Many of you know that I am on an acid kick right now. Given the choice, I seem to always reach for bottles of white that have racy acidity such as Gruner Veltliner from Austria and Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand. Recent additions to my acid collection include a fantastic Leeuwin Siblings Sauvignon Blanc/Semmillon blend from the Margaret River in Australia. We served it in a tasting flight this weekend at Cellar Door and the tasters loved it. Much like [...]
If you have a second - go to youtube.com and search the words Vineyard Fresh. The Cleveland Wine School recently hosted an episode of Made Here that featured a wine preservation system called Vineyard Fresh. Housed in an attractive burgundy colored bottle, Vineyard Fresh is actually Argon gas. The bottle has a long nozzle at the top allowing wine drinkers to deliver the gas right into the neck of the bottle. Here's the good news - Argon is an inert gas so it [...]
OK. This is a test. It is only a test. I created a small video to try out my new flip and I want to make sure you can view it by clicking here. Give it a try and let us know at info@clevelandwineschool.com Thanks!
A few months ago, I entered a national contest sponsored by the Wines of Australia USA. The object of the contest was to find 5 Americans willing to travel to Australia on a fantastic trip coordinated by the Wines of Australia, meet several winemakers, taste tons of wine, see lots of cool sites and then come back to the USA and spread the good news about current trends in Australia. Luckily, I won for the mid-west region and am currently in Australia with [...]
After taping an episode of Wine Library TV at the Brown's Stadium, a group of us went to Moxie (four doors down from the wine school) for lunch. The group included Gary V host of Winelibrarytv and Clevelander Jim Kukral. Jim is very internet/video savvy and he was nice enough to put together a little video on the Cleveland Wine School for us. Click here to check it out. This is the first of many videos we will post on this [...]
Last night, more than 60 members of Cleveland Wine School's Vine-ology Club attended a sneak preview of the new wine movie, Bottle Shock. The film is based on a true story from the 70's in which wine writer/shop owner Steve Spurrier organizes a blind tasting of top French wines and not-so-famous California wines. The results placed California on the vinous map causing palates around the globe to take note. The film is playing at Cedar Lee theatre in Cleveland Hts. [...]
For those of you who know and watch Wine Library TV - you might be interested in learning that the host of the show - Gary Vaynerchuk - was in Cleveland last week. I understand that he did a book signing at the Learned Owl and then a reception at Vue restaurant, both in Hudson. But the real reason Gary was in town is because our Tasting Consultant Carolyn Spengler won a tasting with Gary and friends during an on-line [...]
While Charlie Palmer's Four Diamond culinary gem at Mandalay Bay is almost 10 years old, Aureole has not lost its luster. In fact, the restaurant is a treat for anyone interested in a great food and wine experience. This is the restuarant that boasts "wine angels" aka beautiful young girls dressed in black who find the wine you ordered by flying up and down the glass enclosed wine vault on circus wires. The stark looking wine vault is very modern and perfectly positioned [...]
Next up, Picasso in the Bellagio Hotel in the heart of the Las Vegas strip. Located just across the street from the Paris themed hotel, the Bellagio is the one with the cool fountain that was featured in the Oceans movie - so let's start there. The fountain is cool when the music is cool i.e. Elvis singing Viva Las Vegas and not so cool when lame music like Proud to be an American is playing. That said, we were [...]
I am currently in Las Vegas to speak about Schott Zwiesel wine glasses during a Sur La Table conference and am taking the opportunity to sample the culinary scene and check out the wine lists around town. INow, I have not been in Las Vegas in almost 10 years - and (in the event you have not heard) one thing I can tell you is that the dining scene on the strip has changed. Gone are the all-you-can-eat steakhouses and breakfast buffet lines. In [...]
