Chablis Dinner at The Bouley Test Kitchen

Last week, I attended the Chablis Dinner at The Bouley Test Kitchen.  It was a fabulous evening, full of great wine, plates, and company! Winemakers Christian Moreau and Jean-Marc Brocard were in attendance and my favorite pours of the night were Chablis 1er cru Vaillons 2009 Christian Moreau Pere et Fils, and Chablis Grand Cru Preuses 2007 Domaine Nathalie et Gilles Fevre, which is all about mica, and was served with Organic Connecticut Farm Egg with Comté Foam, Polenta and Carrot Powder.  Divine!

Txakolina on the Roof

It’s been a while since a post since I’ve been happily scribing for T. Edward Wines.  This weekend I was supposed to be in Maine with Ellen & the Capron sisters, eating lobster rolls and oysters, and drinking Peepers Ale.  But atlas…U.S. Air cancelled all possible flights to Portland, and with the impending [hysteria?] and hurricane storm approaching, there wasn’t much hope for me to get there or home…And so, here I am…in the calm before the storm…anticipating a bike ride over the bridge, with a moment to sit and blog.

A Benefit for Lydia Tillman

Lydia crushing grapes at Guimaro in Galicia

T. Edward Wines & David Bowler Wines are c0-sponsoring this benefit with Chamber Street Wines. 

Dear Friends of CSW,

On July 4th our friend and wine-colleague Lydia Tillman was the victim of a brutal attack that has left her hospitalized in critical condition.  Lydia had just relocated to Colorado, and had started a new job working for a wine distributor founded by a CSW Alum. She has been in the ICU for over 4 weeks, without the benefit of medical insurance.  Her apartment was burned in the attack, and she has lost all of her possessions.  The specifics of the story are horrific, and it is beyond words as to how this situation has affected Lydia and her family.  Our aim is to raise money with a benefit tasting so that we can help to make at least a small dent in her sure-to-be very costly medical expenses, and help her along the road to recovery.

2010 Clos Roche Blanche Pineau d’Aunis

One of the great benefits of my new job is that I work around the corner from Chamber Street Wines, where I purchased the above bottle of 2010 Clos Roche Blanche Pineau d’Aunis, a rosé from Loire with sediment in the bottle that came highly recommended…a little tight, she said…indeed it blew our minds.

Cuvée René Gueuze Lambic Beer

I love Lambic beers!  Not the fruity kind with the essence of framboise or pêche or kriek, but the straight up funkified, mouth watering yet dry lambic beers from the Pajottenland region of Belgium.  The insanely high, sour acidity of these beers, fermented with wild yeasts, means that they drink like the wines that I love best.  They’re brilliant before a meal, and with most foods that I might eat. And they’re fantastic in the summer, as I discovered the other day, when I uncorked a bottle of Lindemans Cuvée René Gueuze Lambic.

A Celebration!

Fireworks in the sky, it’s almost the 4th of July, and I have something to celebrate.  Next week, I join T . Edward Wines as the Head Writer of Marketing & Social Media.  And I am excited!  Writing for their website and blog, handling Facebook and twitter, I’ll be crafting winemakers’ stories and scripting in-house marketing notes.  It’s brilliant how this position came about.  A big shout out to Brian for that!  And funnily enough, it’s not just my love of writing and wine that brought me to TEW, but it’s also the fact that I used to race bikes with Team Comedy Central, and the folks of TEW are both riders and big fans of cycling!

Wine Vessels for Public Events

Finally!! The time of year that we’ve been waiting for! Tanktops at night. Rosé in the park outside.  Sultry summer events around the city…some with reasonable food and beverage offerings…others not.  All with long lines and small plastic glassware.

Leaving nothing to chance, we dared not attempt Summer Stage last night empty handed…but we knew the security would be tight.  We strategized during the day, each offering to bring wine (and snacks) in a undetectable container.  And because we had such brilliant success, I thought I’d follow up on last year’s post about the wine thermos, with tips on wine vessels for public events in the city.

Eataly’s Bierreria & A Food And Wine MBA At Bologna

A few days after opening, Eataly’s Bierreria, the new rooftop beer garden with a bird’s eye view of the Flatiron, gave way to an event to announce the new Food and Wine MBA at Alma Graduate School at the University of Bologna.  There was a panel with Italian food personality, Lidia Bastianich, and the owner if Eataly, Oscar Farinetti.  But it was Fabio Parasecoli, the coordinator of the New School Food Studies Program, who best summarized the marriage between the MBA and Food and Wine.  ”How do we manage to brand–to promote– to understand the value of food…Consumers are interested in understanding stories, histories…What do I buy when I buy this food?  How do I create an industry around this tradition?”  And so, since it’s always a good time to recreate oneself, which can best be done through travel and school, the curious should consider and if interested, apply for one of the ten full-scholarships that are currently being offered, for this one-year immersion program.  Deadline is July 15th.  Apply here.

Drink.Think

Brainchild of Kara Newman, author of Spice & Ice, and more…, Drink.Think is a spoken-word event “dedicated to celebrating what we drink.” Next Wednesday, I’ll be reading wine poetry at Lolita Bar, alongside a host of talented writers. It’s bound to be a fabulous evening. You can read more about the event here. I hope to see you there!

Edie & the Wolf

Last week, Caitlin, Ellen and I met at Edie & the Wolf, an Austrian restaurant/wine bar, on Avenue C, near 7th Street.  With an entrance that’s rustic and livened with green herbs, flowers, and grass, the gates of spring were sprung open, revealing the dark wooded interior to Loisaida. Arriving at around seven, to a handful of diners; by eight, there wasn’t a free seat in the house.  There’s a menu of shared plates and small plates, and entries, cheese, and dessert, so perhaps it’s more of a restaurant, but there is a bar and a counter with space for a glass or four of Gemischter Satz.