3 oz. Van Gogh Vodka
Dash Dry Vermouth
2 Olive stuffed radishes
In a cocktail shaker, combine Vodka and Vermouth. Shake and strain into a martini glass, straight up. Garnish with an olive stuffed radish that has been scored to create the veins of an eyeball. Makes 1 drink.
With new FAA regulations, travelers can carry almost no liquids onto a plane which includes bottles of wine. To help wine loving travelers, James and Amy Dias have created a unique product called BottleWise. Their debut product, called BottleWise Duo, features:
• High-quality materials and craftsmanship
• Two insulated padded bottle compartments
• Two liquid-tight pouches
• Adjustable shoulder strap for on-the-go convenience
• TSA-friendly design
• Customizable with your corporate logo
• The BottleWise Unconditional Guarantee
The unconditional guarantee covers nearly anything. If you are ever dissatisfied the performance of your BottleWise bag, they’ll replace it free of charge, or give you your money back. No exceptions. No questions asked. Now there is a company that really stands by their product.
They also offer corporate branding and this would be an awesome employee gift. Maybe I should drop my boss a hint.
"Sean Combs has a proven track record of developing high-end brands and we expect his alliance with Ciroc to follow suit," said Debra Kelly-Ennis, Diageo North America's Chief Marketing Officer. This is the thinking behind the new marketing deal Diageo has struck with Sean "Diddy" Combs for their unique Vodka offering. Ciroc is made from "snap frost" grapes called Mauzac Blanc from the Gaillac region of France. The juice extracted from these grapes is cold fermented in a five time distill process to create their distinctively smooth vodka. Using grapes is quite unique since most vodkas use a starch, like potatoes, rye, or wheat.
So the real question is can Combs and his mutlimedium empire and persona help launch a high-end grape based vodka here in the us? Diageo has yet to make significant inroads into the target urban markets since the products launch in 2003 but with a name like Diddy behind the product they have a good chance to explode here in the club scene. if that expected growth reaches out to the traditional store consumer is yet to be scene.
Ever wanted to replace that water filtration spout on the door with a beer tap? Well now you can with the ASKO HomePub refrigerator which features an internal shelf for 5-litre beer keg, a special box for beer keg/CO2 cartridge and a handy in door tap system with an easy to clean drip-tray. The unit also comes with more standard features such as an egg-rack, 2 crisper drawers, storage box in fridge door, auto defrosting, glass shelves throughout fridge and transparent drawer fronts. While it may seem small when compared to today's monster refrigerators it would be perfect for a smaller kitchen or an urban condo. Now the only question is what kind of beer would you store, if you had room for a 5-liter keg?
Having lost his wife of 48 years in 2005, Budge Brown decided it was time to turn his anger into action. The co-owner of the award winning Budge Brown Family Winery has purchased the wine label Cleavage Creek and is focused on helping to find a cure with the release of his 8 varietals, all to be introduced this month.
The label of each wine will feature a photograph of an actual breast cancer survivor whose story will be told on the Cleavage Creek website. Brown is donating ten percent of the gross dollar amount of this operation to cutting edge research to fight breast cancer.
Budge Brown has grown crops of grapes, apricots, and almonds for well over 40 years. But his next cultivation, spearheading a search for a cure for breast cancer, may very well be his greatest harvest.
Croucher Brewing Company of Wellington New Zealand was broken into on Monday night and one of the items stolen was the company laptop. The machine itself it not state of the art however it does contain company financial records and business contacts as well as new label designs. Instead of sitting on their hands hoping it would be found, they have decided to offer a reward - if someone "finds" the laptop and returns it with all files, data in-tact and as it was, they will supply that person with one dozen Croucher Brewing boutique beers every month for the rest of their life! This is not a typo.
"So we decided that if anyone does come into possession of it we'll be happy to offer them a reward — a dozen (bottles) of beer a month for the rest of their life," Croucher Brewing Co. co-owner Paul Croucher said. He estimated the total value would likely be about $19,500 for a lifetime of beer. Coucher said he was optimistic the free beer offer would lead to the return of the stolen computer. "We'd love it back. We're at such a critical stage in our little business that every hit like that is quite big".
Let's hope the Croucher Brewing buys are toasting the return of their computer and data very very soon.
Ever sit at a bar [or at home] watching the game drinking beer and eating nuts and wonder if it was healthy or not? Well it might be better for you than you think. Eating nuts, almonds and walnuts are considered the best, boost good cholesterol, HDL, and lower bad cholesterol, LDL. Also Swedish researchers have found that the fat and fiber in nuts slow down the absorption of alcohol, smoothing out the effects of moderate alcohol consumption. While eating nuts, the alcohol in beer acts as a blood thinner and helps prevent blood clots. In both cases, though, moderation is key. For best results, it is recommended that you try to eat about 15 minutes before taking that first drink.
So as you sit down tonight to root for your favorite baseball team, why not try a handful of almonds with your octoberfest, it just might be good for you.
Korbel Champagne Cellars is the largest makers of Méthode Champenoise California Sparkling Wine and a widely recognized label in the industry and by consumers but do you know the real Korbel? Sure Korbel has been part of the past five presidential inaugurations, was the champagne of choice for the Camelot years of the Kennedy administration, is currently served in the White House and on Air Force One but did you know the Korbel brothers lived the American Dream and were true entrepreneurs? Their grounds are immaculate and have a long history but how did these young men from central Europe end up making wine here? Visiting the Guerneville winery, which sits along the Russian River, this summer was more like trip through history than through a vineyard and what a trip it's been.
The winery was founded by Frantissek (Francis) Korbel who s a young man in Prague in 1848 was rumored to have fired the shot that started a revolution against the ruling monarchy, the Hapsburgs, taking part in the uprising against Prince Windiszcrec. After being detained, he is also alleged to have escaped prison by calmly walking out an unlocked gate, smoking a cigar and wearing civilian clothes brought to him by his grandmother.
After fleeing Bohemia for New York, Francis began learning the art of cigar making. After a few years in New York, Francis became intrigued with the booming city of San Francisco and moved there to open a storefront repairing cigar boxes. Unable to finance his new business alone, he sent for his brothers Joseph, a metallurgist, and Anton, a forger. To support their growing business the brothers entered the exotic veneer import business, shipping the products via their own schooner.
As the lumber industry began to explode in northern California, the Korbels invested in a number of projects, including a sawmill and property near the town of Guerneville in the Russian River Valley of Sonoma County. Along the way they built railroads to move goods in and out of their then rural location. Once the lumber business slowed, the brothers looked for other uses of their ranch property and they found it was similar in nature to the Champagne region in France. In short, perfect for wine growing and making. The rest, as they say, is history.
1 oz Cointreau
1 oz light cream
1 oz orange juice
1 oz vodka
Shake all ingredients with ice in a shaker. Serve in a highball glass filled with ice. Makes 1 drink.
In a response to a growing consumer demand for eco-friendly products, DFV Wines is going green and repackaging there Bota Box wines. The new packaging for the 3 liter box wine is more environmentally-friendly wine a container that is made with 95% post consumer fiber and the box is recyclable. Also the print on the package is now done on unbleached Kraft paper, the ink used is water based versus petroleum based and the paper layers are held together with cornstarch instead of glue.
"DFV Wines are committed to the consumer. Bota Box is one of the ways to respond to wine drinkers that choose an eco-friendly package that is convenient as well," says Chris Indelicato, CEO & President. "Our family winery is dedicated to sustainable farming, smart winemaking, and responsible marketing and we believe that our new Bota Box is the right package at the right time."
Being a green company has become a hip thing to do however when the global community not only expects eco-friendly products but demand them, companies like DFV will be positioned as a pioneer and will be regarded as a market leader. Keep up the good work and I hope that more wine companies follow DFv's lead and find innovative ways to go green.
According to a commissioned report on behalf of French wine-makers, more than half of British men (54%) said one pint at the beginning of an evening was enough to quench the thirst before moving on to wine. The report also reveals that 72% of British men consider wine to be a more sociable drink than beer, with 68% preferring to share a bottle between friends rather than taking it in turns to buy rounds of beer.
While the decor of the British pub has changed to accommodate drinkers' evolving tastes, more than half (52%) conceded that the range of wines on offer in British pubs often outshone the beer choices, and slightly more (54%) admit they are likely to drink less beer than wine in the future. Also 75% of British men admitting that they would rather choose from a menu of lighter options, particularly European-style dishes to share, such as mezze and tapas, which sit better with wine.
"The news that Britain is increasingly a nation of wine drinkers may seem surprising, but in reality it's been gathering pace for some time" said Wine expert Olly Smith, of the BBC TV programme Saturday Kitchen. Smith continued to comment that wine is a "journey of discovery, adventure and good fun that's rapidly capturing the British imagination".
So it looks like that by 2039, a generation from now, the British male will more likely to be enjoying a Bordeaux instead of a Bitter at the local pub. Glass of dry white Calvin please!
Just in time for the start of the NHL season, the Buffalo Sabres have announced their partnership with Bully Hill Vineyards as the official wine supplier for the 2007-08 season. Not only will the Hammondsport based [which is located in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York] winery supply wine to the HSBC Arena on game night, they are also producing limited edition Sabres Branded Wines. Sabres Red is a blend of New York red grape varieties combined to make a distinctive and mellow blend. Sabres White is an elegant German style wine with delicate floral aromas. These wines will also be available in local stores in the coming weeks.
Next month the Buffalo Sabres Alumni and their wives are hosting the Sabres Alumni Fall Wine Festival featuring wineries and restaurants from the Western New York and Southern Ontario regions. The event will be held on Thursday, November 8th in the HSBC Arena pavilion from 6:30 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. I wish I could check this out which I am sure will prominently feature Bully Hill Vineyards and their very own Sabres Branded Wines. All proceeds from the festival will benefit the Breast Center at Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
SAB Miller and Molson Coors announced today they're combining their American operations and if approved by regulators would give the joint venture about 30 percent of the U.S. beer market. If the government allows the number-two and -three players to merge, they could save an estimated $500 million a year in freight and other costs. This merger would allow Miller/Coors to be a serious competitor to Anheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser and Michelob, which controls about half the U.S. beer market.
This type of consolidation should come as no surprise to the industry, it has been occurring in most industries for years - Accounting Firms, Pharmaceuticals, Automotive Industry, the phone company, ect. Most industries go through a "weeding" out period where smaller firms come together to compete with the larger ones and the beer industry is no different. Assuming the merger of operations goes through, SAB Miller-Molson Coors could give Anheuser-Busch a run for it's money as the countries largest beer manufacturer.
The Sub-Zero 424FS Free-Standing Wine Storage unit features five shelves and a 46-bottle capacity and you can customize the top surface to match the look of any room. You now have the luxury of storing your wine within an arm’s reach in any room of your home without having to worry about building the unit into cabinetry and you can win one by entering online. This unit would look great in my office, new kitchen, fireplace room or any other room where wine is required! Good Luck [although since I am going to win, you don't really need it]!!!
The SWILLparty founders Anne Conroy-Baiter and Eva Potter have been very busy creating wine tasting products, assisting in organizing of localized wine tasting clubs, and moderating wine seminars. If that isn't enough to keep the pair busy, they have recently created a calender to support women diagnosed with breast cancer. Since October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I am very fortunate to get a chance to speak with these two inspirational women.
Consumer's Corner: Where did the name SWILL [Several Wine Imbibers Liking Libations] originate?
Anne: My sister, Kerry (Miss January), is a fantastic writer and wordsmith. I had asked her for some name suggestions for our new wine club, and we thought SWILL was the most fun and a great pun, since we actually taste really great wine.
CC: The SWILL wine tasting and club starter kit includes several items necessary to have a tasting party including rating cards, invitations, hosting guide,ect. What part of the kit have you received the greatest feedback on?
Eva: We've received fantastic feedback on our SWILL Hosting 101 Guide. People have commented that it has great information on how to host a party, start a club, wine buying, tasting fees, wine themes, and other great tips. They also have said it's witty and entertaining to read. That really pleases us. It's all about making wine parties easy and fun...and we've got that down to a science.
CC: Speaking of the wine tasting science, how does your rating card work?
Anne: Our rating cards are set up so you can taste five different wines at each event. Professional wine experts recommend that you don't taste much more than that as your palate becomes overwhelmed.
Eva: Then the wine's distinct characteristics get lost and that would be a shame. We taste some great wines, some of them costing over $40 a bottle. You don't want to overdo it in order to really appreciate all the nuances of the tasting experience.
CC: Where do your recipes come from that are posted on your site?
Eva: Our recipes were collected from our very talented SWILL club members. The SWILL hosts provide appetizers and light foods. Every host has put a different spin on their offerings and we've discovered some great recipes along the way.
Anne: In other words, we've blatantly steal their recipes to add to our site! They don't mind though.
CC: Who's idea was it really to make the Women of SWILL calendar?
Anne: Honestly, we were joking about it at a SWILL in a friend's newly remodeled bathroom. We were all crowded together looking in her mirror and Lori said something like..."Look at us! We should do a calendar! Ha ha." Well, after seven of the SWILL women traveled to Buffalo, NY, this spring for mammograms, the calendar idea was re-energized with the purpose. We'd all been touched by cancer in some way, and as women the thought of being diagnosed with breast cancer was terrifying to us.
CC: Were any of the women camera shy?
Eva: That would be a big YES. None of us are models. Even though we are all tastefully draped in fabric, we still had to get to that point. Participating in this experience, took me and the other women into a new realm of experience that at first was a little intimidating but quickly became very comfortable with our friend and calendar photographer Lori Tiller's ability to put people at ease.
CC: How many calenders have you run in your first printing?
Eva: We've printed 1000 in our first run and have sold 200 on pre-orders alone in less than a month. Sales are brisk and we hope to sell all of them. If our stock begins to run low and we're still in calendar-buying season, then we will consider printing more.
CC: What drew you to working with Living Beyond Breast Cancer?
Anne: We approached about 20 nonprofit national organizations, four of which expressed an interested in working with us. LBBC's staff is great and their mission really resonated with us, because LBBC helps newly diagnosed women as well as survivors, and there are thousands that are trying to live their lives to the fullest with this diagnosis. These women are all hoping for a cure, as are we, but in the meantime there is life to live and LBBC helps pave the way to living it to the fullest.
A quote from a local family physician says it all. "Many people find cancer such a terrifying word that they forget it's often preventable, treatable and survivable. Sometimes we get so caught up in worrying about the future that we forget our lives are happening now. This calendar celebrates living in the present.” - Annmarie Zimmermann, M.D., Olean, NY
I couldn't have said it better myself. Thank you to Anne and Eva for stopping by the Corner and keep on SWILLing!
Scientists at the University of Leicester are investigation the use food compounds to prevent the onset of breast, colon and prostate cancer. One specific compounds being tested is resveratrol, which is found in red wine. Other chemicals include tricin from rice, anthocyanins (antioxidants from bilberries, but also found in red wine) and curcumin, from curry spices.
"These [compounds] have proved highly effective in the laboratory – it is extraordinary,'" said Professor Will Steward. "We know they are safe to use but we want to establish if they are effective in humans."
If these tests are found to be effective and human safe, researchers believe pills based on these compounds would be on the shelf as soon as possible as 2010.
On this day in 1842 the first Pilsner, which is the basis more nearly all macro brewed American beer today, was produced in the city of Pilsen, Bohemia (now called Plzeň in the Czech Republic) by Bavarian brewer Josef Groll. Back in the late 1830's, citizens of Pilsen were consuming top-fermented Oberhefenbier however they became unsatisfied with it's dark and cloudy texture and continued low quality and varied taste. They even went as far as to empty several casks in the streets of the city to publicly show their distaste for their current brew.
The citizens finally had enough and went forward with a plan to build a new bottom-fermentation brewery and hire Groll, a Bavarian brewer [who were considered the masters of their trade], to produce a higher quality beer know as the Bavarian beer, which had an excellent reputation. Josef Groll's father owned a brewery in Vilshofen in Lower Bavaria and had long experimented with new recipes for bottom-fermented beer. Groll produced the first batch of his Urquell beer, which was characterized by the use of soft Bohemian water, very pale malt, and Saaz hops and was first served in the public houses Zum Goldenen Anker, Zur weißen Rose and Hanes on 11 November 1842 to great local praise. Groll continued to produce beer in the Bürgerliches Brauhaus until April 30, 1845.
Groll returned to Vilshofen and later inherited his father's brewery. Josef Groll died on October 22, 1887 at the age of 74. The long time brewer died doing the thing he loved - sitting at the regulars' table of the public house Wolferstetter Keller in Vilshofen, drinking beer. So today let's lift a pint of Pilsner and that cheers and thank you to Josef Groll.
1 1/2 oz Scotch whisky
1/2 oz Drambuie® Scotch whisky
1 twist lemon peel
In a low ball glass, pour scotch and drambuie over ice and stir well. Garnish with the lemon twist. Makes 1 drink.
You have seen them in many magazines. White page with large black text with the following statement [or some other statement]:
Dear Ketel One Drinker
What you didn't learn in the third grade.
According to the 2007 edition of The U.S. Wine Market: Impact Databank Review and Forecast, the U.S. wine market is projected to reach record consumption of 304 million 9-liter cases. With a projected 5 percent increase from 2006, Americans will drink more wine than Italians for the first time ever, and will trail only France in terms of overall wine consumption. At current rates, the United States is expected to surpass France as the world's largest wine market before 2015. This will be the 15th consecutive year of growth in the US market and with no foreseeable down turn [or slow down], America will continue to be a outstanding market for new products and services for the wine community.
In 2005 we chose Brown Ale and in 2006 Honey Porter so what will it be for 2007? The 3rd annual Sam Adams Beer Lovers Choice contest is coming to a close and the two new brews are going to be a tough choice for the voting public. This weekend at the Taste of Rhode Island in Newport, I got a chance to try both and I think it's going to be a very close race. On the one hand you have their Irish Style Red Ale made from pale and carmel malts that "give the beer it's rich, deep red color and distinctive flavor". On the other hand you can choose the Dunkelwiezen [translates as Dark Wheat] which is a traditional Bavarian wheat ale "brewed with traditional Bavarian yeast, which imparts a wide spectrum of flavors".
Prior to tasting either, I assumed I was going to vote for the Irish Red given my propensity for other Red's however after trying both I wasn't so sure. The Irish Red has a much more pronounced hop flavor than expected while the Dunkelwiezen was smoother and lighter [or as light as a dark ale can be] that I was anticipating. In the end I went with the Dunkelwiezen and given the past two winners darker color and flavor, I am expecting a Dark Wheat to be this years Beer Lovers Choice. If you haven't voted yet, there is still time and you can find the remaining polling locations online. Good luck to both candidates and let's make every year and election year!
