People often say that a picture is worth a thousand words. (Some of these same folks also like to tell me that I talk too much.) So, this week, I will try to let the photos speak for themselves.
Yesterday my friends over at Triple B Ranches and Vesper Vineyards graciously invited me to help out with the crush. I tried to keep my camera out of their faces and to not eat too many grapes. (They were tasty, but the wine will be even better!)
How many times have you read something like “It goes just fine with…” or “I suggest you have this wine with…” or even “This wine is perfect for red meat” in the pages of a wine magazine or written at the back label of a bottle of wine? You might also be wondering what we, the sommeliers, really mean when we talk about food and wine. Are there any golden rules when it comes to food and wine pairing or do we just want our readers to recreate the exact combination that for some reason we believe is appropriate?
(Photo courtesy of vined in)
I’ll let you in on a little secret: there aren’t any strict rules to be followed when we are looking for the best wine to have with our meal or vice-versa, although I can suggest a few things to take into consideration regarding taste in wine and food.
I have a particular soft spot for pink wines. But what do we mean exactly by ‘pink’ wines? Some of them, however, do receive a bit of a bad reputation. Some people believe that rose wines are very seasonal and allegedly only appeal to a particular segment of the wine-drinking public. To be honest, my palate tends to prefer proper pink wines. These are the types of wine that you can drink all year round and are truly exquisite. I don’t really enjoy the very commercial, almost industrially-manufactured mass market brands, especially those that taste rather synthetic. For instance, I could actually name a few of them (mostly they are called ‘blush wines’ and blah blah rose etc), but that would be very indiscreet. I would genuinely prefer to give you a few suggestions of some of my current favourites. Moreover, not only will these authentic pink wines be delicious on their own, especially during spring, summer and early autumn, but also great partners to seasonal dishes.
All aspiring wine lovers need to start somewhere. Even the most knowledgeable of wine drinkers didn’t wake up one morning with lists of wine data imprinted in their minds. Here at Entaste we know a lot about Wine Geekdom – skilled sommeliers and wine experts teaming up with savvy techies to create the world’s leading digital wine list and wine monitor report. For those who want to learn just how to go from casual wine drinking to wine superstardom, we turned to Snooth and The Huffington Post who have outlined seven key steps to follow in order to become a wine super geek. Continue reading
The following is an editorial written by Marie Von Ahm and appeared in the Entaste Wine Monitor Report from June 2012.
Having once passed the first great obstacle of finding an importer in HK, many producers find themselves in the negative situation of not selling as much as expected. There might be several reasons for this and I will not go deep into this as they will unquestionable vary for each producer-importer relationship. Instead I will however with a few general tips I have found efficient as to how to increase your sales and visibility on the market. Continue reading
Collaborating with the world’s best football player, Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, the acclaimed Argentine winery Casa Bianchi is teaming up with the Leo Messi Foundation to launch a new line of wines called LEO: Esencia creadora (Leo: creative essence). The wines will consist of Argentina’s flagship wines, the Malbec and the Torrontés, an Extra Brut sparkling wine and a premium Malbec. Leo Malbec, Leo Torrontés, Leo Malbec Premium and Leo Extra Brut will first be launched in Argentina and Spain, before being available in the rest of the world. Continue reading
It takes practice to find those perfect words to describe a wine. Often times, wine aficionados-in-training, destined to be wine experts, just can’t come up with the right adjectives to express their wine. Other times, those who are wine-challenged need a pocket wine dictionary just to understand what wine words mean while the real connoisseurs talk shop. But luckily we can whip out some flash cards, and look to Robert Parker and his handy wine glossary of wine terms for some assistance. Continue reading
It’s a new concept in the restaurant wine experience: another hi-tech way where patrons have the power to choose their own wines. In the quaint lakeshore suburb of Winnetka, Illinois, the Trifecta Grill has become a pioneer in the Chicago wine world as the first restaurant in the area to offer a self-serving wine dispenser. This futuristic machine, manufactured by Napa Technology, holds 28 bottles of wine at a time, and keeps each one fresh for up to 60 days.
Pairing wine with food can be quite the delicious task, to combine each in a way that they taste better together than on their own. It’s an art to find a winning pairing, to either match by contrasting or complimenting each component for the ultimate gastronomical enhancement. So to give us some pointers, we looked to Food and Wine magazine for a few tips on how to create that perfect pairing. Continue reading
It’s been quite an exciting two months for Entaste! Team Entaste ventured off to Hong Kong to take part in the biggest wine event of the year, Vinexpo Asia-Pacific 2012. Check out what we were up to over the three day international wine and spirit exhibition. Continue reading
