Deck The Halls and Fill The Cellar!

The holidays!!!  What a great reason/excuse to fill your cellar with various types of wine!  Some of the wines would definitely be your personal favorites, others could be bottles that you've always wanted to try and the last few could be strictly for the cellar.  Let's go shopping!  Click here.

The Vine Wine Club has partnered with other small businesses this holiday season to offer you some of the best and most creative gift ideas for adults.  Thank you for supporting us!  Whether you are buying gifts for yourself or others or you simply want to share our list of gift giving ideas with others, we want to help you.  The Vine Wine Club is making it easier to find the perfect gift for wine lovers all over Virginia.  Of course, gift certificates to wine classes and tickets to The Exclusive Blacklist are fabulous gifts, but we have even more to offer.

Let's go shopping!

"The Gourmet at Home" Gift Package:  Enjoy two bottles of wine, one white and one red, plus a signed copy of the acclaimed cookbook by Paula Garrett, "From Miss to Mrs:  Recipes to Capture His Heart."  $50 plus shipping.  Orders must be placed by December 12, 2015 to guarantee Christmas Delivery.

Shoes and Elephants:  Get a bottle of Shoe Crazy Wine and a signed copy of "Conversing with The Elephant: Things Your Girlfriends Don't Have The Balls to Tell You" by Terricinia St. Clair. $30 plus shipping.  Order must be placed by December 12, 2015 to guarantee Christmas Delivery.  

A Sweet Treat:  Get 4 Tastrie Jars (Desserts baked in a jar by JBel's Tastries") and a bottle of our sweetest new craze "Little Bosco".  $45 INCLUDES shipping. (The dessert will arrive in separate packaging)

The Vine Wine Club 3 Month Membership:  For only $99 receive 2 bottles of the best pours delivered directly to your door.  Includes shipping.  If this is a gift, we will send a card to the receiver to let them know that the wine delivery will begin in January 2016.  

Holiday "Cellar"bration:  Get 4 bottles of top rated and limited produced wine from our new "Thirty-6" for $180 plus shipping (at least a $200 value).  In order to secure this prior to Christmas, the order must be placed no later than December 12, 2015.

So get your shopping started by simply going online and taking advantage of these easy ways to put a smile on someone's face.  Click here to visit The Vine Wine Club to take advantage of these great gift ideas.  Need help or more ideas?  Call us at 804-993-4130.

Happy Shopping!

SAVE THE DATE:  December 1, 2015, The Vine Wine Club is launching "Thirty-6".  Thirty-6 is our cellar of top rated and limited produced wines that are perfect for drinking today and even better when saved in ideal conditions.  We will feature 36 of the world's finest varietals from the most prestigious regions.  Our members will be invited to our private tasting party in January.  Stay tuned!

What are You Afraid Of?

I know that many in the wine industry have had this experience.  What happens is you're doing a wine tasting and someone comes to the table and say that I want something sweet.  There can be any number of wines on the table that folks may taste for free.  I'm not taking about one of those places where you pay a price to taste and you can only pick a select number that you want to sample.  But I am talking about the ones that you can end up having a couple of glasses of wine in tastings alone.  I probably shouldn't care when people want to stay in their comfort zones all of the time. But I do care! So excuse me while I stand on my soapbox!

#1. Wine tastings are for more than just to sell a customer wine.  A purpose of wine tastings is to educate.  We (I mean those of us in the industry) take pride in being able to explain the subtleties in the wine, talk about the great growing regions and the phenomenal season that helped to result in this little piece of "heaven" in a bottle.  We are poised and ready to talk "shop" because we've prepared and we've picked wines specifically for you.  When customers come to the table where we have lined the wines up in order of lightest to darkest with a few exceptions and ask for something sweet, it feels like cold water has been thrown on us.  We can offer the sweetest wine that we have.  If the customer doesn't like it, they walk away like we've offered them dirty socks.  Or worse, believe and tell others that we don't have any "good" wine.

#2.  What's sweet to one person isn't sweet to another person.  I will share an example from last week.  We were tasting out a Prosecco and one person said that it was sweet.  I personally wouldn't define it as sweet but I am just one person.  Wine can be somewhat subjective.  I have found a tinge of sweetness in some Merlots while others think that it is as dry as the Mojave Desert.  We taste things differently.  If you are at a wine tasting, use this opportunity to ask the expert why that is.  That's why they are there.

#3.  When you taste wine at your favorite shop, you are helping the shop/store owners to select wines to be on their shelves.  Do your part!  If you taste it and don't like it, take the opportunity to say what you don't like about it.  It's simple.  You better believe that if the masses think it isn't worth the shelf space, you won't see it again in that shop.

What are you afraid of?  Taste the small portion.  If you don't like it, spit it out or dump it.  Eat an oyster cracker to get the taste out of your mouth, drink water, and move to the next one.  Something may happen.  And that could be that you find something else that you like.  Write down the names of what you like or take a picture of the label with your phones.  When you shop or eat out, share the wine that you liked with the server and see if they have something similar.  There are so many varietals of wine; too many to limit your options to just one flavor profile.  Be adventurous, be fearless, taste wine.

Have a Glass (or Two or Five) of Italy

Enjoying wine can be more than simply enjoying what's in your glass.  Not that there is anything wrong with that.  Just play along with me and pretend, if you will, that there is something else going on.  I promise that I will bring you back to the deliciousness of the vino.

About eight years ago, I traveled for 10 days in Italy with some really good friends and wine drinkers. Tuscany made me fall in love with wines from this region.  Having seen the hillsides, valleys, and the luxurious vines, I feel a kinship and sense of familiarity when I drink Italian wines.  I smell the earthiness in the luscious reds and enjoy the lushness of the greenery that I taste on the palate.  The kiss of the sun and coolness of the nights is evident in the well balanced presentation of fruit and acidity.  Every sip makes me want to go back.  

A wine maker once explained to me that wine is about the soil, the sun, and water.  I can't argue with that because grapes, like any other fruit or vegetable, need those key ingredients to grow.  We all know that the amount of water and sun impact the rate of growth and ripeness, and we know that every soil isn't as fertile as others.  Therefore, the same grape doesn't grow the same in all parts of the world.  So what are we experiencing in our glass is a direct "taste" of where the grape was grown.  The beauty of studying wines from a specific region is that you learn to understand the nuances of grapes from that particular part of the world.  What's in your glass brings travel to you.  Next week, we bring Italy to Richmond.  

The Vine Wine Club's Winter Wine School presents "A Tour of Italy: Italian Wine Class" on Wednesday, October 14, 2015.  Taste delicious wines from various wine regions such as Gavi, Brunello, and Barolo.  Learn to appreciate what makes these regions so special.  

I hope to see you in class!

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Meritage: I Thought You Knew

A couple of weeks ago on "Off The Vine with Benita and Terricinia", we were having a conversation all the while tasting some really nice wines from Hayes Valley Vineyards.  Recently, I went back and (bravely) listened to the show.  First let me apologize for the shenanigans and silliness.  We've warned you that if you want to learn anything from the show, you should tune in early because once we start, it goes down from there.  But on the more serious side, I heard myself mention that I was drinking a Meritage.  I said it with confidence and a conviction that everyone listening knew what I was talking about.  I said it with an unintentional arrogance.  So please forgive me for being a snob that one time.

So what is Meritage?  Meritage is a wine that is made of two or more of specific noble grapes of Bordeaux.  It can be either red or white. In making a Meritage, no grapes can comprise more than 90% of the blend.  If these specific qualities are not met, you got yourself some other blend but not a Meritage.  The name itself (rhymes with heritage) is made up of the word "merit" which reflects the quality of the grapes and "heritage" which represents tradition.  A Meritage does not have to be produced in France.  They are made all over the world. The one that I was drinking is from Central Coast (California).

There are a lot of wines and wine terms that are "givens" for what is actually in the bottle.  For instance, Pouilly- Fuisse is Chardonnay, Vouvray is Chenin Blanc, etc.  We know that because we've learned that.  We've learned that there are specific regions that produce wines from very specific grapes.  In most instances, the wines are named after the regions and not the grape.  I don't know about you, but I am starting to see more winemakers "dumb down" the labels to tell us exactly what's in the bottle.  For that, I am grateful.  I don't want every time that I drink wine to turn into a test of my memory of geography.  I'm exhausted just thinking about it!


Want to win a pair of tickets to a wine class?  Email me at thevinewineclub@gmail.com with the "noble" grapes that can be used to make a red Meritage.  The contest ends on September 18, 2015.  We will enter the correct responses in a drawing for two tickets to our "How To Taste Wine Like a Pro" class that takes place on October 1, 2015.

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Dear Wine, I've Cheated but I Love You Still

I was raised by my dad.  When he had his friends over, I never saw little cute drinks with umbrellas in them.  I rarely saw them mix anything with orange juice and never even had cranberry juice in my refrigerator until I became an adult.  When I think back, the only wine we had was Tawny Port. and trust me, it wasn't a good one.  What I saw were various versions of liquid that looked like tea and smelled like gasoline. (And burned like hell!)  I knew that one day, although I've become sorta like a wine expert, I would take it back "home" to explore what my father and his friends were drinking and cozy up to the brown liquor.

So here is my confession.  I have fallen in love with Bourbon.

Recently, G and I visited a friend who is a real Bourbon connoisseur.  He has launched a company that does Bourbon education through classes or parties.  His Bourbon stash looked more robust than most ABC store whiskey aisles!  During our visit, our friend treated us to one of his Bourbon "tours".  We discussed many of the nuances that make this fine whiskey as diverse and refined as wine.  Made with at least 51% corn in new oak barrels that have been charred on the inside, I found that the care put into achieving optimal results was no different than the making of a quality wine.  As we talked, even the language in describing the nose, taste, and textures were no different than what we use when we talk about the qualities of wine.  After tasting about 9 different Bourbons, I knew that I could do this all night and still not know all that there is to know about the complexities of Bourbon.  But because I'm in love, the courtship will continue.

Any good Sommelier should know not only wine but spirits as well.  So I am committed to stepping up my game by becoming a Bourbon Sommelier (yes, that is a real things!).  Over the next few months, my friend and I will be planning an event that features my two loves...wine and bourbon...so stay tuned!

If you're interested in a Bourbon tasting or class, email me at thevinewineclub@gmail.com.  I will pass your information along to my friend (until we officially rollout his marketing plan).

Drink Pink!: A Quick Lesson in Rose'

I love a good Rose'.  To me, they go perfectly with lots of foods and are even as great as your chosen sipping wine. I don't know that I am the only one but the first time I had a Rose' that wasn't White Zinfandel, I expected sweet and fruity.  Some are!  But they can also be bone dry, like the first one that I had ever tasted.

Today's blog can be classified as a quick intro to Rose'.  It isn't meant to be heady or snobby...it is just meant to answer some very basic questions.  So if you are looking for big, fancy, wine words, stop reading now!  It's Thursdays AKA Little Friday!  Chill out!

What is a Rose'?  Where does that pink juice come from?  Well you're right if you said that they come from red grapes where the skin has had very limited contact with the juice.  You're also right if you said that it is a combination of a little white wine and a little red wine.  We did learn in kindergarten that red and white make pink, right?  The first method that I briefly described is the most common method.  I will admit that I think that second method, although acceptable in the wine world, is cheating.

Are Rose' wines sweet?  I guess they can be but, like other wines, Rose' wines come from all over the world and take on the characteristics of the grape used to make it.  What is missing is the tannins that are sometimes associated with red wines.  Since the tannins come from the skin, you don't get that with a Rose'.  Pink wines made from grapes and in a style that traditionally produce a more acidic juice, you can expect the same from that juice, acidic and a great compliment to your meal.  If the grape and style making traditionally produces a more fruit forward wine, you can expect the Rose' to be very fruity and soft with notes of berry.

Where is Rose' produced?  EVERYWHERE!  About a week ago, I had the opportunity to drink pink from Vinho Verde!  What???  I thought that all wines from Vinho Verde had to be green.  That is what the name translates to, right?  Well this Rose' from that Vinho Verde region was as light and crisp as one of my favorite summer sippers.

Join us tomorrow on "Off The Vine with Benita and Terricinia" as we devote our entire show to Rose' wines.  We will be joined by our well-informed guest Brian Fairtile as he accompany us on a trip around the world with Rose'.  To join us, click here Friday at 3:00 pm.

Done!

Make Mine with Wine

You already know what happens when Mel and I go into the lab....mayhem!  And sometimes, something good comes out of it.  Last summer, we did just that!  Our mission:  to make our favorite cocktails with wine.  And today, we want to share another one of our creations with you.

Who doesn't love a Margarita?  And in this weather, few cocktails are more refreshing.  Lots of citrus with a touch of sweetness, nothing says "welcome to summer" quite like a Margarita.  So when we started our quest to create our own Margarita without using Tequila, I automatically thought of Sauvignon Blanc.  The citrusy notes in Sauvignon Blanc always remind me of warm temperatures (and I don't know why).  In my typical recipe, I use a lime, half a lemon, and half an orange with one and a half ounce of Tequila, and an ounce of Grand Marnier.  Depending on my company, I may squeeze in a half ounce Agave Nectar or simple syrup.  So with the intense grapefruit notes in the Sauvignon Blanc, I immediately knew that I would have to retrieve the Agave from the cupboard.  I must admit that this was one of the toughest and most challenging cocktails that we've attempted to duplicate.  The balance of the wine and the limes had to be just right to keep the flavors that we love.  So after a few versions and the okay from our mystery taster, here is our recipe!  We invite you to try it, and tell us how you like it.

1 1/2 oz. Sauvignon Blanc
1/2 lime
1/2 lemon
1/2 orange
1 oz Grand Marnier or Triple Sec
1 oz Agave Nectar (if you need more sweetness)

Shake over ice and served in your favorite chilled glass.  Cheers!

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