MERRY CHRISTMAS

What a year it's been! I hope this holiday season finds everyone thankful for what they have and hopeful for the future. Here's to an AMAZING Christmas spent with family and friends.....and the best wines you have!!

I'm not sure what will be in my glass today/tonight, but it is sure to be fantastic :-)

Merry Christmas from The GrapeVine!!

Turkey & Wine

People always wonder what to drink for Thanksgiving - what goes well with the turkey, yams, stuffing, etc... Well, a lot of wines to go with a lot of different foods! Here is what I drank (am drinking) today in no particular order:

Lumos Pinot Gris (Oregon)
Prosecco
Tegernseerhof Zweigelt (Austria)
King Estate Pinot Noir (Oregon)
Ravenswood Zinfandel
Jeremiah Weed Sweet Tea Cocktails

And yes they were all delicious! Everyone has something to be thankful for, think upon those things today. Happy Thanksgiving!!

A New Vintage

People just love new stuff. That new car smell, a new car, new clothes...and of course new wine! So people just line up, place orders, and can't wait to get their hands on the 2010 Beaujolais Nouveau that is released the 3rd Thursday of November, which happens to be this Thursday November 18th.

Beaujolais Nouveau is sometimes considered young and immature to many a 'seasoned' wine drinker, but it's fruity, jammy flavors make it approachable to many and also a possible gateway into some of the wines of France. It's also the perfect wine for Thanksgiving which is next week.

According to Wikipedia, Beaujolais Nouveau, made from the Gamay grape, always had a huge event to celebrate its end of harvest but not until the end of WWII were the wines available to the public. Negociant Georges Dubouef saw the marketing potential of this wine and worked with the UIVB to promoting this 'new Beaujolais'. Not only was it a way to clear lots of wine for a great profit, but selling wine within weeks of the harvest was great for cash flow. Hence the idea was born of a race to Paris carrying the first bottles of the new vintage. This attracted a lot of media coverage, and by the 1970s had become a national event. The races spread to neighbouring countries in Europe in the 1980s, followed by North America, and in the 1990s to Asia. In 1985, the date was changed to the third Thursday in November to take best advantage of marketing in the following weekend.

This "Beaujolais Day" is accompanied by publicity events and heavy advertising. The traditional slogan, even in English-speaking countries, was “Le Beaujolais nouveau est arrivé!” (literally, "The new Beaujolais has arrived!"), but in 2005 this was changed to "It's Beaujolais Nouveau Time!".
So this Thursday, visit the French Embassy, or your local wine shop for fun, friends, and free wine because 'It's Beaujolais Nouveau Time!'

Shake It Up!

I tried something a little different this month for The GrapeVine Tasting Club. Instead of just going through wines and sniffing and tasting and doing the whole, regular wine tasting thing...we mixed it up a bit, literally. Cocktails are so popular now from new inventive one, to re-creating old classics with a new spin. So since I'm a wine girl, I figured my cocktail spin would be making them with wine and sharing that recipe with the Tasting Club. We made like 9 different drinks, trying a couple of different wines with the same recipe and changing the alcohol. The crowd had a few favs, and there was only 1 real miss...Wine Spritzer. But they still had fun tasting everything. A few had a little too much fun if you know what I mean, LOL!

Here are a couple of the main drinks. They're all super easy and hopefully you'll enjoy some of these at home or your next party.

Kir & Kir Royale
Creme de Cassis, White Wine (Sparkling Wine for Kir Royale)

Sour Grapes
Pinot Grigio, Sour Mix (we tried this with Sauvignon Blanc as well)

Wine Spritzer
White Wine, Club Soda

Calimocho
Rioja, Cola, Shot of Rum

Ice-tini
Ice Wine, Vodka (we used a white wine & a red wine)

Something Blue
Hypnotiq, Ginger Ale, White Wine

Zestfully Delicious

OK, so Capitol Hill is my new fave neighborhood in DC. Great restaurant, cool bars/lounges, and diverse crowds. What's not to love! So when I heard about a new restaurant opening, clearly I had to try it ASAP.

Zest only opened in December '09, but they already have their thing down. My date and I sat down at 6pm on a Saturday (slightly before the dinner crowd) and our waiter came straight to the table and didn't just ask what we wanted to drink, but offered wine suggestions from the start! He asked my date, "Would you like to try a malbec this evening? Or perhaps a cabernet?" Impressed? Definitely! It also helped that his fav wine is malbec. The waiter turned to me and said I looked like I could use a zinfandel or a syrah. You know what, I could use a syrah...so I ordered one!!

We ordered the BBQ shrimp for an appetizer. I had lamb shank with polenta and roasted tomatoes for my meal which was PERFECT with the syrah. The grill of the tomatoes and the gamey-ness of the lamb were a great match with my rich, spicy shiraz. And that lamb was so tender! I put my fork in it so that I could cut it, the meat came right off the bone! I didn't want my meal to end...I saved a bit of it for a doggie bag to enjoy later :-)

After the dinner plates were cleared, the dessert menus arrived. My eyes went straight to the bread pudding. And what the heck, it's date night...2 glasses of 10-year tawny port! Sweet dessert, sweet drink, sweet goodness! The port with the caramel in my bread pudding, while sweet it was more creamy making the port a divine pairing. Besides, I totally believe it drinking and eating whatever I like.

I so cannot wait to return to Zest so I can eat up the rest of the menu. There was a tempting plate of grilled calamari walking by me on my way out.