salad waiting for a red wine vinaigrette

Wine has been around for a longggg time.  We’re talking xxxxx (look up when first wine found).  Suffice it to say that over that period of time, there have been a lot of creative ways wine has been used.  We’ll save some of the more unique approaches for next week, but for now, let’s look at 3 ways wine has been used in the kitchen, but not for drinking.

Red Wine vinaigrette:

Wine adds great flavor to a basic vinaigrette, so if you want to jazz up your salad, try this great recipe from Giada De Laurentiis:

Wine as a marinade:
Wine has acidity which makes for a great marinade.  And with the abundance of flavors out there, the versatility of what you can mix it with for an end result is almost endless.  Here is one rendition for Red Wine Marinade from Eating Well Magazine:

Wine in your dessert
Wine is often THE dessert, what with all the different sweet wines and fortified wines such as port. But it can also be used as a y to enhance a simple dish into something amazing.  Take the basic vanilla ice cream.  It doesn’t get more simple than that.  But take a 2 cups of red wine, a teaspoon of sugar, and simmer with a few sprigs of fennel until it is reduced to about 1/2 cup, and you have a sauce to drizzle over that ice cream that’s to die for.

How have you used wine in your cooking that has gotten rave reviews?

the long and winding road to your mouth

Have you ever ordered a glass of your favorite wine in a restaurant or bar and had them say, “Sorry, we’re out of that?”. Frustrating isn’t it?  So here’s the skinny on how I get from my home base at the wine company to you at your favorite establishment.

My first stop from my cool, party house (ie the warehouse where I’m stored with all my pals and lots of order folks I don’t know), is to a distributor.  They do exactly what it sounds like- they distribute me.  To get into a distributor, Jerry has to do a lot of traveling around to meet people.  Not a bad gig if you can get it,especially since you get to drink wine.

Once the distributor picks me up, they bring me to your favorite place of food.  That may be a supermarket, bar, seasonal restaurant or year-round hangout.  Of course, they have to want me, and that’s where you come in, to a certain extent (and Jerry again).  If you have tried me elsewhere and want to see me at your regular Friday night stop, keep kayaking for me.  Then the manager can ask the distributor and so on and so on.  And most importantly, if w’re already friends at your stop and they run out, definitely make sure you ask them to get more.  There are a lot of us out there, and sometimes when we’re gone, it’s out of sight, out of mind.

So there are a couple steps to me getting to your table, either at home or at a restaurant, and you can play an integral part of getting me there.

What’s your favorite place to stop and grab a glass of wine?

PS Don’t forget Mom this weekend!

The May Day pole

According to Wikipedia: “May Day marks the end of the unfarmable winter half of the year in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations. As Europe became Christianized the pagan holidays lost their religious character and either changed into popular secular celebrations, as with May Day…A more secular version of May Day continues to be observed in Europe and America. In this form, May Day may be best known for its tradition of dancing the maypole dance and crowning of the Queen of the May.

The bottom line is you are with a bunch of people, dancing around a pole.  Now, I’,m always a big fan of pole dancing, in whatever form you want to do it (I understand it’s even a form of exercises these days.  Is that what they call it now?).   I say live life to its fullest!

How does Debauchery fit into your exercise routine?

many glasses, many tastes

I like to think of myself as a pretty simple wine- sure I can have layers of flavors and how I grew up makes a difference in how I taste.  But my goal in life is to be enjoyed and to make the experience for drinking me be enjoyable.

That said, I do have multiple personalities.  You can find me on the shelves with other Cabernet Sauvignons, providing a rich, deep experience with food or a great wine for good conversation.  You can scout me out as Carmenere  on the shelves with the smaller guys, but that’s our secret. Sometimes the unknown is better, whether it’s me or a Vioigner from Virginia.  Yes we may seem mysterious but also something new you can share, a little bit of excitement in a bottle

When I’m in my Sauvignon Blanc mode, I might s well be a breath of fresh air – and as a flavor, great for this Springtime weather as we break out of throes heavy winter coats.  And when I’m feeling sophisticated, though not all my brothers and sisters in the Chardonnay category are created that way- I put on my mellow, Chardonnay hat.

I like to think that my multiple personalities allow me to experience life to its fullest-every occasion has a place for some flavor of wine.  What personality have you opened recently?

Earth from outer space

Earth Day is Sunday.  I love Earth Day – it kind of reminds me of Woodstock and that was the ultimate in Debauchery!  No, but really, Earth Day is a great way to remember that we have this one earth to work with, so here are 5 reasons I love (and support) Earth Day:

1) I am from the Earth.  Sounds kind of corny, but if the Earth was all contaminated, I wouldn’t taste as good as I do.  Without going into it all, my flavors rely on the soil I’m grown in and the climate my vines exist within.  You wouldn’t want to change that, would you?

2) I live in a glass house.  So I don’t throw stones.  :)  Did you know that recycled glass reduces air pollution by 20%? If you don’t recycle me, it’ll take a million years for me to decompose.  Wow!  I make one heck of a flower stem vase!

3) Every ton of glass recycled saves the 9 gallons of fuel it takes to make a new piece of glass.

4) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. If you don’t finish me at dinnertime, you can use me to cook with tomorrow night!

5) Earth Day brings people together. I bring people together.  Enough said!

Are you scared of black cats?

There are so many myths, superstitions and fears around Friday the 13th. Bah, I say!  Embrace it!  Friday the 13th creates an opportunity to get people together.  Not that we need many reasons to get a party going, but Friday the 13th is here so you might as well use that as an excuse as any other.

Plus, Friday the 13th has the connotations of bad things, so why not remind everyone that the end of the world may be coming so you should all make sure you have no regrets when it does!  Or you can start planning where you’ll be to watch the 13th installment of Friday the 13th, which is slated to come out September 13th, 2013.  You have more than a year to do so.

I think that 2012 is the year to endorse Friday the 13th. After all, there will be 3 occurrences of the fateful day and date and they all occur 13 weeks apart.  Sounds like a good reason to plan a little Debauchery to me!

How do you feel about Friday the 13th? Have you ever had anything bad happen?

If you’re supplying wine for the dinner that will feature ham, you’ll want to look for a wine that has enough fruit to balance the saltiness of the meat as well as acidity to balance any glaze on top.  If you’re going to be eating lamb, you’ll have a fat quotient to contend with, and though we normally advocate for choosing a wine you like regardless of color, this time, you’ll want a wine that has some tannin in it (ie go for the red!) to counteract the fat.  Or even, (gasp) a rose!

Did you know that to make a kosher wine, only an “Sabbath-observant” person may make the wine?  Who knew?  And the vines must be at least four years old before they are harvested.  To make things more interesting, not all kosher wines are kosher for Passover.  The yeast has to be made from a process that does not involve bread in any way.  Luckily, Israel has brought the idea of kosher wines into fashion and good taste.

Whatever you’re celebrating this weekend, don’t forget two things:

1) Tonight is a full moon.  What kind of madness can you find?

2) Both Easter and Passover are celebrations and we always encourage celebrating life to its fullest!!

Hilda in Sunglasses by Harold Olsen

Doesn’t everyone who wants to be incognito wear dark sunglasses?  All those movie stars that go around in floppy hats and sunglasses trying not to be seen are my idols.  No?  Okay, maybe not.  But haven’t you heard that the Surgeon General has advised everyone to wear sunscreen and sunglasses to minimize the amount of sun damage to their skin and eyes?  You haven’t? Well, let me educate you on that.

It’s not exactly the Surgeon General’s warning that I follow by encapsulating myself in dark glass, but it is really for the same reason as they give: sun can damage me.  Once I am ready to rock and roll and enter your home, I am good enough to drink.  But if you store me on the counter for a couple weeks until your party or gathering, well, if I didn’t have the dark shroud around me, I’d start to change my flavor.

Sun damage to wine comes in the same form as to the skin: UV damage.  The rays will change my chemical structure, breaking me down so I start to taste a little funny.  It’s kind of like a window: if you have a window with no shade, the room gets warmer from the sun.  If you pull down a shade or curtain, the solar gain is diminished in the room.  If I was in a clear bottle, the light would shine on through and I’d have nothing to protect against that heat.  My putting myself in dark glass, as red wine, I pull the shades so to speak and keep the sun glare and heat to a minimum.

Why do you wear YOUR dark sunglasses???  Tell us your story.

Steak on the grill

It’s funny how every day, at the end of the day, dinner happens.  Or at least, food gets consumed – I’ll leave it up to you whether you define it as “dinner.”  But regardless of what you call it, the meal at the end of the day can be utilitarian or you can make it just a bit more with a glass of wine.

Which wine you choose depends on what you’re having for the meal.  Now, we don’t necessarily follow the rule that you have to drink white wine with fish and red wine with meats.  I mean, where does that leave the poor chicken?  No, we follow the rule of what tastes good and what we’re craving is what we’ll match with what we’re eating.

That doesn’t mean some wines don’t complement some foods better.  It just means that just as every wine can taste a little different to different people, there are some combinations that will be a hit with almost everyone.  Now that it’s Spring, we’re in the beautiful situation of being able to still appreciate a good hearty red wine as well as get a nice refreshing white wine after working in the yard all day.  Cabernet Sauvignon’s are particularly nice this time of year as the grills start to make their way onto the porch.

As a bottle of Cab, I particularly like being paired with a nice grilled piece of steak or portobello mushroom.  But I also like to spice things up, so if you’re making a stir-fry with some cayenne pepper, count me in!  Or add me to the table that is set with a chunky fish stew with tomatoes and peppers.  That will make my grape skin tingle!

What is your favorite wine in the Spring season and what do you drink it with?

Follow me on St. Patrick's Day

So does wine get the boot for St. Patty’s Day completely?  Well, I suppose there is something to be said for highlighting a certain beverage at certain times of the year; no one can completely dominate the beverage landscape.  So I will give this holiday to the malted beverage of your choice.  With that said, the matchup between wine and a good old fashioned corned beef is fantastic.

If you’re throwing a party over the weekend to celebrate the leprechauns and four-leaf clover, consider throwing a bottle of a spicy red if your corned beef is less spiced up or a mellow, aged red if you like to kick up the beef recipe with some extra spice.  We wine bottles can share the holidays, but there is a place for us at your St. Patty’s Day table too.

Here’s a recipe from the Food Network if you’re putting on your own show this weekend: