Greetings,
Had some very good wine, white and red, and terrific food
at Muffuletta last night. Setting enabled the excellent discussion.
Next week, it's Bordeaux Blends from anywhere at JP's American Bistro.
Warren's suggestion is that we try to contrast Old vs New World Styles.
Sounds good to me. 6:30 on Thursday.
I'm including the article from the LA Times on the practice of
adding water to the must in California.
The controversial practice can prevent "stuck" or incomplete
fermentations in **overly concentrated** wine by lowering the
sugar contant, and therefore the "potential alcohol" of the
must. Yeast has a tough time fermenting much beyond 15%. It's
not impossible, but it's not optimal either.... Adding water
can also bring a wine back into balance.
Cheers,
Jim
latimes.comhttp://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-wine27oct27,1,2926184.story?coll…
WINE & SPIRITS
Just add water
California vintners use a controversial practice to reduce over-the-top alcohol levels. Most have kept quiet about it, until now.
By Corie Brown
Times Staff Writer
October 27, 2004
Karl WENTE presses the back of his hand down into the vat of crushed Cabernet grapes, then watches the dark purple liquid fill his cupped palm. He sips the newly fermented juice, which will become an ambitious new wine, Wente Family Estates Nth Degree Cabernet. He plans to sell it for $50 a bottle.
Wente smiles, clearly delighted with the result: He's added just the right amount of water to the wine.
Water? Into wine?
That's heresy, as far as most wine lovers are concerned. The idea of pouring a few buckets of water into a steel fermentation tank smacks of watering down, stretching and cheapening wine. And to do it in pursuit of a showcase wine . the Wente family's first . well, who would do such a thing?
Actually, in California it's been done for decades. Wente, an aggressive 27-year-old, fifth-generation winemaker in Livermore, stands out not because he adds water to his wines, but because he's willing to talk about it.
Wente is shattering the silence, he says, because "watering back" . adding water during fermentation . can be an important tool for improving California wines. It's a way to make more elegant wines, he says, and sometimes it is the way to turn a good wine into a great wine. And if more vintners would talk about it, he figures, the practice would gain public understanding and acceptance.
Perhaps. But the controversial practice has become so widespread, while no one was noticing, that it is calling into question whether a number of prominent California regions are even appropriate places to grow wine grapes.
"Watering back" is a reaction to the California wine industry's growing propensity to make ever more powerful wines, the kind that earn critical acclaim and command high prices. Wente is among the growing ranks of winemakers who question whether intensity should be achieved at the expense of elegance and finesse.
Bruno D'Alfonso, the winemaker at Sanford Winery in Santa Barbara County since 1983, may be the most vocal advocate of what he calls "interventionist" winemaking.
Leaving grapes to hang on the vine until they are fully ripe makes wine that is a welcome change from the thin, herbaceous vintages that areas like Santa Barbara used to produce, says D'Alfonso. The problem is the wine they produce can be too alcoholic.
It's a problem throughout the state: As bold and even exciting as some of California's flashier wines can be, they also can be so alcoholic that they're out of balance.
There is so much alcohol in most California wine that it isn't drinkable, says Karen MacNeil, chairwoman of the Culinary Institute of America's Rudd Center for Wine Studies in Napa, who likens them to "a woman with gaudy makeup, dressed in stiletto heels and fake furs." All it takes is "a little water to lift that curtain of alcohol so you can taste the wine," she says.
"On the face of it, you hear 'watering down' and think it's a scandal," says MacNeil, referring to the potential for consumer fraud. "In point of fact, I've never heard of a single instance where water was used that way."
The French absolutely consider the practice to be fraud. "It is an economic fraud because you sell water at the price of wine," says C�dric Saucier, a member of the oenology faculty at the University of Bordeaux.
Adding water at any point in the winemaking process has been illegal in France since 1907 and now is illegal in all countries that are members of the International Organization of Vine and Wine, which includes all of the European Union nations.
"This law was introduced at that time because there was an overproduction of wine in general," Saucier says. "If you increase the yield of wine either by viticultural practice or by watering down the wine, you will decrease wine quality."
That is, unless there's a crisis, says Sicilian vintner Marco de Grazia, who exports a broad selection of Italian wines to the United States. Last year's vintage in Sicily, for instance, was characterized by an extremely hot and dry summer. Sugar concentrations went through the roof. There were stuck fermentations everywhere, he says.
De Grazia is quick to say he didn't add water during fermentation, but that many of the vintners he knows did. "It's illegal, of course. But what are you going to do?"
Enough to do the job
Here in California, it's legal . sort of. State regulations allow adding water "to facilitate fermentation." The intent is to avoid technical disasters from occurring during the winemaking process, most specifically what is known as "stuck fermentation," in which the sugars in the juice do not convert to alcohol. The amount of water and and whether it is necessary to add it are left entirely to the discretion of the winemaker.
The regulatory emphasis is on "enough water" to do the job. Wente says that meant adding as much as 20% water to certain fermentation lots this year. (In Australia, by comparison, regulations allow no more than 3% water by volume.)
Local regulations reflect local necessity, according to Mary Ewing Mulligan, a master of wine and president of the International Wine Center in New York City. Although throughout France it is illegal to add water to wine, in Burgundy, where the typically rainy, cold weather retards the natural development of sugar in the grapes, winemakers are allowed to add sugar during fermentation, a process known as chaptalization.
Adding sugar is less invasive than adding water, says Saucier. "When you add sugar to the juice, it affects only the alcohol of the resulting wine. If you add water, you are diluting and modifying all your initial wine parameters, including thousands of quality compounds like aromas and polyphenols."
But Mulligan argues that adding water is no worse than adding sugar. "I see it as a correction that should be used when it's necessary and appropriate . that is, when the grapes have been left too long on the vine and sugars are too high, making the alcohol levels unacceptable," she says.
In general, she notes, alcohol levels in California wine are "way out of whack. The great majority burn in the rear palate. The wines are difficult to drink."
The universality of the problem in California and the resulting need to add water every year raises a bigger question for Mulligan: "You need to rethink whether you should grow grapes in a region that needs to have overripe fruit to get the flavors you want," she says. "Call it what it is and don't charge these high prices for the wine."
Sanford's D'Alfonso calls it "demystifying the winemaking process." Too many winemakers, he says, take a "hands-off" approach with these bigger wines, leaving the wines to drown in the alcohol.
The 2004 Santa Barbara vintage is a case in point. A 103-degree heat wave blasted the region just before harvest in September. Despite a four-alarm rush to pick the grapes before they dehydrated, D'Alfonso says no one escaped unscathed.
"If you didn't add water this year, you didn't have Pinot Noir in Santa Barbara. It's that simple," he says.
Kris Curran, the winemaker at Sea Smoke Cellars, a new boutique label in the region, agrees. "This was the year you had to add water or get high residual sugars," she says.
"There are 'flat earth' people out there who believe in faith-based winemaking," says D'Alfonso. "I'm more like Copernicus. I'm a chemist. I believe in science. These vines didn't plant themselves. And the wine doesn't make itself."
For D'Alfonso, this year it means his wines are up to 15% added water by volume.
The necessity of adding water is a matter of simple chemistry for winemakers like D'Alfonso and Wente. In much of California, sugars develop early in wine grapes and continue to build up until harvest. The rest of the flavors and tannins that make great wine may not show until later, in some cases not until the grapes are overripe.
By contrast, in places like France with cooler, more inclement weather, the sugars in wine grapes develop more slowly and in concert with the rest of the flavors and tannins. Sometimes they fail to develop fully, or at all.
Wineries across California have been leaving their grapes to hang on the vine for longer and longer periods of time, striving to capture the full complement of flavors. That means the grapes have high sugar levels, which translate into high-alcohol wines, as high as 18%.
Table wine is legally defined as having less than 14% alcohol, so the issue isn't only one of balance; excessive alcohol also raises the federal excise tax rate wineries must pay on the wine (see sidebar).
To tone down the alcohol, there are only two options, says Linda Bisson, professor oenology at UC Davis: Add water during fermentation. Or de-alcoholize the wine after fermentation, which, from Bisson's perspective, is a far more invasive mechanical process, and so, less desirable.
"If it's important to have full flavors," says Bisson, "then you need to add water."
Before April 2002, no one would have admitted that, according to Wendell Lee, general counsel for the industry-supported Wine Institute. Until then, the conventional understanding of the state regulations was that nothing more than the moisture left in a tank after washing was allowed. The Wine Institute strongly advised its members against adding water during fermentation at all.
That changed as California wineries sought out riper and riper fruit. Then fermentation problems started to rise along with the sugar levels. Specifically, the yeasts used to convert sugar into alcohol during winemaking were overwhelmed by the high sugars, shutting down the fermentation process before it was complete. These stuck fermentations, which tasted like Kool-Aid, were worthless as wine.
The simple solution was to add water during fermentation to dilute the sugar concentrations. When it worked, it saved the vintage. Two years ago, the Wine Institute requested a reinterpretation of the state regulations concerning the addition of water, and got it.
'Rehydrating' grapes
As a matter of practice, however, the state doesn't act as a watchdog on this issue.
"Do we go looking for it? No," says Patrick Kennelly, chief of the food safety inspection unit of the state Department of Health Services in charge of overseeing winemaking. "With budget cuts, less staff, our focus is on public health, not this."
In case the state suddenly becomes stricter in interpretation and/or enforcement of this issue, the Wine Institute suggests that "watering back" only be used, or discussed, as a solution for stuck fermentations.
Still, vintners like Wente and D'Alfonso commonly talk about using it to control alcohol levels. It also is popular to talk about adding water to "rehydrate" the grapes. The theory is that the winemaker is replacing only the water that was lost from the grapes as they hung in the hot September sun.
Although this rhetoric may help alleviate consumer anxieties, it raises a red flag to grape growers who sell their grapes to vintners by the ton.
These farmers are making less money per ton of grapes because of dehydration in the field, and they say they should be compensated, especially if the vintner is going to add water back once those grapes are in the winery. And because wineries don't have to report how much water they add to their wines, the grape growers are becoming more and more concerned, according to Karen Ross, president of the California Assn. of Winegrape Growers.
To winemakers like Wente and D'Alfonso, however, the richer flavors from the longer hang times are worth the cost, however it is parsed. From their point of view, it's all part of the evolution of California wine.
*
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Testing the limits
The federal excise tax wineries must pay on wines under 14% alcohol is $1.07 per gallon. Above 14% alcohol, the excise tax increases to $1.57 per gallon. Under 14% alcohol, a 1.5 percentage point variance in the labeled alcohol content is allowed, but it can't exceed the 14% limit. A 13.9% wine can be labeled between 13.9% and 12.4%. But if the wine is 14% alcohol or more, there is only a 1 point variance in the labeled alcohol content. So a 15% wine can be labeled as low as 14%, but if it's exactly 14%, it cannot be labeled any lower than 14%.
Because of the negative connotation of high alcohol, vintners almost always label their wines at the lowest possible alcohol levels.
If you want other stories on this topic, search the Archives at latimes.com/archives.
TMS Reprints
Article licensing and reprint options
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> -----
Date: Wed, 27 Oct 2004 12:38:57 -0400 (EDT)
To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu
Subject: The 30 Second Wine Advisor - Can white wine age?
THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Wednesday, Oct. 27, 2004
___________________________________________________________________
TODAY'S SPONSORS:
* FRENCH WINE EXPLORERS Book our Rhone tour early, save $200.
http://www.wine-tours-france.com/RhoneValleyWineTour.htm
* CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB No billing and no shipping until Dec. 1,
2004!
http://www.cawineclub.com?Partner_ID=winelovers
___________________________________________________________________
IN THIS ISSUE
* CAN WHITE WINE AGE? Tips about whites that reward maturity.
* ROSTENBERG 2004 "BRAMPTON" WESTERN CAPE SAUVIGNON BLANC ($7.49)
Bold and bright, a fresh, forward Southern Hemisphere white of
excellent value.
___________________________________________________________________
CAN WHITE WINE AGE?
"Is there ever any reason to cellar a white wine? Are there whites
that can develop in the cellar?"
Thanks to reader Ed Y. for this question, which touches on an
aspect of keeping and enjoying wine that I haven't addressed for a
while. We frequently talk about aging red wines, with the
understanding that even in this category, the lighter and fruitier
specimens aren't usually meant for aging.
The concept, if not the actual practice, of "cellaring" fine
Bordeaux, Burgundy and Rhone reds and their counterparts from
Italy, Spain and the New World, is well-known. Keep these ageworthy
reds lying quietly on their sides in a cool (55F/13C), dark place
for a few years, and they'll gradually shed their tart and tannic
youthful astringency, replacing it with a mellow complexity that
can't be achieved as well in any other way.
Ageworthy reds typically gain longevity from tannins, an astringent
substance that most red grape skins impart. White wines, on the
other hand, are made without the skins and are rarely tannic. But
there are other elements to seek in ageworthy reds and whites: Most
of all, look for good balance between fruit and acidity. A wine
that's "fat" and "flabby" in its youth is more likely to fall apart
than improve with age in the bottle. A wine that's overtly oaky or
one that smells more of butter or caramel than fruit isn't likely
to reveal elegance with age. I often hear wine enthusisasts
hopefully predicting that youthful oak will "integrate," but I
can't say that I've often seen it happen.
Just like reds, but even more so, most white wines are made to
enjoy while they are young and fresh, but here are a few noteworthy
exceptions:
* The best Chardonnays (usually add "expensive," unfortunately) can
reward cellaring with a dramatic increase in richness and
complexity. This is most true of the top-rank white Burgundies,
but certainly some of the top California and Australian Chardonnays
as well.
* Fine Rieslings, especially the best German examples from the
Rhine and Mosel, can be remarkably long-lived, and will develop
wondrous complexity with age.
* Dessert wines based on white grapes - Sauternes, late-harvest
Rieslings, Tokaji and their New World equivalents - can age and
improve for years or even decades.
* Top-end vintage Champagnes can show aroma and flavor evolution
with age similar to White Burgundies, but they also tend to lose
their fizz and take on "cork-aged" aromas, not the musty stench
that spoils a cork-tainted wine but distinctly cork-like and woody.
It's definitely an acquired taste.
Many of these whites can age for a decade, and the best can go for
20 years or even longer. You'll occasionally see Sauternes from the
'50s selling at auction for record prices.
But even more than with red wines, good cellar conditions are
critical. Aging whites just won't work on the wine rack in the
long term, unfortunately. The line between a warm, complex richness
and mere Sherrylike oxidation is a fine one, and whites kept under
warm storage conditions - even air-conditioned room temperature -
will rarely last.
___________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________
It wouldn't make much sense for me to offer you a tasting report
on a well-aged white, since you wouldn't have much luck finding the
same wine at retail. Instead, let's move in the opposite direction
for our first look at the brand-new vintage of 2004. This bold and
fruity Sauvignon Blanc comes from South Africa, where the upside-
down seasons in the Southern Hemisphere bring us autumn and the
harvest in March, April and May.
___________________________________________________________________
ROSTENBERG 2004 "BRAMPTON" WESTERN CAPE SAUVIGNON BLANC ($7.49)
This is a transparent, almost watery pale wine, with just a hint of
brassy green to give it color. There's plenty of characteristic
Sauvignon Blanc personality on the nose, gooseberry and grapefruit
and a pleasant herbaceous quality that's more like leaves than
grass. Bright and bold on the palate, it boasts ripe mixed-citrus
flavors, grapefruit and lemon-lime; tangy acidity holds up fresh,
juicy citrus fruit in a long finish. U.S. importer: Cape Classics,
NYC. (Oct. 26, 2004)
FOOD MATCH: The snappy citrus flavors went nicely with a dish
crafted to match, duck-breast "scaloppine" with a quick reduction
sauce of browned butter with lemon, lime and tangerine juice and
accents of bay leaf and sage. (Check tomorrow's Wine Advisor
FoodLetter for the recipe.)
VALUE: One of my top values of the year at this low-end price.
WHEN TO DRINK: Bright and juicy fruit makes it hard to resist now,
although the high-tech metal screw cap will hold its freshness more
effectively than a natural cork. Still, best enjoyed during the
next year or two.
WEB LINK:
The Rustenberg Website features the 2004 Brampton Sauvignon Blanc
on this page:
http://routes.wine.co.za/Directory/Wine.aspx?WINEID=10177
FIND THIS WINE ONLINE:
Look up vendors and prices on Wine-Searcher.com:
http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Brampton/-/-/USD/A?referring_site=WLP
___________________________________________________________________
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Wednesday, October 27, 2004
Copyright 2004 by Robin Garr. All rights reserved.
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Mostly an update.
Let's add German wine to the list, since some/many of the current
specials/seasonal selections reflect an Octoberfest Theme.
There's a free "Anniversary Sale Tasting" at the Liquor Depot.
Samples in every department (wine, beer, liquor).
5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday 10/28/04.
Look for a Surdyk's Champagne tasting on or about Thursday 2 December.
Cheers,
Jim
> ----- Forwarded message -----
Hi Jim,
Warren said the specials this month are in the Germanic theme due to
Octoberfest. We might want to put a word out for some german whites. Not a
problem with the island thing -there is plenty on the menu for those wines
too.
Ruth
> ----- End forwarded message -----
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 14:17:55 -0500
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: [wine] Terry Theise Dinner, Mediteranian at Muffy's.
Hi All,
Hey Joyce: Any word on the return of the Champagne event?
I know Andre put that on, but it was excellent, and hopefully
it generated enough sales to make it worth their while.
This week, we're doing Mediteranian Island Wines at
Muffuletta's in the Park.
We've added German wines, to go w/ the menu.
Muffuletta Cafe in St. Anth. Park
2260 Como (West of Snelling, East of Hwy 280)
651-644-9116
St. Paul, 55108
6:30 p.m. on Thursday 28 October.
Warren and Ruth
Jim
Bob
Betsy
??? wilder guesses:
Nikolai
Roger
Brian
Annette(s)
Janet
Cheers,
Jim
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Hi All,
Here's a note from JJ regarding the Terry Theise Thang.
Hey Joyce: Any word on the return of the Champagne event?
I know Andre put that on, but it was excellent, and hopefully
it generated enough sales to make it worth their while.
This week, we're doing Mediteranian Island Wines at
Muffuletta's in the Park.
Muffuletta Cafe in St. Anth. Park
2260 Como (West of Snelling, East of Hwy 280)
651-644-9116
St. Paul, 55108
Warren/Ruth
Jim/Louise
Bob
Betsy
Lori
???
Cheers,
Jim
----- Forwarded message from jhegstrom(a)csom.umn.edu -----
X-MessageWall-Score: 0 (smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu)
Subject: Terry Theise Dinner
Sensitivity:
To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu
X-Mailer: Lotus Notes Release 6.5.1 January 21, 2004
From: jhegstrom(a)csom.umn.edu
Date: Mon, 25 Oct 2004 13:34:59 -0500
X-MIMETrack: Serialize by Router on FS01SVR/FS/CarlsonSchool(Release 6.5.2|June 01, 2004) at
10/25/2004 01:35:00 PM
X-MIME-Autoconverted: from quoted-printable to 8bit by mail.enet.umn.edu id i9PD1Oee086339
Jim
Could you kindly post this to the group? It's an advance copy of the menu
for the upcoming T. Theise wine dinner at Lucia's on November 11th; 6:30
p.m.; $95 (tax, gratuity included). Andy informs me there may be one more
course added. and it's limited to 40 guests.
Terry is also doing his wine class the night before on November 10th at the
Millenium Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. Cost is $35. I have also been
informed that there will be NO "bubbles discount." Sorry.
Joyce
Muller Catoir Dinner
Menu with Wine Pairings
Passed Canapes
Hickory nut and cheddar tart
Cilantro and Lemongrass marinated shrimp
2003 Haaardter Burgergarten Muskateller Spatlese Trocken
First Course
Smoked Salmon crepe with cr?me fraiche and pomegranates
2003 Gimmeldinger Mandelgarten Riesling Kabinett
Entr?e
Braised Minnesota short ribs with star anise and pureed parsnips and
turnips
2003 Gimmeldinger Schlossel Rieslaner Spatlese
Salad or Cheese course??
Desert
Warm almond stuffed pears with Minnesota honey ice cream,
Chocolate truffles
2003 Gimmeldinger Schlossel Rieslaner Auslese 375ml
Coffee
----- End forwarded message -----
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Mostly an update.
Also, there's some sort of "To-Do" at the Big S from 5 to 7.
Other news bits. Chet's has closed.... bummer that.
Jazz Wine Tasting (JAZZ) Join Us For Our Jazz Wine Tasting
This Thursday, October 21st Surdyk.s will be filled with the aromas, tastes and sounds of fine wine, goumet food and delectable cheeses along with the cool sounds of live jazz!
Yes, beginning at 4:00 until 7:00pm Surdyk.s will be sampling over 30 different wines featured in the Fall Wine Sale on thru Saturday and great cheeses and a cooking demonstration from our Cheese shop experts.
The coolest part of all will be when jazz vocalist Christine Rosholt takes the floor at Surdyk.s starting at 5:00 entertaining you, our customers for a full two hours with some of the best jazz tunes around, in part hosted by Cool Jazz 100.3.
And what are we asking for all of this? Just that you show up and enjoy all that is Surdyk.s and live jazz. It.s totally free!
This Thursday, the 21st from 4-7pm. Come out and enjoy the fun.
When: Thursday, October 21, 2004, 4:00PM - Thursday, October 21, 2004, 7:00PM
This event is free and open to the public!
----- Forwarded message from "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu> -----
Date: Tue, 19 Oct 2004 15:26:53 -0500
From: "Jim L. Ellingson" <jellings(a)me.umn.edu>
To: wine(a)thebarn.com
Subject: Spanish at Bobino
User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.4i
Greetings,
Group is heading to Bobino.
Style du jour is Spanish.
6:30 on Thursday.
Bobino 222 E. Henne 612-623-3301
Not sure who's going to be there...
Bob
Betsy
Lori
Nicolai
Jim (later and assuming I'm over this cold)
Ruth Gregory
Russ McC.
Cheers,
Jim
>From the Strib.... Vampire wines are Bloody Great!!!
Sorry, it's not on their web site. But he gives
the Pinot Grigio Regas 3 stars. I can't believe he
didn't try the Pinot Noir.... :)
REMAKE, PART TWO
Thanks to a cash influx from a new partner, chefs Doug Flicker and Melinda VanEeckhout are giving their Auriga (1930 Hennepin Av. S., 612-871-0777) a much-needed makeover. In addition to a new look, the restaurant will add a private dining room, a chef's table and expanded bar seating. To accommodate construction, the restaurant will close Nov. 8, partially reopen on Nov. 13 with a limited menu and be completely back in business on Nov. 27.
SAY GOODBYE
Sad words, posted on the door at Chet's Taverna (791 Raymond Av., St. Paul): "We at Chet's are no longer open for business. Thanks for your patronage. Good luck."
Chi-Chi's has served its final Fiesta Platter. The Mexican chain has closed all of its 76 locations coast to coast, including its five Twin Cities outposts. Rights to the chain were bought by Outback Steakhouse.
Fall wine party
October 21, 2004 LOC1021
Surdyk's and Smooth Jazz KQQL (107.9 FM) are holding a fall wine party today from 5 to 7 p.m. at Surdyk's, 303 E. Hennepin Av. in Minneapolis . There will be more than 30 wines to sample along with cheeses from around the world as well as a performance by Christine Rosholt and a cooking demonstration by Surdyk's executive chef Mary Richter. Free.
Jazz Wine Tasting (JAZZ)
Join Us For Our Jazz Wine Tasting
This Thursday, October 21st Surdyk.s will be filled with the aromas, tastes and sounds of fine wine, goumet food and delectable cheeses along with the cool sounds of live jazz!
Yes, beginning at 4:00 until 7:00pm Surdyk.s will be sampling over 30 different wines featured in the Fall Wine Sale on thru Saturday and great cheeses and a cooking demonstration from our Cheese shop experts.
The coolest part of all will be when jazz vocalist Christine Rosholt takes the floor at Surdyk.s starting at 5:00 entertaining you, our customers for a full two hours with some of the best jazz tunes around, in part hosted by Cool Jazz 100.3.
And what are we asking for all of this? Just that you show up and enjoy all that is Surdyk.s and live jazz. It.s totally free!
This Thursday, the 21st from 4-7pm.
Come out and enjoy the fun.
When: Thursday, October 21, 2004, 4:00PM - Thursday, October 21, 2004, 7:00PM
This event is free and open to the public!
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
FYI/FYE
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Tuesday, October 19, 2004 (AP)
At the Movies: `Sideways'
CHRISTY LEMIRE, AP Entertainment Writer
(10-19) 10:33 PDT (AP) --
It would be too easy to use wine metaphors to sing the praises of
"Sideways," the story of two mismatched best friends who spend a week
vineyard-hopping along California's central coast.
That would be simple -- and cute -- and there's nothing simple about
"Sideways," although writer-director Alexander Payne makes it all look
effortless.
In crafting something seemingly contradictory -- a middle-aged,
coming-of-age tale -- the director of "About Schmidt," "Election" and
"Citizen Ruth" offers his most mature, emotionally resonant film yet. It's
his best, and one of the year's best.
Beautifully written (by Payne and longtime writing partner Jim Taylor) and
brilliantly cast, with nuanced performances by all four of its stars,
"Sideways" offers a rare, realistic glimpse at unconditional male
friendship.
Based on Rex Pickett's book of the same name, the film follows the
self-serious Miles (Paul Giamatti), a divorced wine lover and wannabe
novelist, and party-boy Jack (Thomas Haden Church), a struggling actor, on
a road trip from San Diego to the Santa Ynez Valley wine country north of
Santa Barbara.
The occasion: Jack, in his early 40s, is finally getting married. And
while Miles views the vacation as an opportunity to taste some excellent
wine and play a little golf, Jack just wants to live it up one last time
before he settles down.
So when they stand at a tasting bar with a couple of freshly poured
glasses sitting before them, Miles shoves his entire nose into his and
declares airily that he can detect strawberry, asparagus and "a flutter
of, like, a nutty Edam cheese."
Jack grunts in response: "Wow. When do we drink it?"
Yes, these two are an odd couple (and Miles is definitely the Felix Unger
in the equation) but the characters never feel like types.
In Miles, Giamatti has created a character who's a real guy, full of
sadness and soured dreams, all of which would come spilling out if it
weren't for the flimsy wall he's built around himself.
And Jack looks like a good boy but he does bad things. He's so funny and
charming, though -- and so obviously insecure beneath the bravado -- that
you'll root for him to get away with everything. (Church, with his
weathered good looks, shows much more range than his previous sitcom work
on "Wings" and "Ned and Stacey" would suggest.)
He has no qualms about cheating on his fiancee with Stephanie (Sandra Oh),
a sexy wine pourer who rides a motorcycle and flirts with him brazenly.
(And Oh, the former "Arli$$" co-star, is a fabulous choice for the role:
beautiful, cool, funny and tough. She's also Payne's wife.)
At the same time, Miles hesitantly pursues some semblance of a fling with
Maya (Virginia Madsen), a local waitress who's also a wine expert.
Although Jack insists "the chick digs you, man," Miles can barely talk to
her without first killing off a bottle of his beloved pinot noir. When the
four of them get together, seemingly nothing happens -- they eat dinner,
drink some wine, kiss a little, laugh a lot -- yet all of them are
changing.
A scene in which Miles and Maya sit on the back porch at Stephanie's house
in the dead of night, talking about what they love about wine, is a prime
example. Maya explains quietly that each bottle is a living thing,
constantly changing until it reaches its peak and begins its inevitable
decline. Then she reaches out and takes Miles' hand. It's foreplay and a
rhapsody at once, and Madsen delivers the speech breathtakingly.
One of the loveliest things about "Sideways" is that its women are
stronger than its men, albeit in a subtle way. The men catch up, though
not completely, and Payne has enough faith in his audience to figure out
for ourselves how they turn out.
One thing that's clear: Giamatti is a leading man, period. His sad-sack
looks relegated him to character roles for too long, but his compelling
turn as comic book writer Harvey Pekar in last year's best film, "American
Splendor," and his work here make it obvious that he's capable of
anything.
"Sideways," a Fox Searchlight Pictures release, is rated R for language,
some strong sexual content and nudity. Running time: 124 minutes. Four
stars out of four.
Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:
G -- General audiences. All ages admitted.
PG -- Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for
children.
PG-13 -- Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under
13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.
R -- Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
NC-17 -- No one under 17 admitted.
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Copyright 2004 AP
Greetings,
Group is heading to Bobino.
Style du jour is Spanish.
6:30 on Thursday.
Bobino 222 E. Henne 612-623-3301
Not sure who's going to be there...
Bob
Betsy
Lori
Bill
Nicolai
Jim (later and assuming I'm over this cold)
Cheers,
Jim
--
------------------------------ *
* Dr. James Lee Ellingson, Adjunct Professor jellings(a)me.umn.edu *
* University of Minnesota, tel: 651/645-0753 fax 651 XXX XXXX *
* Great Lakes Brewing News, 1569 Laurel Ave., St. Paul, MN 55104 *
Jim left last night before next Thursday's wine theme and destination
were decided, so I'll post:
Cabernet and Cabernet blends at
Erte
1304 University Ave NE
Minneapolis, MN
612-623-4211
Let me know if you'll be joining us.
Thanks!
Betsy
Just an update and reminder about dinner on Thursday at I Nonni. The 12
spots (the limit) are spoken for by those listed below. See you there!
>>> "Betsy Kremser" <Betsy.Kremser(a)co.anoka.mn.us> 09/23/04 10:08AM
>>>
Oct. 7th is Ruth's birthday and she'd like to celebrate it with our
Thursday Night Group at I Nonni. Bob made reservations. Marc has
requested that we limit the group to 12 people.
Confirmed "Yes":
Ruth and Warren
Bob
Dave T.
Bill
Jim
Lori
Betsy
Russ
Janet
Annette S.
Brian
No specific grape or appellation, but Italian wines are appropriate.
:)
Betsy
Oct. 7th is Ruth's birthday and she'd like to celebrate it with our
Thursday Night Group at I Nonni. Bob made reservations. Marc has
requested that we limit the group to 12 people.
Confirmed "Yes" as of now:
Ruth and Warren
Bob
Dave T.
Bill
Jim
Lori
Betsy
Let me know if you'd like to be added to the list.
No specific grape or appellation, but Italian wines are appropriate.
:)
Betsy
