Greetings, Sounds like the split squad had lots of fun last week. I know the Napa Valley Vintners thing was a hoot. This week, it's Sonoma Valley Cabs at JP's Bistro. Bob's making the reservation for 8 people, 6:30 on Thursday. They can certainly accomodate more, but 8 is our best WAG. JP's American Bistro 2937 S. Lyndale 55408 (612) 824-9300 Bob Lori Betsy Nikolai Russ Jim/Louise The Busses are back, maybe Bill Will Be 2? RIP to Marimar. Many thanks to Marci and Brian. They were such wonderful hosts on so many occassions. We look forward to dining with them somewhere down the line. Cheers, Jim ----- Forwarded message from The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> ----- X-MessageWall-Score: 0 (smtp-relay.enet.umn.edu) Date: Mon, 10 May 2004 17:11:35 -0400 (EDT) To: jellings(a)me.umn.edu Subject: The 30 Second Wine Advisor - Eat your veggies, drink your wine From: The 30 Second Wine Advisor <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> X-Sender: <wine(a)wineloverspage.com> THE 30 SECOND WINE ADVISOR, Monday, May 10, 2004 ___________________________________________________________________ TODAY'S SPONSORS: * Rancho San Diego Travel http://www.wineloverspage.com/ tour/ranchosandiego.shtml * California Wine Club http://www.cawineclub.com?Partner_ID=winelovers ___________________________________________________________________ IN THIS ISSUE * EAT YOUR VEGGIES, DRINK YOUR WINE Matching wine and ... asparagus? * DRYTOWN CELLARS 2002 AMADOR COUNTY SAUVIGNON BLANC ($12; $5 on sale) Crisp and citric, lightly grassy, a great buy. * BUTTONWOOD FARM 2001 SANTA YNEZ VALLEY SAUVIGNON BLANC ($14; $6 on sale) A dash of Semillon adds texture and flavor. * CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB Summer Sippin' Wine Sale with The California Wine Club! * RANCHO SAN DIEGO TRAVEL Tour Argentina and Chile! * THIS WEEK ON WINELOVERSPAGE.COM A visit to Alsace and the Mosel, and talk of ungrafted vines. * LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX Links to recent articles in the Wine Advisor archives. * ADMINISTRIVIA Change E-mail address, frequency, format or unsubscribe. ___________________________________________________________________ EAT YOUR VEGGIES, DRINK YOUR WINE One of the great joys of spring for me, right up there with the green leaves and flowers and the fact that it's not cold, is the sudden profusion of really delicious, fresh locally grown vegetables. Oh, sure, it'll be a while yet before garden tomatoes, eggplant and corn are in (not to mention peaches and strawberries and other such good things). But crisp fresh spears of asparagus, tender young spinach and a wild variety of spring field lettuce is enough to light up a smile ... and to inspire a hunger for an all-veggie dinner even in the most ardent of omnivores. As I've noted before, wine's long heritage springs from meat-eating cultures, and our favorite beverage has evolved to accompany meat, poultry and fish. Sure, wine will serve to wash down "non- traditional" foods. But is it possible to get the same kind of "oh, wow!" reaction from a food-and-veggie match that carnivores enjoy with Bordeaux and lamb, Meursault and lobster or Burgundy and beef? Well, maybe. I would submit wild mushrooms and Pinot Noir as a match right up there with the best of meat-and-wine combinations. And assuming you don't have vegan requirements, adding cheese to any meatless dish will bring it up to meet compatible wines. But how about those fresh spring vegetables? Can any wine improve upon the beautiful unadorned simplicity of the season's first spinach or asparagus? A flood of E-mail suggestions from readers following an exaltation of grilled asparagus in last Thursday's Wine Advisor FoodLetter prompted another all-veggie dinner over the weekend, and this time I followed my own advice and paired it with a couple of Sauvignon Blancs. According to the conventional wisdom, the combination of crisp, citric tartness and pleasantly herbal "green" character of this popular white variety makes it a natural with simple green vegetables, and this seemed to hold true. The wines' relative subtlety didn't overwhelm the delicacy of the vegetables, and the "herbaceous" flavors followed the traditional wine-matching principle of pairing wines with foods that show similar characteristics. The result was subtle, not bold: Think of black- and-white by Ansel Adams, not Technicolor by Disney; or a Chopin piano sonata, not a Tchaikovsky overture. ___________________________________________________________________ TALK ABOUT WINE ONLINE What's your experience matching wine with simple veggie fare? If you'd like to tell us about it, you'll find a round-table online discussion on today's topic in our interactive Wine Lovers' Discussion Group, where you're always welcome to join in the conversations about wine. http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=1&tid =50806&mid=430342 If you prefer to comment privately, feel free to send me E-mail at wine(a)wineloverspage.com. I'll respond personally to the extent that time and volume permit. ___________________________________________________________________ The wines I selected for today's tasting are on the list of sale items currently available in the cut-rate "Summer Sippin' Sale" going on at The California Wine Club: DRYTOWN CELLARS 2002 AMADOR COUNTY SAUVIGNON BLANC ($12 winery retail/$5 sale) This clear, very pale straw-color wine offers appetizing aromas that could serve as a textbook example of good California Sauvignon Blanc: Fresh citrusy grapefruit blended with a delicate "grassy" note reminiscent of summer meadows that becomes more evident when you swirl the wine in the glass. Crisp and fresh flavors follow the nose, and zingy acidity makes it a palate-cleansing food wine, with tart citrus persisting in a long finish. (May 9, 2004) FOOD MATCH: A fine seafood wine, but its crisp and tangy mix of citrus and herbal flavors makes it a natural for vegetarian pairing with fresh green vegetables. VALUE: This wine was fairly priced in the lower teens at the time of release; its $5 sale price at California Wine Club makes it a no-brainer for summer sipping. WHEN TO DRINK: Light-styled Sauvignon Blancs are best drunk young. I would enjoy this over the next year or two. WEB LINK: The winery houses its Website on a personal page, http://www.mindspring.com/~nancy.freire/drytown/index.html FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Currently on sale in California Wine Club's "Summer Sippin" sale, http://www.cawineclub.com/cgi-bin/cawine/Promo_Sales?page_number=1 Find Drytown Cellers' wines on Wine-Searcher.com, http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Drytown/-/- /USD/A?referring_site=WLP ___________________________________________________________________ BUTTONWOOD FARM 2001 SANTA YNEZ VALLEY SAUVIGNON BLANC ($14 winery retail/$6 sale) This clear, pale-gold wine shows a sunny yellowish hue. Slightly musky and very ripe, mixed melon aromas add intriguing floral notes in a wine that seems to pick up distinct character from the 10 percent Semillon that's blended with the Sauvignon Blanc. Full- bodied and rich, lip-smacking melon fruit is built on a lemony-tart acidic structure, with earthy nuances adding complexity and a hint of peach-pit bitterness in the finish. (May 9, 2004) FOOD MATCH: Worked fine in a vegetarian-matching experiment with grilled asparagus and lightly steamed spinach; also recommended with pork or shellfish. VALUE: Fairly priced at the $14 winery retail; worth buying by the case at the $6 blowout offer in California Wine Club's summer sale. WHEN TO DRINK: Not meant for long-term aging, but body, richness and earthy complexity might make an interesting experiment in cellaring for a year or two. WEB LINK: You'll find the Buttonwood Farm Website here: http://www.buttonwoodwinery.com/ FIND THIS WINE ONLINE: Also available cut-rate during California Wine Club's "Summer Sippin" sale, http://www.cawineclub.com/cgi-bin/cawine/Promo_Sales?page_number=1 Find Buttonwood wines on Wine-Searcher.com, http://www.wine-searcher.com/find/Buttonwood/-/- /USD/A?referring_site=WLP ___________________________________________________________________ SUMMER SIPPIN' WINE SALE WITH THE CALIFORNIA WINE CLUB! Click here to order from a selection of wines priced from $5 - $10.50. Perfect wines for Memorial Day, Fourth of July, beach BBQ's and grilling parties with friends: http://www.cawineclub.com/cgi-bin/cawine/Promo_Sales?page_number=1 Check out this recipe for Sensational Summer Sangria: 1 - 750 ml bottle of chilled Santerra Cellars Dolcetto (on sale for just $6 per bottle) 1/2 cup Peach Schnapps 2 tbsp. Cointreau (or other orange liqueur) 2 tbsp. sugar 2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half 1 lemon and 1 orange sliced 1 - 10 oz. bottle chilled club soda Ice cubes Mix first 8 ingredients in a tall glass pitcher. Refrigerate at least 30 min. Mix in club soda. Fill 6 wine glasses with ice, pour Sangria over ice and serve! Brought to you by The California Wine Club ~ America's only wine service featuring real-working, smaller, family-owned California wineries! Call 1-800-777-4443 or visit http://www.cawineclub.com?Partner_ID=winelovers Tour participants will visit Nicol�s Catena's new state-of-the-art winery at Agrelo, Mendoza. ___________________________________________________________________ RANCHO SAN DIEGO TRAVEL: TOUR ARGENTINA AND CHILE! You are invited to a special wine tasting tour of Argentina and Chile, Dec. 1-11, 2004, hosted by Michael Schachner, food and wine consultant, writer for Wine Enthusiast magazine, and author of several articles on Chilean and Argentinean wines. Tour featuring Buenos Aires - Mendoza - Santiago - Santa Cruz - Colchagua Valley, home to many of the best Chilean wineries. Tour highlights: small escorted group - private tasting - leisurely designed for cultural visits and free time - dining at some of the finest restaurants of South America - Wineries especially selected by Mr. Schachner. December is the best time of the year in Southern Hemisphere. Tour space limited - For information and to receive your color tour brochure by mail, contact Bernard Streiff by email: ranchobernard(a)yahoo.com Bernard Streiff - Certified Travel Counselor Rancho San Diego Travel - CST #2001 489-10 3733 Avocado Blvd. La Mesa, CA 91941 Tel (619) 670-7425 ___________________________________________________________________ THIS WEEK ON WINELOVERSPAGE.COM Here are links to some of our recently published articles that I think you'll enjoy: * BUCKO ON WINE: Alsace and the Mosel As our new releases columnist, Dr. Randy "Bucko" Buckner spends a good bit of his time sampling U.S. wines and jotting down his notes. But he's a great fancier of Old World wines too, and happily he took along his notebook and camera during a recent visit to Alsace and the Mosel. Here is his report, with plenty of photos and tasting notes: http://www.wineloverspage.com/bucko/alsacemosel.phtml * WINE LOVERS' DISCUSSION GROUP: Vineyards on ungrafted vines A visitor to Australia is impressed by Chateau Tahbilk's gnarled old Shiraz vines that date back to 1860, and asks what other famous vineyards boast ancient or ungrafted vines. http://www.myspeakerscorner.com/forum/index.phtml?fn=1&tid =50519&mid=429286 ___________________________________________________________________ LAST WEEK'S WINE ADVISOR INDEX The Wine Advisor's daily edition is usually distributed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays (and, for those who subscribe, the FoodLetter on Thursdays). Here's the index to last week's columns: * Zin vs. Norton (May 7, 2004) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa040507.phtml * Discovering Uruguay (May 5, 2004) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa040505.phtml * WT101: Barbera (May 3, 2004) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tswa040503.phtml * Complete 30 Second Wine Advisor archive: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml * Wine Advisor FoodLetter: Grilled asparagus (May 6, 2004) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/tsfl040506.phtml * Wine Advisor Foodletter archive: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/foodlist.phtml ___________________________________________________________________ SUBSCRIBE: * 30 Second Wine Advisor, daily or weekly (free) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/index.shtml * Wine Advisor FoodLetter, Thursdays (free) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/foodletter.shtml * Wine Advisor Premium Edition, alternate Tuesdays ($24/year) http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor/premium.phtml ARCHIVES: For all past editions: http://www.wineloverspage.com/wineadvisor1/thelist.shtml CONTACT US E-mail: wine(a)wineloverspage.com SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES: For information, E-mail wine(a)wineloverspage.com ___________________________________________________________________ ADMINISTRIVIA To subscribe or unsubscribe from The 30 Second Wine Advisor, change your E-mail address, switch from weekly to daily distribution, or for any other administrative matters, click to http://www.wineloverspage.com/admin.php?id=20970&cs=7d1109b668af1f87d36… We welcome feedback, suggestions, and ideas for future columns. We do not use this list for any other purpose and will never give or sell your name or E-mail to anyone. All the wine-tasting reports posted here are consumer-oriented. In order to maintain objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest, I purchase all the wines I rate at my own expense in retail stores and accept no samples, gifts or other gratuities from the wine industry. Monday, May 10, 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 *