Gone Fishing!

I spent the last few days outside Boston with great friends. We took in two fantastic concerts, but best of all we went fishing. Since my friend use to live the the Hudson Valley, it was appropriate that we start our day of adventure with some Hudson Valley Sparkling Wine.

We started the day with Mimosas made with Clinton Vineyards Sparkling Wine and went on the hunt for Tuna. Unfortunately we were unsuccessful, so we heading to find some Striped Bass. Paul and Sharon were successful. I was not.Sharon sent me home with the Striped Bass, a recipe and the weekend catch. I did alter the recipe a bit and paired it with a 2008 Millbrook Vineyards Tocai Friulano, Estate Bottled, Hudson River Region.

The Tocai had some citrus on the nose, with kiwi and grapefuit on the taste. Clean mineral finish. Of course a little wine for me and a little for the dish.

I have to be honest here. Some dinners suffer great tragedies. This was one of them. The garlic bread. I got sidetracked after putting it in the oven, the next thing I knew there was a strange burning smell. The fire alarm went off and we had to call the security company to tell them not to send the fire department. I am sure I was the laugh of the evening. That garlic bread would have been great dipped in the dish!

Here is the recipe I used and dinner was great despite the burned garlic bread. Thanks Sharon!

Striped Bass with Clams, Shrimp and Chorizo

2 tbs olive oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
1/2 cup diced fennel
6 ounces cooked chorizo, thinly sliced
1 tbs fresh chopped oregano
1/2 cup white wine
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium ripe tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 lbs skinless boneless striped bass fillets
15 uncooked shrimp, peeled
10 littleneck clams, scrubbed and rinsed

Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onion, fennel, chorizo, and oregano and saute until veggies have softened. Stir in wine and deglaze pan. Stir in garlic and tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.

Arrange striped bass fillets over tomato mixture and season with pepper. Add shrimp nad clams and braise over medium-low heat until the clams have opened. About 10-12 minutes. Spoon into dish and serve.

Would taste great with a piece of garlic bread on the side:)

If you find yourself in Massachusetts, the Sharon B does fishing charters. They leave from Green Harbor, MA. You will be in great hands with Captain David DeCastro

Bashakill Vineyards Interview Part 3

Please enjoy part 3 of my interview with Paul Deninno of Bashakill Vineyards

Blanc&Noir Films Presents Young Frankenstein the Saturday at Brotherhood Winery

Catch a movie under the stars at Brotherhood Winery this Saturday June 27 as Blanc& Noir Films presents Young Frankenstein.

Movie begins at 8pm in the courtyard at Brotherhood Winery. Tickets are $15 per person and include 2 glasses of wine, cheese, fruit, film and fun.

Blanc & Noir Film Festival is an evening of wine, entertainment and relaxation under the stars. A series of classic and contemporary black and white films come to life on their 12 foot tall by 12 foot wide theater screen.

Saturday will be a lovely night, come enjoy the nice weather with a movie and glass of wine.

For more information, click here

The Americas, East vs. West-Just Who Does it Best?

Join me on Tuesday, July 7th as I sail around Manhattan with Wendy Crispell aboard the beautiful yacht Manhattan. We will leave from Chelsea Pier and sail to the Statue of Liberty, past Ellis Island into the Buttermilk Channel past the Manhattan & Brooklyn Bridges, as we taste the difference between East Coast /West Coast. From fruit forward reds to austere whites just what is the difference? Does climate make a difference? You decide which style you like and why!

We will be tasting one Hudson Valley wine, one Finger Lakes wine, one Long Island wine, one Washington State wine, one wine from Oregon and one cool climate California wine. Each wine is paired with a light tapas. Brotherhood Blanc de Blanc will be served on reception.

Each person will receive an aroma card, detailed information on wines of the evening and Wendy will do a little aroma technique presentation.

Tickets are $85 , but if you use code wine09 you will receive 15% off two or more tickets. Click here to order tickets.

Come join me, it will be a wonderful evening.

To learn more about Wendy click here.

Interview with Paul Deninno - Part 2

Part 2 of 5 of my interview with Paul Deninno of Bashakill Vineyards. I hope you enjoy the series.

Interview with Paul Deninno of Basha Kill Vineyards

Last weekend I strolled up to Basha Kill Vineyards to speak with Paul Deninno. What a wonderful place he has, tucked away in the BashaKill. Funny, driving up Route 17 and coming down the hill, before the exit, I saw that looked like wetlands that must have been carved out from a glacier. The next thing I knew I was driving through those wetlands to BashaKill.

I'd like to introduce you to Paul Deninno of BashaKill Vineyards, Sullivan County's first winery, in part 1 of my interview.

Eat Local - Drink Local - Travel the World.

This weekend the Shawangunk Wine Trail will host the "Around the World" in 80 miles. This is a wonderful event with wine and food tastings.

This event highlights different regions of the world’s food, paired with wines from the Shawangunk Wine Trail wineries. Wineries will be decorated as if you were walking into a winery from that designated country, and served a regional dish pair with their wines.

Participants will arrive at their starting winery where they will receive their Passport and wine glass. As they pass through customs (check-in) they will get their passport stamped, a food sampling of the cuisine, and taste the wines produced from the winery. All eleven wineries on the Shawangunk Wine Trail will be participating.

This year the countries being represented are Stoutridge Vineyards – France; Palaia Vineyards – Spain; Whitecliff Winery – Mexico; Benmarl Winery - Native America; Glorie Farm Winery – Cuba; Brotherhood Winery – Ireland; Brimstone Hill Winery – Sweden; Applewood Winery – Egypt; Baldwin Vineyards – Italy;, Adair Vineyards – South Africa and Warwick Valley Winery – Thailand.

Tickets for this event are $25 plus tax in advance and buys a Passport with Visas for each "country" good for the day purchased, and a souvenir Wine Trail etched wine glass. Event tickets include tasting fees at all eleven wineries and gourmet food tasting. The event starts at 10 am each day and runs until 6pm. Your travels must begin at your designated starting winery.

Some of the starting wineries are sold out for Saturday. That means you just can't begin the day there, since they only have enough passports and glasses for the people who signed up to begin at that winery. After you begin at YOUR starting winery you can go to all the wineries on the trail in whatever order you would like.

Hint...if you can attend the event on Sunday, it will be less crowded. You will have more of a chance to go 1:1 with the owner/winemaker.

Advance tickets are on sale until Thursday. Ticket sales will end at 6pm. For Sunday tickets use this coupon and receive $10 off your ticket.

http://twtqpon.com/rtyodg

Here are pictures from last year.

Around the World 2008

Celebration of Hudson Valley Wines Dinner

I survived Friday evening as organizer for The Hudson Valley Wine & Culinary Food Pairing Dinner - A Celebration of Hudson Valley Wines. Everyone seemed to have a wonderful time. There were 78 people that came to celebrate the award winning wines of the Hudson Valley. The view from the restaurant was just breathtaking!

On Wednesday I happen to bump into Jim Trezise, President of the New York Wine & Grape Foundation at Destination Riesling in New York City. He mentioned that he wanted to attend Friday's dinner. I told him that was wonderful, but there was a catch...would he present Ben with the Veritas Award. Jim told me he would be honored, and I kept the secret from Phyllis, so she was quite surprise and thrilled when she walked into the restaurant and saw him.
Jim presented Ben with The Hudson Valley Veritas Award for lifetime achievement and visionary leadership in Hudson Valley winemaking.

The evening went on and I along with my "partner in crime" Colleen Hughes, presented all the awards. Everyone was having such a great time, they had to tell us to leave around 11:30.

I will have the video of the dinner available as soon as we edit it. In the meantime here are the pictures from the dinner to enjoy.

Sipping and Sizzling

If you don't have any plans for this Saturday June 13 - stroll on up to Hudson Chatham Winery, in Hudson, NY where Kinderhook Farm will be grilling and you can pair their wonderful food with some wonderful Hudson-Chatham award winning wines.

Kinderhook Farm, raise beef cattle on a 100% grass and legume diet that includes no grain, antibiotics, growth hormone, or animal by-products. This makes for a leaner, more flavorful meat that is as good as it gets. If you’ve never tried grass-fed, now’s the time!

Besides burgers on the grill, there will be fresh salad greens from Holmquest Farm, jams and chutneys for sampling from Beth's Farm Kitchen and desserts from a local baker.

Bring you lawn chair an picnic blanket and enjoy an afternoon of great wine, great food, great views and great music. The winery is open from 12 noon to 5:30pm. The barbeque begins at 12:30 and runs to 4pm.

Ravines 2007 Finger Lakes Pinot Noir

Just a wine region away and a 3 hour drive from the Hudson Valley is Finger Lakes Wine Country. I was up there in February and stopped at Ravines Wine Cellar for a tasting. We had tasted their Riesling the night before and made a mission to find this winery to taste the next day. (we did get lost, but eventually found it. GPS isn't always correct - and men don't ask for direction..need I say more)

This Pinot Noir was outstanding! It was bright cherry in color and had smoke and earth on the finish. The nose had the classic earthy smell that is a characteristic of pinot noir.

This wine was smooth. You could taste the malolactic fermentation as it had a smooth finish with a slight hint of butter. The bing cherry really came forward in the wine.

This wine was light and paired very well with my maple glazed pork.

If you are in the Finger Lakes, this winery is a must to put on your list.

Adair Vineyard 2007 Oak Aged Vidal Blanc

There is nothing better to drink on a warm spring evening than a nice crisp white wine with some herb covered Chevre cheese purchased at the farmers market. First I have to admit this wine is a leftover from the Hudson Valley Wine Competition where it won a bronze medal.

Wine of cocktail hour is a 2007 oaked aged Vidal Blanc from Adair Vineyards.

Vidal is a hybrid grape that was created from the parents of ugni blanc and seibel. It grows well in the cooler climate. Characteristics of Vidal are a full body white, clean citrus flavors of lemon and grapefruit.

I was quite surprised at this wine. First I was wondering on the oak, as it was aged in it for 8 months, but the oak did not overpower this wine at all. It put a nice mouth feel to it.

On the nose I identified honeydew melon. It is a nice clean and refreshing wine. I was also quite surprised on the spice I found in the wine mid palette. This wine had a nice long finish that stays with you.

This wine went wonderful with the herb covered Chevre cheese I purchased at the Millbrook Farmers Market earlier in the day. I really enjoyed this wine as I sat on the deck relaxing after a long day.

This wine sells at the winery for $14.95.

Aroma of the morning air

The other night I opened a 2007 Palaia Traiminette. Traiminette is a hybrid grape. 'Traminette' is a late mid-season white wine grape (Fig. 1) which produces wine with pronounced varietal character likened to one of its parents, 'Gewürztraminer'. 'Traminette' is distinguished by its superior wine quality combined with good productivity, partial resistance to several fungal diseases, and cold hardiness superior to its acclaimed parent, 'Gewürztraminer'.(info from nysaes.cornell.edu)

Now that you understand the grape variety I was tasting, on with the notes. On the nose with a deep inhale reminded me of flowers on a spring morning. Maybe Morning Glorie. There was a sweetness that turned nto a spicy dry finish. On the mid palate I tasted honeysuckle.

As the wine began to open the sweetness became more prominent.

This morning I got up and walked, taking in the scenery. I didn't have my ipod because I brought the dog with me. Talking to the dog and spending time with her is more important than listening to music and singing (easier on my neighbors ears too:) As I passed my favorite spot that overlooks the Catskills, I took a deep breath. OMG....I smelled the Traminette from the night before. For about a 1/4 mile I smelled the flowers of the aroma from the wine the previous night. What a smile that brought to my face.

Brotherhood Grand Monarque Cuvee

This is going to be a Brotherhood week. Not only did I taste their Grand Monarque but I made a Scallop dish with their Riesling.

I will begin with their Grand Monarque

Brotherhood's Grand Monarque is a wonderful sparkling wine. You can't call it Champagne because it's not from the Champagne region of France. It is made with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from their Hudson NY vineyard.

This Sparkling Wine is made in the traditional French way of methode champenoise, containing Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes.

Let me explain the Methode Champenose method of making champagne. After the wine goes through it's first fermentation, they will add a mixture of sugar and wine or sugar and brandy to get it moving into it's second fermentation. This results in the creation of additional alcohol and carbon dioxide gas, which gives the wine its effervescence or "sparkle." Sediment is also thrown off during the second fermentation and is removed through the steps of Riddling. Riddling is the process of positioning the bottles upside down and every 3 or 4 days you give the bottles a shake and turn, gradually increasing the angle of the tilit and dropping the bottle back in the rack with a slight wack. After 6 - 8 weeks the bottles are positioned straight downward and the sediment has collected in the neck of the bottle. The sediment is then removed by disgorgement. Walla..you have Sparkling Wine. It is then stored in the bottle for a minimum of 14 months.

When we uncorked the bottle of Grand Monarque Cuvee you could smell the aroma of the Chardonnay grape. The bubbles in the glass went straight up and it was a beautiful color of yellow.

The taste was smooth. The carbonation was not overpowering, which sometimes can be an issue if champagne or sparkling wine. The sparkling wine was smooth and silky, very well balanced. It wasn't to dry and wasn't to sweet. It was nowhere near a brut, but not sweet either.

I believe this sells for $25.99 at the winery or liquor store. This is definetly a great purchase it you like Champagne.

I am not a big fan of Champagne, but was really wowed on this. Even my grandmother who stayed away from carbonation would have like this Champagne..oops..I should say "Sparkling Wine"

HV Wine Dinner deadline June 4

The Hudson Valley Wine & Culinary Food Pairing Dinner - A celebration of Hudson Valley Wine will soon be here. June 12th is creeping up on us. All reservations must be made by June 4.

This is like planning a wedding. If you plan on attending reservations can be made at http://tinyurl.com/r5cbnq

Here is a look at the complete dinner menu

Hudson Valley Wine & Culinary Food Pairing Dinner Menu