WineLife365

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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