Archive for December, 2010
I’ve got a Secret . . .
I’m fessin’ up: I never learned how to cook.
Surprised? Most people are, since I’ve owned a restaurant– Chicago’s Geja’s Café, the fondue place–for over 45 years.
For most of those 45 years I was single and ate at friends’ restaurants. Besides, what was I going to learn in a fondue kitchen? How to chop vegetables and arrange food platters?
About 30 years ago I set out to prepare my 1st home-cooked meal and invited a date over. I broiled some spicy lamb chops, sautéed asparagus, boiled potatoes and lit the candles. Tasty stuff! I was impressed but apparently not my date, who informed me that she would take a cab home. This was not encouraging, so it was back to restaurants.
When I ultimately got married, my wife was in law school and didn’t have the time to cook, nor the inclination. More restaurants, except for the occasional pasta/salad dinner at home.
Several years ago we moved to Park City, Utah, with our teenage son. Park City is a mountain town with 3 major ski resorts and a population of some 8,000 friendly folks who don’t honk in traffic and rarely go out to restaurants.
Upon settling into our new home my wife informed me that she and our kid were going skiing and that I was now the designated cook. Since I didn’t ski, this arrangement seemed like a fair division of labor. Besides, I was ready to reinvent myself and set off to become Park City’s Julia Child, whose advice I intended to follow: Be unafraid to fail and if you do, go out to dinner.
Stay tuned and I’ll take you through my culinary journey.
Kind regards,
John Davis, Founder, Wine Insiders
Looking Back to 2010, Ahead to 2011
Portillo, Chile - August 2010
This is the time for lists. Kids write all-I-want-for-Christmas lists. Adults make New Year’s resolution lists. Journalists publish “Best of” or “Predictions” lists. My list is a mixture of all the above, a look at wine news and trends from past year and what might be ahead in the year to come.
1) Riesling rising
A year and a half ago we couldn’t move a bottle of Riesling. Now we can’t keep them in stock. What happened?
About two years ago, wine writers began touting the beauty of Riesling. It’s always been popular in Europe but never really caught on in the States. Rumor was it was too sweet.
Riesling is made in a wide variety of sugar levels and styles ranging from the rip-out-your-tongue no-sugar/high acid to the off-dry fruity and finally the sublimely sweet dessert wines. Today people are more willing to experiment, and once they taste Riesling they find they like it.
In 2011, Wine Insiders will be offering Maddalena, an off-dry Riesling from Monterey, California. We think you’ll enjoy it with grilled fish or poultry and spicy Indian or Asian inspired dishes.
2) Still in love with Malbec
Prices are rising for this popular wine from Argentina which has taken the place of Merlot as the soft, easy drinking red.
3) Green all over
From the growers in the vineyards to the people supplying paper for the bottle label, the wine industry is embracing sustainability. This isn’t a new trend, but it continues to pick up steam.
4) Sustainable, organic and biodynamic vineyards are going strong
Each of these terms describes a different level of compliance. Learn more about the various levels of compliance from one of the best in the industry, Benzinger Vineyards http://www.benziger.com/Green-Farming.
5) The Democratization of Wine Media
Not long ago, a small group of wine critics said everything that needed to be said about wine. Thanks to wine bloggers, now you can read a wide range of perspectives, often at no cost. Check out this list of wine bloggers: http://alawine.com/wine-blog-rankings.html (blog links change so some may no longer be accurate)
6) Wine tweets
Twitter tastings are hugely popular. It ranges from a single person twittering about how she likes one bottle to Whole Foods testing five bottles live on Twitter from coast to coast.
7) Fruit bomb backlash
These days there’s a conversation, well maybe it’s an argument, between people who enjoy high-alcohol so-called fruit bomb wines and those who prefer the lower alcohol, more acidic food-friendly wines.
The big, fruit forward wines have levels of alcohol around 15 percent or higher. Fruit is picked very ripe, resulting in greater sugar content. The lower alcohol wines are typically under 14 percent, with average around 12.5.
It’s entirely a matter of personal taste. Check labels of wines you enjoy and see which style you prefer.
8) Is it regional or is it varietal?
More than ever, when people talk about wine they talk about where a wine is from. You might like Chardonnay from one part of the world, not so much from another part of the world.
Over the course of the year Wine Insiders club members will experience the most popular varietals from different regions . Our selections will include Cabs, Merlot, Malbec, Zinfandel, Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay and Reisling. You might enjoy keeping track of how your favorite varietals differ from region to region. You might even be surprised to discover you like a region more than you like a specific varietal.
9) Wine Travels for 2011
I’m looking forward to visiting Barcelona, Spain next spring. West of Barcelona is the Penedes region whose wines are now considered among Spain’s best.
10) Tastes for 2011
Having travelled to Russia and Hungary in the last couple of years and sampled their wine, I’m anxious to taste what I can of other Eastern European wines. I’m also curious about the wines of India and China.
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