Vinesse Style: a Visit to a Master Swiss Chocolatier
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T O O RDER M ORE F EA T URED W INES C ALL 1-800-823-5527 T ODAY ! Volume 24 Number 1 The ©Vinesse Wine Club 2016 The SKU 25836 GrThe Officiala NewslepTTer fOrevine ViiNesse wiiNe club MeMbers Vinesse Style: A Visit to a Master Swiss Chocolatier A 5-Point Swartland: A Starbucks Sparkling Stellenbosch Gets Serious Wine Primer Alternative About Wine G E T Y OUR D AILY D OSE O F W INE N E W S A T http://blog.vinesse.com 2 • The Grapevine • Visit vinesse.com OUR MISSION: To uncover and bring you wine gems from around the world, which you’re ediTOr’s JOurNal not likely to discover on your own, and which enhance your wine enjoyment. YOUR GRAPEVINE TEAM: The Starbucks Intrepid Wine Enthusiast, Chief Taster and Winehound: Wine Experience Martin Stewart Chief Operating Officer By Robert Johnson (aka “The Buck Stops Here”): Lawrence D. Dutra ’m a Starbucks guy. They should put me in their Editor: Icommercials. I have a gold card, I use the Starbucks stores Robert Johnson as my “third place,” and I even buy Starbucks ornaments for Wine Steward: my Christmas tree. Katie Montgomery The Grapevine is published by Vinesse, Starbucks transcends its core product go very relaxed, very casual,” Rachel 822 Hampshire Road, Suite E, Westlake (coffee). It’s about a brand. Even Antalek, Starbucks’ Vice President of Village, CA 91361; 1-800-823-5527. Copyright by Vinesse, LLC. Printed in USA. though I know this from my schooling New Product Innovation, told USA No responsibility is assumed for loss or in marketing and management, I buy Today. “It’s not loud. You can actually damage to unsolicited materials. into it. Fully. (If you’re also a long- have a small group and hear yourself time Starbucks fan, do you miss their talk.” Be good to the planet music sampler CDs as much as I do? Obviously, this is not just about wine. They were extremely well curated and It’s about business. The company is RECYCLE introduced me to a number of singers projecting that by 2019, its “Evenings” and bands I now count among my concept — which incorporates wine, favorites.) beer and “small plates” sales — will CHARTER MEMBER Now, after several years of testing generate $1 billion in additional BENEFITS: in a number of markets, Starbucks is revenue. The Grapevine Newsletter introducing the sale of wine during One of my local Starbucks the early evening and nighttime hours introduced “Evenings” several years Premium wine selections at members-only prices at more and more stores. Earlier this ago, and I was among the first to year, according to a report in USA “test” it. The food was tasty, and the Wine tasting as a participant Today, the company submitted several wine was served in stemless glassware on VINESSE’s Gold Medal Award Panel hundred new applications for liquor to help prevent spills and breakage. licenses. As for the “wine list,” it was small Complimentary subscription Starbucks was largely a morning but well selected. Any wine lover to VINESSE’s Cyber Circle business until it introduced would know the names and where Community Frappuccino. That helped revenues to find them, but in a program that Random giveaways of wine during the afternoon hours. Now, the could become huge, Starbucks needed and accessories company hopes wine will help keep dependable sources. Wine Finders Reward — its stores humming into the night. Now that Starbucks is introducing identify a future wine selection The key word is “humming” — not wine to even more stores, will I find and earn a reward singing loudly or yelling, as you might myself there morning, noon and night? Perfectly matched recipes for encounter in other environments No. But it’s nice to know I can visit my featured wine selections where alcohol is served. favorite coffee house at night, order Complimentary wine tasting “There aren’t very many places you something other than decaf, and still can go in the evening where you can be able to get a good night’s sleep. Visit vinesse.com • The Grapevine • 3 A 5-Point Sparkling Wine Primer hances are pretty good that you raised a glass of wine on New Year’s Eve to C welcome in 2016. Chances also are good that the wine in that glass was 3. Champagne should be served ice cold in order to keep Champagne, or perhaps some other type of sparkling wine. the bubbles alive after a bottle has been opened. The most Which brings up the question: How much do you know effective type of ice bucket is one filled half-way with ice about Champagne? This five-point sparkling wine primer and then topped with water, leaving only enough room for will turn you into an instant Champagne expert… or the bottle. provide you with just enough information to be dangerous. 4. Who would ever imagine that the type of glass used for 1. Words on the bottle label can help you know what serving Champagne would be controversial in 2016? Didn’t type of grapes were used to make the Champagne. “Blanc we get rid of those flat, bubble-depleting tulip glasses a de Blancs” means that white grapes were used — almost long time ago? Well, some people now are saying that the always Chardonnay exclusively. “Blanc de Noir” means that long, tall flute should be replaced by a standard wine glass red grapes were used — mostly Pinot Noir, but often with — the wider the mouth the better. The idea is that one some Pinot Meunier added. could then swirl and sniff the Champagne, just like a still 2. Some Champagne has a vintage year on the label, while wine. Ultimately, though, the choice is yours. some does not. In general, a “vintage Champagne” is made 5. Don’t forget the food. While we think of Champagne in years when the weather cooperated, enabling the picking as a beverage of celebration, it’s much more than that. of exceptional grapes. However, that doesn’t mean that a Besides Sunday brunch and “small plates”/tapas fare, it “non-vintage” Champagne is an any way inferior. Many pairs beautifully with spicy Southwest cuisine, shellfish and Champagne houses bottle non-vintage wines exclusively, sushi. often blending wine from several vintages in order to And that means it should be enjoyed year-round… not maintain a “house style.” just on New Year’s Eve. EACH SHIPMENT WINE COLOR MIX: INCLUDES: Reds, Whites, or Both — • 4 bottles of the best finds It’s Your Choice! FEATURED WINES MADE from California FREQUENCY: IN CALIFORNIA EXCLUSIVELY! Approximately • Detailed Tasting Notes • Napa • Sacramento Delta for each wine Every Other Month • Sonoma • Amador County PRICE: • Santa Ynez • Mendocino Only $15-$17 average per bottle plus shipping • Monterey ... and More! To learn more about this Club, call 800-823-5527 or visit www.Vinesse.com 4 • The Grapevine • Visit vinesse.com At Palmina, the Focus Is on Wine and the Plate WINES THAT MATCH THE SEASON Palmina Winery. Summer — wines for barbecues, picnics or just for almina is more than a winery. It’s a philosophy, a sipping. Fall — wines for hearty, P passion and a strongly held belief that wine is an harvest-time dishes. You get the extension of the plate, a component of a meal and a means idea. All wines are selected by our to bring people together. Tasting Panel to pair beautifully Formed by winemaker Steve Clifton decided to beg his way into a tasting with the foods you love. in 1995, Palmina is named in honor room position at Rancho Sisquoc of Steve’s great friend, Paula. Like a Winery. Little by little, he worked grandmother to him, she taught Steve his way into the cellar and, in time, EACH SHIPMENT INCLUDES: to love cooking and wine, and the became the assistant winemaker there. • 4 bottles of specially-selected Italian lifestyle became a spark in his Over the next few years, Steve’s wines life. After Paula succumbed to breast on-the-job schooling would include cancer, Steve found that her given production and winemaking positions • Detailed Tasting Notes for name on her Italian birth certificate at Beckmen, Brander and Domaine each featured wine was Palmina, and the winery was thus Santa Barbara wineries. Steve met fittingly named. Greg Brewer in 1995 and formed Serendipity intervened in 2000 when the partnership that became Brewer- WINE COLOR MIX: Steve became more in contact with Clifton, a winery devoted solely to Reds, Whites, or Mixed Italian winemaker mentors and needed to find someone who spoke Italian. FREQUENCY: He was advised that a manager at a 4-times per year, plus a special local restaurant was fluent and was holiday shipment introduced to Chrystal Seals, who not only provided the needed translation PRICE: but shared his passion for wine, food $98.99 average per and all things Italian. Chrystal soon became involved in all aspects of shipment including shipping Palmina, and the couple was married in Friuli, Italy in the spring of 2004. Steve produced the first Palmina To learn more about wines in the basement of his home in this Club, call 800-823-5527 1995. His career in the wine industry had begun in 1991 when he left his or visit www.Vinesse.com previous incarnations as a musician and nightclub entrepreneur behind and Visit vinesse.com • The Grapevine • 5 & THE Fastest-groWING CLUB IN VINESSE HISTORY! A club for people who enjoy Tasting room. a touch of sweetness in their wines. vineyard-designated Chardonnay and In Italy, food and wine are part of a Pinot Noir from the Sta.