Photo Courtesy of the News Journal

I had a dream…a wildly crazy dream of putting together the baddest, most bombastic and over the top blind wine tasting party ever attempted; but I had a few things (make that lots of things) to overcome in order to make my sweet dream a reality.  Things like…I had no place, no wine, and no food.  I knew I needed a pretty, idyllic, and beautiful venue, enough wine to satisfy several army platoons, and some great food.  To sum it up in a nutshell, I needed a whole lot of everything if I was going to make this party one for the record books.    

I could only hope that a genie would fly out of one of my wine bottles to grant me three wishes, or maybe I just needed to pray for some divine intervention!  Well, guess what?  Dreams and wishes do come true – you just need to say the two magic words:  HELP and PLEASE.     

WISH #1:  Where was I gonna hold this beautifully conceived blind wine tasting?  In my mind, I wanted the tasting to have a warm, relaxed feeling in a home – not in some rented church hall or at the local moose lodge.  I really wanted a place where people could just kick off their shoes, sit back, and try a few wines in a comfortable, intimate setting.  You know, just the picture-perfect place where guests could feel right at home.   But as I thought about the potential number of wine lovers attending this little shindig, I quickly began to realize that my slice of home-heaven was not going to accommodate the number of guests that was floating around in my dizzy wine-soaked brain.  So I wished and wished, asked for HELP, and said the magic word PLEASE.  And guess what?  It worked!    

WISH #1 GRANTED:  My wife phoned our good friends Rob and Candice Holden and asked them if they would be willing to open up their gorgeous early 20^th century home to nearly 100 winos eager to sip, swirl, swallow, and spit (maybe not so much of the spitting part) a bunch of brown-bagged wines.   

And you know what?  They said, “YES”!  Candice & Rob, you guys are the best!  Thank you both for your immense generosity and all of the work that each of you put into making this party a huge success!     

WISH #2:  How in the world was I going to assemble enough wines to put into this blind tasting?  I was hoping for enough variety, with price points ranging from Boone’s to Dom, that would thoroughly floor this thirsty crowd and send them into a total wine euphoria.  So I wished and wished, asked for HELP, and said the magic word PLEASE.  And guess what?  It worked again!     

WISH #2 GRANTED:  I knew that I was going to have to call in some pros that have lots of experience conducting blind-tastings.  So I picked up the phone and called my friends over at “The Wine Trials” and asked them if they might be willing to take a road trip to the home of tax-free shopping – Delaware.     

(From left) Tyce Walters, Coco Owens, Robin Goldstein, Mark Walker and Alexis Herschkowitsch at the tasting in Wilmington. The News Journal GINGER WALL

They graciously agreed to participate and brought with them a ‘Baskin-Robbins’ array of wines, priced low to high.  Heck, they were even nice enough to bag and number all 72 of them ahead of time!  For that – Alexis, Robin, Tyce and Coco:  Thank you for bringing enough wine for an army and for giving these Delaware wine lovers an opportunity to participate in the Wine Trials.  We’re looking forward to the 2011 edition with great anticipation!  

But wait!  Can you believe that after 6 flights, which included 72 wines, guests were still thirsty for more!  Here comes my good friend Oscar Zelaya, owner of Ward’s Fine Wines in Wilmington, Delaware, to the rescue.  He conducted his own special wine tasting, pouring some of his own personal favorites (under $20) from his shop.    

Oscar, thank you my friend for calling St. Peter and guaranteeing us a perfect rain-free evening and for not choosing the World Cup over the party.    

WISH #3:  Food!  What was I going to do about food?  We certainly have to offer up something for our guests to eat in order to soak up all of that wine that was going to be consumed, right?  Two of the 4 hosts were beginning to think that the only things that would be served at the party would be breadsticks and the Kraft singles that were in the fridge.  So I wished and wished, asked for HELP, and said the magic word PLEASE.  And guess what?  Well, this one required some divine intervention.  We needed a very brave individual with nerves of steel (who also happens to be an outstanding chef) to pull this together with very little notice.      

WISH #3 GRANTED:  Talk about a spread that was as beautiful as it was bountiful.  Wow!  Major “big ups” go out to one of Delaware’s Masters of Gastronomy, Matthew Curtis, Owner and Chef of Wilmington’s Union City Grille.     

Photo Courtesy of Union City Grill

A few of the tasty morsels he prepared, included:  

Roquefort grapes – grapes dredged in Roquefort and dusted with Pistachio Crumbles
Spicy tuna tartar with mint served on a cucumber
Thai chicken skewers
Thinly sliced “Blackened Beef” on crostini with gorgonzola mascarpone
Warm phyllo cups with chorizo, roasted peppers and cheddar
Curried crab salad on cumin toasted pita crisps
Antipasti
Scallop Ceviche with toasted tostada chips   

I’m still in awe of Chef Curtis and the amazing spread he put together in such a short period of time.  Thank you for keeping your cool, while some of us were beginning to lose it.    

I almost forgot – Dessert!  When throwing a party, you’ve got an obligation to offer your party guests a little dessert, right?  A very special thank you goes out to my dear MUM for slaving in a hot kitchen for 100 people she didn’t even know.  My own mom got into the WineLife action and cranked out several of her naughty brownie creations for guests to nibble on.  Thanks Mom!  No doubt, you make a mean brownie and now a few others know it too – including Chef Curtis.  

Final Parting Words:    

What more can I tell you about this spectacular evening besides, it doesn’t take a genie to make magic.  It just takes some fantastic people who are willing to help!    

I think this swanky soirée was best summed up by one of our guests as they were leaving:    

“Hey, can we do this all over again in about 2 weeks?”  And I replied back, “Why, two weeks?”  And they said, “It’s about the amount of time I’ll need to recoup from this one!”  

Cheers to everyone that participated in The Delaware Wine Trials…let’s do it again!  

If you’d like to read more about the party or see more pictures, checkout these links:    

“Fine on the Palate, Easy on the Wallet“  News Journal – June 16, 2010
“The Wine Trials:  Wilmington Edition“  Second Helpings – June 16, 2010
“Delaware Wine Trials Album“  WineLife365 FaceBook Page – June 19, 2010
“The Delaware Wine Trials Album“  The Wine Trials FaceBook Page – June 14, 2010

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I will announce the correct number and the lucky winner on May 22nd.  
Good luck and happy guessing!

Container is 19 in. tall with a 5 in. diameter opening.

Please note:  Travel arrangements are not included.

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Here are just a few of the highlights for this year’s event:

• Over 100 fine wines hand-selected by the folks at the Wine Library.
• An Exquisitely prepared array of  hors d’oeuvres by the award-winning culinary staff at the Hilton Short Hills hotel.
• Great live smooth jazz provided by Capital Jazz Fest Challenge winner, Marcus Anderson.  Marcus is a multi-talented saxophonist, flautist and vocalist from Durham, NC.  He recently released his second solo CD, titled, “From the Heart”.

Sound good…wanna go?

Well guess what?  I’ve got 2 passes to give away, compliments of the promoters for this event, and all you have to do to win the tickets is make a guess on the total number of wine closures that I’ve got stashed in my WineLife365 “Estimation Station” shown below.  That’s it!

To Enter:   

1. The contest starts now and is only open to WineLife365 Facebook Fans.  So, if you want to play, you’ve gotta be a fan!
2. Place your guess in the Comment area of this post on the Fan Page.  Please limit to 2 guesses.
3. This contest will close at 11:59pm ET on March 31^st.

The first person in the comment stream (on the Fan Page) that guesses the right number will win the 2 tickets to the 3rd Annual Spring Wine Tasting on Friday, April 23 at The Hilton Short Hills Hotel.*  If nobody guesses the exact number, the person with the closest guess, without going over, wins the tickets. 

I will announce the correct number and the lucky winner on April 1^st.   

Good luck and happy guessing!

Container is 19 in. tall with a 5 in. diameter opening.

* Please note:  Travel arrangements are not included.  However, discounted accommodations are available from the nice peeps at Hilton Short Hills.

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If you love good food, great wine, and a place where you can just sit back and enjoy both in a relaxing setting – then the Nantucket Wine Festival is the perfect destination!

Nantucket Island is known for its natural beauty, stunning architecture, cosmopolitan fare, and, of course, its 19th century role as a whaling community.  But on May 19^th – May 23^rd all attention will be on the 14th Annual Nantucket Wine Festival.  This is one of the premier food and wine events in the country, and I have been lucky enough to receive two tickets from the event promoters to give away to WineLife365 fans for the Grand Tasting on Sunday, May 23rd!  I had the great opportunity of attending this event a couple years ago, and I’m excited for others to experience it as well. 

Interested in going?  It’s pretty easy – just make a guess on the total number of wine closures in our “Estimation Station” shown below.  That’s it! 

How to enter: 

1. The contest starts now and is only open to WineLife365 Facebook Fans.  So, if you want to play, you’ve gotta be a fan!
2. Place your guess in the Comment area of this post on the Fan Page.  Please limit to 2 guesses.
3. This contest will close at 11:59pm ET on March 31^st.

The first person in the comment stream (on the Fan Page) that guesses the right number will win the 2 tickets for the Grand Tasting on Sunday, May 23rd*.  If nobody guesses the exact number, the person who had the closest guess, without going over, wins the tickets. 

I will announce the correct number and the lucky winner on April 1^st.   

Good luck and happy guessing! 

Container is 19 in. tall with a 5 in. diameter opening.

* Please note:  Travel arrangements are not included.

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Were my wife and I the only ones that missed the episode of Sex and the City where Carrie and the girls strolled the winter NYC streets wearing Spiderman rubber boots?  This past weekend, my wife and I took a road trip into the Big Apple to attend the New York Wine Expo and we were asking ourselves that very question after stepping down into that first slushy puddle!

Note to all you newbies that ever plan to visit New York City just after a snowstorm:  Keep your Manolo Blahniks high heels and whatever other form of footwear that you deem as being “cute” at home, because they don’t look particularly fabulous when they’re filled up with seven inches of wet sloppy gray slush.  Trust me when I tell you, even Spiderman looks great with Chanel!  To the guys - your Gore-Tex hunting boots are highly recommended in this particular situation!

With this new life lesson under our belts, we weren’t about to let some soggy socks and water-soaked shoes stand in our way of drinking some great wine – heck no!

Upon entering the Expo, my wife and I immediately took notice of one important element that had been missing from all of the other wine expos and events that we’ve attended in the past – Crowd Control.  The organizers and security company for this particular event did a terrific job of not allowing this party to get too big; which gave attendees the opportunity to make their way around to all the wonderful exhibitors’ tables.

A couple of the exhibitors that stood out at this event were Wines of Argentina and get this – Wines from Brazil.  Yup, that’s right, Brazil!  I was quite surprised to learn that over the past fifteen years the Brazilian wine industry has been investing a tremendous amount of money into equipment and vineyard management in order to one day become a player in the global wine market.  Although I tasted several outstanding Brazilian wines, the most notable were from Patricia Carraro’s family run vineyard called, Lidio Carraro.  I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking with Ms. Carraro about her wines.  The thing I found most interesting and appealing about her and her family’s winemaking philosophy is that they’re extremely passionate about allowing the wines to express their true “terroir” (sense of home).  They do not believe in masking their wines’ natural flavors with unnecessary additives.  In addition to the wonderful tasting wines from Lidio Carraro, I was also impressed by a refreshing, inexpensive sparkling wine comprised of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes from the Miolo Wine Group.  Taking into consideration the quality level along with the price level of these wines from Brazil, they seem to be forming a perfect storm that is headed straight from the importers, to the distributors and onto wine retailers’ shelves.  So, if you start to see Brazilian wines showing up on the store shelf, don’t be surprised.

Sorry for the blurry pic!

Another great stop at this year’s expo was Argentina.  Argentina is making some of the most beautifully aromatic wines in the world today, and this tasting really showed off that characteristic in a big way!  We were graciously taken through several fine examples of Torrontes (white) and Malbec (red) by Ms. Nora Favelukes, President of QW Wine Experts.  Similar to our experience with the Wines from Brazil, Wines of Argentina was also very well represented by several great whites and reds that displayed unique and distinctive characteristics.  Overall, it was an outstanding showing from the Wines of Argentina, and I can’t say enough kind words about the energy, insight, and passion that Ms. Favelukes and her team shared with us and other attendees at the show.

There were a lot more great peeps and vino at the NY Wine Expo, but here’s a short list of some of the stand-outs at the show:

Lyrarakis Heraklion Cuvee Grande Colline from the Greek island of Crete.

Fulcrum Wines from California.

No pic from NY Wine Expo - this is from AC Food and Wine Festival

Brianne Fisher, Testa Wines of the World - featuring Nemea Agiorgitiko Red.

Manuel Moreno,  Vinicola de Villarrobledo - featuring a killer Syrah.

Richard Morgenstern, Creative Wines International  – featuring Mettler Wines.

All in all, the New York Wine Expo was a well organized event with a diverse representation of wines.  If you didn’t make it this year, I highly recommend marking your calendar for next year…just don’t forget to bring your boots!

To see more pictures, visit the WineLife365 Fan Page.

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