April Gulp is Coming!!

April is going to be filled with more than Spring Showers.  We're going on a field trip!!!  No, not the Keys, we did that one already.  No, not Napa Valley, that's for some time down the road.  We're going to LAKE WORTH!!!!!  Woo Hoo!!!!  And We Won't Be Drinking Wine!!  We're going to a Brew Off at Havana Hideout!

What is a Brew Off you ask?  Well let me put in Coreen's words:


Brew Off @Havana Hideout on LAKE AVENUESaturday, April 9 from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm
Made by undiscovered and wildly talented home brewers.  A taste of all the brewers offerings and a chance to vote on your favorite .  They will not be having the plate of food, but you can order from the menu..Chrissy is probably going to switch it from $10 tickets to FREE admission for the tastings, but capping it off at 100 people. She is holding 15 tickets for GULPERS, I have to provide a list of names by April 1. So let me know if you want on the list. Otherwise you can just take your chances on getting in at a later date. Our very own Craig McBay will be competing!! Let's show our support! These events are a blast!

There are 3 categories to win this time.  Popular Vote, Judges Favorite and best booth design!  Sam Adams is offering a prize package to the winners.  Dan Oliver the Beer Guy is our celebrity judge this round.

Must be 21 to sample all beer.

February Component Tasting

 




Hello My Fellow Gulpers!
If you read my previous blog you know this tasting was all about flavor.  Coreen and Lebeau prepared a feast of scent and taste.  Walking into the event one might have thought it was going to be take out since Andy's table was covered in little sealed containers.  One would have been wrong.

 Each container held a an ingredient that either its scent or taste could be found in any given wine.  Coreen and Lebeau did some amazing research and planning for this event.  There were at least 50 items laid out in neat and labeled rows across the counter.  Gooseberries, strawberries and cherries were there and probably somewhat expected.  Then there were the spicy items like cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and white pepper.  The earth and mineral flavors were represented in cut grass, hay, and soil. Citrus showed up in grapefruit, orange and lemon.  Butter, musk,passion fruit and lemon grass made up more of the unusual in the collection.  I know I have not mentioned every item but this should give you a good sampling of what we got to work with.

The tastings were all blind.  It wasn't until we had all smelled, tasted and discussed what we were experiencing did Lebeau reveal the actual varietal we were trying.  Coreen and LeBeau provided small hor'dourves of small quiches, philo turnovers, pigs in a blanket and kettle corn.  Deb brought some tasty spreads with crusty bread.
Before going any further Deb Knepp gets the award for most amazing palate!!! She was right more than anybody deciding what wine was what. She must be tasting a lot on the side!




Anyway, the first wine had us all guessing.  Gooseberries,peach, grapefruit, mango and yes, even a little cat urine were scented.  No Coreen did not provide cat urine in the samples.  She assumed, correctly, we all had experience with the scent of cat urine.  I guessed a Savignon Blanc, someone else guessed a Semillon but the answer was:
Gruner Veltliner - (from winepros.org) This Northern European wine, (Germany, Austria), can be astonishingly complex, full of exotic tropical fruits, white pepper and lentils. They can also show aromas of green beans or asparagus, an engaging "vegetable" smell that is seldom "vegetal", especially when grown in mineral soil.


The next wine was once again white.  This one had a perfumy aroma and made me think of Spring. 
Our intrepid band of  tasters found honey, strawberries, hay, and pear.  The guesses ranged from Chardonnay to Vouvray and we were all wrong, except for Deb!  She put it all together for the correct answer: 
Chenin Blanc -  This particular one is a Petit Chenin Blanc from Ken Forrester.  parkling and clean looking. The initial nose is floral but sharp; the wine is stainless steel fermented, and you can smell the natural mineral and acidity of the grape as a result. Tasting the wine, you’ll find the same blend of soft fruit (melon, pear, apple) and a crisp acidic finish, long and solid. The producer even suggests finding “honeysuckle”.

The next wine up had us sniffing hay, grass, lemongrass, grapefruit peels, orange peels, gooseberries, and I even think Jeff smelled some tobacco in this one.  The wine?  Why Sauvignon Blanc!  Yep this was a Whitehaven Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. 

At this point we tried a wine Deb brought.  I believe it was a Chardonnay but not positive.  Oh Debbie!?  Could you please post a comment to this blog and remind us what we tasted?  Thanks!


Now I left before really getting to try the whole component tasting round on this final wine but I did get to have a taste before I had to leave.  In a word?  Delish!   Without the components to guide I knew this was a dark berry, fruit forward, jammy, yummy wine.  It was a shiraz that goes by a very interesting and straightforward name:  The Black Shiraz from Berton Vineyards of Australia.

The next Gulp Gathering is March 20th @ Andy's house and since it has taken me so long to get this blog written and posted it's today!!!  Have a great gathering and I will see you at the next one!

Component Tasting - What is it? Why Should I Care?

Hello Fellow Gulpers,

3pm on February 20th @ Andy's house Coreen and LeBeau will be hosting a "component" tasting.  It will be an informal sensory examination and evaluation of the wine. At days end we will have described the range of perceived flavors, aromas and general characteristics of the wines. We will NOT BE PAIRING foods.  We will have plenty of palate cleansers and hors d'oeuvres, but this will be a different experience than we have ever had for those of you who attend.

Sounds interesting, right, but what does this really mean?  

Components?  What are components and have I been drinking them all along?

Why do I care?

Well, let's take this moment to try to answer these questions and maybe give you some helpful tips to bring to this very cool event.

Every wine contains a combination of different flavors, and without practice it can be hard to isolate and identify them.  To get a good handle on each component tasters look to describe sweetness, acid and tannin.  
We have been discussing in general the components of each of the wines we have tried over the last three years.  With this tasting we will be putting our noses and taste buds to the test. 
(Come on people, this group isn't just about the nice buzz).  

The wines we will be tasting have been selected for having distinct characteristics in the aroma category. For example, if I say a Sauvignon Blanc smells like grapefruit, fresh cut grass, bell peppers and cat pee, you know what that smells like. But what if I also say 'gooseberry', 'tropical fruit' and 'minerals'? What if a wine smells like lychee, or bramble berries? At a component tasting, we'll have these items on hand for direct comparison, (ok, maybe not the cat pee).
And yes we do care about components.  I don't know about you but this group has made my taste buds grow!  I am tasting differently, not only with wine, but beer, dinner, even the snacks I eat.  Learning more about the components of flavor and the make up of each makes my senses more talented.  My mouth, nose and eyes are smarter.

This component tasting is going to focus on our noses and our tastebuds.  Our tastebuds are wonderful things but limited.  There are 4 kinds of taste buds (Lately, scientists and others have posited a fifth kind of taste bud called umami that can taste fat, but that is beyond the scope of this post). You've never TASTED anything that was not using one or more of these. Everything else is a flavor. Flavors come from your sense of smell through internal tubing from your mouth to your nose. Without our noses we would taste very, very little. Which would make eating and drinking very very boring.

So here are a few terms we have used before and will probably use again on the 20th and a couple of more that may be new to, at least some of us.TANNIN: comes from the grape skins, seeds, stems and to a certain level even the barrels the wine is aged in. It’s a natural preservative, and anti-oxidant. It also contributes to the texture and structure of the wine. Red wines are nearly always higher in tannin than whites because the reds are fermented with the grape skins and seeds, while whites are usually pressed to remove the skins and seeds prior to fermentation.  

SWEETNESS: Obviously this component comes from the grape but there are also other sweet flavors we might get from wine like honeysuckle, dark berries, and roses.  I thought those flavors appeared because the grapes were grown with them or added during fermentation itself.  Nope, it is actually more simple and complicated than that.  We will be learning more on this at the Component pairing in February.ACID:  This component is naturally found in grapes and through the process of fermentation can be increased or decreased.  There are several different types of acid, tartaric acid, potassium hydrogen tartrate (cream of tartar), malic acid and potassium hydrogen malate.  Different wines have different acids and different levels of those acids which aid in creating a full flavor.  I know we have heard LeBeau mention malolactic fermentation, (I think it is fun to say), this process lowers acid by converting it to lactic acid.  That creamy taste in Chardonnay, yep, that is thanks to malolactic fermentaion.  

Now we know more about what components are and on February 20th we will discover how certain components come to be in the wine.  Yes, gulpers, there will be a quiz at the end.....just kidding....maybe...

2011 Key West Food and Wine Festival aka Duval Uncorked

Ok, so Duval Uncorked was just one event in an entire Weekend of pairings, seminars and coconut bowling matches but it was the highlight of the weekend for me.

The event went from 301 Whitehead Road to 1405 Duval.  That's right 11 blocks of food and wine.  Starting at 4pm we had 3 hours to visit 56 different shops, restaurants, and galleries.  Some served wine, some food and others served both.  It was a veritable marathon of taste treats!

Coreen, Deb, Cheryl, Craig, Maureen Gardella and myself took on the challenge to visit every stop we could in 3 hours.  We made it through about 30 before our tongues died and our tummies popped but before that happened we enjoyed some of the best and worst of what Key West had to offer.  I tried to take pictures of it all!

Coreen and I loved the Pinot Noirs starting with Row Eleven Pinot  Noir served at Virgilios leading the pack. Row Eleven was fruit forward with dark cherries, bolder than a Merlot but softer than a Cab.  It was smooth and rich and delish!  The Enrico Cuvee Rose' was a sparkling wine made from the Pinot Noir grape and it was fantastic!  Light, refreshing and prettily pink.  Virgilios also served up a delicious tortellini all creamy and cheesy goodness.  At the Leather Masters, besides the cuddly gladiator, there was a really tasty Pinot Noir from Carmenet.  It was lighter than the Row Eleven but was no less fruity or full flavored.  The Leather Masters also served up a really refreshing Pezzi King Sauvignon Blanc.  It was crisp with a nice citrus note.  On a normal sweltering day on Duval this wine would have really hit the spot.
Debbie found joy in the Jam Jar Sweet Shiraz at 7 Artists.  A dark maroon wine, full of sweet black cherries that clings to the tongue really hit the spot for her.  There was a Muscato she liked too but unfortunately, I didn't get the label.  Hey Deb!  If you have the name add it to this post as a comment!
Maureen enjoyed the Riondo Preseco that was served at the Grand Key West Cafe.  This sparkling wine is familiar to us because it is the same wine Andy infused with lemon grass.  Wasn't that yummy?!  Riondo also made another appearance as an Amarone.  I didn't taste this one.  I think Coreen did and she liked it.  Coreen?  What was your verdict on this one?

I cannot lie there were some real duds at this event too.  The Blue Fish Riesling was simply put not good...at all...seriously.
The Pennywise Chardonnay was not a wise choice.
One of our last stops was the Tropic Inn and while the Inn was decorated tastefully the choice of wine was less than tasteful.  Most everyone, upon leaving, spit it out.  I don't remember what it was except it was white, cold and bad.

So we got to the Tropical Inn at the 800 block of Duval, 30 stops in when the clock struck 7pm and we acknowledged we were all filled up.  We drank everything from Preseco to Shiraz to Sangria.  We ate steamed clams, ceviche and chocolate covered key lime pie pops.  We were done.  Slowly we turned and step by step headed back to our hotel rooms to spend the rest of the night digesting the food and drink and reminiscing over the adventure that was Duval Uncorked.

Without exception this was a fantastic weekend and one I will cherish for the food, wine and friends.  Thanks Coreen!

See you next year!

2010 December Pairings and Holiday Gathering

It was that time of year when people make much of good food and good cheer and GULP was not an exception!
Andy hosted this month at his home.  Thank you Andy!
The theme for December was a potluck menu of each person's favorite pairing.  Some of the match ups were classic tastes while others were new both in the wine and the food.  We ate, drank and made merry until there was nothing left in the bottle or on the plate!  In fact we ate and drank so much some of us needed to take a cat nap between courses!

This months attendees were:  Charles Williams, Dorothy Segaloff, Scott Simmons, Debbie Knepp, Krystina Parker, Wally Lurz, Adriel Wright, Coreen Gottschalk, LeBeau Kpadenou, Jeff and Cat Margel, and Anthony Sinesi.

And here are the match ups:
(click here for recipes)
Krystina -
spinach artichoke dip with Kremser Goldberg KELLERMEISTER PRIVAT

Vintage: 2009, Grüner Veltliner, Austria
Dorothy -
olive tapanade with Riondo Preseco Spago, Italy
Deb -
Vegeterian Panini, Sausage Panini, and stuffed olive on grilled baby bella mushrooms with Reserve St. Martin Chardonay 2008 france
Andy -
Beery Cheese Soup with Criminally Bad Elf Barleywine style ale england

1st Intermission - Alfio Moriconi Savignon Blanc

Greg and Cat -
Mongolian beef sliders, Past Salad with POV 2007 Robert Sinsky California
Charles -
Lasagna with Black Fox Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 California
Note: Charles' lasagna recipe can be found in Marcella Hazan’s The Classic Italian Cookbook


2nd Intermission - Kiwi Cuvee Savignon Blanc 2009, don't let the name fool you, this wine is from France

Mame - Baked Apples with Fetzer Gerwurtztraminer 2009  California
Tony - Cheese course of Machego and bleu with Chateu Megyer Tokaji Hungary
Wally - Chess Cake with Villa Wolf Gerwurtztraminer 2009 Germany
Debbie - Grand Marnier Cake with Renwood Muscat and Graham's Porto 10
Adriel - Oreo Chocolate Balls

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SIDEBAR

2010 November Pairings South American Reds with Recipes

(Click on the image to get all the pictures from this event)

Attendees: Cat and Jeff Margel, Andy Segaloff, Krystina Parker, Christine Giordano, Mame Burkett, LeBeau Kpadenou, Michelle Getty, Thalia White, Deb Knepp, me and Athina Holmes.

Krystina gets props for the name tags!  It was a great help to remember the names of my favorite winos I only see once a month!

On to the Wine!


Santa Rita Medalla Real Carmenere 2008  Chile
Anakena Carmenere 2008  Chile*
Rio De Los Pajaro Tannat/Syrah/Viognier  2007 Uraguay
Rio De Los Pajaro Tannat 2008 Uruguay
Chateau Los Boldos Mementos Merlot 2009 Chile
Misterio Malbec 2009 Argentina
Chateau Los Boldos Mementos Carmenere 2009*
Tapena Garnacha Spain  (This wine was the blind tasting this month)
*website reflects the wine and winery if not the actual year we tasted so tasting notes may vary.

Now for the Food!
Click here for full recipes of the paired food


Bacon Wraps from Argentina paired with Misterio Malbec
(recipe from cooks.com)


Cheesy Corn Casserole from Paraguay paired with Santa Rita Carmenere


Black Bean Flatbread with Chimichurri Drizzle paired with Château Los Boldos Merlot

Empanadas paired with Rio De Los Pajaro Tannat/Syrah/Viognier

www.epicurious.com/recipes