Drink Eat Love

Meeting Serge

(photo by Paul Moore)

Flying to Austin, Texas to taste six vintages of Chateau Musar Rouge and three vintages of Chateau Musar Blanc may seem like an exercise in excess. At first, I too was having trouble with the justification of being away from home for the weekend but being easily swayed by good wine and some Salt Lick BBQ I was off to Austin. In addition to to the food and wine the importers of Chateau Musar, Broadbent Selections, were holding a portfolio tasting  in addition to the Musar retrospective and missing  this chance would be like not going to see Elvis.

A snap shot of Porto

We arrived in Porto on Sunday afternoon after a long flight from San Francisco. Our hotel is located on the edge of the Douro River in the old part of Porto. Our first night we stayed at Pestana Porto, then traveled up the river via a train to the heart of the Douro DOC (post to follow) and tonight we are back in Porto before we head off to Rioja to visit Marques de Caceres.

The history of Porto is long and storied. Its first known inhabitants are believed to have settled around 600 B.C. Throughout its history it has produced wine and lots of it. The "boom" for Porto did not really begin until the late 1600's when the English, being at continuous war with France, were cut off from their precious clarets of Bordeaux and needed a supply of wine to keep the island happy. In 1670 two enterprising Englishmen set up shop in Viana do Castelo (up river from Porto) and started a general trading company called Burgoyne & Jackson exporting all sorts of goods to England.  Burgoyne & Jackson became very successful, setting off a wave of Brit expats to Porto and the Douro River Valley to seek their fortune. In 1703 England and Portugal signed a treaty that would further increase the trade between the two countries and establish the historical bond between the two that continues to this day. This is just a touch of the history that this region has and it has forever shaped the people, land and wine.

Off to Oporto and then Rioja!

I'm headed off to Portugal today and then Rioja in the middle of the week. I will be visiting Warre's Port House Bodegas Marques de Caceres in Roja. I hope to find good connections in both places but we will see. If you want to follow my travels in small "bites" join my Twitter (DrinkEatLove).

Monday Night Wines: The Wines of Teira

In the constant search for fine wine it is always a pleasure to pull corks or twist off the caps of wines that just aim to please. Nearly two years ago I tasted Teira Zinfandel and decided to bring it into my stores. I thought the wine was good but had not given it much thought until about two months ago when I retried the wine. Well, I have gone through a few more bottles since then and have decided it was the time to share the beautiful and fun wines of Teira Wines.

You are never to young to start reading

This photo was taken by my good friend of his daughter learning about what her Daddy does!We are all proud of Riley starting with the classics...French Wine!

Monday Night Wine: "Wine with a Prickle"

 

 I was originally going to write about a Sauvignon Blanc and a Zinfandel but while shopping for fish I ran into a friend who had other plans for me. He asked me what I was going to write about tonight and told me he had THE Monday Night Wine. We went to his car, he pulled out the bottle and I took a pull straight from the bottle. He was right and I decided that this crazy, Spainish, and slighlty fizzy white from one of the best producers of Cava, Avinyo was the wine to spread the word on.

A Perfect Saturday

Tweet Tweet Tweet

Yup, I've joined Twitter. My Twitter handle is DrinkEatLove. I'm not sure why I joined but it seemed like a good thing to do (1/2 and hour ago). Sometimes I have the opportunity to taste some pretty amazing wines but by the time we are done with the bottle I forgot what I was going to write about, now I can give you a brief record of any thing good in my glass or on my plate.

Cheers!

Monday Night Wine: Drinking with a Master

The times we currently live in are very interesting. I spend the majority of my life in various meetings and I am always asked,..."How are you doing?" I think this is a really funny question. I know exactly what they are asking, the majority of the people are not asking about me personally but about my business. This question has really struck a nerve and I am very thankful for it. Since the spectacular collapse of our financial system I have been able to really survey my life, the relationships I keep and what makes me happy. Though I really wish my company was having a banner year and that all my customers were beating down the door to buy the wines I pick, they are not but life is still great. I count myself as a very fortunate person to have found a profession that I not only enjoy, but I love and cherish. It has allowed me to go to amazing places and meet amazing people. One of those people is Bob Bath, Master Sommelier. I first met Bob in 2003 when I was at Tra Vigne. I had decided that I would begin my trek to becoming a Master Sommelier and the only introductory test being offered at the time was at the Beau Rivage Biloxi Hotel and Casino in Biloxi, Mississippi. Bob was one of the two Masters teaching the class and I introduced myself and we became fast friends. Fast forward to this past weekend, Bob, his wife Julie, Shauna and I enjoyed a long awaited dinner to catch up, break bread and drink good wine. Not only is Bob a mentor but Julie and he are friends who add to my life and make me remember what is important.

Three Little Pigs

This past Monday Shauna and I enjoyed a meal that was so memorable it took me a week to formulate the words to describe it. As you may know I have quite the affinity for pig and the moment I heard that La Ciccia was hosting a Sardinian family-style suckling pig dinner I jumped at the chance to get a reservation, luckily we got the last two seats.