My Wine Education

TasteCamp East: Thanks for the Memories!

Wasn't that Bob Hope's sign-off song? It's appropriate here, and you're all lucky I don't embed an annoying midi to blare out the old standard.

Kevin and I thoroughly enjoyed TasteCamp.  From hanging out in vineyards during budbreak to eating great food and learning a lot about the Long Island wine industry, it was a non-stop good time.

We really want to thank Lenn, who organized the entire shindig from start to finish. Additionally, it was great of the wineries to host us, often feed us, and take time out from their own busy schedules to take a bunch of bloggers seriously. That was truly appreciated.  I can truly say the Long Island wine industry is thriving. All day Saturday the tasting rooms were dealing not just with a crowd of bloggers, but with separate throngs of willing tasters.

No matter where we meet - Long Island, Sonoma, or the middle-of-nowhere - there is nothing but great conversation and camaraderie when wine bloggers meet. It is always so wonderful to sit at a table of like minds. It's also fun to sit at a table where I'm not the only one pulling out a camera to snap a photo of the food!  I can't tell you how great it is to meet and catch up with these other astute, funny, and friendly bloggers.  When I teach blogging, I explain that you are joining a community. Wine bloggers exemplify "Community" in every way.

I think Long Island and Ohio - at least what I know of the northern Ohio/Lake Erie area - are in a similar place with their wine industry. Southern and Ohio and Kentucky aren't quite as far along, but seeing thriving local wine industries like this reassures me that our local folks aren't that far behind.

View all our TasteCamp posts.

Tomorrow I'll start the first of several posts about some neat experiences we had on the trip. For now, you can flip through my Flickr album below.

Winery Photo: Kinkead Ridge in Winter

Nancy, the co-proprietor behind local winery and vineyard Kinkead Ridge, sent out this photo this morning. I loved it so much I wanted to share it.

I love how the deer are wandering the vineyard, perhaps wondering where the tantalizing grape snacks are.

Photo credit: Nancy Bentley, Kinkead Ridge

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.

Happy Birthday Chalk food + wine

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.

Cincinnati Wine Events 10/12 - 10/18

For now it seems as if the weather has turned and fall has finally arrived. I hesitate to get too excited. An indian summer might be right around the corner. Festivals and Halloween are on the horizon, as well as some great autumn food events.

As usual, it's a big list of events, so we've compiled it on one page for your reading pleasure. (For information on Dayton, you can refer to Mark's blog at Uncorked.) If you know of tastings or events that we missed in the Cincinnati area, or if we have incorrect information, please email us and we'll add it to the list.

You may note that the tastings in KY are mostly free, and the tastings in Ohio charge at least .25. It's illegal for a retailer to give alcohol away in Ohio, so they charge you, but many times it's a nominal fee.

Tell them we sent you, and happy tasting!

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

You can also click the map icons in the detailed listings to view the maps. 

Download 1012.pdf (An easy-to-print PDF of all the events in this blog post. The PDF may not contain the latest and greatest information, as this list is often updated after publish.)

As usual, the Friday photo is brought to you from the talented folks at Cincy Images.

Follow the "Continue reading" jump at the bottom for Friday - Thursday tastings. Upcoming events are listed at the end.

Cheers!

Cincinnati Wine Events 10/5 - 10/11

As usual, it's a big list of events, so we've compiled it on one page for your reading pleasure. (For information on Dayton, you can refer to Mark's blog at Uncorked.) Are you accessing this list on the go? Visit our streamlined mobile site on your cell phone (http://winegirl.mobi).

If you know of tastings or events that we missed in the Cincinnati area, or if we have incorrect information, please email us and we'll add it to the list.

You may note that the tastings in KY are mostly free, and the tastings in Ohio charge at least .25. It's illegal for a retailer to give alcohol away in Ohio, so they charge you, but many times it's a nominal fee.

Tell them we sent you, and happy tasting!

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

You can also click the map icons in the detailed listings to view the maps. 

Download 1005.pdf (An easy-to-print PDF of all the events in this blog post)

As usual, the Friday photo is brought to you from the talented folks at Cincy Images.

Follow the "Continue reading" jump at the bottom for Friday - Thursday tastings. Upcoming events are listed at the end.

Cheers!

Cincinnati Wine Events 9/28- 10/4

As usual, it's a big list of events, so we've compiled it on one page for your reading pleasure. (For information on Dayton, you can refer to Mark's blog at Uncorked.) If you know of tastings or events that we missed in the Cincinnati area, or if we have incorrect information, please email us and we'll add it to the list.

You may note that the tastings in KY are mostly free, and the tastings in Ohio charge at least .25. It's illegal for a retailer to give alcohol away in Ohio, so they charge you, but many times it's a nominal fee.

Tell them we sent you, and happy tasting!

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

You can also click the map icons in the detailed listings to view the maps.

Download 0928.pdf (An easy-to-print PDF of all the events in this blog post)

As usual, the Friday photo is brought to you from the talented folks at Cincy Images.

Follow the "Continue reading" jump at the bottom for Friday - Thursday tastings. Upcoming events are listed at the end.

Cheers!

Bourbon Country

I can't tell you much about our recent trip to the distilleries here in Kentucky, as it's going into print. But I can direct you to the photos. My favorites are of the Bed & Breakfast and their dog Gabe. We were also able to attend the Opening Night Gala of the Stephen Foster Story, a musical on the grounds of My Old Kentucky Home that is heading into its 49th season.
Enjoy!

It never hurts to ask

Santa brought us a 12-bottle wine refrigerator (for our whites) for Christmas. We were stumped as to where to put it, due to its 12-bottle size. We were at our local Party Town on Saturday, talking to our favorite wine geek, JP, when I mentioned how much I liked the design of the Toasted Head display case they had. It had the 16-bottle 'fridge up top, and a large wine rack on the bottom. Kevin and I were discussing how we might build one when JP offered it to us, fridge and all, for quite a great price. Yep, we bought the display case.

Once we got it home, we easily slipped out the wine rack from the bottom (which is still usable on its own and pictured to the left) and slipped in our 12-bottle wine refrigerator. Of course, the casing says Toasted Head on the front of the 'fridge and down the side of the wood, but I really can't complain.

It just goes to show, it never hurts to ask. 

In this last photo, our bar area is displayed. The 40 btl refrigerator is to the far left, and the new display and double refrigerators is to the far right.