My Wine Education

Party Town Adds a Tasting

We're about to brave the possibly inclement weather and head to Kinkead Ridge, Meranda-Nixon, and Harmony Hill for the day. Cross your fingers that the rain holds off for us.

Before we leave, I want to tell everyone about a new tasting that Party Town has added. It's on Tuesday evenings from 6-8 6-7 pm. This is in addition to their popular Saturday/Sunday tastings and their Friday night beer events.

I was told that soon, these Tuesday night tastings will become wine and food pairing events. They're starting off small, gauging interest. Since I know we all want these to evolve into pairing events, please go!

As always, wine tastings at Party Town are free!

Party Town is located at 6823 Burlington Pike, Florence, KY‎, right off Turfway Road. I'll see you there!

Wine & Food Pairing

Wine & food pairing just got easier, which is good because I'm a bit terrible at it.

Image Credit

Anytime you need to pair some food and wine (or beer), just head to our Wine & Food Pairing page and click either Wine or Food. The widget will walk you through the pairing, giving you all the information you need.

Author and friend Natalie MacLean has always offered a neat online wine and food pairing engine. This widget is courtesy of Natalie. 

Enjoy!

How to Host a Party (and not do anything)

I hosted a small dinner party the other night for several couples. Had Kevin let me, I'd have invited about 8 more people, but I had to cut back. (So if you're a dear friend, don't be mad at me. I picked couples I thought would gel nicely and well, our house only holds so many people.)

Usually when we host a party, we shell out at least $500 in food and alcohol. Then we kill ourselves trying to make everything from appetizers through to dessert. Kevin often spends about half of the party in the kitchen and sometimes the food goes awry. This time we tossed that entire model out the window.

I did two things differently. First, I asked everyone to bring an appetizer or a bottle of Spanish wine. This worked beautifully, as we ended up with a gorgeous cheese plate and several dips. Kevin also prepared some mini quiches, baked cheese sticks, and mini herbed goat cheese balls. Good Spanish wine can be found for under $15 - in many cases under $10 - so we weren't asking our guests for too great of an expense.

Everyone brought a bottle or two of wine, which was fantastic. In fact, we emptied 10 bottles plus a magnum. I kept the wine out on our bar and just let everyone serve themselves.

Wine and appetizers. So far, an easy party with very little expense to us. But what about dinner? Well, for dinner we brought in Hector Esteve of Paella at Your Place. Hector arrives with his burner, a giant paella pan, all the ingredients and a great personality, and then he whips up some paella. I was worried about the small size of our kitchen, but Hector requires only a stovetop and a small countertop. Alternatively he can use a garage, or in the warmer months, your deck or patio.

We had a sausage and chicken paella, but he made a portion of it meat free for our two vegetarian diners. He offers other paella combinations of various meats and seafoods as well. Hector also arrives with a great salad and bread that starts off your meal. Once the paella is ready, he brings it to the table and sprinkles it with sherry. Alcohol makes everything better, yes?  Then he serves the paella to your guests.

Hector left our kitchen even cleaner than it was when we arrived. Outside of the appetizers, Kevin and I had no need to even be in the kitchen. It was the easiest party I've ever put together and because of that, one of the most fun. I could actually enjoy my guests instead of worrying about feeding them. In fact, we wouldn't have been in the kitchen at all except that everyone was fascinated with the paella process. Hector will tell you about it, step by step, if you wish, with all the patience in the world.

Hector requires a minimum of 10 people (those pans are big you see) and starts at $10 per person. We fed 15 people, although he can feed a party of up to 150. At those prices, feeding 15 people paella is a cheaper option for us than what we would normally shell out to host a dinner party. Kevin just mentioned that by using Hector, we saved about $200 in party hosting and more than that in time and stress, therefore this is a Recession Tip! Host a party with your own chef and save money - who knew?

I know I'll be bringing Hector back for future parties at this house and once we move in about a year. I recommend Hector and his paella (and apparently his tailgating options as well). In fact, I'm trying to figure out how to get him to the pre-Jimmy Buffett parties out at Riverbend. How perfect would that be?

Not sure how you feel about paella? That's okay. Hector will be dishing up his excellent paella at several local stores in the next few months. You can find him at The Party Source on Jan 31 and March 26. I think, although I'm not positive on this one, that he'll also be grilling up some paella at each Liquor Direct for a Jorge Ordonez tasting on February 27 and 28.

I'm embedding a slideshow or you can view our photos on Flickr.

Contact Hector at PaellaAtYourPlace.com or via email (hfesteve [at] fuse [dot] net) or phone: 513.528.5241.

Woodford Reserve Bourbon Dinner

A few weeks ago, Michelle and I had a chance to have a bourbon-inspired dinner by Woodford Reserve's chef David Larson. He offered a tasting demo at the Party Source and we were treated to

Course 1: Woodford Reserve with Gravlax

Course 2: Woodford Reserve Lemonade with Tomato Watermelon Salad

Course 3: Woodford Reserve Corn Pudding and the Best Roast Chicken

Course 4: Cold Lemon Souffle and Bourbon Flavored Coffee

Oceanaire Wine Dinner Preview

Yesterday, Julie (Wine Me, Dine Me) and I had the great pleasure to meet with Andrew Cecil, Ass't General Manager of Oceanaire. We were given a lovely complimentary preview of their upcoming wine dinner. From what I understand, the wine dinner is the first time our particular Oceanaire has attempted such a thing. Based on the menu, wine pairings, and affordable price, I think it will work out well for them.  The dinner is on Sept 12 and is $65 per person. Reservations are required.

I'm not much of a seafood fan, so other than mentioning the menu for pairing purposes, I'll leave the food information sharing to Julie. I want to talk about their wine for the upcoming dinner.

Andrew and Chef Dumcum made a decision to focus on Spanish wines for the meal, all from trusted importer Jorge Ordoñez, distributed locally by Cutting Edge. As many of you know, Spanish and French wines are my absolute favorites, so I was thrilled to see so many high-quality, high-value wines on their list. In fact, if you find you're interested in the wines, you can order the wines directly from Oceanaire (without a huge markup) during the wine dinner. All of the wines retail for under $15 in Ohio and in some cases, under $10 in Kentucky. In addition, all these wines are "drink now," so if you go home with a few, you don't have to worry about cellaring.

The wine list for the dinner is amazingly easy-drinking and approachable, even for those who aren't big fans of wine.
My overall score for their wines and pairing:

Marques de Gelida Brut: The list I have states this is a non-vintage Cava, but Andrew shared a 2004 vintage with us. This is high in acidity and tart, with a lemony fresh result. It had soft bubbles that tickled the back of my throat. Throughout our tasting I kept returning to this particular glass as a palatte cleanser. Sparkling wines are a great substitute for sorbet, and I found this one light, refreshing and up to the task.
Pairing: Tatmagouche Shooters, Iced Granny Smith Apple Mignonette

Basa Blanco Rueda 2007: This is a light and fruity wine composed of Verdejo, Viura, and Sauvignon Blanc grapes. If I was just sniffing away blindly, I would have called this a viognier. Told I was wrong, I probably would have guessed a sauvignon blanc. That's how tropical and light this particular wine is. It's the perfect summer wine, and enjoyable on a day when the temperature breaks 90 degrees.
Pairing: Mixed Field Greens, Pickled Watermelon, Sunflower Seed Brittle, Tarragon Chevre, Mango Vinaigrette

Vega Sindoa Chardonnay 2006: This particular bottle wasn't available for us to sample, but I hear that it's earthy and only lightly oaked.
Pairing: Grilled Hawaiian Sea  Bass, Sweet Corn Butter, Charred-on-the-Vine Tomatoes, Baby Bok Choy, Roasted Peach Beure Blanc

Tres Picos Garnacha 2006: I love this wine. Kevin and I have purchased cases of previous vintages and the 2006 is no disappointment. This wine is such a great drinker for such a bargain. This has a lot of deep berries and plums. It's 100% grenache from some pretty old Spanish vines.
Pairing: Seared Earl grey Brined Duck Breast, Butternet Squash Puree, Chocolate-Blackberry Demi Glace, Mint Oil

Jorge Ordoñez Especial Moscatel 2005: Ah, dessert wine! I do enjoy dessert wine - almost as much as I enjoy dessert. This particular wine is not what you might expect - it's not heavy and mead-like. Instead, it's light and floral. In fact, I was sort of hit upside the head with the floral nose of this wine. It's bright and easy to drink, with some honey, floral, and lemon notes - a perfect ending to a meal on a hot summer night.
Pairing: Brie-Pear Tart, Lavender Honey, Fig Compote

Other than the Moscatel, I'm fairly certain you can find the majority of these wines at either Liquor Direct or Party Source, both right across the river in Kentucky. I know that I've tried most of these before, which is what leads me to believe they came from one of those two stores. Party Town out at Turfway also has a fairly large Spanish selection. Overall, these are excellent pairings for the food and approachable wines.

Restaurant Week: 9/2 - 9/7

Need I say more?

Greater Cincinnati Independents

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.

What? It's Valentine's Day?

On Tuesday night when Kevin said, "Is Valentine's Day this week?", I was pretty sure that I wasn't getting the necklace I want from Tiffany's and that a dozen roses were probably out of the question.

In fact, we're spending a fairly low key Valentine's Day (or, you know, THURSDAY) evening at the Party Source's Smooth Wines for Your Valentine tasting class at the EQ Center.

I would think that all of our area restaurants would be having Valentine's Day specials, but I just wanted to call out a few. If you're lucky, you can still get reservations.

I think the Henke Winery event, which includes dinner and paired wines for $89.95/couple, is an incredible deal. If we didn't already have plans, I'd jump on that one.

Remember, you can also take a few moments to do a standard wine tasting, which can be romantic. Cork-N-Bottle always has Thursday night tastings, but I advise swinging by MicroWines in Kenwood to get a little more of the appropriate atmosphere.

Not part of a couple? It's perfectly fine this Valentine's Day. The event at the new Chalk is probably right up your alley. If you're of the female persuasion, then pop by the always fun Tino Vino for a pure girls' night. Enjoy!

__

Chalk
318 Greenup Street
Covington, KY
859.643.1234
Love Stinks: Singles Dining Event
Tasting Menu: $49
Wine Pairings: $29
Communal Seating Available
Reservations recommended.

Henke Winery
3077 Harrison Ave
Cincinnati, OH 45211
513.662.9463
Valentine’s Day Wine & Dine
4–10 pm, $89.95/couple
Reservations required.

Jean-Robert @ Pigall's
127 West 4th Street
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513.721.1345
Pigall's has one heck of a menu planned.
$125/pp, $50 wine/pp

The Party Source
95 Riviera Drive
Bellevue, KY 41073
859.291.4007
Smooth Wines for your Valentine
6–8 pm, $30
Reservations required.

The Polo Grille
8035 Deerfield Blvd
Cincinnati, OH 45202
513.701.7656
Wine & Dine Your Valentine
All bottled wine 30-40% off
Special Valentine's Menu from Chef Thom
Make reservations through OpenTable

Tino Vino
3665 Erie Ave.,
Cincinnati, OH 45208
513.871.8466 (VINO)
Love Yourself! Valentine's Day Girls' Night Out:
Representatives from Pure Romance, designer jewelry, purse vendors
Special prices on wine & appetizers
No admission fee. Reservations are not required.

The Wine Store 
9905 Montgomery Road
Montgomery, OH 45242
513.984.9463
Thursday Wine Tasting: Ultra premium Cab Sauv from California
7 pm, $60
Reservations required by Jan 22.

Wine C.A.R.T
6206 Mulhauser Road
West Chester, OH 45069
513.860.WINE
Wine Murder Mystery Dinner
6–9 pm, $75/pp
Reservations required.

RSVP: Another Wine Dinner! Barresi's

Everyone has all these great fall foods that are crying out to be eaten and paired with excellent wine or beer. In this case, we have another wine dinner - this time on the 24th of October. I call this one out, in particular, because of its location. There are so many of these wine dinners happening - a good number of them are on the 24th. But this is at Barresi's.

I have a soft spot for Barresi's. First off, it's in Deer Park, where I grew up. But it's more than that. Deer Park was a small place, and one of my good friends growing up was the step-daughter of Sal Barresi. That means I spent more than one night in the kitchen, waiting with my girlfriends to pick her up once she got off work at the restaurant. The kitchen of Barresi's is where I first tried things like calamari - quite the delicacy when you're 16 and picky.

I got excited when I saw they're having a wine dinner, and that it's a pretty decent price. $65/pp for 6 courses paired with Antinori Estate wines. I noticed, with a smile, that the 6th Course cheesecake is named after my friend's mom. Sal and Odessa no longer own Barresi's, but it's nice to know that the new owners are building on the established favorites.

The courses are as follows:

1st Course: Baked brie en croute with fruit chutney
2nd Course: Roasted pumpkin spinach salad with pine nuts and crispy proscuitto curls, and vinaigrette
3rd Course: Lobster fra Diavio" over pappardelle noodles
4th Course: Intermezzo from Madisono's Market: Fresh seasonal sorbet
5th Course: Roasted tenderloin of beef in Barresi's gorgonzola cream sauce with mushrooms and artichokes
6th Course: Odessa's lemon cello cheesecake

Make reservations by calling 513.793.2540. 

Merlot & Quesadillas

I've heard of Natalie MacLean. I get her newsletter and have read some of her book. I hadn't ever spent much time on the web site. So right now I'm going to point you to it, because there's a nifty tool you have to play with.

I get a lot of hits on "wine & food pairing" because it's one of my categories. That means I write about figuring it out though - not that I have all the answers. However, on Nat Decants, there is a swanky little wine and food pairing tool. Enter your type of food (I entered appetizers -> ethnic -> quesadillas) and it pops back several recommended varietals. From there, you can search for Natalie's recommendations within each varietal. You can also find recipes that will go with your wine, or that complement the food you entered. The site also offers archived articles, video, and podcasts, but I'm rather taken by the food and wine pairing tool. Is it always accurate? No. But it does help out in those situations when you just aren't sure what to purchase. Now, if she'd just take it mobile ...