Wine, food, seminars, and a ton of enthusiastic millenials being enthusiastic about wine is what Wine Riot is all about. Tomorrow Second Glass’ Wine Riot will take over the Great Hall at Union Station in Chicago for two sessions where novice and experiences winos alike will have the opportunity to learn about and enjoy wine like never has been done before in an environment where learning and having fun is emphasized through 20 minute wine crash course seminars, a mobile app designed specifically for the event, photoboots, live DJs and so much more.

If you are in Chicago, we hope to see you there.

WHO: Second Glass, Mutineer Magazine, and wine lovers.

WHAT: Wine Riot Chicago

WHERE: Great Hall at Union Station
210 S Canal St, Chicago, IL

WHEN:
Riot One: Saturday, May 21, 1-5 PM
Riot Two: Saturday, May 21, 7-11 PM

WHY: To party and learn about and explore wine.

COST: $50 per session. Get your tickets here.

Seen below is the long lost picture of Mutineers JJ, Brian, and Ian who were rumored to have been in attendance a Wine Riot Los Angeles.

Photo by Tommy B Photography

A couple of weeks ago our motley crew of Mutineers from Washington to Virginia descended upon Murphys, California for the first annual Mutineer Magazine Staff Retreat. We tasted wine, played bocce and strengthened bonds over long meals and forty-two year old Scotch. It was a great weekend and I am excited to share some of it here with you.

Raising a glass at the Tanner Vineyards Tasting Room. The Syrah and Viognier here were just lovely, though a little dangerous on my empty stomach.

The historic Murphy’s Hotel.

Mutineers Brian, Julie and Ryan getting their bocce on.

Ashley Teplin of Media-ANT doing her part to secure victory for the women’s team. She also makes a mean pan of shiitake laced breakfast potatoes.

Mutineers walking the trail to Natural Bridges just outside of Murphys, California.

Friend of Mutineer Corbie and Mutineer design wizard Julie looking for creatures.

The Aphrodisiac cocktail, an intoxicating blend of sparkling wine, hibiscus, coriander, anise and ginger from Mineral.

Some fellow Mutineers have been living in Murphys since last September. If I’ve heard about one thing since they arrived, it has been the vegatarian restaurant Mineral. The thing that intrigued me about this restaurant is that only one of the guys is vegetarian and yet, they all rave about it. I knew that if a group of bacon loving young men loved this place, than it must be somewhere worth checking out. On our last day in Murphys, my Editor in Chief Alan set up lunch for me, Phil our designer Julie and her boyfriend Ryan. I have to tell you, that this is one of the best meals I have ever had the pleasure to sit down to.

Also, this is not a review, simply an account of one incredible lunch.

The Cherry Bombs were my second favorite dish of the meal. I can’t find a proper description, but as far as I could tell it is chile and cheese that has been battered, fried, topped with a cherry and served with balsamic jam. That description seems too simple. I feel like something as vibrant and exciting as this was deserves to be written about with neon and punctuated with sparklers.

The cheese and cracker plate consisted of delicious thin toasts served with Bellwether Farms Crescenza, olive oil and olive dust. It was creamy with lovely bitter olive notes and the toasts had a pleasing snap.

This Kumquat Sparkler was just delicious. I wish I knew what was in it, because I think I’d like to make it at home.

Continue Reading »

Once upon a time, in a land known as Paso Robles, there was a little craft brewery called Firestone Walker. They made beer. And by making beer, they made people happy.

One day, in addition to making beer, Firestone Walker also made a decision. They decided to throw a party -  a party celebrating some of the best barrel-aged brews coming out of California. This made people really happy.

So on Friday, April 8, Ballast Point, Russian River, The Bruery, New Belgium, Stone and Lost Abbey all converged on Historic Santa Margarita Ranch, and poured their finest for the people. Rich and malty, frothy cups of barrel-aged bliss.

No one expected the 32 degree nighttime lows, so there was rejoicing throughout the land at the abundance of bourbon. Oh, the bourbon. Buffalo Trace, Eagle Rare, Makers Mark, Jim Beam, Woodford Reserve, Knob Creek, Blanton’s. A delicious spread of barrel-aged, 51% corn goodness.

Party-goers were also treated to Paso port wines from Roxo Cellars, Cass Winery, Paso Port, EOS, Eberle and Le Vigne. A selection of cigars was available for purchase, to really help revelers feel like royalty.

And then there was food. Artisan, Mee Heng Low Noodle House, The Grill at Avila Beach Resort, Novo, Buona Tavola.

It was like a dream come true.

And we lived happily ever after (at least ’til the morning hangovers kicked in…).

The whole Mutineer crew are pretty big advocates for sustainability and making environmentally sound choices when possible. Our Issue #16 of Mutineer is testament to this as nearly the entire issue was focused around Earth day with sustainability in mind pertaining to all aspects of the beverage industry. This brings me to bagged wine. We have seen boxed wine. We have seen wines such as FLASQ that comes in cans. We have even seen wine that comes in a keg, as seen with MAS Wine Company. We’ve even seen wine coming in small juice like boxes. Now, we have Indulge Wine which features a large Capri Sun (beverage, yeah!) type pouch that holds the equivalent of two bottles of wine. Some people might be turned off from wine not coming in a traditional bottle and they might think this is just Franzia in different packaging, but what Indulge is offering is premium world class wine in environmentally friendly packaging and that’s something we can get on board with pretty easily.

What are some of the pros of Indulge Wine? Compared to bottled and boxed wine, it has the:

• Lowest carbon footprint
• Highest wine to packaging ratio
• Lowest transportation cost
• Lowest landfill pressure by weight
• Lowest energy input to chill

And on top of this, it stays fresh once opened for up to 30 days as air isn’t introduced to the 2009 Pinot Noir Central Coast or the 2009 Sauvignon Blanc North Coast inside.

I personally haven’t had the opportunity to try Indulge Wine, but I look forward to the opportunity and innovating ideas such as this excite me.

After King Estate Winery was attacked by Goal One Coalition for the approval to operate their full-service restaurant and host special events, King Estate decided it was time to find a permanent solution to allow their restaurant and winery to co-exist. With this came the creation of House Bill 3280 and Senate Bill 829, sponsored by local representatives, Representative Paul Holvey and Senator Floyd Prozanski. Here is a letter from Mr. Ed King, founder of King Estate Winery that we would like to share with you about House Bill 3280 and Senate Bill 829. At the end, if you agree with Mr. King there is a link to a petition that you can sign to show your support.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Ed King

To show your support of King Estate Winery, House Bill 3280 and Senate Bill 829, and to local farmers in Lane County, Oregon, please sign this petition.

As we reported back in February with “Could Georgia See Sunday Alcohol Sales” …. well, the answer is YES! Bill 10 just passed through the House with a vote of 127-44 after passing through the Senate last month where it had failed to hold up for the last 5 years. All that is left is for Governor Nathan Deal to sign it into law and he has already indicated that he would sign it if it passed. The bill has faced intense opposition in the past from not only religious groups, but from teetotaler and former governor of Georgia Sonny Perdue who threatened to use his veto power against it. The current governor, Governor Deal has stated that while he doesn’t drink, he believes in democracy and that it should be up to the people to decide if they want alcohol available in their communities on Sundays.

Bill 10 in itself doesn’t make off-premise Sunday alcohol sales legal, rather it leaves it up to local Georgia communities to decide whether they should be allowed. Also important noting, alcohol is currently sold in restaurants and bars on Sundays … meaning that if people want to go out and drink and possibly overindulge (which we at Mutineer do not encourage or condone), they aren’t allowed to do so in the safety and privacy of their home unless they purchase it the day before. To me, that is very important. Religious groups and even politicians who oppose Bill 10 claim that it will “encourage and promote greater alcohol availability” according to Representative Randy Nix which, in my opinion, isn’t true. If you’re an alcoholic and have lived in Georgia all of your life, I think it’s safe to assume you know there are 6 other days of the week where they can buy all the alcohol they want or they can go to their local sports bar on Sunday and get plastered.

Of course, with religious groups such as the Georgia Christian Coalition losing their cause, they have planned to find the referendum on a local level.

To Georgians everywhere, welcome to the 21st century and congratulations on being treated like adults.

“We are out of the dark ages” said Representative Joe Heckstall and we agree.

Best-in-class winners photo below: from left, Chardonnay, Riesling, Cabernet, Icewine

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Wednesday, March 30, 2011 – A total of 3,298 wines from 788 wineries, 19 countries, 6 Canadian provinces, and all 50 states entered to compete for awards in the 11th Annual Finger Lakes International Wine Competition (FLIWC) – the most wines entered to-date in the history of this competition.

“The Finger Lakes International Wine Competition is the largest wine competition in the world supporting a single charity,” said event founder, Peter Parts. “This year, we reached a milestone in entries. If you put all the wine that was sent in for this competition end-to-end, it would extend more than 2 and a half miles. This is the best turnout we have received to-date and what’s more is all proceeds benefit Camp Good Days & Special Times — more support to people who need it most.”

Sixty renowned national and international judges from 15 countries participated in the two-day competition March 26 and 27, which took place in Rochester, N.Y., about 45 minutes from the heart of Upstate New York’s Finger Lakes wine region. David G. Male, of Buffalo, N.Y., certified international judge, served as the competition chairman. Ron Dougherty of Rochester, N.Y., was the Assistant Competition Chairman.

The judges awarded 76 Double Gold, 261 Gold, 1,028 Silver and 1,326 Bronze medals. Special award categories include: the John Rose Award for the best in class Riesling and the Crystal Grape Award for the best in class Icewine. Awards are also given for the highest-scoring Double Gold Chardonnay and for the highest-scoring Double Gold Cabernet Sauvignon.

The highest honors were awarded to:

JOHN ROSE AWARD: Zugibe 2009 Finger Lakes Late Harvest Riesling
CRYSTAL GRAPE AWARD: Vignoble Riviére du Chêne, 2009 Monde Vidal
BEST CABERNET: J. Lohr 2007 Hilltop Cabernet Sauvignon
BEST CHARDONNAY: Santa Barbara Winery 2008 Chardonnay

A complete list of the 2011 medal winners is listed on www.fliwc.com.

The event culminates with the Annual Camp Good Days Wine Auction & Dinner on Saturday, May 7, at the Rochester Plaza, Rochester, N.Y. The largest medal winning wine dinner and wine auction in Rochester’s history features 250 Double Gold, Gold and Silver Medal winners of the competition from around the world. In addition, 60 live auction lots and more than 200 silent auction lots include FLIWC medal winning wines, plus rare wines from private collections, and other fabulous items.

The beneficiary of the event, Camp Good Days and Special Times, is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for children and families all over the world, whose lives have been touched by cancer and other life-threatening challenges. Located in the heart of New York State’s Finger Lakes wine country, the Camp offers residential programs, year-round activities, and events for adults and children.

“Out of 33 major commercial wine competitions in North America, this is the second-largest,” said Parts. “But, the best part is, from the money we raised last year over 350 kids were able to go to Camp Good Days & Special Times free of charge.”

Myth: The French consume more wine than anyone else in the world.

Fact: In 2010, the French consumed 321 million cases of wine all the while Team America drunk 330 million cases of wine.

This could be attributed to a number of reasons, according to Time.com:

“Wine consulting firm Gomberg, Fredrikson & Associates chalked up the increase to a shift in Americans’ tastes. Are we acquiring an air of sophistication? It could be explained by a simple generational shift in the U.S. As Generation Y – the Millenials – comes of age, they are turning to the complexity of wine when looking for a tipple.

Of course, there’s the obvious population disparity between the two nations. And Frenchmen (and women) outdrink Americans on an individual level: the average French wine lover downs 5 bottles for every one by an American. But the numbers don’t lie: the French have been upended as the world’s largest wine consumers.”

America, #@&$ yea!