Table of Contents
Q: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?
A: Practice, practice, practice!
Well, after getting through the last shooting day on
2/28, we're doing a different taping concept and getting one
last day of shooting in before the Palm Sunday and Easter
Sunday breaks.
For this one, we're going to go family style either with
one long table or several circular tables. I will be at one
with my guests and Al will be at another one; we'll sit at
opposite ends of the tables if we go with the long table
concept. The day is titled “Duck, Duck, Goose” and each
seating will feature goose prepared one way, duck prepared
two different ways, and a bevy of sides. There will be four
to five wines, and they should all be good (I've had several
of them). For tickets, go to www.theblackwiner.com/duck.asp
We'll be holding this on the second floor of the Manayunk
Brewery, for which we are gracious to the GM Mike Rose for
allowing us this opportunity. Mike is a great guy, as I did
a wine tasting there two years ago. Actually, we will be
meeting regarding doing some upcoming wine and food events
there and they are also revising their wine lists. In fact,
Clockspring Zinfandel [which I reviewed and think is
phenomenal] will be on the list pretty soon.
We want to thank those again that came to the last event,
which got hectic, but folks still had fun, and the first
event. It's a both a process and a work-in-progress that we
are trying to do. While the last event didn't get us the
video we needed, those there still got great food
compliments of Al, Charles, "Happy," and even Al's son who
came by and pitched in. Big up to our servers that came in
and helped out, and major thanks to those that tipped the
assistant kitchen staff.
The funny thing is that folks have no idea what we go
through in trying to put these things together. The
facility came as a favor to Al, and he usually recruits the
kitchen staff. I do all of the marketing and obtaining of
wine. I also handle getting the photographer and video
crew, and with the latter, I usually go through some issue
with having to find a backup because the first person is
either unavailable of missing some piece of equipment that
we need. We've been able to get through the past two
tapings, and honestly need to not only scale them back in
size, but also in what we deliver. We have been fortunate
to know some great people in the wine industry that have
assisted us, and in that, have been able to pass on some
inexpensive pearls to you guys.
The hardest thing is working around Al's schedule and
then getting the wine, but we're going to be soon turning it
out royally; don't ask me how, but there are several ideas.
We might allow people to sign up and invest in our venture,
getting maybe a romantic dinner for two as the result.
Because we both bring to the table our wine guy/food guy
swagger, we can easily cost ourselves out for nothing to get
done what we need to get done, but our costs come down to
the video crew, the food (raw materials) and the wine. If
we had a working nest egg, we could turn out a bunch of
stuff and then do a dinner event for those that kicked up
some money, and we are only thinking something like $100.
Anyway, let us know if you're interested.
Other stuff
Champagne brunch
There is a place that I go to, and another place where I
know some folks. The first gives a wonderful champagne
brunch at around $33 per person, and it might be fortuitous
to do a trip of 10-50 people for one of their brunches (I am
looking at doing a wine festival here later on in the year).
It's about twelve miles from Atlantic City, so we either
need to go in a caravan or on a bus. At the same time,
there is a winery about ten minutes from there that also
does wine dinners, brunches and what not, which might also
be a great day trip as well.
Now, on to the rest…
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
"Over a Glass" show taping, drinking and eating
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Al and I had an idea of doing some dinners based around one central entree (poultry, fish, game meats, etc.) and the first idea
that came to mind was a play on the words "duck, duck, goose." That said, we are preparing goose one way and ducks two different ways along
with an assortment of side dishes. Dinner will be accompanied with four different wines, and I am not telling anyone what they are as of yet
(some I have had, and some I will also be experiencing for the first time).
For more information, you can call me at 215-474-1911 or contact me.
Space is limited to sixteen people. Tickets are first come, first serve
Manayunk Brewery
2nd floor
4120 Main Street
Philadelphia, PA 19127
Cost: $40.00
Note: this is not a Manayunk Brewery Event
Purchase Tickets for the Seating at 5 PM
Purchase Tickets for the Seating at 8 PM
Dry cab with slightly pronounced tannins
| Brand Name | Veramonte |
| Wine Name | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| AVA | Colchagua Valley |
| Country | Chile |
| Quality/Grade | Reserve |
| Wine Class | Red |
| Wine Type | Cabernet Sauvignon |
| Alcohol Percentage | 13.5% |
| Price | $10 and Unders |
| Site Rating | 8 (on a scale of 1-10) |
While I detect just a little bit of tartness, this wine
has some rich decadence of cocoa on top of a nice burnished
plum center. The only drawback is the dryness; if this were
full-bodied, it would come in as an eleven on a scale of one
to ten.
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A light bodied Zin, if you can believe that
| Brand Name | Esser |
| Wine Name | Zinfandel |
| AVA | Napa Valley |
| Country | United States |
| Wine Class | Red |
| Wine Type | Zinfandel |
| Alcohol Percentage | 13.8% |
| Price | $10 and Unders |
| Site Rating | 7 (on a scale of 1-10) |
There are certain stores that I got into and rarely get a
bad recommendation in regards to wines for me, and in this
case, the recommendation was for someone else, but I wound
up picking up two of the bottles anyway.
While this Zin is not full-bodied, and the oak is a
little pronounced, it's alcohol content more than makes up
for its deficiencies. The taste is more cherry than
anything else, with leather and oak accents; there is some
slight raspberry as well, but I get more tart then I would
normally like. However, I believe that this bottle only ran
me about $7.
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A sweet red that would make any woman purr
| Brand Name | Heimersheimer Rotenfels |
| Wine Name | Dornfelder |
| AVA | Rheinhessen/Pfalz |
| Country | Germany |
| Wine Class | White |
| Wine Type | Italian White |
| Alcohol Percentage | 8% |
| Price | $10 and Unders |
| Site Rating | 9 (on a scale of 1-10) |
Normally, most people don't equate red wines with being
sweet. Over the years, I have come across some Georgian
wines made from red grapes which were sweet, and now I come
across a German one.
This wine has a very sweet aspect, but also reminds me of
sugar plums, and no, they are not dancing in my head. I
would tell you to give it a try. Oh, and the color is a
very deep purple.
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Stepping my Zin game up some, and this has some heavy chocolate underpinnings
| Brand Name | Rosenblum Cellars |
| Wine Name | Zinfandel |
| AVA | Paso Robles |
| Country | United States |
| Vineyard | Richard Sauret Vineyards |
| Wine Class | Red |
| Wine Type | Zinfandel |
| Alcohol Percentage | 14.7% |
| Price | $20 - $30s |
| Site Rating | 9 (on a scale of 1-10) |
Honestly, I fell in love with Rosenblum Cellar's Paso
Robles Zinfandel about two weeks ago and have Andrea over at
Cichetteria 19 to thank for that one.
It was my first step up from their Vintner's Cuve XXX
Zinfandel. I love that one better than their North Coast
Zinfandel, which is even more expensive. But this time
around, I figured I would even go one more grade up and go
with this one, their Paso Robles but from the Richard Sauret
Vineyards.
I would say that this wine is complex with a backbone of
dark chocolate, blackberries and just a little bit of
pepper. But if you smell it, there is only raisin in the nose.
They say this wine uses special strains of yeast and a
cold-soaked maceration, and this does truly yield a soft,
almost velvet feel to the wine, reminding you of a leggy
woman in a short dress and a long fur coat.
While I don't like this more than their regular Paso
Robles release, I would say that this wine steps the
decadence level up a notch.
|
I almost drank a whole bottle in writing this review
| Brand Name | Asunto |
| Wine Name | Sauvignon Blanc |
| AVA | Central Valley |
| Country | Chile |
| Wine Class | White |
| Wine Type | Sauvignon Blanc |
| Alcohol Percentage | 13% |
| Price | $10 - $20s |
| Site Rating | 8 (on a scale of 1-10) |
Okay, so I started with one glass, and that led me to
write my koan for Al today, but along the way, I had a
second glass, which wasn't bad. Then I called Rex (Saududes
Imports) and had two more during our conversation.
This wine is a nice Sauv Blanc, though the citrus level
is not as crisp as I am normally attracted to, but it's very
palatable. The flavor is a combination of both grapefruit
and lemon, with maybe the faintest bit of either vanilla or
honey in it). That said, the acidity is not over the top,
and this would be great for lighter fare, especially herbed
fish or chicken.
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