The barrel room at Culinary Institute of America (CIA) Greystone is filled with merchants, vintners, press, guests and one woman in an impossibly blue dress wearing leopard wedge-heeled shoes. Everyone’s here to taste the 200 auction lots for the Premiere Napa Valley wine auction. Not all of the wineries in the Valley can participate and some partnerships have formed to produce auction lots. You can blindside your palate by trying to taste all of the auction lots on Saturday morning. However, some vintners produce tasting events the day before. The Spring Mountain appellation vintners did a group tasting at the Spring Mountain winery. The host vineyard’s auction lot was a 100 percent Petit Verdot, which vineyard manager Ron Rosenbrand said is “something we’re proud of.” Continue Reading »
You can find beer festivals all across America from small town gatherings to those large enough to be held in convention centers. As craft beer becomes more available and more understood people want to experience what American beer culture is all about. Continue Reading »
The Symposium for Professional Wine Writers packed off to the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone for the second day of activities. The morning was occupied by discussions of readable wine writing from Frank Prial, the pioneering wine writer at the New York Times and the impact of climate change on global wine styles. Lastly, a discussion of how great topics gestate. Corie Brown, who recently parachuted out of the sinking Los Angeles Times, said she never had a passion for The Great Wine Tasting Experience, but found stories at events such as auctions and the people who were there. She also reminded all present that they were not the story. Continue Reading »
It appears things got pretty epic at the “Twestival LA” last Thursday at Club 740 in Los Angeles. The evening’s entertainment was headlined by Joe Rogan of Fear Factor (and the UFC) doing comedy along with Ben Morrison from Punk’d hosting with a score of other performers and notables present. The event was to benefit charity: water and those who struggle without water all over the world, which is a very cool cause and another side to the world of fine beverage. Continue Reading »
According to Louise Kiernan from the Chicago Tribune, you shouldn’t be reading this. At the opening session for the Symposium for Professional Wine Writers, Kiernan suggested that bloggers and writers step away from the screen and go out and have a life, and meet people (drinking wine optional but encouraged). Her presentation encompassed things to do less (work, write and make assumptions) and things to do more (ask questions – the harder the better and learn how to search court documents and doing FOIA requests, read and surf). Although some of this is a bit contradictory, it’s common sense. Reading other wine blogs has taught me things I have stolen and used and things I would never do even if water boarded. Among those soaking up this advice included Eric Asimov of the New York Times, Tyler Colman, author of “Wine Politics” and Alder Yarrow of Vinography.
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No, this is not Prince’s new album title, but rather an amalgamation of three killer events you should know about.
Looking very cool is Pike Chocofest at The Pike Brewing Co. in Seattle, which bills itself as a “romantic evening of chocolate paired with wine, mead, spirits, and beer” and “foreplay for [Valentine’s Day]”. Some of the chocolatiers involved include Fran Bigelow, Theo Chocolate, Carter’s Chocolates, Trevani Truffles, Claudio Corallo Chocolate, and BruCo Chocolate. For more information you should send an inappropriately seductive e-mail under the fake name “Naughty Nellie” to the fine people at Pike Brewing Co. Tickets are $25 per person.
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I’ve been meaning to start this blog column for sometime, and today I take the mighty plunge. I call it “The Happening”, and it is my way of addressing the constant stream of event information that finds its way into my e-mail inbox. These events range from epic to elegant and from now on no event will visit my e-mail without then paying a visit to the Mutineer Blog, with the first mention going to Jonathon Alsop’s Boston Wine School, which kindly sent me information about the upcoming spring classes offered through his school. Continue Reading »
