Thinking Spring: CIWF Tickets

Can’t figure out what to buy for the Cincinnati-based wine lover in your life? How about tickets to the Cincinnati International Wine Festival.

Held next year on March 10-12, tickets are already on sale.

It’s also the 21st birthday of the wine festival – for a festival dedicated to alcohol, there is a bit of humor in that.

Visit www.winefestival.com and get tickets to winery dinners (special winemaker guests are still TBD), Grand Tastings, the charity auction & luncheon, and hotel packages.

Additionally, the Wine Festival has announced that this year’s honorary chairperson is Justin Baldwin of JUSTIN Winery in Paso Robles.

Annual Southern Ohio Barrel Tasting Returns!

It’s Thanksgiving and time to start shopping for gifts and, well, wine – not that we ever stop shopping for wine! If you are somehow mall-ed out (how is that possible?) on Saturday, Nov 27, you can relax in some of our fantastic local wineries.

Each year, a group of southern Ohio’s wineries open up their cellars for barrel samplings of unreleased vintages. I think this is the third year (don’t quote me on that) and I’ve yet to attend. We’re never in town for Thanksgiving weekend. But if you are, and if the weather cooperates, go visit some or all of the participating wineries.

Barrel Sampling at Kinkead Ridge

It’s a great opportunity to visit local wineries that are often closed in the winter and snatch up their latest releases … not to mention trying some of their unreleased samples. For this year’s Annual Ohio River Valley Barrel Tasting Tour, you can visit

• Kinkead Ridge Estate Winery in Ripley
• Meranda-Nixon Estate Winery in Ripley
• Harmony Hill Vineyards & Estate Winery in Bethel
• LaVigna Estate Winery in Higginsport
• Burnet Ridge Winery in Cincinnati
• Henke Winery in Cincinnati
• Woodstone Creek Winery in Cincinnati

Hours and tasting fees vary by winery, so make sure to check the web site for more information.

Enjoy!

Happy Beaujolais Day!

Every year on November’s third Thursday, the latest vintage of Beaujolais Nouveau is released. Beaujolais Nouveau is a young red wine made from Gamay grapes in the Beaujolais region of France. Don’t age this one – Beaujolais is all about drinking it now.

French law dictates that Beaujolais Nouveau can be released at 12:01 am on the third Thursday of November. It’s so young at this point that the grapes were harvested only weeks earlier, with a short (obviously) fermentation period. Because of this method, the wine is often bright and fruity, with just a hint of tannins. I find it tastes best just a little chilled, and tends to pair nicely with Thanksgiving turkey, so it’s probably okay to age it about a week.

Environmentalists and slow food movement folks tend to get all up in arms about Beaujolais Nouveau. After all, with such a short production cycle, it’s hard to get all that wine exported and ready to go by the third Thursday. Beaujolais Nouveau has one hell of a carbon footprint.

In recent years, Beaujolais producers have really been trying to curb their environmental impact. More and more producers are using environmentally friendly PET bottles, for example. PET bottles use similar material to the 2L bottles of Coke you can pick up at the grocery. The material is 100% recyclable and weighs nearly 50% less than glass. That means it weighs less on the flight over, using less jet fuel.

Of course, not everyone is flying the wine over on a super-fast jet. Georges DuBeoeuf, the largest producer of Beaujolais, has a dispensation from the French government allowing him to bottle and ship early – on boats. (Most of our wine from Europe ships on boats.)This year, Michael Skurnik Importers are bringing in both Domaine Madone and Paul Durdilly Beaujolais via boat. While this takes longer, it’s better for the environment than piling everything on a jet at the last minute.

Beaujolais is a wine that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Every year, parties are held around the world at 12:01, popping the first cork of Beaujolais. It’s a party wine. Keep that in mind when you pick up a bottle and you should be able to enjoy it with a smile on your face.

Northern Kentucky Wine Festival

I was sitting at the Cock & Bull in Covington last week when I saw the signs for the 2010 Northern Kentucky Wine Festival. Since it has moved to Mainstrasse, it’s been held in October on weekends when I am out of town. So I can’t go, but I hope you can!

This is the 5th annual event and it’s this Saturday, October 16, from 3-10 pm. Admission is only $10, which includes a souvenir wine glass and 4 tastings. Tickets for additional tastings and glasses of wine will also be available at $1 ea or 6 for $5 for additional tastings / $5 for a glass of wine.

This year, twelve wineries are confirmed, making the Northern KY Wine Festival the largest in the Commonwealth! Participating Wineries include the following:

• Lover’s Leap – Lawrenceburg, KY
• Acres of Land – Richmond, KY
• Stonebrook Winery – Camp Springs, KY
• Wight-Meyer – Shepherdsville, KY
• Black Barn Winery – Lexington, KY
• Elk Creek – Owenton, KY
• Baker-Bird Winery – Augusta, KY
• Atwood Hill – Morningview, KY
• Iron Pig – Union KY
• Horseshoe Bend – Willisburg, KY
• RiverBend Winery – Louisville, KY
• Seven Wells Winery – California, KY

In addition to the wine, there are always local artisans with booths. I used to always come home with at least one new piece of unique jewelry.

Take advantage of the autumn weather this weekend and head to Covington!

Eat, Drink, Laugh Local: Farmers’ Fair and Brew Ha Ha

This Saturday is a big day for eating, drinking, and laughing local.

Last year was the first year for the Covington Farmers’ Fair. It was so successful, they’ve brought it back for a second year, and it’s bigger than ever.Headlining the event is Ed Begley, Jr. I know, I was surprised too. I thought he was some guy from a hospital/soap that my parents watched back in the ’80s. Apparently, he’s been working ever since and currently has a show on the Planet Green channel called “Living with Ed”.  It’s a reality show about trying to live “green” in Hollywood.

Photo from FarmersFair.org

The Farmers’ Fair is a daylong street fair and farmers market celebrating the local food culture. “Farmers’ Fair is a unique opportunity for those of us who have lost touch with our farming and food-producing roots to see the entire process from seed to plate” said Valerie Taylor, co-chair of the event. Paticipating vendors include Bees and Sweets, Carriage House Farm, Dad’s Favorite Cheeses, Dojo Gelato, Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, Napoleon Ridge Farm, The Sensitive Epicure Gluten Free Bakery, and many more.  Chefs from Local 127, Lavomatic, Chalk, and more will also be participating.  Finally, Berlin Reed from Oregon will be there. He’s the Ethical Butcher, and people, he’s going to be talking/cooking about “The Bacon Gospel.” Mmmm … bacon.

Don’t forget that eating local is also about drinking local. The two local wineries participating will be Elk Creek Winery and Stonebrook. You can find Kevin and myself pouring for Stonebrook in the morning to mid-afternoon. After that, blog readers just like yourself will be pouring. (Thanks gang!) Not enough for you? Josh Durr, cocktail master extraordinaire from Tonic on 4th, will also be there.

The fair features a farmers market, cooking demonstrations, chefs pairing with local farmers (food samples!), educational booths, and a live performance by the Comet Bluegrass Allstars. There’s even a children’s area with face painting, seed planting (and other educational things), and most importantly, a petting farm. I’m so finding myself a pony to pet.

Much to my surprise, this event doesn’t take place on Mainstrasse. Instead, it’s in the Greenup Street area (um, Roebling Entertainment District), located at the foot of the Suspension Bridge. The bridge, by the way, is currently open to foot traffic. Admission is free and the event will be held rain or shine, 10am to 10pm. Proceeds from the Farmers’ Fair benefit Central Ohio River Valley Food Guide (CORV), Slow Food Cincinnati, Ohio Valley Foodshed Project and the Future Farmers of America Northern Kentucky Chapter: Boone, Campbell & Kenton.

Once you’ve spent your day at the Farmers’ Fair, follow us and head on over to Brew-Ha-Ha at Sawyer Point. This is more of a beer thing, so I’m not going to spend too much time on it. But Kevin and I have gone every year and we never fail to have a good time, sampling beer, socializing with friends, and listening to the occasional comic. There’s a wide range of beer for sampling, so hopefully this year I can get Kevin to write up a post.

Brew Ha Ha 2009, from Bob Schwartz (http://5chw4r7z.blogspot.com)

Brew-Ha-Ha is both Friday and Saturday evenings. On Saturday, join the fun from 4pm – midnight with 50 comedians on 3 stages and a selection of 80 beers from which to choose. Wristbands are $5 and beer tickets are $1 each. One beer ticket equals 1 beer sample, and 4 beer tickets equals a full serving. Beer ticket sales stop at 10:30p.m. and beer dispensing stops promptly at 11:00p.m.

It’s easy to either walk to Brew-Ha-Ha or, as we’re going to do, leave our car in Covington and take the Southbank Shuttle to the event.