have been free beer and Twinings tea seminars and a walk-through of Australian wine country. This year I know there is a special area for New York (Long Island and Finger Lakes) wine country. 

The Epcot Welcome Center is transformed into a wine bar and classroom. For $8/session, you can take any number of extensive seminars on wine and cooking from winemakers, Master Sommeliers, and well-known chefs. Curious? Download the Program Guide (pdf).

We've got reservations and such each night. We were originally supposed to take this trip with the Hoperatives, but a family emergency has unfortunately forced them to cancel. Without our friends along, we may skip a few reservations. However, we will most likely be tasting some beer at Big River on Thursday night, followed by dinner at Irish Raglan Road in Downtown Disney. Saturday afternoon we will definitely be enjoying a tequila tasting at the new Tequila Bar (La Cava del Tequila) in Epcot Mexico. Sunday we'll probably go to my other favorite theme park in Disney: Animal Kingdom. Other than that, we're playing it by ear.

The Epcot Wine & Food Festival runs every day through November 8.

It's worth mentioning that, despite the fact we have no kids, I am a giant Disney freak. I love Disney. Combining Disney with an excellent food & wine festival? I'll be quite happy indeed.

Curious about the food we'll be munching on as we eat our way around the Epcot World? The menu is after the jump. Also after the jump, a slideshow of our last couple visits to Epcot:

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