March was a Celebration with Lagunitas

Cead míle fáilte Gulpers!  A thousand Welcomes!  Can you believe it is already March!  Spring has arrived in South Florida with warm and sunny days and it was delightful under the Tiki at Bx BeerDepot.   This month was filled with celebrations.  St. Patrick’s Day had everyone out and about wearing the green.  Then there were birthday celebrations for Krys, Jim, Kelly, Dana and Michelle.  Not only did Krys celebrate another great year but Wally bought her an engagement ring as a present!  Meanwhile your humble blogger was marking 29 years of marriage to her highschool sweetheart. (My anniversary present was John coming to this pairing). So when we gathered on  March 18th there was a whole lot of partying going on!  Congratulations to everyone! 

Wally proposes to Krys

To honor St. Paddy Coreen and LeBeau made this a beer pairing instead of wine and in honor of one of the breweries we will be visiting in September, they featured Lagunitas beers.  We also welcomed guest Chef John Hazard, who contributed in the third course. 
Onto the pairings!
1st Course:  I love simple and this first course highlights why.  Coreen prepared and Irish antipasti platter.  Pepperoni, salami cheddar, romano, gouda, as well as dried apricots, figs, dates and homemade crackers paired with the only non-Lagunitas beer of the day, a Sierra Nevada Ruthless Rye IPA.  (Just a note for all those newbies to beer, like me:  IPA stands for India Pale Ale).  This Ale was full of grapefruit and bitter.  It was crisp and light  and no one mentioned rye on initial tasting.   There were a lot of different flavors on the plate and some worked really well with the ale and others not so much.  I actually loved it with the fruit.  The concentrated sweetness of the dried apricot and date mellowed the bitterness in the beer and smoothed it right out.  John found it a bit heavy with the meat.  Kritsina thought it was a great pairing especially with the cheese.  I got a new taste twist on this course.  It was suggested to wrap a fig in pepperoni and it was a good suggestion indeed.  Salty, greasy, sweet, and a little pepper, then a drink of the ale.  Delish!
2nd Course:  Staying with the Irish theme the next course was an Irish eggroll.  Corned beef, cabbage, carrots and potatoes were grinded and wrapped in eggroll wrappers.  Coreen grilled them instead of frying which gave a lovely smokey charred crispness to the wrapper.  The filling was salty, meaty deliciousness.  This was paired with a Lagunitas Imperial Stout.  This stout smells like black coffee and smoke just the way I remember the Quays Pub in Galway smelled.  The flavor is rich roasted coffee and carmel.  It is a thick beer made with malt.  Some thought it was a little heavy with the eggroll but Gary thought the eggroll mellowed out the stout.  The Thousand Island dressing that accompanied the eggroll went even further and actually brought a little caramel sweetness to the fore. 
3rd Course:  Chicken in Mole’ sauce and green salad with oil and vinegar was the offering for this course.  Our guest chef John Hazard  contributed the mole’ sauce. If you are wondering what mole’ is then you are lucky I have Google.  This is the national sauce of Mexico.  It has a lot of variations but basically it is a chili pepper sauce that includes pine nuts, rasins, sesame seeds, several different chili peppers, chocolate and coffee.  It is often spicy and is a deep brick brown hue.  The salad was light, crisp and  tart.  It was a very nice palate cleanser for the deep rich mole’.  The food was paired with a Lagunitas WTF Brown Ale, aka, WILCO TANGO FOXTROT Brown Ale.  Coreen used skin on chicken legs and thighs  for the mole’.  They were tender, juicy and I love skin covered in sauce.  (get your minds out of the gutter!)     The sauce was disappointing only in that we were given a wonderfully taste tempting description of ingredients and process from chef John.   We were also told, while “not blow your head” off hot it did have “nice” heat.  The ale and cheese from the first course would be used to cut the heat.   What I tasted was a deep and complex smoke, coffee, chili powder, slow roasted flavor.  It was delicious but no heat and I can’t lie I wanted some.  The WTF was an effervescent ale with lots of bubbles.  The nose was fruity and bitter.  Daphine suggested she smelled apricots.  The taste matched the nose and included coffee, toasted caramel with just a hint of chocolate.  I can see where it would mellow out a hot sauce but it was a bit overpowering here.  I liked it with the cheese and the dried fruit.  With them I got the sweetness hiding in the ale but maybe the similar flavors in the sauce didn’t play as nice. 
4th Course:  Holy Schnikey’s Batman!!!  This course and pairing was my favorite of the day.  The dessert was carrot cake waffles drizzled with an orange-cinnamon syrup and topped with ginger and cream cheese frosting.  The waffle was tender and warm and wasn’t overly sweet.  The syrup was spicy and subtle.  The frosting was the taste powerhouse with candied ginger pieces in sweet cream cheese scooped like a little ice cream ball.  My mouth is watering in memory.  It was paired with Lagunitas IPA.  This is Lagunitas’ flagship brew and for a very good reason.  It is delicious.  This amber colored ale smelled like grapefruit and bananas.  It tasted like bananas and grapefruit with a strangely creamy finish, maybe that is the malt?  It played beautifully against the waffle enhancing the spicy orange syrup and ginger frosting.  My “I don’t eat desserts” husband loved this course! 
So there you have it my Gulper Friends!  Another delicious and fun Gulp! pairing event.
Please note:  Our next event is on April 22nd at Bedner’s Farm.  Dig In! will be featuring farm to table food, demonstrations, short lectures on organic gardening, composting, and cheese making.  There will be live music and more!  Vendors will be presenting their wares for tasting and possible selling while  the Gulp! team helps with pairing wine and beer at each station.  Tickets are $55.00 and you can purchase them at Bx Beerdepot or here on the blog by just clicking on the  Local Wine events button at the top of this page. See you at Bedner’s!

I Love a Good Italian!

It is February and that means love is in the air.  It also means Gulp hosted another lovely event. 

click here for the rest of the photos from this event

Last Sunday was cold and blustery but the tiki tent at BX Beer Depot was down right cozy as LeBeau and Coreen led us through a delicious pairing of Italian wines and food.


Before I get to the pairings a few announcements:
September Gulp in Sonoma:  Plans are firming up for what is going to be a fantastic long weekend with friends and libations.  The dates are Wed, Sept. 26 - Sat, Sept. 29.  We will be staying at the Dry Creek Inn in Healdsburg, CA.  Thursday we are visiting Wineries and Friday we are going to breweries.  (teaser alert: we will tasting beers in March  from one of the breweries we will be visiting in Septmeber….SWEET!)  The event is still coming together so if you are interested in joining this groovy group of GULPERS visit the Sonoma in September group on Facebook.


Dig In!: This event is coming fast upon us, April 22! GULP is working with Bx BeerDepot and Bedner Farms to present a celebration of local, sustainable, organic, and plain ol’ fun food and wine. Coreen announced to the group several cool announcements regarding vendors and a goat! Here, let Coreen tell you all about it!

Coreen Talks Dig In!

Onto the pairings!
 1st Course:  Coreen presented us with the perfect starter for a chilly day, Italian Wedding Soup.  The chicken broth was rich and deep. It warmed me from the inside out.  Then the meatballs, orzo and spinach on the spoon made for a delicious bite.  Lebeau paired it with a Teruzzi White Super Tuscan wine.  On the nose it was very green like fresh cut grass and citrus zest.   The flavor was crisp and bright.   Andy thought it tasted like greens.  The pairing was really good.  The crispness of the wine cut the richness of the broth while the broth mellowed the wine and brought out the toasty oak and a nutty flavor.  Our new friend Tony said, “This was easy on the Palate, laid back.”  We likey.

2nd Course:  The next course was one of the prettiest in Gulp history, in my humble opinion.  The Italian torta was layer upon layer of texture and color.  Smoky provolone,  tangy white cream cheese, green pesto, sundried tomatoes, and prosciutto stacked layer on layer of just darn pretty.  I was reminded of a ruffled skirt,  (I wasn’t drinking that much).  The flavor was strong and wonderful.  Tangy, creamy and salty met with nutty and garlicky for a dance of flavor in my mouth.  The wine was no slouch either. Lebeau took us through the steps of tasting.  We looked at the color, smelled the aromas and finally tasted.  I really love this part of the event because it makes me pay attention and learn about what I am drinking. The Briccontondo Barbera Piemonte Doc was smoky, jammy and smelled like leather.  Gary said of the garnet colored wine, “It smells kind of like dirt.”  The taste matched the nose with rich dark fruit, smoke with just a touch of spice.   This was a confusing course because everyone enjoyed each component but together it didn’t quite work.  It might have been because of the chilly weather the torta didn’t soften or mellow and the strong flavors fought with those in the wine.  Several people commented they would have loved it if torta was more typically Florida room temperature and  spread on bread.  Andy thought it would have been amazing as a sauce over pasta.  They also said they really loved the wine by itself.  Bryan was his own man and said, “I love this pairing.  There is a good balance with the wine.”

 
3rd Course:  Ok, my friend Gary has said he is going to get my husband to come to one of these events and I have always laughed and said never.  After this lasagna roll I might have to change my attitude.  This was a hearty slice of hamburger, cheese and pasta heaven, just the way my guy likes it.  There was a beautiful golden cheesy crust and then when my forked opened up the parcel steam billowed from the meat, more cheese and just a touch of spinach and tomato sauce.  Nothing was more than anything else.  It was delicious and perfect for our chilly day.  The Sella & Mosca Terre Carignano Del Sulcis  was rusty in color and smelled like, in Barry’s words, “A horse barn.”  There were definitely notes of leather and hay in this wine, very little fruit with hints of chocolate and smoke.  From Sella Mosca’s website came this quote, “A wilder, more gamey set of aromas and flavors that dominate the sweet red fruit.”  Obviously they thought it smelled like a barn too.  This course was totally the opposite of the previous one.  While everyone loved the lasagna they weren’t all that keen on the wine until they paired them and then it was perfect.  The wine amped up the meat and cheese in the food while the food smoothed out the wine and the smoke and chocolate took over in the barn.  This was Andy’s favorite wine of the day.  He even bought and extra bottle and I loved that he shared.

4th Course:  Coreen has been kicking dessert butt lately!  Everyone is still talking about bacon brownies from last month. 
I had dinner with her last week and she made a grilled pineapple with homemade coconut ice cream and macadamia brittle.  Oh yeah, be jealous!
She did it again this month creating the quintessential Italian dessert, cannoli filled with hazelnut ricotta crème. It was crispy, creamy with just a hint of chocolate and it was freaking yummy!  Oh wait, she didn’t stop there, noooo….she then made the quintessential Valentine treat, chocolate covered strawberries!  Did she stop there?  Hell no!  She had chocolate left over and saw maraschino cherries and said herself, “Why Not?”  She covered those cherries with that chocolate and took Valentine’s sweets to a whole new level.  Lebeau, being her honey, matched her sweet for sweet with a lovely moscato wine.  The Umberto Fiore Mostato d' Asti, as the name implies is a lightly sparkling sweet wine.  It was very floral on the nose with a sweet syrupy effervescence on the tongue.  The flavor was all honey and vanilla for days. By itself, I almost found it too sweet then I took a bite of the cannoli and then a drink of the wine.  Holy Schnikey’s Wine Drinkers!  I was in dessert Heaven!  Andy was really happy with the cherries and the wine.  We both went back for seconds.  I might have seen a few others going for dessert seconds too but I won’t mention any names.

This event really did highlight the happy coupling of wine and food.  Some of the wines were a little bitter without the food and the food was made more vibrant with the wine.  Wow, I really am in the hearts and flowers mood.  Bottom line, my friends, in the words of the inimitable Alton Brown, “This was Good Eats!”
See you next month on March 18th!  Don’t forget to represent and wear the green!

In the meantime here are a few of our guests enjoying the afternoon:

Sonoma Wines in January must mean Sonoma Wineries in September!

Click here for all the pictures from this event

Oh, the South Florida weather in January is challenging.  The sun shines brightly in skies that are blue with pretty white clouds.  The temperature is 78 and with the breeze chill factor it feels like 77.  It is very difficult to deal with when we know our northern neighbors are snuggling around the furnace, I mean fire and playing in the snow.  This challenging climate did not deter our brave Gulpers.  We gathered under the tiki tent and enjoyed another phenomenal pairing event. Thanks BX Beer Depot!
This month we celebrated Sonoma.  We will be visiting this gorgeous part of California in September.  For more information on the trip click on the Sonoma tab at the top of the blog.
Before the tasting Coreen gave out the personalized prizes to last month’s winners for the best pairing at the Christmas party.  Congrats to Rachel, Ryan, Deb and Getty! Those glasses are going to be put to good use I am sure.


The stage then was given to Kristina for an update on the Sonoma trip.  Holy Schnikeys kids!  This is going to be a great trip.  One day of wineries and the next breweries.  Add in the great California cuisine and the fact we will be sharing it all with great friends this could be the trip of the decade!  I can’t wait!





Coreen and LeBeau did their, now highly anticipated, excellent presentations.  Thanks Coreen and LeBeau!



I know you can’t wait to find out how the pairing went so here we go:


1st Course:  We started with bubbly.  Gloria Ferrer Va De Vi Ultra Cuvee Sparkling wine, ($18).  This wine was a blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes which explained the vanilla, toasty notes in the nose and the ripe apple and lemon flavors on the tongue.  It was paired with one of the best dishes we have ever had, Thai Basil Coconut Mussels.  The mussels were beautifully prepared in a broth that had some people slurping their plates clean!   The broth mellowed the tartness of the wine and brought out more creaminess and ripe berry flavors. Andy said the wine had good flavor but a little too bubbly while Adam wanted a little more spice in the mussels.  Kelly however, thought it was all delicious.

Bryan looks pretty happy with his Kunde

2nd Course:  This course was, for me, the most successful because it brought two simple elements together and elevated them to a deliciously dramatic level.  The wine was Kunde 2008 Viogner, ($15). (checkout the video on the sidebar to see Lebeau's take on Sonoma and this Viogner). The aroma was fruity with notes of honeysuckle and vanilla.  The taste was sharp like grapefruit, unripe mango and I think gasoline.  Some disagreed but at least 3 others tasted gas too, just sayin’.  Then it met with the Lemon Curd Chicken and food magic happened.
The chicken was tender and juicy with a strong lemony sweet sauce.  It was almost too sweet until I took a sip of the wine and it all mellowed out.  It was like a sigh of pleasure.  Bryan said, “Paired with the food this wine is so smooth I could keep pounding it until the Bottle was gone.”  Enough said.

3rd Course:  This course got mixed reviews.  The Box Car Syrah 2009, ($16), was incredibly jammy on the nose.  It was dark fruit all day long.  The flavor was a little thin but still very fruit forward and drinkable.  The food was an entrée course of potatoes au gratin and wine braised short ribs.  The food was perfect.  The potatoes were hot, cheesy, and tender.  The short ribs were fork tender and surprising because along with the wine cocoa powder was added to the braise.  I want to say a million adjectives describing how delicious this beef was but I am drooling too much.  Most times I think the wine amps up the food but as Andy pointed out the savory beef really brought out the best in the Syrah.  Genevieve thought the creamy potatoes brought out a pepper spiciness in the wine which she liked a lot.  


4th Course:  This is why there is dessert, Bacon brownies with chocolate drizzle!  OMG!  Dudes, this was @#$% delicious!  It was salty, sweet, chocolatey, and BACON!  My piece must have been an end piece because I got a thin crust that was chewy almost crispy goodness.  It was the quietest moment of the afternoon as everyone each had a personal moment with this decadent treat.  Then there was the wine and that was no slouch either.  Federalist Zinfandel, ($27), was deep, rich and full of dark fruits like black cherry and blackberries with a peppery finish on the end.  Take a bite of brownie then a nice drink of the Federalist and you have just created a pairing that might need to be had in privacy.  Ashley came to me to say, “This salty, (pause), sweet, (pause), browne is my mmmm yummy Zinfandel favorite.”  You get the point.

The pairings came to their conclusion but the memories of  wine, food and friends will linger until next time.  See you February 12th!

Happy Gulping Holidays!!!

Click here for picture gallery

The Chairman determined the Challenge:  Form a team of 4-5 people, create a recipe for 30-35 people or so to TASTE, pair it with a wine or other beverage (enough for each person to taste). Prizes will be given to the best pairings. We will all be voting.  The battle location was set for Gulp Stadium, (Coreen's House).  Eight teams met on the field of Gulping Excellence and the contest began:

Team 1-Wine and Cheese Platter (Mame, Dorothy, Andy, Charles)
Team 2-Steak and Wine/Mozzarella Making Station (Kelly, Jim, Wally, KP, Adriel)
Team 3-Italian Meatballs and Homemade Tomato Sauce paired with with Wine
(Joy, Thalia, Nadine, Amanda, Coreen)
Team 4-Rum Cake and Irish Triffle with Sparkling Wine (Barry, Pam, Ash.W, mom)
Team 5-Chicken Dish paired with wine (Deb, Ryan, Getty, Rach, LeBeau)
Team 6-Fajitas paired with Porter (Sally, Danny, Corey)
Team 7-Minestrone paired with Chianti (Tracy, Steve, Bryan, Mariana)

All of the competitors tasted and judged the teams.  The Chairman declared teams couldn't vote for themselves.  For 2 hours we tasted, sipped, tasted, sipped and tasted, sipped some more.  WoW!  It was so good.  Then the votes were cast and placed in the Price Waterhouse Elf Hat and tabulated in a secret secure location, (Coreen's Bedroom).  All the competitors waited with baited breath for the results and kept busy singing Christmas Carols, telling stories of the past year and more tasting and sipping.  Then, from on high, the Chairman descended, (Coreen came down the staircase), to announce the winner.  Drum roll please..................and the winner is:  Team 5!! LeBeau, Deb, Michelle (aka Getty), Ryan and Rachel. They received not only the bragging rights, but also personalized wine glasses for the GULP! events, 5 gift certificates to Dolce Vita wine bar, Bx Beer Depot, Sweet Ginger and Juno Fish House.  Congrats guys!!!  Your food was delicious!   The Chairman also had kudos for the rest of the teams.  The battle was played well and the real winners of the evening were all of us getting together and celebrating a year of Gulp!  It has been an whirlwind 12 months and we couldn't have done it without each all of you faithful Gulpers!

So raise your glasses in toast:  To Coreen and LeBeau for bringing us together.  To Us who have become Friends.  To the year past and the days to come, never forget.....We are the Gulpers!  The Mighty, Mighty Gulpers!!!! 

Happy Holidays Everybody!!!!

Bordeaux inspired November's Gulp Tasting...yum!

Before I begin the recap of another fantastic Gulp Gathering, on behalf of all of us who enjoy the hospitality of Sally and BX Beer Depot, I want to extend our condolences to her.  We are so sorry Sally for your loss.  We know how much you loved your brother and we send you love and prayers during this time.

Thanksgiving:

click here for all the pictures from this event

I so look forward to our Gulp Gatherings.  It is my favorite Sunday of the month!  No matter whether we gather at Andy's, Coreen's or BX Beerdepot I know I am going to spend the afternoon sharing good wine, great food and interesting wine stuff with a fun and eclectic crew of people.  Since this is the November Recap then I get to give thanks for everyone in Gulp! Here are the Gulpers who joined us this month:



Thank you Jim Brogan, Kelly Schultz, Tracy Cottle Mariana, Eric Richman, Eddi Ramos-Zahina, John Zahina Ramos, Tammy Page, Kristina Parker, Adriel Wright, Joyce Grant, Jim Page, Barry Imhoff, Deb Knepp, Pam Schuster, Pat, Ashleigh, Mike, Roni and of course Coreen Gottschalk and LeBeau Kpadenou.

Onto the the pairings!

One would think that given this is the month of November Coreen would go with traditional and present us with  Thanksgiving or harvest type pairings but not our Coreen.  She is traditionally unconventional so this month she and Lebeau treated us to Bordeaux inspired wines from around the world.  Thank you Coreen!
(A note from our resident wine geek, LeBeau:  Bordeaux inspired wines are often blends.  To be Bordeaux inspired it must contain varietals from that region.  Varietals of the Bordeaux region include Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Merlot, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc).  At the end of this recap check out our resident geek as he explains what makes a wine more expensive than another.

The First Course:  Coreen put together the only homage to the harvest with this Ham and Pear crostini with goat cheese.  It was honey ham and the pears had been sauteed in a balsamic vinaigrette.  Oh yeah it was yummy!
They paired it with Berringer Knight's Valley  Blanc 2009 from California.  This pale yellow wine made up of Sauvignon Blanc and Semillon smelled of unripe pineapple, and cedar.  The taste was citrusy and green and mineral.  It wasn't until I took a bite of the crostini that I tasted the buttery notes that Jim mentioned right up front. Barry said "It's kind of soury.  Quite a tang.  Sweet but not too sweet." The tangy goat cheese and marinated pears really brought out the best in this wine.  It mellowed the sour notes and bumped up the butter. This was a very nice pairing and at $16.00 or so a bottle, this is a very nice wine.

The Second Course:  This pairing combined New Zealond's Esk Valley Gimblet Gravels a blend of Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Merlot 2007 with beefy meatballs in a red wine gravy with lovely hints of sweet onion.  This $16.00 medium body wine was full of cherry and chocolate with a good long finish.  Pat said it reminded her of a cherry cordial candy.  Don't let the description fool you, this is not a "sweet" wine.  LeBeau said it was what most people in the know would call, "jammy."  I want it that jammy every time.  The meatballs were savory good and the wine sauce played beautifully with the Esky.  My favorite part was sopping up the sauce with leftover bread from the crostini.  As my mom would say this was larrupin' good.

The Third Course:  I loved Coreen's
mushroom and potato bake.  The potatoes were baked in a delicious light tomato sauce and layered with fontina cheese.  I really liked the potatoes in this dish.  They were well cooked and yet still had a bite to them and the fontina cheese brought it all together.   Add the Erasmo Vina La Reserva from Chile with its Cab, Cab Franc and Merlot blend and you have a match made in Gulp!  It was really delicious.  The Erasmo was a pretty garnet color.  The nose was floral with lovely scents of raspberry and  dark cherry with just a hint of smoke.  The taste was very fruit forward with pepper and acidity on the back of the mouth.  It met with the acid in the tomatoes and mellowed right out into jammy goodness.  The other cool thing about this 2007 wine was it came gift wrapped!  The white paper wrapping with the Erasmo logo in red wine print is really festive.  The price is for a special event too, a little more than the typical Gulper budget at around $22-25 a bottle.

The Fourth Course:  This one was voted the best of the day, pretty much...by EVERYONE.  These two things were meant to be together like coffee and cream, bread and butter, and Sundays and Gulps.
Coreen created a spicy Korean Beef over rice that was an absolute meaty, smoky, spicy taste treat.  I love that she used London Broil for the meat cut.  It stays tender and juicy when seared unlike a round or flank steak.  She and LeBeau paired it with an Italian Rosso Trentino Vicariati Quatro.  This Cab, Cab Franc and Merlot blend is dark purple in color.  The nose is surpisingly fruity for an Old World wine, right behind the fruit is smoke.  The first tastes that hit the tongue were plum, blackberry quickly followed by toast, and chocolate.  Barry called it "Smooothhhh."  The group gave it a solid two thumbs up!  Since I have mentioned the prices on the other bottles I will include it for this one as well, round about $20.00.

The Fifth Course:  This dessert course was a little different from the rest since it wasn't paired with a wine.  The reason for that is in the title of said dessert:  Port soaked Cherry Brownies.  OMG People!!!  Those were some very happy cherries and my mouth was filled with chocolaty, porty joy!  It was an over-the-top finish to a fantastic Gulp Day!  In case someone would want to add a pairing to this lovely brownie try the Esky Valley or the Rossi, they would be delicious.  Since we were at Beer Depot and I am always going overboard I got a Kasteel Rouge Cheery Ale that was awesome!

Now as I promised earlier my first video featuring Lebeau discussing wine making techniques.  (I think this is adorable).

There you have it my friends, the November GulpGathering.  I can't wait to see you in December.
p.s......the Sonoma trip is coming together in September.  Fri will be winery tours.  Sat. will be for a brewery tour.
Also,  keep April 22, Earth Day, open for an exciting event.  More info coming soon!

UPCOMING EVENT IN NOVEMBER

Bordeaux-Inspired Wines

Sunday, November 13 · 3:00pm - 6:00pm

at Bx Beer Depot

2964 2nd Avenue North

Palm Springs, FL 33461

Menu:

Honey Ham/GoatCheese/Pear Crostinis

Mini Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce

Mushroom Potato Bake

Spicy Korean Beef

Chocolate and Port-Soaked Cherry Brownies

Looking forward to another great day!
I hope you are all having as much fun as I am at these!

See You There!