Stopping by to give a "Shout Out" to the P-wine Blog. I've known Alex of Personalwine from the very beginning, actually before the beginning, back in College at UT.
Personalwine began with an idea on a bar napkin when Alex and I were attempting to determine the directions our lives would take. At a bar in Austin in/or around 1999, we created the idea, name and the processes that Personalwine uses today.
Since those early days, Alex has taken Personalwine to a level that I could have only imagined. From landing accounts including HBO, Playboy, Maxim, and various Universities, to growing to the amount of volume he moves each year, he has surpassed all of my expectations of what the company could do.
Great Job P-wine Crew! Keep up the great work.
AB
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Ten Rules-of-Thumb for Food and Wine Pairing
1. If you are taking wine as a gift to a dinner party, don't worry about matching the wine to the food unless you have been requested to do so and have enough information about what is being served to make an informed choice. Just bring a good wine. Match quality of food and wine. A grand dinner party with multiple courses of elaborately prepared dishes deserves a better wine than hamburgers on the grill with chips in a bag.
2. When you're serving more than one wine at a meal, it's customary to serve lighter wines before full-bodied ones. Dry wines should be served before sweet wines unless a sweet flavored dish is served early in the meal. In that case match the sweet dish with a similarly sweet wine. Lower alcohol wines should be served before higher alcohol wines.
3. Balance flavor intensity. Pair light-bodied wines with lighter food and fuller-bodied wines with heartier, more flavorful, richer and fattier dishes.
4. Consider how the food is prepared. Delicately flavored foods — poached or steamed — pair best with delicate wines. It's easier to pair wines with more flavorfully prepared food — braised, grilled, roasted or sautéed. Pair the wine with the sauce, seasoning or dominant flavor of the dish.
5. Match flavors. An earthy Pinot Noir goes well with mushroom soup and the grapefruit/citrus taste of Sauvignon Blancs goes with fish for the same reasons that lemon does.
6. Balance sweetness. But, beware of pairing a wine with food that is sweeter than the wine, although I do like chocolate with Cabernet Sauvignon. I also like chocolate with good dark beer. Come to think of it, I like chocolate with just about anything.
7. Consider pairing opposites. Very hot or spicy foods — some Thai dishes, or hot curries for example — often work best with sweet desert wines. Opposing flavors can play off each other, creating new flavor sensations and cleansing the palate.
8. Match by geographic location. Regional foods and wines, having developed together over time, often have a natural affinity for each other.
9. Pair wine and cheese. In some European countries the best wine is reserved for the cheese course. Red wines go well with mild to sharp cheese. Pungent and intensely flavored cheese is better with a sweeter wine. Goat Cheeses pair well with dry white wine, while milder cheeses pair best with fruiter red wine. Soft cheese like Camembert and Brie, if not over ripe, pair well with just about any red wine including Cabernet, Zinfandel and Red Burgundy.
10. Adjust food flavor to better pair with the wine. Sweetness in a dish will increase the awareness of bitterness and astringency in wine, making it appear drier, stronger and less fruity. High amounts of acidity in food will decrease awareness of sourness in wine and making it taste richer and mellower — sweet wine will taste sweeter. Bitter flavors in food increase the perception of bitter, tannic elements in wine. Sourness and salt in food suppress bitter taste in wine. Salt in food can tone down the bitterness and astringency of wine and may make sweet wines taste sweeter.
2. When you're serving more than one wine at a meal, it's customary to serve lighter wines before full-bodied ones. Dry wines should be served before sweet wines unless a sweet flavored dish is served early in the meal. In that case match the sweet dish with a similarly sweet wine. Lower alcohol wines should be served before higher alcohol wines.
3. Balance flavor intensity. Pair light-bodied wines with lighter food and fuller-bodied wines with heartier, more flavorful, richer and fattier dishes.
4. Consider how the food is prepared. Delicately flavored foods — poached or steamed — pair best with delicate wines. It's easier to pair wines with more flavorfully prepared food — braised, grilled, roasted or sautéed. Pair the wine with the sauce, seasoning or dominant flavor of the dish.
5. Match flavors. An earthy Pinot Noir goes well with mushroom soup and the grapefruit/citrus taste of Sauvignon Blancs goes with fish for the same reasons that lemon does.
6. Balance sweetness. But, beware of pairing a wine with food that is sweeter than the wine, although I do like chocolate with Cabernet Sauvignon. I also like chocolate with good dark beer. Come to think of it, I like chocolate with just about anything.
7. Consider pairing opposites. Very hot or spicy foods — some Thai dishes, or hot curries for example — often work best with sweet desert wines. Opposing flavors can play off each other, creating new flavor sensations and cleansing the palate.
8. Match by geographic location. Regional foods and wines, having developed together over time, often have a natural affinity for each other.
9. Pair wine and cheese. In some European countries the best wine is reserved for the cheese course. Red wines go well with mild to sharp cheese. Pungent and intensely flavored cheese is better with a sweeter wine. Goat Cheeses pair well with dry white wine, while milder cheeses pair best with fruiter red wine. Soft cheese like Camembert and Brie, if not over ripe, pair well with just about any red wine including Cabernet, Zinfandel and Red Burgundy.
10. Adjust food flavor to better pair with the wine. Sweetness in a dish will increase the awareness of bitterness and astringency in wine, making it appear drier, stronger and less fruity. High amounts of acidity in food will decrease awareness of sourness in wine and making it taste richer and mellower — sweet wine will taste sweeter. Bitter flavors in food increase the perception of bitter, tannic elements in wine. Sourness and salt in food suppress bitter taste in wine. Salt in food can tone down the bitterness and astringency of wine and may make sweet wines taste sweeter.
Monday, February 18, 2008
2005 Rutherford Ranch Cabernet Sauvignon
Yes, this Napa Valley Winery right off Rutherford Ranch has taken off on an uphill battle against the top exclusive producers in Napa Valley. This wine has a fruitful bouquet with exceptional ruby color. It is not too dry and most likely is blended with about 10% merlot to keep its tannin levels in check. Acidity is normal and its ripe with blackberry, pepper, smoke wood chip, and a hint of currant (wow)! I can see why Robert Parker gave this winery a Best Napa Valley Value. I am sure glad we bought 200 cases of this wine before it flies of the shelf!
Drink now or cellar for 1-2 years.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Direct Shipping Laws in Maryland and New Mexico
Just got some great news today! Maryland has bills in the House and Senate that will allow for direct shipments of wine into Maryland by retailers. This comes as a great surprise as Maryland is one of those archaic staunch supporters of wholesale protectionists. I believe this will be a super deal for Maryland residents.
On another note, Tom Wark from the Specialty Wine Retailers Association sent me the following and asked me to send this out. It is important for NM residents and for EVERYONE for that matter:
New Mexico Senate Bill 59 is a very positive piece of legislation that would create a permit for out-of-state retailers and wineries allowing them to ship up to 24 cases per year to an individual consumer annually. It provides for shippers to pay NM tax and gives NM jurisdiction over out-fo-state shippers as well as has safeguards against minors obtaining wine.
Wholesalers are looking to kill this bill and likely will unless we can generate significant phone calls and emails to the members of the NW House Business & Industry Committee that will hear SB 59 TOMORROW.
If you know anyone in NM, please ask them to call their representatives!
On another note, Tom Wark from the Specialty Wine Retailers Association sent me the following and asked me to send this out. It is important for NM residents and for EVERYONE for that matter:
New Mexico Senate Bill 59 is a very positive piece of legislation that would create a permit for out-of-state retailers and wineries allowing them to ship up to 24 cases per year to an individual consumer annually. It provides for shippers to pay NM tax and gives NM jurisdiction over out-fo-state shippers as well as has safeguards against minors obtaining wine.
Wholesalers are looking to kill this bill and likely will unless we can generate significant phone calls and emails to the members of the NW House Business & Industry Committee that will hear SB 59 TOMORROW.
If you know anyone in NM, please ask them to call their representatives!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Fall Creek Vineyards - Ed Auler and the Texas Wine Industry
Just spoke with Ed Auler yesterday about his Fall Creek wines. I believe that in terms of Texas producers, he is the most consistent producer of quality Texas wines. Although they've had some bad luck with vine diseases, he manages to source quality grapes from Texas wineries in the interim until his vines have time to repair themselves. Ed and Susan Auler are two great Texas Wine producers and his status as the "Robert Mondavi" of Texas wines is a fair assumption in my view. Although there are many excellent Texas wines I've tried in the past year, I've really noted that Fall Creek (Meritage and Granite Reserve), Texas Hills Vineyard (Sangiovese and Kick Butt Cabernet), Flat Creek (Super Texan) and the McPherson (out of Lubbock of all places; Shiraz and Cabernet) make the best Texas wines. Anyways try them out as they are all readily available at Central Market or Whole Foods and all are priced under $25.
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