tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18762680863107421482024-03-12T23:56:15.692-07:00The Novice PalateI'm new to describing and understanding the complexities of drinking wine. I want to make learning about wine less intimidating and more fun.Danielle Dulchinoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05461573101319575310noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1876268086310742148.post-70369739626008933022009-02-01T07:57:00.000-08:002009-02-02T20:29:28.695-08:00Big Game Day LibationsIn an effort to not completely fill up on beer during the game tonight, I'm going to try to find some good wine to drink. Plus, that means there will be more room for wings & pizza dip!!<br /><br />If you want some pre-game tips for drinking suggestions, check out the <a href="http://thecrushedgrapereport.typepad.com/the_crushed_grape_report/2009/01/nachos-wings-and-wine-oh-my.html">Crushed Grape Report</a>.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Update 02/02/09 11:25pm: </span>I drank a bottle of Tott's "California Champagne" at the start of the game. However, the bubbles were too big and it left a sacchrine after-taste -- exactly what I was NOT looking for. The amazing, delicious food that we ate (mostly homemade by my lovely friends) made me crave water as my only beverage. Hope everyone enjoyed the game, even if you didn't win any squares!Danielle Dulchinoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05461573101319575310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1876268086310742148.post-40751738649589208122009-01-29T11:02:00.000-08:002009-01-29T18:41:46.513-08:00"Alive After Five" Some Young PunksMet up with my friend Dana down in Boston's Financial District at <span style="font-weight: bold;">Brix on Broad<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span>for their weekly <a href="http://www.brixwineshop.com/tastingsfeb09BII.html">"Alive After Five"</a> tasting. This week they featured four wines by Australian winemakers <span style="font-weight: bold;">Some Young Punks</span> - <a href="http://www.someyoungpunks.com.au/">http://www.someyoungpunks.com.au/</a>.<br /><br />First off, the artwork on the bottles was exquisite. I know you're not really supposed to choose a bottle by the label, but it sure doesn't hurt.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKM2QfSPre4LvDsjHeBkkaucm7hX-eoVPlLgFX5M8oQBV0nh_cibMplNgPm7WnMm8BZ3pZCEK30tAVNs56g0GoIn3FLtr13kG6wnydJMqAp4Bgw-BbFnoUQMsPf1G9e-H7ZaYPz-ITdd3/s1600-h/quickie.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTKM2QfSPre4LvDsjHeBkkaucm7hX-eoVPlLgFX5M8oQBV0nh_cibMplNgPm7WnMm8BZ3pZCEK30tAVNs56g0GoIn3FLtr13kG6wnydJMqAp4Bgw-BbFnoUQMsPf1G9e-H7ZaYPz-ITdd3/s320/quickie.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5296906876222347074" border="0" /></a><br />The best of the four wines was by far the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Quickie!</span> -- a mix of mostly Nebbiolo (85%) with some Shiraz (15%) grapes. It's a very light red, not jammy at all, which a really delicious almondy aftertaste. Definitely the kind of bottle you could drink all by yourself without realizing.<br /><br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"We blame the booze. The whiff and the swill did us in and all that was left to do was to make more. In many ways the wines that weren’t worth the pull on the cork caused this as much as the wines that we will never have the pleasure of decorking again. This is Passion, a monster bigger than the three of us that leads us to soapbox, grandstand and sometimes pass out on the couch.<br /><br />We wanted to do something that had been done before, to make exceptional wine with small estate charm.<br /><br />The ethos is simple, self centred, and just a little arrogant - We make charismatic wines that are true to what we think ‘wine’ should be about. If someone doesn’t like the way we do it then they had better put the bottle down because there’s already not enough to go around."<br />-Some Young Punks Philosophy<br /></span></blockquote>These guys have a lot of fun with the wines, and that is definitely something I can support!<br /><br />Curious about more tastings in Boston? Check out our <a href="http://tinyurl.com/superfunboston">Super Fun Things to Do in Boston</a> calendar.Danielle Dulchinoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05461573101319575310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1876268086310742148.post-23688649932117137052009-01-26T14:48:00.000-08:002009-01-29T18:41:35.573-08:00The (First) Grand TastingI took my mom to the Boston Wine Expo yesterday. I'm so thankful that we had a plan of attack or we would have been so overwhelmed (and drunk):<br /><ol><li>Start with bubbles & whites, then move to reds</li><li>Ask to try unusual grapes that are not mainstream (tip to Jonathon Alsop)</li><li>Find a great region and explore it with depth (no two wines are exactly alike)</li><li>When all else fails, find the friendliest server and just chat away!<br /></li></ol>Our mission was quite a success. The best regions overall were Italy and Portugal.<br /><blockquote><span style="font-style: italic;">"I haven't met an Italian wine I didn't like!"</span> -my mom<br /></blockquote>Listed below are our favorites (from what I have in my notes, more details next time - I promise!):<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">The Whites</span><br /><ul><li>Greece - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Asprolithi </span>(Roditis grapes) - really light & crisp white</li><li>Portugal - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Vila Verde Vihno Verde 2007 </span>- another light, crisp white, we learned that "Vihno Verde" means "young grape"</li><li>Portugal - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Aveleda Alvarihno</span> - this felt like a wine you could drink all day long in the summer</li><li>Italy - <span style="font-weight: bold;">IL Prosecco</span> and the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Mionetto Prosecco Brut</span> - tons and tons of little tiny bubbles!! delightful</li><li>Italy - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Fumello Prosecco</span> - fresh and fruity, the Italian version of champagne</li><li>Italy - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Exclamation Point Verdicchio Classico Jesi D.O.C.</span> - Italian DOCs mean that the wine's grapes all come from within a particular region</li><li>Italy - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Casal di Serra Verdicchio Classico Superiore D.O.C.</span> - same as the one above only it's from a single vineyard</li><li>Chile - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pacifico Sur Cabernet Sauvignon Rose 2007</span> - I do not normally like roses (mostly from bad experiences with the infamous White Zin) but this was a refreshing fruity wine, with a little bit of spice</li><li>Argentina - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Grazioso Chardonnay/Torrontes Blend 2007</span> - the Chardonnay really cuts the floral aspects of the Torrontes (which I personally find to taste like perfume)</li></ul><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Reds</span></span><br /><ul><li>Italy - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Umani Ronchi Montepulciano d'Abruzzo D.O.C.</span> - this red is soo easy to drink, we discovered this grape actually a few months back at a small restaurant in the North End (another of my favorites is the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Citra Montepulchiano d'Abruzzo</span>)</li><li>Italy - <span style="font-weight: bold;">San Rocco Dolcetto d'Alba D.O.C. </span>- I kid you not, you can smell the voilets in this!</li><li>South Africa - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pinotage</span> - a super jammy red</li><li>Chile - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pacifico Sur Carmenere</span> - really really peppery, and a little too much tannins for me, but I really think my brother would love this with his mustard sauce on steak</li><li>Portugal - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Herdade do Esporao Private Selection 2004</span> and <span style="font-weight: bold;">2005 Reserve</span> - probably the most expensive bottle we tried, absolutely delicious (hat tip to Mark P. Vincent for suggesting this one!)</li><li>Italy - <span style="font-weight: bold;">Castello Romitorio Brunello di Montalcino</span> D.O.C.G. - my favorite, and only partly due to the fact that it was the wine maker himself that insisted I try it on Saturday night</li></ul><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sandrochia.com/Artwork/artwork/Art0108.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 422px; height: 600px;" src="http://www.sandrochia.com/Artwork/artwork/Art0108.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><br />(All the artwork on the Castello Romitorio bottles is by an amazing artist - we tried to sneak some empty ones out, but they were confiscated!)<br /><span style="font-size:85%;">(c) Sandro Chia, <span style="font-style: italic;">Untitled 2000</span></span><br /><br />I would like to also thank several of the friendliest servers, who actually looked us in the eye and made the day fun:<br /><ul><li>Neill Dahill (Sales Rep for Andes Imports Inc) was pouring the Pacifico Sur wines in Chile.</li><li>Gabriella Wirth (PR/Marketing for Mionetto USA) was pouring the IL and Mionetto labels in Italy.</li></ul>I can't wait to go again next year and see how much I've learned!Danielle Dulchinoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05461573101319575310noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1876268086310742148.post-62376174644483160752009-01-26T13:51:00.000-08:002009-01-28T11:16:57.032-08:00Whetting the PalateOne of my <a href="http://beingabeginner.blogspot.com/2008/12/update-30-by-30-list.html">30 by 30 to-do list goals </a>is to learn more about wine. I've been drinking wine since I've been legal to drink (and maybe slightly before that...), but haven't really understood what I was drinking. All I knew was: I like this, or I don't like that. And even then, there was little consistency.<br /><br />This year, thanks to Twitter, I won tickets to the Boston Wine Expo from the Boston Globe's marketing department (<a href="http://www.blogger.com/www.twitter.com/globeevents">@globeevents</a>). This was the perfect springboard to start seriously learning about fermented grapes!<br /><br />On Saturday, after the day 1 of the expo (which I did not attend), I went to a post-Expo part at <a href="http://www.bostonwineschool.com/">Jonathon Alsop's Boston Wine School</a>. The event was awesome. Delicious food, great wines, and best of all - a chance to meet some really interesting and inspiring people. There were several members of Boston Wine Writers, including Dale Cruse (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/dalecruse">@dalecruse</a>) and <a href="http://thecrushedgrapereport.typepad.com/">Callie Crossley</a> (who bonded with me over the delicious chicken meatballs), that helped me form a plan of attack for the Expo. Also, I got to sit down and chat with Gary Vaynerchuk (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/garyvee">@garyvee</a>) of <a href="http://tv.winelibrary.com/">Wine Library TV</a> (and the Expo's keynote speaker) - who is pretty cool even though he's a Jets fan.<br /><br />All in all, Saturday was the perfect primer for Sunday's exploits.Danielle Dulchinoshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05461573101319575310noreply@blogger.com0