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Volume 15 The Number 14 ©Vinesse Wine Club 2007 SKU 10940 Gra evine THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTERp FOR VINESSEINESSE WINEINE CLUB MEMBERS GraT O N pevineV W C M

Soup Up Your Wining and Dining With This Versatile, Dee-lish Recipe

By Robert Johnson

MARTIN’S he best recipes chicken broth; three-quarters T are versatile in teaspoon of salt; one-quarter JOURNAL terms of the type of teaspoon of ground nutmeg; five thin slices of peeled ginger root; wine you can serve often drive over to and two tablespoons of dry Sherry. I the neighborhood with them. Cut the squash in half lengthwise, Starbucks and pick up THE and discard the seeds and a Chai Tea Latte — The recipe I’ve selected membranes. Place the cut sides for this special Food down in a shallow baking dish, hot in the winter, iced FOOD Issue — Curried add water to a depth of one- in the summer. Butternut Squash Soup ISSUE quarter inch, and bake at 400 — tastes great degrees for 45 minutes I find that the tea is better on my with or until tender, and nerves than yet another jolt of everything then let cool. caffeine, and besides that, I just like from Riesling Spoon two cups of the flavor of the drink. to Cabernet squash into a food During the holiday season, I like to Sauvignon. How’s processor bowl, process for sip on a Spiced Wine Tea while that for versatility? 30 seconds, and set aside. relaxing at home — and it’s easy to Here are the Melt the margarine in a make. ingredients you’ll large saucepan over medium Take a quart of boiling water, pour need: one-and-a-half heat. Add the curry and it over six tea bags, cover, and let pounds of butternut cumin, and sauté for 30 seconds. steep for about five minutes. Then squash; one tablespoon of Add the apple, onion and garlic, remove the tea bags. margarine; two teaspoons and sauté for about five minutes. Meanwhile, cut four oranges in of curry powder; one Next, add the flour and tomato half, and push two cloves into each teaspoon of ground cumin; paste, stirring until blended. Add half slice. Combine those slices with one-and-a-half cups of the squash puree and yogurt, and one-and-a-half cups of light red Granny Smith apples, peeled stir well. Then gradually add the wine, a half-cup of granulated sugar, and coarsely chopped; one broth, salt, nutmeg and ginger a half-teaspoon of ground nutmeg cup of finely chopped onion; root, and bring to a boil while and one teaspoon of ground one large garlic clove, stirring constantly. cinnamon, and bring the mixture to minced; three Remove the soup from the a slow boil. Then remove it from the tablespoons of all-purpose heat, stir in the Sherry and heat and mix it with the hot tea. flour; three tablespoons of tomato discard the ginger root. Optional, but highly suggested: get paste; eight ounces of plain low-fat Then pop a cork and enjoy! a few logs burning in the fireplace. yogurt; two cans of low-sodium

Read more by Johnson in “Editor’s Journal” on VinesseTODAY.com. 2 • The Grapevine • Visit vinesse.com

OUR MISSION: To uncover and bring you wine gems from around the world, which you’re not likely to discover on your own, and which enhance your wine enjoyment. YOUR GRAPEVINE TEAM: love to cook with wine brown sugar, a quarter-tablespoon of Intrepid Wine Enthusiast, Chief I almost as much as I salt, two tablespoons of Worcestershire Taster and Winehound: love to drink wine. sauce, a cup of catsup, and a cup of Martin Stewart Zinfandel (red — not white!). Chief Operating Officer In a medium saucepan, sauté the (aka “The Buck Stops Here”): The latter is for pure pleasure, of onions until they’re soft. Then add all Lawrence D. Dutra course. But the former is very of the remaining ingredients and stir Editor: satisfying for me because it involves over medium heat until thickened. Robert Johnson creativity, attention to detail and using This will take about a half-hour, and Wine Steward: my hands. it’ll make about two cups of sauce. Katie Montgomery It also involves a little bit of The rest is up to you: Choose your The Grapevine is published by Vinesse, decision-making, because the typical favorite or fowl, and brush the 822 Hampshire Road, Suite E, Westlake recipe that calls for wine is non- meat with the sauce while barbecuing, Village, CA 91361; 1-800-823-5527. Copyright by Vinesse, LLC. Printed in USA. specific about the type of or pour the sauce over No responsibility is assumed for loss or wine to use. It will the fully-cooked meat at damage to unsolicited materials. indicate “white wine” or he type of the table. “red wine,” but what type T The wine to serve? The of white or red? It’s an wine you use same (red) Zin you used CHARTER MEMBER important decision in preparing the sauce. in a recipe BENEFITS: because it will absolutely Next, I’d like to share a The Grapevine Newsletter impact the flavor of the will absolutely recipe for a relish that dish. goes great with turkey, Premium wine selections at One thing I never do is impact the ham, roast or even members-only prices use “cooking wine.” In roasted chicken. This Wine tasting as a participant my personal opinion, dish’s flavor. Late Harvest Cranberry on VINESSE’s Gold Medal that’s nasty stuff — Relish has become a Award Panel sometimes bitter, and holiday tradition in the Free subscription to VINESSE’s almost always real salty. Better to go Montgomery household, and it’s really Cyber Circle Community with the “wrong” real wine than with easy to make. Members-only savings, cooking wine. You’ll need two cans of whole including Food & Wine I have the most fun with wine cranberry sauce, one can of crushed subscriptions, dining out, recipes that complement main dishes, pineapple and one cup of your favorite gourmet food and tickets to the rather than wine recipes that are main late harvest dessert wine. Personally, I hottest events dishes. I’ll share two of them with you prefer Late Harvest Riesling, but you Random giveaways of wine and this month — a Zinfandel Barbecue could also use Late Harvest accessories Sauce, and a Late Harvest Cranberry Gewurtztraminer or Late Harvest Wine Finders Reward — identify Relish. Chenin Blanc. a future wine selection and For the Zinfandel Sauce, you’ll need The preparation? Simply mix all the earn a reward a tablespoon of butter, a half-cup of ingredients together, then pass it minced onions, a tablespoon of Dijon- around the table so your family or Perfectly matched recipes for featured wine selections style mustard, two tablespoons of red guests can spoon on as much as wine vinegar, two tablespoons of they’d like. What could be easier? Visit vinesse.com • The Grapevine • 3 WINE APPELLATION SHOWCASE RUSSIAN RIVER VALLEY ATOZ n Sonoma County’s ocean the following morning. This einprobe. Not an I Russian River Valley, natural air conditioning allows the W uncomfortable medical individual vineyards grapes to develop full flavor maturity procedure, but rather the German over an extended growing season — word for a wine tasting. can be as famous as often 15 to 20 percent longer than ynisteri. A white grape variety individual winemakers. neighboring areas — while retaining X not known to be grown their natural acidity. anywhere other than on the island The very special conditions of soil When winemaking began in the of Cypress. and climate that produce the area’s Russian River Valley more than a arra Valley. An important world-class wines are century-and-a-half Y winegrowing region northeast unique and distinctive. ago, there were of Melbourne, Australia. The Russian River amazingly abundant Valley climate is natural resources and ilavka. Like Xynisteri, an he Russian Z obscure variety, only this one is sculpted by the regular T very few people grown primarily in Hercegovina intrusion of cooling River Valley climate making demands on (the former Yugoslavia). A white fog from the Pacific them. That situation is variety, it’s known for its rare Ocean a few miles to is sculpted by the now reversed, and the combination of high acidity and the west. Much like precious land is a high alcohol, and has a nut-like the tide, it ebbs and regular intrusion of limited fund of natural flavor. flows through the capital that must be merican Viticultural Area. Petaluma Wind Gap cooling fog from the nurtured as an AA government-designated and the channel cut by investment in the winegrowing area defined by the Russian River Pacific Ocean a few future — a sustainable specific qualities of geography, through the coastal future. Old wisdom miles to the west. geology and climate. The more hills. has become new again specific the designated area, the The fog usually as science supports more unique its qualities will be. arrives in the evening, what experience has ordo. The name used in often dropping the temperature as illustrated: the more care taken in B northeast Italy for Cabernet much as 35 to 40 degrees from its the vineyard, the better the wine Franc. daytime high, and retreats to the can be.

• Hand-crafted gems produced by little known or small estates • Limited-production bottlings • Under-the-radar wines you won’t find in supermarkets EACH SHIPMENT INCLUDES: • 2 or 4 bottles from all over the wine world • Detailed Tasting Notes for each featured wine • Latest edition of The Grapevine newsletter

THE ONE THAT WINE COLOR MIX: Reds, Whites, or Both — Your Choice! FREQUENCY: Approximately Monthly STARTED IT ALL! PRICE: Only $12 Average Per Bottle Plus Shipping

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VINESSE STYLE LOUISVILLE DINING

ÉLEVANT rom eccentric to casual dining with a nod to the free F upscale, the dining spirit of the area. Dishes such as community in Louisville, Sugar-Cured Pork Tenderloin, Black- SOCIETY Eyed Peas and Rice With Red-Eye ™ Kentucky, offers a blend Gravy give a rich feel of down-home IT’S NOT FOR EVERYONE. of experiences found Americana with a personal touch. IS IT FOR YOU? nowhere else. If first impressions are everything, you know from your first glance that Vinesse created the Elevant Locally owned restaurants found in Lynn’s Paradise Café is one of a kind. Society to meet members’ neighborhoods such as Frankfort From the bright colors to the giant demands for super-premium Avenue, Bardstown Road and coffee pot, Lynn’s is a delightful sight wines. While virtually all downtown create original and to behold. For all its exterior quirkiness, Lynn Winter brings some members of the original authentic dining experiences. In the heart of Louisville’s art serious chow. Each dish from Lynn’s American Cellars Wine Club gallery district is kitchen is a were very satisfied with their Artemisia, a fine diversion from the monthly selections, some dining restaurant beaten path. And as wanted more, and they found only in the a winner on Food River City. Network’s were willing to pay for it. Described as “Throwdown!” show contemporary with Bobby Flay, the EACH ELEVANT SOCIETY continental best casual dining SHIPMENT INCLUDES: cuisine, Artemisia secret in Louisville is offers fine art and a secret no longer. • 2 or 4 bottles — your jazz to Yet another of complement is succulent dishes. Louisville’s dining traditions is a choice — of super-premium From lunch to libations, it delights unique dish that started as an wines, mostly big and bold discriminating palates with dishes evening sustenance for party-going red varieties or blends such as Lemon Basil Pappardelle flappers in 1926. It’s the Hot Brown Pasta, handmade just for guests. (named for the Brown Hotel, where it • Detailed Tasting Notes for Avalon, another hometown favorite, originated) — an open-faced turkey each featured wine is a unique blend of classic American and sandwich, smothered in cuisine with a hint of regional flair. Mornay sauce and topped with • Latest edition of The Found in the heart of Louisville’s cheese and onions. It’s served all over town, and is great with a glass Grapevine newsletter eccentric Highlands, Avalon provides diners an atmosphere of upscale of rich, buttery Chardonnay. FREQUENCY: Approximately Monthly BEING GREEN PRICE: One of the big pushes in the “green movement” is for restaurants to use $69.99 Average Per locally produced ingredients whenever possible. This helps cut down on the use Shipment Plus Shipping of special packaging and the environment-harming issues associated with shipping products over long distances. There’s still at least one winery in the United States that mirrors the “think local” effort: the Galleano family’s estate TO LEARN MORE ABOUT in Rancho Cucamonga, California. There, the winery and long-time (mostly) THIS CLUB, CALL 800 - 823 - 5527 Italian customers carry on the tradition of having large jugs filled with wine OR VISIT WWW.VINESSE.COM. straight from the barrel — thus greatly minimizing bottle and cork usage. Visit vinesse.com • The Grapevine • 5

Delicious Recipes to Try With Sangiovese and Chardonnay WINES THAT MATCH ne of the great minutes), add the garlic and stir. THE SEASON. food-and-wine To the onion mix, add the browned O Summer — wines for pairings is Rabbit rabbit and the rest of the ingredients, except the Italian parsley. Simmer barbecues, picnics or just Goulash served with until the rabbit is fork-tender — for sipping. Fall — wines for Sangiovese, the about 45 minutes. Then add the hearty, harvest-time dishes. variety used in Italian parsley, and serve over rice or You get the idea. All wines making some of Italy’s pasta. are selected by our Tasting finest bottlings. If you’re a white wine drinker, here’s another recipe that gets its Panel to pair beautifully with flavor, in part, from garlic: Roasted the foods you love. For this Rabbit Goulash recipe, Garlic Scampi With Minced you’ll need three pounds of rabbit, . EACH SHIPMENT cut into 2-inch pieces; one cup of Begin by roasting some garlic in foil INCLUDES: flour; six tablespoons of olive oil; with olive oil for about an hour, and • 4 bottles of specially- two tablespoons of butter; three set it aside. selected wines yellow onions, sliced a quarter-inch Dice a quarter-cup of Prosciutto and thick; a tablespoon of caraway seeds; sauté with four tablespoons of olive • Detailed Tasting Notes a tablespoon of minced fresh garlic; oil and some minced shallots for for each featured wine half a tablespoon of crushed red about 15 minutes. Place the • Latest edition of The pepper; a tablespoon of paprika; a ham/shallot mixture in a sauté pan Grapevine newsletter tablespoon of chopped fresh basil; on high heat, toss in two lemon • A special surprise gift a tablespoon of lemon zest; two cups wedges, the roasted garlic and two of chopped Italian plum tomatoes; a tablespoons of butter. WINE COLOR MIX: cup of Sangiovese; salt and fresh- When the pan and its ingredients Reds, Whites, or Mixed ground black pepper (to taste); and are very hot, add butterfly prawns half a cup of finely chopped Italian and cook for a few minutes, until FREQUENCY: parsley. they’re done to your liking. Serve 4 times per year, plus a Begin by lightly dredging the rabbit with the remaining sauce from the special holiday shipment in the flour. In small batches, brown sauté pan, and then top with the rabbit in four tablespoons of the chopped parsley. For a memorable PRICE: olive oil over medium heat, and drain meal, pour it over fettucine and then $89.95 Average Per on a towel. open a bottle of your favorite Shipment Plus Shipping In a large pan, heat the butter and Chardonnay. the remaining olive oil, and Our thanks to the folks at Terra caramelize the onions with the d’Oro and Lockwood Vineyard for TO LEARN MORE ABOUT caraway seeds. As the onions start to sharing these delicious recipes with THIS CLUB, CALL 800 - 823 - 5527 turn a light brown (after about 20-25 us. OR VISIT WWW.VINESSE.COM. 6 • The Grapevine • Visit vinesse.com 9 Great Restaurants of Sonoma County

ontrary to what the loin wrapped in applewood-smoked folks in Napa bacon, and roasted rack of rabbit with C a mustard cream sauce — is typical of Valley would like you the dishes that are simultaneously to believe, there are rustic and refined. The tranquil, numerous restaurants WINE country-style dining room… elegant in Sonoma County that but unassuming… is open Thursday are more than worth through Sunday only. your while. • The Fig Café. Celadon booths, yellow walls and a sloping high ceiling make the latest in the string of Fodor’s provides the descriptive prose Sondra Bernstein’s popular restaurants for the list that follows — a list hand- feel summery and airy even in the picked by members of the Vinesse middle of winter. Artisanal cheese tasting panel and our California North TOURING TIPS plates and fried calamari are popular Coast wine finders. From casual to TOURING TIPS appetizers, and entrees such as classic, there are culinary delights size kitchen, skillful chefs turn out half braised pot roast and grilled hanger around every corner in Sonoma a dozen main courses that star on a steak tend to be hearty. Don’t forget County. Here are a few of them… small but worthwhile menu to look on the chalkboard for • Barndiva. One of hottest new emphasizing local ingredients. Chicken, frequently changing desserts, such as restaurants in Healdsburg (it opened in , pasta, fish and risotto get deluxe butterscotch pots de creme. The 2004 to general acclaim) trades in the treatment without fuss or fanfare. The unusual no-corkage-fee policy makes cozy country style of so many Wine offbeat dining room, hung with large, it a great place to drink the wine you Country spots for a hip nightclub feel. abstract paintings, turns out some of just discovered down the road. Dance music plays in the background the best food for the price in Wine • John Ash & Co. Patio seating, while servers stay busy ferrying Country. views out over vineyards, and a cozy inventive (if pricey) specialty cocktails. indoor fireplace make this spacious The food is as stylish as the well- restaurant with an elegant French dressed couples cozying up next to country ambience a draw on both one another on the banquette seats: summer and winter evenings. The dishes, divided on the menu into California cuisine incorporates a bit “Light Clean,” “Spicy Passionate,” and of France, Italy and even Asia, but “Comfort Soothing” categories, are the ingredients are largely local: Hog well executed and beautifully Island oysters come from Tomales presented. During warmer months, the Bay, and the goat cheese in the beautiful patio more than doubles the ravioli comes from Laura Chenel, number of seats. Service is friendly local cheese maker extraordinaire. rather than expert. Entrees may include Dungeness crab • Bistro Ralph. Ralph Tingle has cakes or pan-seared ahi tuna. The discovered a formula for success with wine list is impressive, even by his California home-style cuisine, Wine Country standards. A café serving up a small menu that changes menu offers bites in the bar between weekly. Typical dishes include osso • The Farmhouse Inn. From the meals. buco with saffron risotto, and sautéed personable sommelier who arrives at • LaSalette. Chef-owner Manny mahi mahi with hedgehog mushrooms. the table to help you pick wines from Azevedo, born in the Azores and The stark industrial space includes a the outstanding list, to the maitre d’ raised in Sonoma, serves dishes stunning, gracefully curved wine rack, who serves local and European cheeses inspired by his native Portugal in this concrete floors, and a painted brick from the cart with a flourish, the staff warmly decorated spot a few steps off wall. Take a seat at the bar and chat matches the quality of the outstanding Sonoma’s plaza. Boldly flavored with the locals, who love this place French-inspired California cuisine. The dishes such as prawns with tomato- just as much as out-of-towners do. signature dish, “rabbit, rabbit, rabbit” peanut sauce and coconut rice, or salt • Café La Haye. In a postage-stamp- — a rich trio of confit of leg, rabbit cod baked with white onions, might Visit vinesse.com • The Grapevine • 7 be followed by a dish of Portuguese In Oregon, one of the best winery rice pudding or a Port from the varied restaurants is the Dundee Bistro, list. Crepes are served for breakfast which is adjacent to the Ponzi Wednesday through Sunday. Winery tasting room in Dundee, • Meritage. A fortuitous blend of Oregon. Not surprisingly, its signature southern French and northern Italian dishes pair beautifully with Ponzi cuisine is the backbone of this wines. restaurant, where chef Carlo Cavallo In Southern California’s Temecula works wonders with house-made Wine Country, north of San Diego, pastas. The warmly lighted dining The Pinnacle Restaurant at Falkner room, with its sea of unusual Winery offers panoramic views from sculpted-glass light fixtures, is more its hilltop setting. Guests may dine romantic than the lively bar area, either indoors in the glass-enclosed where an oyster bar augments the dining room, or outside on the open- menu’s extensive seafood choices. air balcony overlooking the vineyard. Vegetarians can enjoy a special tasting The cuisine is American- menu, which can be adapted for Mediterranean, expertly executed by vegans. executive chef E. Dennis van • Willow Wood Market Café. About Amazing Estates Rumund. 5 miles east of Occidental in the But our favorite culinary destination village of Graton is one of the best- That Offer Both that combines a restaurant and a kept secrets Wining & Dining winery is way off the beaten path — For Further in the Wine and we do mean way off: Country. Information Rendezvous Restaurant & Winery Tucked Barndiva here are fabulous specializes in Thai and French fusion among a Healdsburg restaurants all cuisine. It’s located four miles north hodgepodge T 707-431-0100 of San Pedro — not San Pedro, of kitschy over California Wine California, but San Pedro, Belize. Bistro Ralph toys and Country, but a With only 24 seats and an open- Healdsburg other gift restaurant that’s part style kitchen, this intimate setting 707-433-1380 items are a of a working winery provides a one-of-a-kind dining Café La Haye number of is relatively rare. adventure on Ambergris Caye. The Sonoma tables where ever changing menu 707-935-5994 casually Not so in Australia, features such classic Thai dressed The Farmhouse Inn where dozens of dishes as Phad Thai, Tom locals sit Forestville winery restaurants Yum kung and Thai beef down to ustralia 707-887-3300 welcome visitors. The salad, as well as French order freshly Ahas dozens restaurants weren’t specialties like homemade The Fig Café made salads afterthoughts, either. of wineries smoked grouper, creme Glen Ellen and They were designed at which brule and escargot. 707-938-2130 sandwiches, from the very Rendezvous Restaurant John Ash & Co. or heartier restaurants beginning to be integral and Winery produces its Santa Rosa American are integral aspects of the winery’s own wines — Rendezvous 707-527-7687 fare such as business and the aspects of Estates — made right on LaSalette pork visitor’s experience. the visitor’s the property. Cabernet Sonoma tenderloin Closer — a lot closer experience. Sauvignon and Merlot are 707-938-1927 ragout with — to home, British the most popular reds, shiitake Meritage Columbia’s Okanagan while Pinot Chardonnay mushrooms. Sonoma Valley also boasts and Trebbiano are the star 707-938-9430 several winery restaurants, including whites. Willow Wood those on the estates of Sumac Ridge, Yes, they match beautifully with the Market Café Burrowing Owl, Gray Monk, Thai-French cuisine. And the seaside Graton Summerhill and Quails’ Gate. view ain’t bad, either. 707-522-8372 8 • The Grapevine • Visit vinesse.com Quotes Du Jour QQANDANDAA ■ Michael Broadbent, on the pleasures of wine: What is the proper way to open a We’re planning a visit to California “Drinking good wine with good food bottle of Champagne? Wine Country this coming spring. in good company is one of life’s most That’s a great question for this time Where should we go? civilized pleasures.” of the year, when more than 80 That depends on what kind of ■ Kingsley Amis, writing in percent of the Champagne and experience you seek. If you’re looking Everyday Drinking: sparkling wine is sold (and, we for a 5-star vacation, then there’s only “When I hear someone I don’t presume, consumed). First of all, one place to go: Napa Valley. There respect talking about an austere, forget everything you’ve ever seen in are more wineries and world-class unforgiving wine, I turn a bit austere the locker rooms of sports teams that restaurants per capita there than and unforgiving myself. When I come have just won a championship. almost anyplace on Earth. Add in the across stuff like that and remember Champagne is meant to be sipped, not resorts, spas and balloon rides, and about the figs and bananas, I want to sprayed all over the place. That spray you’ll have a memorable — if budget- snigger uneasily. You can call a wine is created by shaking the bottle (even shattering — vacation. If you’d prefer red, and dry, and strong, and slightly) and then quickly popping the to soak in more of the agricultural pleasant. After that, watch out.” cork. Because of all the pressure built experience, then head west to Sonoma ■ James Thurber, in a caption for a up in the bottle, it’s almost like County, where most of the wineries cartoon in The New Yorker — and shooting a cannonball out of a are still small, family-owned perhaps an inspiration for Kingsley cannon. The proper way to open a enterprises that focus more on Amis: Champagne bottle is to carefully farming than flair. There are plenty of “It’s a naive domestic Burgundy remove the “cage” over the bottle top, great restaurants on the Sonoma side without any breeding, but I think and place a clean towel over the cork. (see “Wine Touring Tips” in this you’ll be amused by its presumption.” Then slowly turn the cork while issue), but the overall experience will gently pulling it outward. Rather than be more rustic. Finally, don’t ignore ■ Aristophanes, ignoring both a loud “POP!” the goal is to hear a California’s other winegrowing regions Thurber and Amis: faint “kiss,” like when you’re blowing — Amador County, Paso Robles and “Quickly, bring me a beaker of wine, a kiss to a friend. This will keep the Santa Barbara County all offer unique so that I may wet my mind and say wine in the bottle, ready to pour and and satisfying experiences for wine something clever.” enjoy. lovers.

EACH SHIPMENT FEATURED WINES MADE WINE COLOR MIX: INCLUDES: IN CALIFORNIA EXCLUSIVELY! Reds, Whites, or Both — • 2 or 4 bottles of the best It’s Your Choice! finds from California • Napa • Sacramento Delta FREQUENCY: • Detailed Tasting Notes • Sonoma • Amador County Approximately for each wine Every Other Month • Latest edition of The • Santa Ynez • Mendocino PRICE: Grapevine newsletter • Monterey ... and More! Only $12 Average Per Bottle Plus Shipping

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become quite public in recent VINESSE® months: Many vintners in Germany add sugar or concentrated juice to their fermenting wines in order to boost the alcohol content. It’s perfectly legal, and winemakers say it’s necessary because the very cool region often makes it impossible for grapes to attain full ripeness. The NEW BOOK OFFERS WINE practice has come to the forefront & CHEESE PAIRING TIPS because of a European Union JOIN US FOR AN Since this is “The Food Issue” of proposal that would ban crystal sugar INCREDIBLE WINE The Grapevine, we thought we’d from European wines, and end share some information about a new subsidies for the concentrated juice. JOURNEY! book. It has a long title — Cheese & This would be potentially catastrophic Each Shipment Takes You Wine: A Guide to Selection, Pairing news for the German vintners, while to a Different Corner having no and Enjoyment of the Wine World! — but the impact on information it wineries in Taste Exquisite Boutique presents is warmer climes. Wines... Savor Each pithy, focused German export Country’s Winemaking and easy to director Walter Tradition... and Collect digest. Written Schnur summed Some Souvenirs! by Janet it up this way: Fletcher, Wine “If we cut & Cheese down, Australia EACH SHIPMENT provides clear and simple descriptions and others will say: ‘Hello? Thank INCLUDES: of 70 international cheeses and the you very much.’” • 6 bottles of specially wines that go with them. What else selected wines from one do you really need? Warning: The HOW TO READ AN book is lavishly illustrated, which OREGON WINE LABEL country or region of the means it’s guaranteed to make you New labeling laws are going into wine world hungry. effect in Oregon, at the urging of the Oregon Winegrowers Association. The • Detailed Tasting Notes A PICTURE IS WORTH laws deal with the percentage of fruit for each featured wine A THOUSAND WORDS from a specific region that’s required Speaking of lavishly-illustrated for the regional designation to be • Latest edition of The books, check out Wine Across listed on the label, among other Grapevine newsletter America: A Photographic Road Trip. issues. For details, visit Assembled by Charles O’Rear and VinesseTODAY.com and check out the • A special souvenir Daphne Larkin, it focuses on real archives area. people and real wineries, as opposed WINE COLOR MIX: to the big “trophy wines” that the GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS Reds, Whites, or Mixed wine press typically fawns over. It’s a FROM SANTA BARBARA “coffee-table book,” which means As with all grape harvests, FREQUENCY: there isn’t much accompanying prose. California’s various growing regions 6 times per year But the images will motivate you to experienced both good news and bad plan a trip to Wine Country — which news in 2007. Take Santa Barbara PRICE: may be a lot closer than you think. County, as an example. There, the $99 Per Shipment Pinot Noir and Syrah grapes offered Plus Shipping EUROPEAN DEBATE OVER excellent color and flavors, but the TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SUGAR TURNS SOUR yields were down by about 30 THIS CLUB, CALL 800 - 823 - 5527 It’s a sweet little secret that has percent. OR VISIT WWW.VINESSE.COM. 10 • The Grapevine • Visit vinesse.com The Grapevine

RADICCHIO RISOTTO 3. Add radicchio and begin to add the • 1 onion, chopped simmering broth, a ladle at a time. Stir • 2 garlic cloves, crushed through a Courtesy of Ferrari-Carano Vineyards, this frequently, but gently. press recipe serves 4 and matches beautifully • 1 orange (use the juice and the with most red wines. 4. After each absorption of the liquid, add another ladle until the broth is all used. orange peel zested) INGREDIENTS (This will take about 20 minutes.) • 3/4 cup off-dry white wine • 3 tbsp. white raisins • 5 cups chicken broth 5. Add cream and stir to prevent sticking. • 1/3 cup slivered almonds • 1 cup white wine The risotto should be a nice creamy • 2 T unsalted butter consistency, not runny or pasty. PREPARATION • 1 tsp. olive oil 1. Place chicken in a large bowl and 6. Add Gorgonzola cheese and stir in. • 1/3 cup shallots, minced season with cinnamon, cloves, salt and Pour the risotto onto a prepared platter • 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice pepper. • 1 clove garlic, minced and garnish with walnuts and parsley, 2. In a large sauté pan, heat oil over • 1 cup radicchio leaves, cut into thin and drizzle a little bit of balsamic medium-high heat. Add chicken in strips vinegar on top, if desired. Sprinkle with batches and cook, turning until brown, • 1/2 cup cream Parmesan, and serve immediately. about 10 minutes. Remove and set • 4 oz. imported Gorgonzola cheese, aside. broken into small chunks CINNAMON CHICKEN • 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese This recipe serves 4, and matches 3. Add onion to pan. Cook until soft, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook 1 PREPARATION beautifully with off-dry white wines such minute. 1. In a saucepan, put chicken broth and as Muscat Canelli. 4. Return chicken to pan. Add orange 1/2 cup of wine. Heat to simmer and INGREDIENTS keep warm. juice, orange zest, wine and raisins. • 3 lbs. boneless and skinless chicken Cover, reduce heat and simmer 15 2. In a separate large, heavy saucepan, thighs or drumsticks minutes until chicken is tender. heat butter and oil, add shallots, and • 2 tsp. ground cinnamon 5. Remove cover and continue cooking sauté until soft. Add rice to pan and • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves until juice is reduced and slightly coat grains evenly with oil. Add garlic • 1/2 tsp. salt thickened. Garnish with almonds, and and remaining wine, and stir until • 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper serve. liquid is completely absorbed by rice. • 2 tbsp. olive oil

• A club for people EACH SHIPMENT INCLUDES: who enjoy a touch • 2 bottles of delicious of sweetness in light-and-sweet wines • Detailed Tasting Notes their wines. for each featured wine & • Wines that are • Latest edition of The lighter in style, Grapevine newsletter sometimes sparkle, WINE COLOR MIX: occasionally blush, Mostly White; Occasionally and are simply Blush/Pink or Sparkling THE FASTEST-GROWING fun to drink. FREQUENCY: Approximately Every Other Month • Wines selected CLUB IN VINESSE HISTORY! PRICE: from top regions Only $12 Average Per Bottle around the world. Plus Shipping TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THIS CLUB, GO ONLINE TO WWW.VINESSE.COM OR CALL 800 - 823 - 5527. Visit vinesse.com • The Grapevine • 11

CELLAR SPECIALS WHITE WINES Member Price 2006 Silver Creek White Table Wine ...... $12.99 2006 Indian Creek California Chardonnay ...... $12.99 2005 Skyline Cellars California Chardonnay ...... $12.99 2003 Domaine Valensac Sauvignon Blanc...... $13.99 2005 Big Ass Chardonnay ...... $16.99 2006 Terranoble Maule, Chile Vineyard Selection Sauvignon Blanc ...... $16.99 2006 Ten Mile White Lost Horizons, California ...... $17.99 2004 Mosaic Sonoma County, California Merlot ...... $18.99 2005 Hope Estate Verdelho, Hunter Valley, Australia ...... $18.99 2005 La Playa Colchagua, Chile Late Harvest Sauvignon Blanc ...... $19.99 RED WINES Member Price 2003 Aqua Pumpkin Central Coast Merlot ...... $12.99 2004 Camden Place California Red Table Wine...... $12.99 2002 Chateau Bel-Air France Lalande-de-Pomerol ...... $14.00 2004 TerraNoble Vineyard Selection Merlot, Maule, Chile ...... $16.99 Stella Rosa Piedmont, Italy Sparkling Red Wine ...... $16.99 2003 Torrevieja Malbec Reserva, Mendoza, Argentina ...... $17.99 2005 Don Rodolfo Cafayatte, Argentina Malbec...... $18.99 2005 Vampire Cabernet Sauvignon, Paso Robles, California...... $18.99 2001 Umkhulu Akira Stellenbosch, South Africa ...... $19.99 2004 Preludio Syrah, Mendoza, Argentina ...... $20.99 2006 Dashwood Pinot Noir, Marlborough, New Zealand ...... $24.99 1999 Château Pomeaux Pomerol ...... $40.00

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