My Wine Education

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events: June 20 - July 3

Events (or lack thereof)

Looking at the special events for the next two weeks, I can only assume everyone is on vacation. Next week is looking just as rough, which is why you get both weeks right now. I have added one event to the recurring events - Casual Fridays at Uncorked by the Art of Entertaining. What a mouth-full! What used to be Chateau Pomije is now owned by neighbor The Art of Entertaining. Casual Fridays are Friday evenings, 5:30-8:30, $15 pp, and include appetizers.

Now, a brief interlude for some business.

Why?

First of all, thank you to everyone who has voted. For those who haven't, for various reasons, I want to clear up some concerns I've heard.

On the small miracle I get this job, for which I'm actually uniquely qualified, I'm not abandoning Cincinnati. Heck, it's only 6 months! First off, Kevin will still be here a good part of the time, and he can cover various local events. Second, most of my local calendar information is pulled from my email and other online calendars - I can list your Cincinnati wine events from wherever I have easy Internet access. Third, I'll learn something, folks! I would learn so much if I had this job, and that will benefit you and the blog. Finally, I want this more than I originally admitted. But it's true - I really want it.

How?

I'm hanging in there between numbers 31 and 34. I honestly don't know how much weight is accorded the popular vote. I do know that voting continues through the end of next week and is going to get really competitive - and that's just round 1. If I'm selected (through some mysterious process by a mystery HR firm) to continue to round 2, then the slate is wiped clean and the voting commences all over again. If that goes well, I might make it to round 3, which is an actual job interview with the winery. No more of this silly voting stuff. 

YOU!

I feel like I'm fighting against a tide of California-supported folks, and I'm just me. I need your vote - both now and hopefully later. To vote, you need to enter your email address. Murphy-Goode will send you a confirmation email (check your spam). Only when you click the link in the confirmation email does your vote count. Why the extra email? To verify you're human and not a vote-bot. Then you'll never hear from Murphy-Goode again. You can vote vote once per email address.

So vote! http://bit.ly/reallygoodejob  Tell everyone you know!  Heck, if I win this, maybe I'll sponsor a contest for someone to come visit me in Healdsburg - the heart of wine country!

Now on to those two weeks of events. It's a top-loaded group with pretty much everything happening tomorrow. For information on what's going on in Dayton, you can refer to Mark's blog at Uncorked.

If I missed something - something local to Cincinnati that is - let me know! Enjoy! Remember, all the recurring events, those dependable weekly tastings, are displayed on our calendar.

Local Wine Tasting Event Calendar

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Image Credit: Michelle, June 2009

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events: June 13 - June 19

It's time for the weekly round-up of fun wine events happening over the next week. For those new to blog, these are the one-time, special events. You can always check the calendar to find out more about the recurring events happening every night of the week, each week.

Oh right. Don't forget to vote and tell all your friends. If I land my dream job, maybe you can come visit me in Healdsburg!

All the special events I found this week are listed after the jump. If I missed something - something local to Cincinnati that is - let me know! Enjoy!

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 Credit: Michelle, June 2009

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events: June 6 - June 12

I'm wrapping up one busy week and heading into a second crazy week. In fact, until the end of the month, I'll be lucky to breathe. On the up side, my time is all billable.

7 Days for SIDS kicks off next week. If you don't remember, 7 Days for SIDS is a week-long series of events from which proceeds go to help fund research into SIDS. The organization was created by Jean-Robert and Annette de Cavel after losing their first daughter. You can read about all the events - and the discounts/donations from various restaurants - on their web site. 

The Fleurs et Vin is Sunday up in Dayton. This is a popular event, formerly the Fleurs de Fete - sort of, and several of our local wineries (and local paella) are participating in this wine festival and benefit. There will be more than 300 wines, gourmet food, music, and auctions.

There aren't that many one-time, special events this week, but what I found, I listed after the jump. If I missed something - something local to Cincinnati that is - let me know! Enjoy!

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 Credit: Michelle, Spring 2009

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events: May 30 - June 5

Well, the Featured Events are back, but I'm not. This week I've been swamped with a dozen presentations to put together for upcoming events. If you want to see me present on social media (and learn where all my time goes), you can check out a list of what I'm doing next.

However, next week is Winery Week here at My Wine Education. Each day I'll cover the latest from Harmony Hill, Meranda-Nixon and Kinkead Ridge, based on our visits on Memorial Day Monday. If our plans hold out, we'll be heading to Chateau Thomas in Indiana tomorrow, so we can tell you all about that as well.

I added a couple of recurring events to the Events Calendar: Friday tastings at Mama Vita's (4-11 pm, $5), and Friday tastings at Mesh (5-7 pm, $20).  Other recently added recurring events include Tuesdays at Party Town (6-7 pm, free) and Wednesday Pizzas at City Cellars (5:30-7:30 pm). 

There aren't that many one-time, special events this week, but what I found, I listed after the jump. If I missed something - something local to Cincinnati that is - let me know! Enjoy!

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

Image credit: Brent and Marilynn on Flickr via Creative Commons

Local Wine Tasting Event Calendar

Friday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Saturday Interactive Wine Tasting Map

Featured Cincinnati Wine Events: May 23-29

Oh my goodness! The Featured Events are back! I even updated the events calendar! I only got through about half of June though, so please send me any events you run across and I'll make sure to add them immediately.

The thing I noticed most is a decrease in one-time events and an uptick in weekly events. This is partially because The Party Source is trying to happily monopolize your week, with a Toast to Tuesdays! (cocktails, starting in June), Wine'd Up Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursdays (beer & burgers), and Sunday Sips (wine)), and classes on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays. I miss the classes spread out through the week, but I like the lower cost - albeit more informal - options they're offering for the summer.

Of course, this weekend there is Taste of Cincinnati. It's the end-all be-all of Cincinnati food festivals and worth your time. I prefer to go on Sunday or Monday afternoons, as there seem to be less people. That said, this year we've got tickets for the Saturday night Reds game, so we're hitting Taste beforehand. If you see us, give us a shout! I guarantee you can find me by the Mecklenburg Gardens creme puffs - yum!

Don't forget that the Ohio wineries officially kick-off their summer tasting season this weekend. We like to start at Kinkead Ridge in Ripley, detour off to Meranda-Nixon and Lakeside Vineyards, then finish the day with music and a picnic at Harmony Hill in Bethel. We've even got a map of all the local wineries. Make sure to double-check with the individual winery web sites to verify tasting room hours.

Finally, if you're a fan of Chef Jean-Robert de Cavel, he'll be participating in the Dancing FOR the Stars benefit on Saturday night. He'll be dancing with a friend of mine, Doreen Beatrice. When I taught lindy hop and swing, I rented studio space from Doreen. I still regularly dance at her Step N Out Studio in Covington, so I just wanted to plug the event to support her and Jean-Robert! Good luck Doreen!  Tickets are still available for the benefit at Music Hall and cost $50.

Other cool events this week include the following:

Saturday, May 23

Taste the HYPE Young Professional Event
Free beer and wine sampling with food and Taste of Cincinnati souvenir mug.
Music by Rusty Griswolds.
Fountain Square
7 pm - 11 pm
$40/couple, $25/single
Registration recommended.

Wednesday, May 27

ABCDEs of Wine Tasting
Taste and rate wines ranging from $10-$30 to find the winners. Paired with food.
The Wine Store
9905 Montgomery Road
6:30 pm
Cincinnati, OH 45242
$40/couple, $25/single
Reservations required.
513.984.9463

Thursday, May 28

Cooking Series @ Vito's Cafe: Cooking with the Chefs
Includes demonstration, tasting, and wine pairing with each course
Vito's Cafe
654 Highland Avenue
Fort Thomas, KY 41075
6 pm
$90 for three classes / $40 per class
Reservations required.
859.442.9444

Friday, May 29

Fashion Friday with Cincy Chic & Tino Vino
Wine, women and fashion from local designers and boutiques.
Tino Vino Vintners
3665 Erie Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45208
6 - 9 pm
For more information: 513.721.2445 or Cincy Chic

Cool Wine and Hot Jazz
Wine tasting, snacks, music, and more. Benefits Ault Park.
Ault Park
3600 Observatory Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45208
$30 pp, 6:30-9:30 pm
Registration required.

Things to Do

Just a couple of things I want to point out today, before you head off for your weekend.

First, make sure you stop by Liquor Direct today or tomorrow - either location. You'll find local blogging brethren Tim from CheapWineRatings.com and Jonathon from BestDrinkEver.net holding court and pouring wine. I have no doubt they'll have excellent wines, so go say hello. And remember - Liquor Direct tastings are always free!

Next, I've just been alerted to a cool tour in Newport that has nothing to do with wine, but needs to be publicized because, well, it's cool.

Here's the info:

Newport Gangster Tour $15 dollars, May 16, 17, 23, 24, 25

Before there was Las Vegas... there was Newport, Kentucky. The original Sin City.

Rising from the profits of bootlegging, Newport would quickly grow to become the premier gaming destination in the US.  Walk the streets where gangsters made their millions, gamblers lost their lives, and ladies of the night earned their living.  See the buildings that housed casinos, brothels, and speakeasies.  Explore Newport's connection to some of the most well known crime figures in our country's history, and discover the individuals who gave the town its infamous reputation.

Tours Start at 723 Monmouth Street and run every hour between 11:00 and 7:00
Except Sundays tours run between 11:00 and 5:00.

Why you should go.
1. All proceeds from this event support global service learning, service projects in Central America.
2. Free steak dinner coupon for The Syndicate

I recently picked up a new camera and that seems like an excellent opportunity to practice my photography skills (or lack thereof). We'll be there at some point over the next two weekends.

If you happen to have a Kindle, you can now subscribe to My Wine Education and have it wirelessly downloaded to your device. This also works if you have the Kindle iPhone app. Amazon set the price at $1.99 per month. (You should know I had no control over that - if I could have, I would have offered it for free.)

Finally, there's a new Print-Friendly button over in the right hand column. It allows you to print a select post without all the headers and columns - just the content. Nifty, right? Just click the title of the post you want to print  then click the Print-Friendly button. Ta da!  

I'm going to spend this weekend doing absolutely nothing other than recovering from a cold (hopefully it's not the Swine Flu) brought on by non-stop stress and activity over the last 6 weeks. I hope you get a chance to relax as well.

Cheers!

Photo Credit: mcedwards

Pouring: McNab Ridge French Colombard

On Friday and Saturday this week, I'll be hosting a tasting at Liquor Direct. On Friday, you'll find me at the Covington store and on Saturday, I'll be at Fort Thomas. My theme, of sorts, is Spring Wines (or perhaps, Wines That Remind Me of Spring). All week I"ll be posting the tasting notes for some of the wines I'll have on my table. Come out to the tasting this weekend - I'd love to see you  and the tasting is free!
___

You may remember that we had this at our Oceanaire brunch I wrote about last week. I was so taken by it that I begged the nice folks at Liquor Direct to order some for our tasting this weekend.

French Colombard is a white wine that McNab Ridge is growing to "preserve history in the county." Not many people grow French Columbard anymore, but it used to be quite common. It is believed to be an offspring of chenin blanc, another favorite grape of mine. Colombard was originally grown in France for distilling into Cognac and Armagnac (yum), so I'm not surprised I have an affinity for it.

This is an off-dry wine with 1.8% residual sugar. It had natural, bright acid. I noted that it was sweet, light, aromatic, and refreshing. Kevin noted the intensely floral characteristics, such as white flowers and pansies. During our more traditional first course at brunch, this wine added a bit of spice to the first course - or perhaps the food added the spice to the wine. It was certainly easy to drink and based on our own experiences, I think it might pair well with your own Easter brunch.
__
Don't forget to buy tickets for the 2nd Annual Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship Dinner & Silent Auction. It's April 18, 6-10 pm. Buy Tickets Now.

Pouring: Saint-Meyland Brut

On Friday and Saturday this week, I'll be hosting a tasting at Liquor Direct. On Friday, you'll find me at the Fort Thomas Covington location and on Saturday I'll be at the Covington Fort Thomas location. My theme, of sorts, is  Spring Wines (or perhaps, Wines That Remind Me of Spring). All week I"ll be posting the tasting notes for some of the wines I'll have on my table. Come out to the tasting this weekend - I'd love to see you  and the tasting is free!
___
I love bubbly. I particularly like French bubbly. And I particularly believe in bubbly and mimosas for Easter. That's why I'm pouring the Saint-Meyland Brut this weekend at Liquor Direct.

First off, it's French and it's only $15. However, it is not officially "champagne." It's made in the traditional method, but it's just not quite located in the Champagne region of France, and well, it can't take the name. It's made from hand-picked grapes and has plenty of tiny bubbles and that nice dry taste you associate with a French Champagne. The nose has some vanilla and floral aromas and it has a long balanced flavor. It tastes more expensive than it is.

I can't wait to pop this one open this weekend. This wine is a real value and your family might be impressed you showed up with such a tasty morsel from France for your Easter brunch. Depends on your family I suppose.

__
Don't forget to buy tickets for the 2nd Annual Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship Dinner & Silent Auction. It's April 18, 6-10 pm. Buy Tickets Now. 

Pouring: d'Arenberg The Hermit Crab

On Friday and Saturday this week, I'll be hosting a tasting at Liquor Direct. On Friday, you'll find me at the Fort Thomas Covington location and on Saturday I'll be at the Covington Fort Thomas location. My theme, of sorts, is Spring Wines (or perhaps, Wines That Remind Me of Spring). All week I"ll be posting the tasting notes for some of the wines I'll have on my table. Come out to the tasting this weekend - I'd love to see you  and the tasting is free!
___

The Hermit Crab from d'Arenberg, Viognier Marsanne 2008

I went to Liquor Direct several times last week to gather up various white Rhone varietals - Viognier, Marsanne, Rousanne ... I wanted to have at least one, if not several of these on my table. (Turns out, I'm having trouble coming up with a second red for the "I only drink reds" drinkers.) One of the bottles I took home was The Hermit Crab.

What a funny name. In fact, they call it the Hermit Crab to encourage you to drink this with shellfish and seafood. I think it would also work fairly well with ham, but don't quote me on that. I tend to pair things terribly. Hermit Crab also short for Hermitage, the French appellation where Viognier is grown. But this Hermitage is from Australia, a combination of McLaren Vale and the Adelaide Hills. The Hermit Crab is a blend of 72% Viognier and 28% Marsanne.

It's a nice pale straw / hay color. On the nose are a lot of peach and pear blossoms, lots of spring blooms and tulips. It continues to be a floral wine in your mouth as well. There is a little bit of fruit loops, which I love to find in any viognier, but it also tastes an awful lot like drinking flowers. Just because it's a floral white doesn't mean it's a wimpy wine though. The Hermit Crab is round and full, but is also nicely balanced with acidity and spices from the marsanne. It certainly disappeared quickly enough in our house.

Our review:

__
Don't forget to buy tickets for the 2nd Annual Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship Dinner & Silent Auction. It's April 18, 6-10 pm. Buy Tickets Now. 

It's Spring! Come Taste with Us for Free! - UPDATED

Our friends at Liquor Direct always find a way to incorporate the local blogging community. This weekend, along with Mike from The Naked Vine, I'll be hosting another free tasting at their stores. We'd love for you to come out and join us.

Friday:  I'll be at the Fort Thomas Covington store and Mike will be at Fort Thomas Covington
Saturday: We flip. I'll be in Fort Thomas Covington and Mike will be in Covington Fort Thomas

I don't know what Mike has up his sleeve. I know I'm pulling out some white Rhone varietals, including a Viognier Marsanne, as well as at least one pretty sexy pinot noir from Hahn. My theme will be Spring Wines. Maybe I can help you find some wines for your Easter brunch or dinner. All week I'll be posting the tasting notes for the wines on my table.

So let's recap:

Friday, I'll be at Liquor Direct Covington, down near the river across from Skyline and Riverfront Pizza and near the Holiday Inn.
670 W. 3rd Street, Covington, KY 41011
Tasting: 4-8 pm
Cost: FREE!

Saturday, I'll be Liquor Direct Fort Thomas, right off the Southgate exit of 471.
90 Alexandria Pike, Fort Thomas, KY 41075
859-781-8105
Tasting: 2-6 pm
Cost: FREE!

Pouring:

Saint-Meyland Brut
McNab Ridge French Colombard
Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc-Viognier
D'Arenberg Hermit Crab Viognier-Marsanne
Qupe Marsanne
Hahn Santa Lucia Highlands Pinot Noir

We hope to see you there!

__
Don't forget to buy tickets for the 2nd Annual Krystal Pepper Memorial Scholarship Dinner & Silent Auction. It's April 18, 6-10 pm. Buy Tickets Now.