Landon Winery Wine Club pick up for Aug 2012

It is summer in Texas and that means the heat is on. When the phrase ?dog days of summer? it was meant for Texas. Today the alignment of the moons, stars and solar systems must have had a hiccup because it was a very pleasant day to be out and about in North Texas. So [...]

Source: http://thegrapesaroundtexas.com/2012/08/19/landon-winery-wine-club-pick-up-for-aug-2012/

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Pacific Rim: Five Rieslings and a Chenin Blanc

Pacific Rim Winery, located in West Richland, Washington, is almost exclusively a Riesling producer. The first Pacific Rim Riesling was produced in 1992 as a brand within Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz, California, and used grapes from California, Washington, and Germany. In 2007, Randall Grahm decided to downsize Bonny Doon and spun off Pacific [...]

Pacific Rim: Five Rieslings and a Chenin Blanc was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

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Wine on TV comes to a Second Screen

Ever wondered what they were drinking on a TV show and wanted to know more? Maybe even try it yourself? We know that product placement in TV and film is very effective if nothing else because of the amount of money that is charged for the privilege. It isn’t just films either, as the experience [...]

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Sending Money to Wine Friends with Amazon Payments

When taking advantage of wine deals it's often advantageous to join forces with others to reduce shipping costs and/or share winery allocations.

In doing so we create a situation where we need to settle up financially. Months often go by before the actual wine arrives and exchanges hands but in the meantime you need to float the costs. This is usually manageable  but it's preferable to settle up financially sooner rather than later.

Mailing a check is a nuisance. Who wants to take the time to write a check out, find an envelope and a stamp and get it out the door? Bill pay might work but seems a little clunky too.

I've used PayPal for this a few times, but they make it hard to understand when fees will be charged and you can't use a credit card without paying a service charge.

Enter Amazon Payments


I've been doing some experimentation with credit card signup bonuses lately (270,000 miles and points baby!) and one of the borderline shady techniques folks use to generate spend on cards is to send money to a relative or trusted friend using Amazon Payments. Transactions are limited to $1,000 per sender per month but it can be a quick and easy way to meet a $1,000 minimum spend to get a signup bonus.

That's not the intended use model.

The intended use model is to make it easy to send money to friends.

How it Works


Almost everyone has an Amazon.com account at this point, right? If not, sign up for one.

Step 1: Visit the Amazon Payments website

Go to: http://payments.amazon.com

Step 2: Create an account

At the top right of the page click "Create Account".
Sign in with your Amazon.com credentials.
Complete the form and submit.
Wait until you receive an email confirming your email address.
Confirm your email address to complete the application process.

Step 3: Wait for account to be verified

If you try to send or receive money right away you'll may get a message like this:

"As a result of changes to federal regulation, Amazon Payments is required to verify your identity. This functionality is temporarily disabled, pending verification of your information."

You need to wait for your account to be verified. A little while later you should receive an email saying "Your Amazon Payments account has been verified". This can take a minute or a few hours. You should now be able to send and receive money. You probably already have credit cards associated with your Amazon account but if you don't you can add them while you're waiting.

Step 4: Turn on "Accept requests for payment"

This step is important and non-obvious. By default, accounts don't allow requests for money. So when your friend sends you a payment request it'll say something like:

"The person you are requesting payment from is not accepting payment requests at this time. Please contact them first."

To remedy this situation visit your Amazon Payments account page, click "Edit My Account Settings" and then "Change my security settings". If "Accept requests for payment" is off, click Edit and turn it on. Your friend should now be able to send you a request for money.

Step 5: Link a checking account

If you plan to receive payments you can link a checking account so you can transfer the money friends send you to your checking account. You can leave the money in your account and pay for goods on Amazon or transfer money to friends. But you'd be better off getting cashback/points/miles from a credit card than parking the money there.

It takes 5-7 days to link a checking account and you have to do the "verify small deposits" thing to get it going.

That should be it. If everything goes according to plan you should be able to send and receive money to/from friends.

Conclusion and Recommendations

It took a bit of back and forth with my pal SG to get this going the first time. But once it's set up I think this has the potential to be a fantastic way of settling up wine purchases between friends. No more floating money until the hand off occurs. No fees. Both buyers get points/miles/cashback on their credit cards. It's great.

Let's just hope Amazon doesn't shut this off. They're taking the hit on the credit card fee as it stands now, and if I had to guess why it would be to beef up their subscriber base to compete with PayPal.

Making friends in the area who have a similar interest in wine has been one of the best things about writing this blog the past few years. If you'd like to connect you can always drop me an email (wellesleywinepress@gmail.com) or reach me on Twitter: @RobertDwyer

I'd love it if you subscribed to The Wellesley Wine Press for future updates.

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Best of 2012 in Washington Wine Country

After visiting more wineries and tasting more Washington wines than I can count, meeting many of the best winemakers in Washington, and walking the rows in many of the best known vineyards in the state, these are the Wine Peeps team?s picks as the best of 2012 in Washington Wine Country. BEST WINE: 2009 Rasa [...]

Best of 2012 in Washington Wine Country was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

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Gary Farrell Wine Dinner at Blue Ginger


Gary Farrell Winery partnered with Chef Ming Tsai's Blue Ginger in Wellesley for a paired wine dinner this week. Wellesley's own Wasik's Cheese Shop was on hand to present cheeses for a total of six courses. Chef Tsai conceived, prepared and introduced each course to a group of forty food and wine enthusiasts and was joined by Gary Farrell General Manager Nancy Bailey and Winemaker Theresa Heredia.

Gary Farrell Winery is a Sonoma producer best known for their well balanced Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays. Gary Farrell began producing wine in the area in the late 1970s. Along with folks like Joe Rochioli, Tom Dehlinger, Davis Bynum, Robert Stemmler and others, Farrell established what Russian River Pinot Noir and Chardonnay would become today. In 1982 he produced his first wine under the Gary Farrell label and gradually built its prominence.

Gary Farrell Winery sources their grapes from well regarded vineyards like Rochioli, Keefer Ranch, Westside Farms, Bien Nacido, and Ramal. They source many of these grapes through long standing "handshake" arrangements with the growers and though they don't have their own vineyards as of yet they do have a winery and tasting room in the Russian River Valley that are open to the public. Appointments recommended.

Gary Farrell himself sold the winery in 2004. After a string of ownership changes from 2004 to 2011 the winery is now owned by The Vincraft Group - a name you might recognize for its ownership of Kosta Browne (visit/trip report here).

Winemaker Theresa Heredia joined Gary Farrell in 2012. You may have tasted her wines before since she was the winemaker at Freestone (Joseph Phelps' Pinot Noir project) from its first vintage through 2011.

So the wines we'd be tasting this evening were made by Gary Farrell winemaker Susan Reed who was Farrell's assistant prior to selling the winery in 2004 through 2011. Gary Farrell himself went off and started Alysian Wines.

So a bit of a changing of the guard has occurred at Gary Farrell Winery. But after tasting through these wines, along with being familiar with the Freestone style, along with talking with Theresa about her vision for Gary Farrell Winery - I think the winery is in very good hands and headed in an even better direction. If I could sum it up in one word I think it would be: Balance

Here are my thoughts on the evening...
(click/tap images to enlarge)


Maine Crab Balls with Grapefruit Pearls
'Waldorf' Salad
2011 Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc

This was Gary Farrell Winery's first Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc. I thought it was lively and rich yet clean and delicious. I'm always a sucker for a California Sauvignon Blanc as a starter. Maybe it has something to do with memories of visiting California wineries and having it be the first wine you taste before you get to the stuff you came for.

It paired wonderfully with the crunch of the crab balls and the 'Waldorf' salad was delicious, especially after hearing Chef Tsai's story about being visiting the Waldorf Astoria in New York the week before and "doing the tourist thing" and visiting their restaurant to enjoy the original.


Lobster Bisque Flan
Toasted Sesame Quinoa Salad
2009 Russian River Valley Chardonnay

Chef Tsai started off this course with a story about how you make Lobster Bisque using a Burr mixer, mentioning this article in the New York Times about how dangerous they can be. I was confused what a Burr mixer was initially. He'd later clarify on Twitter that a Burr mixer is a larger/industrial form of an immersion blender...which I'd gotten for my wife this year for Christmas at her request! Better be careful there Honey!

The Chardonnay was outstanding. Moderate oak influence, green apples, some slight tropical influence but not at all buttery or oaky. Very unique. It deftly avoided a lot of the pitfalls often found in California Chardonnay. Great value too if you can find it south of $30 at retail (it carries a $35 release price).


Five Spice Duck Breast with Sweet Potato 'Souffle'
Pomegranate and Brussels Sprout Salad
2010 Gary Farrell Hallberg Vineyard Pinot Noir

This was a spectacular course and the Hallberg Pinot Noir was my wine of the night.

Chef Tsai, as he often does, described how easy Brussels sprouts are to make and how much his kids enjoy eating them. The dish came together wonderfully.

The Hallberg Pinot Noir was so good I had to stop and post a tasting note on CellarTracker using the Cor.kz iPhone app. Really gorgeous stuff. Black cherries. Inviting fruit. Rich yet graceful. Seek this one out, and more from the Hallberg vineyard as well. Very nice. 93/100 WWP: Outstanding


Roasted Beef Tenderloin with Beet Gratin
White Peppercorn-Dijon Mustard Beurre Noisette
2010 Gary Farrell Rochioli Vineyard Pinot Noir

Another winning course. A play off a traditional steak frites dish Tsai recalled from his time in Paris, the sous-vide beef was melt in your mouth delicious. Remember that Top Chef season a while back where practically everything they made was prepared sous-vide? I think I now know why so many used that technique. Wow.

The Gary Farrell Rochioli Pinot Noir was positioned as the star wine of the night. Given Rochioli's California Pinot Noir royalty status, this wine jumped off the page of the event invitation (I attended as a media guest of the winery). But the Rochioli was leaner than the Hallberg. More orange oil/peel whereas the Hallberg was black cherries. Nice structure and acidity to stand up to the beef but given that I like Pinot Noir on the riper side the Hallberg was more purely enjoyable.


Wasik's Cheese Selections
2010 Gary Farrell Bradford Mountain Vineyards Zinfandel

Mr. Wasik was on hand himself to present the cheeses. Fantastic stuff. Folks in Wellesley line up out the door especially around the holidays to buy cheese from Wasik's and there's a Whole Foods with a substantial assortment of cheese down the street. Their stuff is that good.


Warm Ginger Bread Pudding with Salted Caramel Sauce
2010 Gary Farrell Bradford Mountain Vineyards Zinfandel

Salted Caramel! Love that stuff. The Zinfandel was incorporated into the ice cream and was tasty on its own as well. A delicious end to a magnificent wine dinner.


Conclusions & Recommendations


It was a pleasure to taste through Gary Farrell Winery's latest offerings. From what I tasted they strike a very nice balance that's sure to intrigue and please. Their appellation wines can be found at retail (try a Wine-Searcher search in your area) but the single vineyard bottlings require a little more effort to find. Best bet would be to join their wine club.

Blue Ginger does a great job with their wine dinners and Chef Tsai's engaging presence was unforgettable. The intimate forty person private room combined with outstanding service make these events ones to seek out. Look for upcoming events at Blue Ginger and keep an eye out for his new restaurant (and one his second): Blue Dragon in Boston.

I'd love it if you subscribed to The Wellesley Wine Press for future updates.

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Pacific Rim: Five Rieslings and a Chenin Blanc

Pacific Rim Winery, located in West Richland, Washington, is almost exclusively a Riesling producer. The first Pacific Rim Riesling was produced in 1992 as a brand within Bonny Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz, California, and used grapes from California, Washington, and Germany. In 2007, Randall Grahm decided to downsize Bonny Doon and spun off Pacific [...]

Pacific Rim: Five Rieslings and a Chenin Blanc was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WinePeeps/~3/zbdcCouQ0QQ/

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