Wine Word of the Week: Vintage

This week?s Wine Word of the Week is vintage. Official definition from Jancis Robinson?s The Oxford Companion to Wine: The vintage year is the year in which a wine was produced and the characteristics of that year. ? In the southern hemisphere, a vintage-dated wine invariably carries the year in which the grapes were picked, [...]

Wine Word of the Week: Vintage was originally posted on Wine Peeps. Wine Peeps - Your link to great QPR wines from Washington State and beyond.

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Honig Wine Dinner at Blue Ginger

Here's another one of those offers I feel is laser-targeted at me: Blue Ginger in Wellesley is hosting a dinner featuring Honig wines.

I say laser-targeted because I love Honig's wines and I love Blue Ginger.

Honig is a Napa producer of a freaking delicious Sauvignon Blanc, a Napa value benchmark Cabernet, and a spot-on higher end Cabernet bottling (Bartolucci). I enjoy the style of their wines year in and year out and they deliver value across everything they produce.

Blue Ginger is hands down our favorite restaurant in town. They always seem to deliver a good time whether you sit in the lounge, sit down for dinner, or attend a wine event.

Here's the lineup:

Honig Wine Dinner
Wednesday, February 29 at 6:30pm
Menu Degustation
Lemongrass-Fennel Oyster Stew, Fennel Crackers
Napa Valley, Sauvignon Blanc 2010
~~~
Foie Gras Wrapped Scallop, Roasted Pineapple Syrup
Napa Valley Rutherford Vineyard, Sauvignon Blanc Reserve 2009
~~~
Pork Shank-Caramelized Shallot Dumplings
Shiitake-Ginger Mushroom Broth
Napa Valley, Cabernet Sauvignon 2008
~~~
Roasted Five Peppercorn Beef Tenderloin
with Twice Stuffed Yukons
 Cabernet Sauvignon Demi and Thai Basil Oil
Napa Valley, St Helena, Bartolucci Vineyard, Cabernet Sauvignon 2007
~~~
Wasik's Cheese Course
~~~
Blue Ginger Dessert
Rutherford Napa Valley, Late Harvest, Sauvignon Blanc 2008
$125.00 inclusive of tax & gratuity 

To make a reservation: 781-283-5790 ex. 18
For more information: http://ming.com/blueginger/upcoming-events/honig-wine-dinner.htm

Here are my tasting notes on prior vintages of Honig wines:
  • 2009 Honig Sauvignon Blanc - USA, California, Napa Valley (8/15/2010)
    Oh my what a delicious wine. If you're looking for a wine to share with guests who don't usually drink wine I think you might find them guzzling this one with delight. And for guests that do drink wine, if they're not adverse to a little fruit-forward, slight sweetness to their wine I think they'd appreciate this one too.
    If we take Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc as the baseline for new world SB and subtract the edgy zingy pungent aromatics and replace it with new world tropical goodness- I think you have this wine.
    Depending on the mood you're it might suit you very well. (90 points)
  • 2007 Honig Cabernet Sauvignon - USA, California, Napa Valley (6/21/2010)
    This wine so completely aligns with the flavor profile I'm looking for in a Napa Cab- I love it. Ripe blackberries that fade into deliciously savory dusty tannins. The finish is a bit short but it tasted so good I didn't care. (93 points)
  • 2004 Honig Cabernet Sauvignon Bartolucci - USA, California, Napa Valley (3/16/2010)
    This was pretty darn good for my palate. Hard to say it was worth the money (the baseline Honig Cab is pretty good). But it didn't disappoint and I enjoyed it very much. (93 points)
Posted from CellarTracker

Further Reading:


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Kendall-Jackson Humanizes Their Brand

It’s rare when network TV and wine come together but when it does I take a look. I’m not a regular viewer of Undercover Boss but might be after this episode at Kendall-Jackson Wine Estates. New President Rick Tigner works at the bottom of this organization and learns a lot. And he does the right [...]

Kendall-Jackson Humanizes Their Brand originally appeared on Winecast. Licensed under Creative Commons.

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Field Notes from a Wine Life ? Power Structure Edition

Odds and ends from a life lived through the prism of the wine glass…

Naked Wine and Occupy Wall Street

It’s not hard to notice the parallels between the natural wine movement and Occupy Wall Street - both are valid causes sorely lacking coherence and a rallying point that would move them from fringe head-scratcher to mainstream momentum.

  Natural wine is about purity of wine expression—shepherding grapes grown without chemicals to the bottle with as little human manipulation as possible, representing the place where they came from in the process.


  Occupy Wall Street is about re-calibrating the world’s best economic system – capitalism—to preserve the middle-class, the labor force that has allowed the U.S. to create the most productive economy in the world.

Neither movement represents fringe radicalism as some would have you believe.  I look at both as being valid inflection points and, at their core, about keeping a balance between big and small, allowing every man and woman an equal opportunity at pursuing success around their particular truth.

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What reasonable person would deny the validity of either if not clouded by confusion?

One idea well-conceived and well-communicated can change the world, but, unfortunately, both the natural wine movement and Occupy Wall Street are prevaricating from their essential truth, rendering them both toothless and feckless.

No need to crib from Che Guevara, but appealing to base logic and the common denominator would do both movements some good.

Just one man’s opinion…

On the Aussies, Redux

A few weeks back, I noted how the Australian wine industry was poised for a rebound in public perception due in part to two things happening in concert – public backlash to Yellow Tail wine, what I call the, “Derision Decision,” and an unspoken coalition of influencers recognizing Australia’s artisanal wine production – the antithesis of Yellow Tail.  I cited recent sympathetic mentions from Jay McInerney in the Wall Street Journal and Dan Berger, wine writing’s current patriarch, as proof points.

You can add to the list of sympathetic mentions about artisanal Australia with recent mentions from Jancis Robinson and James Suckling.

Don’t sleep on Australia.  It’s making a comeback slowly, but surely in public perception.

Tim Mondavi and Wine Spectator

Thomas Matthews, the Executive Editor for Wine Spectator magazine (WS), has commented on my site a few times.  Each of these instances has been to protect or project Wine Spectator around its editorial goals.

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Good on Thomas for not being afraid to get in the ring.  Certainly, WS takes its fair share of shots from the wine chatterati, mostly with grace and aplomb.

Lest I cast myself as anything but objective, I should note that James Laube’s article on Tim Mondavi and Continuum in the current issue of WS (November 15th issue) is everything right about what mainstream wine media can offer wine consumers that online wine writing (mostly) doesn’t –long-form, depth, first-person access and an effort that takes weeks and not hours.

Laube’s piece is excellent - well-written and balanced; acknowledgement thereof is in order.

Besides the Wine

Jordan winery has two wines – a Cabernet and Chardonnay, but they really have a triumvirate in terms of things to buy.  Jordan focuses on food and wine as being partners at the table and, to that end, any purchase from Jordan should also include their olive oil.  Wow!

The Jordan olive oil makes Trader Joe’s EVOO seem like Two Buck Chuck, comparatively speaking.  A little whole wheat Barilla pasta, some homemade pesto using the Jordan olive oil and some artisan bread in five minutes a day and you’re assuredly living the good life.  The rub is I wouldn’t pour the round Jordan Chard with the pesto, probably a Sauvignon Blanc, but don’t let that dissuade you from picking up their olive oil – it’s good stuff.

Source: http://goodgrape.com/index.php/site/field_notes_from_a_wine_life_power_structure_edition/

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Taste of the Nation Boston 2012 Promo Codes

Taste of the Nation Boston 2012 is coming to the Hynes Convention Center Thursday, April 19th. The event features a chance to taste dishes from over 65 Boston restaurants, 100 different wines, specialty cocktails, craft beer, and a silent auction and live entertainment.

Boston?s chefs and restaurants will participate alongside the event?s three Honorary Chef Chairs: Gordon Hamersley of Hamersley?s Bistro, Andy Husbands of Tremont 647, Jody Adams of Rialto, and Joanne Chang-Meyers of Flour Bakery.

Here's a list of participating restaurants:

  • Avila
  • Blue Inc.
  • Brasserie Jo
  • Cambridge School of Culinary Arts
  • Craigie on Main
  • Davio's
  • DelFrisco's
  • Flour
  • Hamersley's Bistro
  • La Morra
  • Myers & Chang
  • Rialto
  • Sandrine's
  • Tremont 647
For more information and to purchase tickets: http://www.strength.org/boston

Use promotional code VDAY2012 for 20% off.


Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WellesleyWinePress/~3/8yUwuGjLQeE/taste-of-nation-boston-2012-promo-codes.html

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